Weather Report: Continuing Book Review and Commentary of Steve Solomon’s “Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times”, Chapter 5 – Seeds

Steve Solomon was/is a professional gardener and nowhere is this more apparent than in his discussion on seeds. He also continues to demonstrate his understanding of the importance of gardening in our lives and it is in this context that he presents his knowledge of seeds, saying:

“It (gardening) is life itself. It is independence. It is health for my family. And for people going through hard times, a thriving veggie garden can be the difference between painful poverty and a much more pleasant existence.”

The author begins the chapter, topically, with a presentation of “The mail order seed business”. Here he explains the seed business and the development of various seed and seed types from the point of view of the professional seedsman, the retailer and the home gardener.

With the foregoing information in mind he moves on to recommend to the home gardener, in his “Adapted to the region” section, this:
“When you purchase seeds, you have a far higher likelihood of a successful result if the supplier’s trial grounds are located in roughly the same climatic zone as your garden.”

He then continues by presenting and explaining key climates with their individual characteristics until he comes to “Who to buy from”. Here, he presents recommendations for seed buying, based on his years as a seedsman , by climate types. Here is an example for “Warm climates”:

“Park Seed Company: Virtually every variety the company offers represents the finest breeding attainable, entirely appropriate to its semi-tropical climate….It’s as good as it gets.”

Mr. Solomon then briefly discusses importing seeds and follows with his “Making seeds come up” section and intro into a series of discussions of seeding techniques. This series includes germination, watering, and thinning of your garden plants. This a serious discussion providing not just techniques but the all important “Whys”.

The author then moves on to “Growing your own” . Here he discusses topics like “Dry and wet seed “ and “Seed from hybrids” and other seed varieties (i.e., open – pollinated) with an informative chart on “Vegetables by method of pollination”.

There’s a small section in about the middle of this chapter we’d like to call particular attention to: “Saving on seed purchases”. In this little gem-of-a-section, Mr. Solomon not only tells you how to save money in buying your seed but explains the nature of the seed itself and then gives the home gardener clear and concise instructions on how to simply and inexpensively save/preserve your seeds at home. Invaluable!

Chapter 5 would rate as a valuable reference piece for the home gardener all by itself but , fortunately, it is surrounded by a lot of equally important gardening information in the preceding and successive chapters. We plan on reviewing Chapter 6 in the coming days. Stay tuned.

Until next week; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.