What the seed, is going on?

What the seed, is going on? Have you enjoyed your plantings so far this year? Have you noticed some major seed dealers aren’t selling to home growers? While not talking millions, aren’t you tired of paying 3 bucks for like 4 seeds? Bought seeds online that did not grow? If you’re a Lakealander your in luck Vitality Farms Company is offering seed Packets available in microgreen seeding rates and at reasonable prices. All of our seeds are NON-GMO, and untreated. (Note most regular garden seed is treated with an anti fungal) There is nothing biologically significant about “microgreens seeds”–they are just seeds grown using a particular method.

Some common vegetable crops like tomato, pepper, eggplant, and potato are not edible at the seedling stage and are not suitable to produce microgreens because they contain alkaloids which at high levels are toxic for humans.While we so offer these crops, we make sure to note that these can be used for your gardening but not for microgreens. We brought these products in because there is a seed shortage and their have been disruptions in the food chain so by equipping our community we are ensuring our community get to enjoy the diversity we have come to love.

We offer vegetable seeds, we offer edible flower seeds, we offer medicinal herb seeds, we offer popular crops like tomatoes that we grow and are inedible as a microgreen so we add a special note to make sure there are no issues. Use the microgreen section to see the exact seed we offer.

We do this for a few reason.

1. We went to a box store and grabbed seeds one day as we pretended to be consumers and not farmers, and well we were appalled at what they were charging for such a small amount of seed.

2. We believe that the joy, the encouragement, the sense of accomplishment that someone feels when successfully growing cant be matched, and when someone buys inferior seed they can project that failure on themselves (Its not your fault)

3. We are licensed seed dealers, as well as members of the Florida seed association, we want to stay aware of all things that impact our local food economy.

4. We could just sell small quantities and let the big companies handle all the packaging, but that doesn’t work because when we buy bulk seed we can also send a pound to other growers at a more appropriate price.

5. We get to create hyper local jobs for teenagers as they take pounds of seeds and make them into little packets for you.

6. We know the performance of the seed because we are growing it from the same bag as well. Therefore we have seen an exponential improvement in growing success rates since we started selling our seeds. ( If you fail at growing you’ll think its you and not want to take an ownership in helping the supply chain.

*Seeds are a product of nature and NOT mechanical. As a product of nature they are subject to variables, unpredictability, and surprises. Everything affects germination! Season, region, humidity, indoor and outdoor temperature, air circulation, medium, seeding rate, soak time, soil pH, Lot number. Much of microgreening is an art form requiring intuition, humility, trial and error Journaling will help make sense of microgreens to help track seeding dates, time, rates, grow mediums, habits, and results. Seeds all have their own personalities and enough journaling, experimenting, and trial and error will quickly reveal seeds unique quirks and personalities. Once you learn your seeds personality, give it what it needs not what you want to give it.

PRESERVE SEED VIABILITY and VIGOR

As seeds age, they decline in viability and vigor. Viability is the ability to germinate. Vigor is a measure of the strength and health of the seed. Vigor declines before does viability, so just because a batch of seeds germinates does not guarantee a harvest. Seeds manifest life. Seeds are dearly precious, but also highly perishable. We maintain our seed inventory in a cool room that keeps them in comfortable. We only package as we need them so as to make sure no seed sits on any shelf for any period of time.

Refrigerate seeds to preserve viability and vigor. The elements of air, moisture and warmth ignite germination. There opposites, namely an airtight enclosure, low humidity, and cold enhance long term storage. Also, fluctuations between warm and cool such as occur between midday and midnight promote germination. Again, the opposite condition of constant cold, especially if just above freezing, promotes longevity.

So store seeds in your fridge year round, not just in summer. Or if your fridge lacks room, use your wine cellar. Or if you are less privileged, resort to your basement, if you even know what that is. Or if their water content does not exceed 8 percent, store seeds in your freezer. That magic number may be interesting to know, but is not very practical to apply. Beyond 8 percent, the freezer offers a very icy reception. Water turned to ice disrupts the seed’s cellular structure, which destroys its spark of life.