One of the great pleasures on a cold winter day is browsing through seed catalogs. I love to see the beautiful photos and imagine how different plants would look in my garden.
You can buy seeds locally, but catalogs often carry varieties that are hard to find in the neighborhood garden center or big box store. For example, I can find cornfield beans that grow in semi-shade, a dazzling array of melons from around the world and peppers sized to grow in containers. A good catalog also provides information about how to grow different plants.
Periodically I need to remind myself that seed catalogs are written by professionals in order to sell products. In order to keep my seed purchases within a reason budget, I developed a few strategies.
Inventory current seeds
Many commercial seeds, if stored well, are usable for several years after they are purchased. Seeds need to be kept from heat and humidity. I store my seed collection in covered airtight containers in the refrigerator. A small amount of silica gel (from a craft store) wrapped in a paper towel, several tissues or a bit of fabric absorbs excess humidity. You can also use the packets of drying material that comes in many vitamin bottles.
However some vegetable seeds only keep one to two years, such as:
- sweet corn
- onions
- leeks
- chives
- Swiss chard
- parsley
- okra
- parsnips.
Pelleted seeds also are short-lived.
Think about last year’s garden
What worked? What didn’t? Were there any gaps? Each year I try to keep a running list of the hits and misses in my garden. The Cloud Nine eggplants were prolific, but I wished they were open-pollinated instead of hybrids. I didn’t like last year’s zucchini selection. And last fall I wished for some peppers and tomatoes that were planted in containers that could be brought inside on cold nights.
Plan the garden
A garden plan doesn’t have to be perfectly scaled or incredibly detailed. Even rough sketches indicating major plantings help me decide what seeds are needed and how much to buy.
Prioritize the wish list
Every year, there are more seeds and plants I’d like to try than my budget or garden space will allow. So I fall back on an old-fashioned technique: I prioritize my want list. What seeds do I need? What seeds do I most want to get this year and what ones can wait for another time? After all, as baseball fans say, there’s always next year.