But what to grow? For the beginner, pages and pages of pretty pictures in catalogues can be confusing. You can easily encounter 20 “different” types of tomato, all looking much the same.
Different varieties exist because seed suppliers have different soil types, weather conditions and levels of light and warmth in their gardens, as well as different taste and experience. Generally it’s best to stick with a reliable all-rounder to get you going.
The internet is hugely helpful in determining the performances of different strains of flowers or veg.
If you’re interested in tomatoes, for example, you’ll find most growers seem to prefer strains such as ‘Gardener’s Delight’, ‘Sungold’ and ‘Ailsa Craig’, which produce disease-free, tasty fruit. You’ll also learn that while the popular ‘Moneymaker’ strain produces huge numbers of tomatoes, they are also notoriously tasteless. And you’ll discover which conditions suit which varieties.
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Getting good-quality seed is important. You can send for seeds by post or better still do it on the net.
But where do die-hard gardeners get theirs, and which are best for beginners? I asked a couple of experienced seed-growers.
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For starters
If you are an absolute beginner, it’s always worth sowing a few basic annuals. Most rewarding among these are poppies, which self-seed, the irresistible sweet pea, and the less well-known Orlaya grandiflora, with its delicate snow-white lacy blooms.
June Blake, of Blake Nurseries in Blessington, says perennials that flower in the first year are best value. You can sow in early spring and have a complete bed in late summer.
Three choices are: Agastache rugosa (’Purple Giant Hyssop’), whose mild, minty-scented foliage attracts bees and butterflies, and creates beautiful winter structure with striking seed heads; Papaver nudicaule (‘Iceland poppy’), whose flowers range in colour from white through to rich pinks, yellows and oranges; and the many varieties of lupin that flower in the first year.
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For flowers: Blake stocks a wide variety of herbaceous perennials, ornamental grasses and shade-loving plants. She collects her own seed, gets free seed as a member of garden societies and also buys from certain catalogues. Much of her seed comes from three UK outlets — Chiltern Seeds, Plant World and Secret Seeds. They all have online catalogues, ordering systems and germination guides.
I find the German company Jelitto one of the best, with excellent germination information and support. It’s a candy store for the enthusiast, more expensive but worth the extra.
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Vegetable seeds: The Irish Seed Savers Association is a charity set up to preserve Irish agricultural biodiversity, while the Organic Centre in Rossinver, Leitrim, is a non-profit-making enterprise offering training and support to those wishing to garden organically. Both are excellent local sources for organic seeds.
Rebecca Hussey of the Organic Centre, an unashamed salad enthusiast, says it’s worth sowing different salad ingredients. ‘Bijou’, ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Salad Bowl’ lettuce can be mixed with ‘Mizuna’ and ‘Tai Sai’ (a variety of pakchoi). Other staple vegetables to grow from seed include carrots, cabbage and spinach.
For those with more experience, Hussey suggests using artichokes in a decorative way. Both globe and jerusalem varieties are magnificent structural plants. Beware the flowering jerusalem artichoke, however — it looks fabulous, but it’s invasive.
At the Irish Seed Savers farm, anybody can buy seeds, but membership (€35 or €25 concessions) entitles you to five free packets and three varieties of seed potatoes.
Frank Bouchier, the farm manager, is another great believer in salad crops, especially rocket and the ‘Red Giant’ mustard leaf, a big, brassy plant that overwinters well.
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When it comes to tomatoes, he recommends the wonderful ‘Brandywine’, a beefsteak type, or ‘Stupice’, a really tasty Czech variety.
Blake Nurseries, Manor Kilbride, Blessington, 01 458 250 or 087 277 0399; www.chilternseeds.co.uk; www.secretseeds.com; www.plantworld-devon.co.uk; www.jelitto.com; Irish Seed Savers, Capparoe, Scarriff, Co Clare, 061 921 866, www.irishseedsavers.ie; the Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim, 071 985 4338, www.theorganiccentre.ie