Saturday, February 4, 2012

Running late with the seed orders

We save seeds for many of our vegetables each year but we still end up buying about half of what we plant each year -- mostly in the form of seeds. Sometimes it's because we didn't make the effort to save what we'd need or didn't maintain plant spacing so saving "true" seed wasn't an option, but the main reason is because we always have a list of new varieties we want to try.

After years of Jackie Clay extolling the virtues of Hopi Pale Grey squash it finally made the top of our "must-try" list and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds was the only place I could find it. So I placed an order for the winter squash and a few other seeds on our 2012 garden list.  Their response time to the order was excellent as I placed the order on Tuesday morning and the seeds arrived in Friday's mail.

It's already time to plant onion seeds and a few other things indoors here in zone 6** so I must get the other seed orders out this weekend if we want to stay on track for spring planting.  Most of what we still need will come from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (just two counties away) but since they don't carry everything we want, I'll also be ordering from Pinetree and Richters and, if I can't resist the free shipping offer, Thompson & Morgan, too.
So who else is looking at seed catalogs and making lists or orders? How about seeding flats?  It really is that time of year...

**Note: Unsure of your planting zone? Check out the new-for-2012 interactive GIS-based USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.  It's a cool attempt to show more accurately "zones within a zone" where small pockets may exist within a geographic range.

4 comments:

Cindy said...

I love seed catalogs and this time of year. My "dream" garden is always better than the real thing! I have never bought seeds from any of the places you mentioned. I will have to check them out. This weather has certainly increased the itch for wanting to plants hasn't it?

Carolyn said...

My "dream" garden is always better than the real thing!

Mine, too!

I'm hoping tomorrow's cold, wet and snowy!! All this mild weather's playing havoc with my schedule for this time of year! I see tulips and daffodils sprouting up everywhere and I haven't finished cutting back stuff from last year...

essay best said...

I have never bought seeds from any of the places that are mentioned in the blog. I will have to check them out.

Brayden Leblanc said...

Great post thanks for sharing it.