Seed Catalogues

Three cartons of seeds turned up in the post yesterday; just couldn't believe I'd bought so many, even after going way overboard to the tune of over $600!

So this morning I got up early, with every intention of sorting them into 'families' - alliums, herbs, solanums, curcurbits and so forth. Two and three quarter boxes contained catalogues, and down the bottom of the last box lay the seeds.

But to be bluntly honest, there's as much pleasure in reading about all these rare and wonderful seeds as there is in growing them. So come along to the Fern Avenue Community Garden this coming Sunday, between 10am and 4pm, and your free catalogue will be waiting for you (if you are a member). There are also a limited number of catalogues from Daley's Fruit Tree Nursery, so we've got the whole garden covered.

Seeds and books will be on sale to the public at our trading table. By all means bring along seeds, vegetables, cuttings, potted plants or whatever; one of the things we can do with our slush fund is to continue to buy bulk seeds for distribution among our members. In this way, we can choose to maintain seelcted rare varieties for future generations.

So today's photo and seed snippet is from page one, number one, in the Eden Seeds catalogues on offer: -

GRAIN AMARANTH (Amaranthus hypochondriacus)

Greens rich in vitamins and minerals, leaves have less oxalic acid than spinach. Eat raw or cooked. Protein leaf and grain. Seeds have over 18% protein, higher than corn or wheat, eat popped. Hardy summer annual to 1m, don't sow deeply, scatter on top of soil and rake in. Sow after frost. 95 days. The processed products are available through Coles and Woolworths supermarkets and selected Health Food stores. The cereal can be used alone with milk, fruit, and honey, or mixed with other cereals.

Seed count: 400/g Seeds per packet: 350