It happens even the best most careful gardener makes mistakes and I am not one of those types of gardeners at all. Yesterday was the first day in the interest of time that I was really able to go out and start planting our “earlier” Spring garden….a little late but we have gotten seeds started already in the greenhouse too.
Well in all of the excitement I accidentally laid several seed packets down in a pot not realizing the pot had water in the bottom of it.
Now some might read this and say “Just Buy More Seeds” well that is not the way we do things at our Lil’ Suburban Homestead we try to save/scavenge/re-use/repurpose/recycle whenever we can. So I immediately googled what to do when this happens and of course this was the site I found that helped me figure out what to do. Yes I actually “googled” before I sprung to action that is the techie in me. 😉
Oh No! All my packets of seeds got wet….you see I am not the only one that has done this and one of the people that responded was very optimistic and thought they could be saved. So thats what I did all of the seeds that would drop out of the wet packets on to paper towels I dried yesterday and saved. These though would not be seeds that I would swap or share with others just in case they have issues later I have marked them “Saved Seeds From Me”.
Now in the meantime the seeds that got wet that we were going to plant were left on the deck and my husband had opened up the packets for them to dry and yep one of them “the bunching onions” flew all over the deck so then later in the day we were on our hands and knees picking up all the seeds. It was kind of comical and my husband had the tweezers in hand. We admit we were in a hurry he is trying to get all of the raised beds in and I am trying to get them planted as soon as he is done because it’s the weekend and I am home.
The good news we salvaged most of the seeds and it is a reminder to be careful with them to both of us. Seeds are one of our food sources…..no we do not eat out of our garden exclusively for us it supplements our diet in the summer it more than supplements our diet but its fresh produce and it’s whole, nutritious, organic food so it’s valuable.
You know March Madness refers to Basketball but I think it refers to what I am now calling “The March Mad Scramble” to get things in place for Spring, this includes all of those things us gardeners procrastinate with because it’s so cold and then once we get some warmth we rush to get it all done! Have any of you had seed disasters? Were you able to fix them? I wish you a joyful Sunday and hopefully for those of you in the colder regions its starting to thaw out maybe……
Fondly,
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I’ve never planted anything…yet. So I can honestly say “NO”…but I’ve not tried, either 🙂 🙂 I’m glad you were able to rescue some of the seeds. I hope that they’ll still be usable!!!! Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 😉
Hi there. I can so sympathise with you here. I had just spent an absolute age separating seeds from their husks from a red cabbage that I let go to seed so I could collect the seed. I was so pleased with my efforts – until with a sudden movement I flung them all over the carpet! Not sure what to do – I grabbed a whole lot of sticky tape and pressed it all over the carpet and I think I got most of them! Hopefully we wont get cabbages germinating in the dining room next time the kids spill their drinks! Cheers Sarah : o )
That is a great idea to use sticky tape I will have to put that in my tool box for seed disasters 🙂 Isn’t it amazing how one sudden movement or breeze can change everything…it sounds like you really value your seeds too! Thanks for stopping in today!
This is a great post Karen Lynn and I am keeping it in mind for my next seed faux pas. I say next because I have done this before… I enjoy reading your posts. You have such a fun way of saying things. It always leaves me feeling optimistic. Thanks!
Heidi
I haven’t been gardening very long (only about five years now), but the very first year I planted a garden, I planted Sweet Baby Girl tomatoes, which turned out to be wonderful cherry tomatoes (delicious tomatoes which produce early, produce late, and produce a LOT of tomatoes which dry beautifully). Every year since that first year, I have saved the seeds, which I then use the following year. Only, this year, when I opened the packet, the seeds were dark, dark brown, nearly black. From what I can tell, it’s likely they’d been exposed to heat at some point since the fall. My heart fell and I thought all was lost, however, I planted them with a whisper of a prayer. Low and behold, my seedlings have sprouted! I hadn’t realized how badly I wanted to continue the tradition of plants from original seeds until I opened that pack and thought my seeds were gone.
Mary gardening is not only addictive….it is that glimmer of hope that faith in a seed…glad you are finding so much joy in it! Thank you for sharing your story!
Did you ever plant the seeds that got wet, and if so, what happened?
Kenneth, they ended up being hit or miss but it was fun to see the aftermath!