Ordering seeds...

Noie 1/28/2012, 2:33 pm

Well, I've finally managed to get all the way through the Baker Creek catalog and pick the seeds I wanted. Added them all to the cart....and there's 70 of them. Now I can't quite decide if I just say what the heck and order them all, or try to cut down on the number of varieties. Do I really need 8 types of tomatoes or 10 types of peppers?

jpatti 1/28/2012, 3:14 pm

That is the problem with seed catalogs. There's too much stuff I want to grow. And Baker's Creek is one of the WORST for making me greedy. Oh, see there's only 30 tomatoes I want to try, and 20 melons... not even counting all the other catalogs...

Plot out your garden. Decide what will go where. Put the stuff you will use most in first when planning, cause seriously... grow what you will eat. Then put in at least a few squares of stuff just for fun or curiosity.

Then order that stuff. It will be much less than your wish list. Much, much less.

When I win the lottery, I'm going to have ACRES of gardens and a fulltime gardening staff and actually grow out all the stuff I ever wanted...

Meanwhile... one has to be practical. At least MOSTLY practical, with a few things for "play" here and there.

Noie 1/28/2012, 4:47 pm

Sadly...that was just for the things I normally buy at the store. Rolling Eyes

Okay, maybe a few extra varities, but that's only because the store doesn't sell 10 types of tomatoes! I would probably buy them if they did. Like I do with peppers... Embarassed

(Because each one has a different flavor...so I need 7 types a week. Really!)

So my dilemma is...do I grow several squares of the same variety, or grow a different variety in each square? (70 things in 140 squares = 2ish of each). I have 9 squares marked out for bush beans and three varieties in my cart at the moment. 3 squares of each, or I could do 9 squares of one. Gah...

jpatti 1/28/2012, 7:25 pm

I grow Brandywine tomatoes cause they're delish and Opalkas for sauce-making. I like Matt's cherry cause it tastes like a real tomato instead of a cherry; I grow at least one in a hanging basket every year. Also I like the Yellow Pear cherries, which I also do in a container. My main garden must be for Brandywine and Opalkas though, cause I need those.

For beans, I have less advice as I don't do bush beans, I like pole beans better cause I plant once and eat for weeks and weeks - they keep going if you keep them picked. I recommend a Romano type bean though; they're quite yummy. I only do 3 squares of poles, but of course the vertical squares are more "valuable" garden real estate than the non-verticals.

**Furbalsmom** 1/28/2012, 8:21 pm

Last year I grew 4 varieties of bush beans, only planted four squares, but this year, there will be two squares of each. Remember you can plant 9 bush beans per square, so that was 36 plants.
We love beans and 4 squares was not enough once I learned how to make Dilly Beans. I like the way bush beans mature all at once (sort of) but as long as you keep them picked you will get a few more. This year I will also plant 4 squares, then a couple of weeks later the remaining 4 squares.
My first year, (OLD SFG with weeds Shocked

) I grew pole type beans and typically, they produce up until frost. I obviously did not plant enough and we rarely got enough at a time to actually make a meal.

shannon1 1/29/2012, 2:18 am

Noie wrote:Well, I've finally managed to get all the way through the Baker Creek catalog and pick the seeds I wanted. Added them all to the cart....and there's 70 of them. Now I can't quite decide if I just say what the heck and order them all, or try to cut down on the number of varieties. Do I really need 8 types of tomatoes or 10 types of peppers?

we had a thread for people like us I think it was called seed hoarders anon. or something like that. Wink

I would figure out just how much you can plant for example do you have 8 north side squares for the toms plus the squares you need for peppers. Be careful or you will end up with a crisper drawer in the fridge filled with seed packets. That said, I, ah, did order more seeds this year but I didn't order all I wanted to, scouts honor. lol!

rrsmith60 1/29/2012, 9:04 am

I used to buy about 75% more seeds than I needed and thus ended up with at least 50% more starts than I needed.

Through the past several years my habit of over buying has diminished.

Now I save my OP seeds for certain veggies and buy the other essentials. I still end up with far two many starts, so I donate them to the neighbors that I’ve gotten started into SFG. In return, they look after my garden when I’m away.

But, I can’t express enough how important it is to plot your garden and plan your planting.

Lastly buy seeds that are adapted to grow in your climate. If you need help in understanding what grows well in your area go to your state agriculture extension agency website. Almost all of them publish a bulletin for the local home gardener.

Happy planning…………….

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Hi, I’m a recovering seed hoarder.

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