This week, I began my annual seed-buying and garden planning process. What I really love to do is open up my huge seed container, and take out each type of seed, in turn, deciding how many more varieties I should purchase. So, for instance, I'll take all my cucumbers and lay them out, and note how many pickling and slicing cukes I have already, how old the seeds are, and how well they performed for me in the past. Then I get to flip through the seed catalogs, making notes of varieties I'd like to purchase for this year. (Clearly, I already have a lot of cucumbers, but how can one resist a variety called Dragon's Egg? It's going on the list!) When I came to my tomato seeds, I realized … [Read more...]
Sunday night seed shopping
(Last year's sunflower forest) January can be a really tough month here in Oregon. It's dark, cold, and rains nearly every day. Thank goodness for a cozy home, a woodstove, my knitting, and seed catalogs. Tonight I pored over my (huge) box of seeds (I keep them in my dark, cool pantry, in an underbed storage container), determined what I'd be needing for 2012, and then oogled two of my favorite seed catalogs: High Mowing Seeds and Territorial Seed Company. I just placed my High Mowing order, and here's what I got: Bull's Blood Beets Three types of carrots: Napoli, Scarlet Nantes, and Danvers 126 Palco Spinach Cherokee Purple and Indigo Rose tomatoes (can't wait to try Indigo … [Read more...]