garden planning part 1

my favorite seed catalogs

It's that time of year! 

Hallelujah!

Even though the warm days of spring still seem so far away, it's time to start plotting and scheming for this season's garden.

I peruse my seed catalogs, purchase my seeds, and then begin sprouting in earnest!

Here are links to my favorite catalogs/websites:

Territorial Seed 

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds 

John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden Seeds 

High Mowing Seeds 

Burpee Heirloom 

Sow True Seed 


I don't order all my seeds. Some I pick up locally at the hardware store, but browsing the wide selections in the catalogs helps me choose varieties I am interested in trying. The Territorial Seed catalog in particular has a fabulous amount of information on planting instructions, diseases, and pests. 

They even list life span of the seeds, which I find very helpful. Most seeds last at least two years, some several. In the fall, on the good advice of a friend, I go through my seeds and mark their expiration date on the packet to keep things organized.


This week I am finalizing my selection. It's so hard to decide, because every year I always want to try everything!

But over the years I am learning to plant only what I have had success with in the past and then each year I choose two, maybe three new things to try. That ensures that I am at least somewhat successful...

Let me tell you that here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is very easy to get discouraged with organic gardening. We have every kind of 
creepy crawly,
mildew, 
blight, 
disease, 
beetle, 
worm, 
and plague 
you can possibly imagine.

It can be a real lesson in persistence.

So here it is again, time to begin the process all over for another year.

And this year I hope to learn a little more,

eat a little more,

and hey....

gardening is cheaper than professional therapy, so there's that.

Plus you get tomatoes.



Part 2 coming next week. How to make newspaper seed starting pots, and my seed starting setup.