THERE’S nothing Pam Morrow likes better than to sit down and flip through her seed catalogues.

After a lifetime of farming and propagating her own plants, she never tires of seeking out new seeds and experimenting with the unusual and hard-to-find.

“I like the old and traditional seed stock,” she said.

“I love the variety and to see what works, especially with the old heirlooms.”

Pam’s seedling stall at the Mullumbimby Farmers Market reflects this interest, with unusual varieties like apple cucumber, purple carrots, white and purple eggplants and black cherry tomatoes available.

When it comes to seed raising, Pam also enjoys the the time-honoured, traditional approach. Every single seed is planted by hand and raised using the methods her father taught her. Pam spent many years helping her dad growing vegies on the farm at Tyagarah and this is where she gained much of her knowledge.

All of Pam’s seeds are organic, grown in her home made organic potting mix, and fed with organic fertilisers, including her own home-made fertilising teas.

She says a good supply of nutrients is the key to strong healthy seedlings

“I think it all comes down to the good soil that’s it grown in or the compost, and that you’re always feeding it, because they use all the nutrients up out of the soil rather quickly so you’ve always got to feed them.”

Pam says it is heartening to see the resurgence of interest in backyard gardening; “because I think it was sort of lost for a little while,” she said.

She says she especially enjoys supplying seedlings to school gardens.

“I think that’s excellent. If children grow up with growing vegies when they’re little, when they get older they’ll want their own vegie garden.”