Growing from seed is building food resilience
Who remembers the start of lockdown 2020? I think my last shopping trip before the shops shut was a quick trip out to buy frost cloth and gumboots — I suspected it could be a long winter, and I’d need more fresh food in the garden if the shops ran out of produce.
I’ll never forget the sickening feeling in my stomach to see the shelves of vegetable seedlings empty. It was a reminder of how precarious our food system is — and not just the FOOD system, but also the GARDENING industry.
That trip to my local hardware store fostered the wish to help more people learn to become more self-sufficient, to grow their own food, and to grow it from seeds, save the seeds, make their own seed raising mix, make their own potting mix, and even make all their own compost.
One of the very few silver linings to the 2020 lockdown was seeing enthusiasm for gardening. We may be back to our normal(ish) reality in New Zealand, but I recommend you still keep up the good gardening habits you aspired to last year.
One of the more popular resources for seed sowing is the biodynamic moon planting calendar, which I update each month over on my website. You can go get your copy here.
Oh, and another handy tip is to make your own seed raising mix. Here’s a recipe that I’ve found works really well.
If you’d like to read more about Blue Borage methods for growing seedlings for a home garden setting, then there’s another blog post here on the topic.
Good luck with your seed sowing this year!
~Katrina🌱
Ideas for innovative edible gardening solutions using biodynamic methods to make ‘soil with soul’ is what New Zealand needs right now. For tips, advice and online courses go to www.blueborage.co.nz or get in touch by email at katrina@blueborage.co.nz
