Aren’t seeds brilliant!
Monday, May 26th, 2008
After harvesting the potatoes a couple of days ago, i got to thinking about the poor little seed potato. I took so long deciding whether i wanted earlies or maincrops, then which variety to buy, and then the sub variety, then changed my mind, then went to a potato day and made a final decision based on a number of factors. Luckily i chose well - our harvest tastes delicious, with a few chives added for good measure!
The seed potatoes were then meticulously planted and looked after. However, as soon as the green shoots started appearing, i forgot about the tubers until unearthing them, and caught a glimpse of the wrinkled mess that i spent so much time searching for.
It’s quite amazing that seeds turn into what they do. All we do is (hopefully!) give the seed the right conditions for germination. This enables the embryo - a plant in what is essentially a state of frozen animation - to begin it’s growth. Inside the seed is enough food to support it as it begins to absorb water, the embryo begins to grow, it puts roots down and develops baby leaves (cotyledons), so that it can finally provide its own food. Potatoes are a little different, being the size that they are. The really tiny seeds like carrot seeds are particularly amazing.
This is one of the main reasons we decided to begin growing our own - why should we pay somebody else to give the seed the right conditions for germination, look after it during its growth and food production, (spray it with loads of chemicals!), package it and deliver it to somewhere near our home.
We can do that ourselves.
