Already! Here Come the Seed Catalogs!

I have already received six seed catalogs. I know I have expressed the idea of starting some basil. I may start some micro-greens, or sprouts, too. I think I usually see them in my mailbox after Christmas.

As nice as they are to peruse, those of you who follow my organic vegetable and fruit gardening blog entries know that I am becoming more and more aware of seed provenance. I want to grow plants that have been successful for me in the past in my native earth. Particularly, I want to grow seeds of the plants that performed well for me, selecting the best of the best each year. In a small way, over a couple years, the Olpaka tomato I grow from seed will be less like the Olpaka you can get seed of from Totally Tomatoes, even though Olpaka is an heirloom tomato.

This last fall, I collected seed from our heirloom sweet corn, beans, peppers, tomatoes, many flowers; nearly everything other than root crops(of which I am saving some tubers) and greens and cole crops. With cole crops and carrots, I make a special effort to note varieties and where I purchase seed. The seed cycle on those is biennial and Wisconsin's climate precludes having these set seed in any reliable way.

I know most gardeners plant tomatoes and try a new variety each year, but wouldn't the seed companies be playing to a good subsection of the very intensive subset of gardeners by featuring some really cool and colorful carrots?

Well, at least the Twins and Baby Gardener will enjoy them, not being quite as jaded as me. After all, Future Chef Twin decided we needed to grow yellow raspberries last season after seeing them in a garden catalog.

We planted yellow raspberries.