If you haven't ordered your seeds yet...it is time! Don't let something new and interesting not be in your garden because it is out of stock.
Once you get them, sit down and plan out your garden and seeding schedule. Once the warm weather arrives, you will be happy you did.
Besides, what else are you doing on a cold but sunny winter's day that can't wait while you soak it up by a sunny window?
Just a small bit of advice that can save you so much time on the other end of the season...
Save your seed packets!
I put mine in the back of my seed box when they are empty. I do not get rid of them until it is time to order the next year. I have all the growing information at my fingertips. If I save seed, I have all the information for the saved seed as well. If you have your empty packets with your seeds, you not only check what you still have, but you also get to check what you may want to reorder. I cut my necessary catalog time considerably by not looking at every single category of seed.
I also remember to reorder the stuff I really liked. Some people like to put their seed packets out in their garden rows where they end up faded and unreadable. I like mine in the seed box.
Just saying...
I am up at 4:30 this morning because my brain cannot stay asleep, so I get up to make use of my brain while it is willing to work.
This morning's task is to pull the rest of my seed orders together and get them in the mail. Yes, I could do them on line, but I love the process of writing them all down and putting them in the envelope. My dad was the postmaster in our town, and my husband also works for the US Postal Service. I feel some loyalty to keeping the tradition alive. Gardening is a tradition with such deep roots (no pun intended). It is only fitting that I acquire my seeds by the same method.
If you haven't read The Land Remembers by Ben Logan (a Wisconsin writer born and raised in our state), now is the time. It is a great book about farming in the hilly part of our state near the Kickapoo River (love that name) during the 20's and 30's. Ben's mother would sit down with her saved seed and the new seed catalog and plan the next year's harvest. Ben was the youngest of four sons. He was his mother's right-hand-man when it came to planting, harvesting and preserving their summer garden. There are several great chapters on the process of growing and putting up food for the family.
This round of ordering has more to do with flowers than vegetables. I sat down with my oldest daughter last week. The two of us picked out some good possibilities for growing her wedding flowers. She found that many things she found pretty have a seasonality to them and would not be available in early fall. We have had conversations about locally grown and organic flowers before. She has written articles for Veil magazine regarding such flower choices. Yep, we have a real writer in the family. Michelle has been always particularly good at expressing herself in the written word. Four years of college, and she has made a career out of it. I'm just the hobby writing hack in the family.
I am also making sure that I order some different types of flowering/ornamental kale. The four plants I had in my rain garden last year were show-stoppers. When everything else was fading the flowering kale was absolutely brilliant. I am going to start this in my own basement this year so I can have some different varieties.
Now that I hear my husband moving around, it is time to get my seed order done. See what happens when you sit down at the computer to research one little question??????
