Okay, that was obvious.
And so was that.
But I also do this….
Scour the heirloom seed catalogs, circling what I want to try when the weather finally warms up. Our growing season is short here. There is a danger of frost until June 15th! And the first fall frost is usually towards the beginning of September. This year I want to try something new with our raised beds. Mr. Ferrero Rocher and I are going to design some “greenhouse” covers with pvc pipes and plastic, ones we can move easily but will hopefully be strong enough to withstand our spring winds. If it works we’ll be able to start plants in March and April, a full two months earlier than normal!
Since we are still in the planning stages of what to plant, I’d like to know what must have plants you grow in your garden. Is there a special variety of tomato, or green beans, or carrots that you always have to grow? Also, where do you buy your seeds from? I like to use Baker Creek but would like to look at other places too.
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I am excited for the greenhouse experiment. I’ve seen people do it around here with success.
Hmmm…I’ve never thought of those greenhouse things for raised beds. I have 4 raised beds in our tiny yard and I get frustrated because, like yours, our growing season is mid-June to mid-Sept. I do so much work and get hardly anything to show for it because of early frost. I might have to go looking for some tutorials for building some. Thanks for the idea.
I always have to try something new. One year we did asperagus peas (werent a big hit), our first year we did some yummy little eggplants (we do them every year now), and we are constantly trying to find a broccoli that will grow well here.
We are also short growing season here (but we go to about October) so we have to grow short season crops as well.
I love T&T Seeds. It is a Canadian company, but I am sure that they ship to the US. The quality is amazing, about 99% germination. I also use Stokes seeds, Seed Savers (for the herloom I can’t get anywhere else) and Vesey’s. I love catalogues and about now is my favorite because they all start coming.
Have fun!
We use Baker Creek too. We are also members of the Seed Savers Exchange and often get our seeds from them. We’ve visited their farm – beautiful!
http://www.seedsavers.org/
My favorite tomato variety is Brandywine.
Thanks for the reminder…it’ll be time for us to start seeds soon…we started the first week of Feb last year…because I just couldn’t take the deadness of winter anymore!!
I’ll have to get J to chime in with his favorites. The neighborhood gardening club met this weekend to discuss and devour seed catalogs. There are multiple spread sheets being created and compared. Lots of tomatoes and peppers, of course, but lots of planning for asparagus beds, too.
we love baker’s creek–i also use johnny’s for large op seed packets.
faves:
tomato: cherokee purple
summer squash: costata romanesco
(I’m going off my memory here…)
winter squash:spaghetti, muskee de provence, butternut, winter luxury pie pumpkin
bright lights swiss chard, kale, bull’s blood beets
sweet peppers: sweet chocolate, golden marconi
hot peppers: big jim, anaheim, serrano, chili tepin (HOT)
melons: jenny lind, collective farm woman, yellow fleshed moon and stars
these are my favorites, by far!
Last year, my garden was more weedin than Eden as I was focused on growing a baby…lol.
If you like onions, Dixondale is a great company. They have different varieties for different regions. They only do onion starts and fertilzer. http://www.dixondalefarms.com/
We do a fun onion called walking Egyptian onions. They are fun.
i knew that catalogue was familiar, just got my seeds from Baker Creek in the mail last week! the people there are so super friendly! Love it!
We are so lucky to live near Mansfield, MO where Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is located and go to their Heritage days. Once a year they have the Spring Planting Festival on a Monday and we get to go (it is usually on Sundays)! They are awesome!
What a good way to start the day!!!
We have yet to find anything good to grow here in Florida. Our veggies did not survive last year… they molded. I’m looking forward to moving soon…. some where that I can grow things… and a place where I can tear up the yard for a descent garden. We are renting while the husband is in school and just have a little tomato plant which is very sad, and some herbs.
someday…..