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Saturday, October 16, 2010

It all starts with good seed

Fast forward to the middle of winter--The cold wind is howling and you just want to stay inside and relax. You warm up with some hot spiced cider and you thumb through the vegetable seed catalogs you ordered back in October.


As we continue to say, grocery prices will continue to rise and there is nothing better than home-grown produce.

This feature is primarily targeted towards the beginner gardener, but we hope any gardener can benefit from some of the information we will present.



As a beginner gardener, you will need to figure out exactly what you want to grow as soon as spring arrives next year. Sure, you can go down to your local super store or DIY center and pick up all kinds of seed, but do you really know what you are getting at this bargain price? Heck there are so many varieties out there and the package doesn’t adequately provide information on the seed you pick up from there colorful displays. Many of the seeds you can pick up in these stores are hybrid seed and some have been significantly mutated. We try to stay away from these seeds.

We prefer heritage or heirloom seeds. These are seed which have been passed down from generation to generation. These are typically high quality seeds. As you progress in your gardening adventures, you will learn to save seeds of your own once you have built your collection of heritage or heirloom seeds. You will be surprised how fast you can collect quality seed, save them for the following year and have plenty left to trade for other seeds.

Seed catalogs will provide some great information on the type of seed you desire to grow. Once you receive your seed catalogs, you will probably be a little overwhelmed and want to order much more than you need to start with. Talk to some experienced gardeners. Figure out what they grow and why they like a particular type of seed or plant. Just a note of caution here, if you ask 10 gardeners about a specific topic, you will most likely get 11 different answers.

We will be addressing specific vegetable garden planning in a later feature, but let’s keep our focus on how to get the ball rolling by ordering some seed catalogs. There are a variety of seed companies throughout the United States. We have taken the time to provide you a list of a few of these companies. Take a few moments to check out these websites and order a free catalog. We will remind you that once you are finished with these hard copies of catalogs to recycle them. Ideally, you may be able shred some of them for your composting operations. Besides the list provided below, use your favorite search engine to find many more. You may need to cut and paste these links into your browser.

http://www.seedsavers.org/CatalogRequest.aspx

http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/main_vegies.html

http://www.sustainableseedco.com

http://amishlandseeds.com/

http://www.ufseeds.com/

http://www.greenpeople.org/VegetableSeed.html

http://www.halcyon.com/tmend/links.htm

http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/MP/catalogrequest

http://www.gurneys.com



This list ought to get you started in the right direction. Once you order your catalogs, you will begin receiving them in the middle of winter. You will go to the mail box and pick up your catalog and immediately get a warm glow knowing that spring is just around the corner. You will also know that when winter is really bringing you down, you can pick up those seed catalogs and snap you out of that winter funk.

If you know of or find another quality link, please feel free to share it with everyone else.

As always, we appreciate your feedback on these free features. If you are reading this, you are fortunate enough to get this free information before someone talks into charging for it.

Look for future features on vegetable garden planning. We will also have specific features on how to get your seed started and when to start them once you do receive them.



Vegetable Gardening For Dummies


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1 comment:

  1. Be ure to look or us on facebook as well. Search for Frugal Farmers.

    ReplyDelete