Cold Climate Gardening

Okay, so I peeked. I opened up a catalog. Then another, and another, and another. It became obvious that I was spending too much time looking at catalogs, so I began hiding them in the bathroom and feigning stomach viruses. I began to feel dirty and shameful, but I couldn’t stop.

Then, the list making started. First, the desired flower and vegetable seeds. No, no, too much. Only the necessary seeds, must really needthe seeds, not just want. Hmm… , okay, let’s sort by catalog, and figure out who has the best deal on Scabious Black Knight. It’s cheaper at Johnny’s, but Select Seeds gives you so many more seeds for not …

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But I did organize them today, as part of a labeling project that started when my dear sister Kathleen sent me a long desired label maker for my 40th birthday. My sick 4 year old son got even bigger thrills making labels, and so the cupboards were thrown open and the labelling began.

I would think that with my husband away in Australia on business (tasting wine, like that’s work!) and two sick kids and below zero weather, I would have been all over those catalogues, but I am reluctant to go there. I am hoping to downscale, to simplify this year, to make my life easier, not harder. This, I know, is not the goal of the …

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Has anyone besides me noticed how many different kinds of seeds The Bookish Gardener is sowing? She lists them all in the sidebar. That woman is ambitious! Where ya gonna plant them all, Chan?

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I can buy the seeds, but I can’t seem to start the seeds. They are all organized by starting date, I have a chart in the garden where they will go, but for some reason, I am so not motivated to get the seeds in dirt. I think because once you start the process, you can’t stop. I have two babies to take care of now, and I am less interested in babying a bunch of little seedlings, and hauling them in and out to harden them, and arranging for a plant sitter if we go away for a few days.

I seem to be more interested in working in the actual garden. I am …

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I mentioned ordering more tomato seeds. I am trying Park’s Whopper. I received seeds from Park in about 5 days. It has been over a week now, and I haven’t received what I ordered from Burpee. From the looks of things, I won’t get those Walls o’ Water out anytime soon. We’ve 8-10″ more of snow, and though it is going to be up in the 40’s this week that 3 feet out there isn’t going to melt away very soon. I had hoped to get the tomatoes going sooner so I could get them out really early. Need some more seed planting medium, too.
By the way, I’m going to try growing strawberries in growing …

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I wanted to get my tomatoes started so I could put them out in Walls o’Water a month early. Had some Early Girl seed left but not the others I thought I had. So I quickly place a couple of seed order. My favorite small tomato is Gardener’s Delight, which Park used to carry. Now I can only find it in Burpee, where the seed padkets are more expensive as are their shipping rates. Oh, well. I like this tomato because it is a little larger than a cherry, very sweet and doesn’t inundate you with more tomatoes than you can eat (or pick). It is also within the 60 day range which I need up here. The …

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Any gardener who hasn’t read Thoreau’s book Faith in a Seed should hie her/himself to the library. It is one of those read a bit, think a bit, read some more books, and now is the time to read it.

I’m in the thick of seed sowing now, trying to keep up with my schedule and shoe-horn in my new acquisitions. I am trying a new seed starting mix this year and so far like it pretty well; it is a soilless one based on coir, not peat. It stays more open textured than I thought it might, being coir. I have added a bit of vermiculite to it to increase its water take-up/drain off speed. …

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