Start thinking about seeds!

If you’re a gardener, it’s once again time to start thinking about what types of crops you want to grow this year. Pull out the garden porn (seed catalogs) and start drooling over all the scrumptious choices. Do you want more than one variety of tomato? Perhaps a big slicing tomato, a medium sized one good for salads and cherry tomatoes for popping in your mouth. There are plenty to choose from. Are there any other fruits or veggies you would like to learn how to grow? Now is the time to start gathering seeds to grow in the coming months and year. Now where does one get good seed? There are some good sources. And is all seed the same? Not really. Think of it this way, all seeds have stories behind them. Some stories better than others, so what story do you want to be a part of? The story of the seed that came from someone’s grandparents that got them from their grandparents? Or do you like the story about the multinational company trying to corner the market with a hybrid variety developed at a University. I prefer the former myself and for good reason. Truth is that this story of seeds and humans began around 12,000 years ago and has undergone a co-evolution between the two. Cultures evolved with diets based on the seeds they had relationships with. Today we are able to mix and match all sorts of fruits and veggies to our own likings. Borrowing food traditions from others and fusing them into our own creations. That is part of the reason that growing our own foods can be so exciting. You can experiment with all sorts of dishes without denting your pocketbook so much. You just have to find the time and space to get growing.
So when I look at my farm/garden porn. I’m only looking at those seed catalogs that I trust and know. I’m choosing to purchase my seeds from companies I know aren’t owned by Monsanto or some other big corporation. Which is becoming increasingly difficult. A company that has integrity to pass down quality seed produced with production practices that I agree with is one I want to support. Organically produced seeds are preferred because they will be more acclimated to organic fertilizers and possibly poor soils. Once I have found a good seed source I am inspired to localize that species and or variety to my own locale by gathering seeds from the plants I grow and growing them out the following season. I have been saving seed for several years now and have certain varieties of squash, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.. The varieties I have saved have worked well on my site and continue to work well. The more generations that seeds are saved from at a particular site or climate the more adapted to the site they become. So after several years of growing Stupice tomatoes on site and saving seed from generation to generation I am developing a Stupice tomatoe that will do better than any other Stupice tomato seed I can purchase.
So why start thinking about seeds now? First off its better to be ahead of yourself than behind. And second because if you want to start your garden from seed many of the crops will need to be started in the next few months to get a good quality harvest. It takes awhile for seed starts to get big enough for transplanting out into the garden. Transplanting robust starts early in the season (weather permitting) can bring you great yields for the growing seasons. You can start your seeds in a sunny windowsill or for those of us lucky enough to have greenhouses we can do it there. If you don’t have a greenhouse or space on a sunny window you can construct simple cold frames that will allow you to start earlier but not quite as early as a greenhouse or a sunny window. It also depends on what you are trying to grow and when. Greens season is coming up and is already here depending on what elevation you live at. Warm season crops definitely need more heat to sprout so simple cold frames might not work for them as early as you’d like. If you don’t have the space to start your own seeds then you will have to rely on some of the local nurseries to get you going on your garden this year. Only purchase the healthiest looking plants if you can’t start your own and are left with no other options.
Any way you choose to get plants to your garden its time to start thinking about what you want where. What will you need to help you grow your garden great this year?