3.23.2007

seeds

As I write, snow is falling outside my Maine window,
and indoors all around me
half a hundred garden catalogues are in bloom.

- Katharine S. White



I've had my seed catalogs for months but I'm just getting around to planning our garden and placing the orders. I have my old favorites that I buy every year—like Buttercrunch and Little Gem lettuces from Seeds of Change. Why mess with a good thing, right?

But I like to try new things, too. Last year it was cannellini beans, which turned out well and will get added to the favorites. This year it will be a different variety of carrot and lima beans. I know, I hate lima beans. But, my husband and friend Jenny (who's from Georgia and calls them butterbeans) tell me I'll love them picked fresh and while they're still small and tender. I'm not convinced, but we'll see. I used to hate peas, too.

I think we'll try corn this year, too. Corn is tricky and I have two funny stories about growing corn. My grandfather once planted some and I watched the next day as crows walked along the carefully planted row and plucked out the seeds one by one. He tried to shoot them from the kitchen window but let's not even go there :)

We tried it once in my family's garden. It had just ripened and we planned to pick and eat it the next day. We woke up the next morning to find the stalks flattened to the ground and the corn gone. Raccoons! They may be cute in those movies and television ads where they talk to one another, but in real life not so much.

These are some of my favorite places to buy seeds. But be warned. Once you place an order you'll get a flood of seed catalogs next winter!

Seeds of Change certified organic seed
Territorial Seed Company
Vermont Bean Seed Company not just beans
Johnnys Selected Seeds
Nourse Farms great for fruit and berries
Pinetree Garden Seeds

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I get most of my seeds from Seeds of Change and our raspberries and strawberries are from Nourse, but I've never heard of some of the companies you linked to. Thanks for the links, I'll defintely have to check them out!

Anonymous said...

My sister said she watched out her kitchen window to the most puzzling sight - an entire stalk of corn leaving her garden on its own volition. She realized after watching for a few minutes that a squirrel had chewed the stalk and was carting if off.

It was the best tasting corn so we could hardly fault him.

Anonymous said...

I love your blog! I'm also looking at seed catalogs here in Montana. I just found Primrose for the first time looking for vintage trim. I hope you'll check out my blog at www.twokitties.typepad.com when you have time. Thanks!

weirdbunny said...

Our children love to grow corn on the cob, as the plant grows taller than them. Enjoy your seed ordering !

Melissa said...

Oh, I know just how you feel about seed catalogues! They are my sanity saving grace throughout the months of January and February here in Pennsylvania where it seems latey we get the worst winter weather in February!
Happy Planting!

Unknown said...

We don't have snow here but still a little cold and I am wanting to garden already also. I did plant 4 Primroses.
http://rv-quilter.blogspot.com/