Seed Delivery!

This year I decided to order my seeds instead of buying them at the local hardware or big box store. All my new seeds came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, which is a company in Mansfield, Missouri. Other gardeners order from several different companies, but Baker Creek had a great selection and as a native Missourian I was happy to support them with my business.

The amount of seeds I ordered far exceeds the space in the garden. It is important to remember that your garden is half or a quarter of the size you think it is when you consider space between rows and plants. I swore I would never start peppers or tomatoes from seed again after several problems transplanting them after they got their second leaves. In my seed buying fervor these problems were forgotten and I ended up with several varieties of tomato and pepper seeds. My justification is that it is hard to find the tasty and beautiful heirloom varieties for sale as plants.

In the past I have a hard time selecting flowers. Sunflowers and ameranthus are a must because they are fairly successful in arid climates, and marigolds are good because they keep away pests. I want my flowers to be fairly low maintenance or functional. This year my flowers include several flowering herbs that are medicinal or edible such as lavender, echinacea, and chrysanthemum.

In the past lettuce, beets, and pumpkins have been good producers, so they will be the core of the garden. My lettuce did so well last year I collected the seeds and didn't have to buy any this year (red-leaf and a butter variety). I decided to add a few of my favorite veggies this year: brussel sprouts, lima beans, and cabbage (for sauerkraut).

This year I started my first seed spreadsheet to keep track of how the seeds did and where they were ordered from. If you go to "seed list" under Garden 2010 you can see the different varieties I selected and how some of the seeds did last year.