One of the best ways to save money on fresh fruits, vegetables, and
herbs is to grow them yourself. Typically the cost for garden supplies
is less than the cost of purchasing the same yield of the items fresh
from the supermarket shelves. Also, when you grow it yourself, it cuts
out shipping and is much more eco-friendly. Plus, you know exactly how
fresh it is when you pick it yourself!
You can purchase plants or buy seeds at regular price, but to save
big bucks, you need to plan a year ahead. About this time of year-
starting in late July, most stores will severely mark down their seed
prices to get them off the shelves by the end of the season.
Resurrecting ancient plants?
Although germination rates (% of seeds that will sprout into plants)
will decrease over time, seeds can last A LOT longer than we ever
imagined. In fact, according to the
Alaska Dispatch,
scientists who recently resurrected an ancient plant “in Siberia,
successfully germinated a flower from an ice-age seed which is about
32,000 years old.”
The Millenium Seed Bank Partnership is a project aimed to save 25% of the worlds seeds by 2020.
Seeds as currency?
I met a very interesting man this weekend while shopping for seeds at
my companies associate store, who said he thinks it is possible that
seeds could become a new tender in the future, since the world-wide
economy is so bad. What do you think of that? It reminds me a little bit of my bartering blog from a few weeks back.
Over 95% Savings!
We got some great deals on seeds at 10 cents a pack! These packages
range from $0.97- $3.49 so when I added up the final savings, I saved
over 95% from the original price and now I have enough seeds for the
next few years, and then some to give to friends. I chit-chatted with
the seed-as-currency man while digging through the treasure bins and
bins of Burpee, Ferry-Morse, and always organic Seeds of Change seeds.
He said most packaged seeds can last about 5 years, or longer if frozen.
We estimated that Ferry-Morse “seeds guaranteed to grow” brand has a
shorter sell-by date simply due to the decreasing germination rates over
time (which happens to all seeds). Seeds don’t technically expire at
that time and are simply packaged for a certain ideal season.
Keep in mind:
- How many seeds are in the packet?
This will give you an idea of the final price per seed.
- Is it organic?
It might be worth a little more if it is because it was grown from
plants without any pesticide trails, cross breeding, or genetic
modification.
- Avoid hybrids for seed saving.
Hybrids are created from two types of plants. So, typically if you
save seeds from your plants for next year, you may or may not yield the
same results. Or you might not get any fruit at all. Or it could be
genetically modified in a way that might harm you (we don’t know all the
effects yet of genetic modification).
- Remember the flowers.
When planning a garden for food, don’t forget the benefits of
flowers and companion planting. Stock up on marigolds, which help keep pests away, or borage
which attracts bees who pollinate your plants. Lavender can be used as
an herb and Nasturtiums are edible flowers- great for adding color to
salads.
- Consider trading seeds with friends.
Start/join a seed train group online. Add seeds to the “train” and
take a few of the ones you want, then mail them on to the next person.
It’s a great way to add heirloom seeds to your collection and share what
you don’t need or wont use. The next year you will have so many seeds you won't know what to do with them. This is what to do with them!
- Label your packets.
Remember one plant yields many seeds once it has grown and produced
fruit. Save as many seeds as you can, and always label them so you know
what you have next season. If you can, add any notes about
characteristics you noticed. Was this variety the only one that didn’t
get a bug infestation? Was the fruit sweeter? Did it handle the
cold/heat better than other varieties?
- Negotiate with the store.
By clearance time, many stores just want to get rid of the seeds so
they don’t have to ship them back or throw them out. You might consider
speaking with the manager and kindly asking if they are willing to
negotiate a lower price for take-all of the seeds they don’t sell.
- Up for a mystery?
By clearance time, there will often be loose “mystery” seeds at the
bottom of the store bin, which the store will simply throw away. Ask
your store associates if they would let you have them for a small price
or free when they clean up the seed containers. It never hurts to ask
and you can toss these out or plant them at your leisure in a “surprise”
section of the garden, or grow them in small pots and identify them by
their leaves early on.
- Don’t forget, you can get seeds FREE…
if you get them from organic fruits and vegetables that you buy from
the supermarket or if you gather them from plants in public parks.
*Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for your actions. It is up to you to find out what is legal in your park/city/state.*
What do you think? How do you save seeds? Have you ever
joined a seed train? Do you think seeds could become currency in the
future? What sort of companion planting do you do? Have you ever planted
“mystery” seeds or gathered seeds from your grocery bought food or
local parks?
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