Seeds from the Kitchen Cupboard
Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Medicinal Plants, Seeds — by Emma Crameri March 15, 2012
by Emma Crameri
Seeds from the kitchen cupboard
As an experiment, I wondered if I could grow any plants for free from our kitchen cupboards.
I raided the spice rack and found anise stars, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and two types of mustard seeds. If you have them, you could also use caraway, celery, chilli, dill, and fenugreek.
Of course the seeds need to be whole rather than ground. The fennels in the fennel seed tea had started to decompose and were powdery due to their age.
In the back of the cupboard I collected chia seeds and flaxseeds – remnants of my recent health kick. I already know the organic flaxseeds are fertile. I sometimes make flaxseed tea; you pour hot water over a tablespoon of seeds and leave it in the fridge overnight. Drain the seeds off and throw them in the garden. Drink the remaining ‘tea’. It contains essential fatty acids and is great for your skin and settling an upset tummy.
You could also try sowing sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. Sunflower seed is ideal as a cover crop — look for it in bulk at the grocery shop as bird seed. Sunflowers have long tap roots and they are great for breaking up compacted soil prior to planting. You can feed the flower heads to the chickens when you are finished.
I mixed all the seeds up and added some expired packets of herbs and flowers into an empty cardboard tea box. I was aiming for a beneficial bug – spice – herb mix, which I then planted in various bare patches around the garden.
Indian and Asian grocery stores could be a good source of seeds as you can buy the spices in bulk bags. We buy our cumin (and cinnamon) like this to save money.
If you are going to buy seeds from the grocery store to sow, then I would look for organic ones. You want to avoid storing your spice seeds near the oven as the heat will destroy them. Seeds which are stored out of sunlight in a dry place will be the most viable. Herb and spice seeds do best planted where you want them to remain.
Have you had any luck with free seeds from your kitchen cupboard?
Comments (8)
We planted dry beans, peas and lentils from our kitchen cupboard.
Comment by Daniel — March 15, 2012 @ 10:31 am
I once found many of my spices missing from the cupboard. I wanted to use them for cooking in my dinner. I cannot be sure if they are in my garden, maybe my wife knows. I can confirm that flaxseed definitely sprouts well from seed when stored in the fridge.
Comment by Matt — March 15, 2012 @ 1:04 pm
Thanks, great information
Chris
Comment by Chris Southall — March 15, 2012 @ 5:45 pm
Standard kidney beans will easily grow in a temperate climate. They are just a normal bush bean. We get enough on each plant for one meal for my wife and I and a couple of little tackers.
Most of my green manures come from food markets rather than seed businesses – so much cheaper. I will then purchase a small pack of the same seed from a seed company to get the innoculant (if it’s a legume like fenugreek for example).
Comment by Cam Wilson — March 16, 2012 @ 6:11 am
Matt – I think the dog took your spices. ;-)
Daniel – Cool. I forgot about the legumes.
Comment by Gustoso — March 16, 2012 @ 9:15 am
Quinoa, amaranth (if it’s organic and not toasted), all sorts of dried beans, lentils, mustard seed (if it’s fresh and organic), whole wheat, chia. If you can find organic untoasted poppyseed, that will also grow, but a lot fo supermarket poppyseed is toasted.
Comment by Dani — March 20, 2012 @ 1:01 pm
Dani – Thanks for ideas. I never thought of quinoa! I’ll have to give that a go.
Comment by Gustoso — March 21, 2012 @ 10:05 am
Fenugreek seeds from the local asian grocery store always germinated. I’ve kept meaning to see what else will work….
Comment by leisa — April 4, 2012 @ 9:13 am
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