What to do when you don't have seeds or seedlings

Words MORAG GAMBLE

Are you loving the chance to finally get into your garden and start (or expand) your veggie patch? In this sudden slowdown, it makes so much sense to permaculture your garden and produce your own home-grown food. You can taste the difference, you know it’s chemical free and because it’s fresh, it is more nutrient dense – just what we need to stay healthy and well. And we can grow surplus to share with family and neighbours.

Unfortunately, everyone has been thinking the same and most of the stores have already run out of seeds and seedlings. What do you do now?

Don’t worry. Take a quick look around your pantry, in your fridge, or on the grocery shelves and you will find lots of things to plant to make a thriving garden. Here’s a few ideas to get you started.

Lentil Sprouts

In just a few short days you can grow fabulous sprouts from dried lentils. Soak your lentils overnight, rinse them, then place in a wide mouth jar covered with cheesecloth. Rinse them off twice a day and they’ll be ready to eat in about three days. Super simple! Do the same with beans, mung beans, buckwheat, quinoa, chickpeas, and more.

Chia Microgreens

Did you know you can grow your chia seeds? In a week you’ll be harvesting nutritious chia microgreens to use as a salad green. Sprinkle the seeds onto a tray of potting mix and mist morning and night. Start a new tray every few days to keep your supply going.

Tomatoes

Select a healthy-looking ripe tomato in the store. Take a slice that is full of seeds and plant it in your garden bed, or a pot, gently covered with potting mix or compost. Keep it moist and soon a number of seedlings will grow and you can spread these around your garden. You’ll have your own tomato supply starting in just 40-50 days. They will most likely turn out to be delicious cherry tomatoes – the stronger, wilder cousin of the hybrid tomatoes usually available in the stores.

Beans

Simply plant dried beans directly into your garden with a trellis and you’ll be eating beans in two months.

Potatoes

Have you got some sprouting potatoes? Plant them in a wellcomposted and mulched garden bed or pot, and in 3-4 months you’ll be tasting your own amazing spuds. You’ll get around 10 potatoes from each potato planted.

Spring Onions

Plant the bottoms of your spring onions into a pot or the garden and very quickly they’ll grow back. Just keep chopping the tops for an ongoing supply.

Happy gardening!

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