Perennials You Can Start from Seed
Strawberries, Rhubarb, Asparagus and More!
Buying nursery stock can be expensive, and starting your own from seed can save you a lot of money (and let you work with interesting varieties, too).
Things like strawberries, rhubarb, and asparagus are often bought as started plants, but you can grow them from seed at home, just like your regular annual crops.
Asparagus will take an extra year to produce, as most nursery-bought asparagus “crowns” are just the roots from the first-year started seeds.
Similarly, strawberries and rhubarb will require an extra year before your first harvest…but if you’ve got time, you can grow them for pennies a plant.
Trees like apples can also be grown from seed, but they don’t “come true.” That means a honeycrisp parent apple won’t necessarily produce a honeycrisp offspring. It’ll be a mix of Honeycrisp and whatever apple pollinated it at the orchard, just as a human child is a mix of their parents.
When we first got started on our homestead more than a decade ago, we started dozens of apple trees from seed. My thought was that they’d either be good, or I could change their variety with top grafting later.
Many of them produced their first crop of apples this past year, and most were quite good for fresh eating. All were good enough for cider, jelly, and preserves. If you have the space to devote to planting out seedlings (and patience), you can get trees going without a lot of money, too.
Things You Might Need This Week
Seed Starting for Beginners - Whether you’re starting perennials, or tomatoes for your annual garden, the basics are all the same.
9 Common Seed Starting Mistakes to Avoid - Most of the mistakes are the same too!
20+ Perennial Vegetables that Grow in Shade - While most of these aren’t started from seed, they have the added bonus that they can thrive in shady spots without care or attention. They’re great for planting along fencelines or under trees, where you can harvest them later (or just enjoy their beauty).
Seasonal Preserving
Recipes to keep your larder full all year round…in season now:
DIY Apple Chips (How to Dehydrate Apples)
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Things I’m Loving
Earthbeat Seeds ~ A small medicinal herb seed supplier based right here in Vermont. She has many hard-to-find medicinal herb seeds, including things like Jewelweed and Marshmallows. This is also the best place to buy Ramp Seeds (wild leeks), as she’s all about sustainable harvesting and natural practices.
High Mowing Organic Seeds ~ One of the few sources for 100% organic seeds and growing supplies anywhere. They only sell organic seed, and they’re right here in Vermont.
Nature Hills Nursery ~ They carry many of the hard-to-find plants that you just can’t get anywhere, like barberry and hardy kiwi.
What are you harvesting, preserving, building, or exploring on your homestead this week? I’d love to hear about it!
Leave me a note in the comments…
Until Next Time,
Ashley at Practical Self Reliance