Monday, February 13, 2012

It's Time for Selecting and Ordering Seeds

It is February, and it is time to start gardening!

Okay, if you live in the Northeastern United States as I do, you won't be getting out your shovel quite yet. But you may be receiving seed catalogs in the mail. February is the month to choose and order your seeds and plan your garden space.

At Storey a group of garden fanatics (myself included) have created a wish list and bulk ordered our vegetable seeds. Carleen Madigan, acquiring garden editor, has organized this group for the second year. Last year was quite successful.

This Country Wisdom Bulletin, Starting Seeds Indoors,
is a perfect guide for seed starters. With only 32 pages,
the information is to the point and easily digestible.
Available in print and as an eBook.

By bulk ordering as a group, we grow a lot without spending a fortune. We end up ordering a large assortment of vegetables and, in some cases, many varieties of each. There are 13 people involved, and the cost for each person is only $11. Take a look at the list of seeds we have ordered for our 2012 gardens:

AniseArugula — Ice-Bred
Basil — Genovese
Beans, bush — Dragon's Tongue, Provider
Beans, dry — Cherokee Trail of Tears
Beans, pole — Gold of Bacau
Beets — Chioggia, Cylindra, golden
Belgian endive
Broccoli — blend, raabBrussels sprouts — GustusCarrots — Over the Rainbow mix, Scarlet Nantes, Red-Cored ChantenayCilantroCorn — Smoke Signals
Cucumbers — Cross Country (pickling), Shintokiwa (slicing)
Cumin
Dill
Eggplant — Diamond
Fennel
Garlic chives
Ground cherry
Kale — Lacinato, Red Russian, Winterbor
Kohlrabi — Purple Vienna
Leeks — Blue Solaise
Lettuce — butterhead, Freedom lettuce mix, green oakleaf, Italienishcher
Mache
Mustard
Okra — Cajun Jewel
Onions — Ailsa Craig Exhibition, Copra, Red Marble
Pac choi — Shuko
Parsley — Arat (root), Gigante d'Italia
Parsnip — AndoverPeasPeppers — Aurora, Bulgarian carrot, Chocolate (bell)
Pie pumpkins
*Potatoes — although they are *not seeds, we will be ordering a few varieties of these as well
Radishes — French Breakfast, Plum Purple
Shallots — Prisma
Soybean — Tankuro
Spinach — Bordeaux, Giant Winter
Stevia
Strawberry spinachSummer squash — Black Zucchini, Sunburst (patty pan), Zephyr
Swiss chard — Bright Lights, Perpetual SpinachTomatillo
Tomatoes — Amish Paste, Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Early Girl, Sun Gold
Winter squash — Sweet Mama (kabocha) 

We would love to hear how you are preparing for your garden.

Suggested gardening books:
Starting Seeds Indoors, Starter Vegetable Gardens, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible, Vertical Vegetables & Fruit, and The Vegetable Gardener's Book of Building Projects.

3 comments:

Clint Baker said...

Great Article! Thanks for sharing!

Clint Baker said...

Almost forgot! I am having a seed give away at:

http://theredeemedgardener.blogspot.com/2012/02/veggie-seed-give-away.html

Anonymous said...

I'm gathering materials to go into a couple of new garden beds this season and am drooling over your list of seeds. Great assortment!

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