Well, some of the flowers are at the end of their seasons and have gone to producing seeds.

As a kid, my fatherSA国际影视传媒檚 hobby was gardening and one of my chores was to collect seeds from a variety of plants. Some would be used the next year to start plants in our small greenhouse to give them a head start before they were planted in the garden. Other seeds were given to friends and neighbours who might want them, and some went to annual exchanges where people traded seeds.

I know seeds arenSA国际影视传媒檛 all that expensive to buy every spring in their little packages but there is something satisfying about collecting and planting your own seeds. Also by selecting seeds from the biggest and healthiest plants over time you will get plants more suited to your own climate and soil conditions.

Collecting your own seeds gives you a better view of your garden, how things grow and what is living in your garden. Every year when getting the seeds out of their pods and sorting them out, I occasionally see a little spider or insect that comes with them. In the poppy seed pods, I occasionally come across a tiny little beetle of some sort which seems to live right inside the pod. Not sure what they eat, possibly the seeds themselves, but it is interesting to see them and try to understand what part they play in the overall ecosystem.

If you had a good microscope and carefully looked at your garden you would find all sorts of microscopic plants, insects, fungi, moulds and organisms that are a part of your garden and enrich your soil. People who are really keen gardeners will take a bit of soil, rub it between their fingers, look at it closely and even smell it to see how healthy their soil is.

Now one seed pod can contain a dozen or more seeds and a plant can produce dozens of seed pods. So a single plant can and often does contain hundreds of seeds. Luckily not all seeds get fertilized, germinate or take root, otherwise they would take over the planet.

Birds eat a lot of seeds, particularly the small ones, but humans probably consume more seeds than any other species on the planet. I came across the following statement on the internet: SA国际影视传媒漇ome seeds are grains, and all grains are seeds but not all seeds are grains.SA国际影视传媒� I had to read it a couple of times to figure it out. All grains are seeds but not all seeds are grains. Humans eat wheat, oats and barley which are grains, corn, rice, peas and beans, which are seeds.

So, we are rather dependent on seeds along with other fruits and vegetables, which are fancy seed casings. When we harvest many crops, we are really harvesting seeds and seed pods, or casings. We couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 support or feed the world's population without them.

Working in a garden gives you time to think. Once upon a time, the government ran experimental farms in the North for a while. It might be a good time to bring those back. Not only do they provide some food and work, but someone may figure out how to turn some Northern plants into a crop that can be farmed. Not only can Northern plants survive a rather harsh climate, some plants have learned how to take advantage of a very short growing season.

If they discovered how to grow some local crops that were staples to our diet, that would save a lot of money importing staples, so it is nice to see people thinking about Northern crops more. So, I think the government should fund and think about Northern farming again. You canSA国际影视传媒檛 succeed without trying, and it could start new businesses and provide work for people in every community.

Never know until you try.