March 23, a box of seeds arrived from Johnny's Selected Seeds and it was like Christmas all over again. Shopping the seed catalogs reminds me of my childhood thrills flipping through the Sears and Roebuck catalog.
Everything you could possibly want in a single (big) wish book. Digital catalogs are not quite the same, but the thrill is till there. And we both got the "I wants..." as we made our selections.
Our purchasing criteria:
- Edible, that is, more fruits and vegetables than flowers (although some flowers are downright tasty).
- Short season, after all the weather isn't ready until the first week in June, and frost shows up in late September.
- Not likely to overtake the bed - will behave and stay in their place, not crowding out their neighbors.
That said, we ordered 7 varieties of tomatoes, 7 varieties of peppers, untold numbers of greens, and a multitude of other goodies. No one asked, "Who needs hundreds and hundreds of tomato and pepper plants?" So I very happily planted seeds for 35 tomatoes and 35 peppers in the starter trays. Who knew almost all would grow up to be robust little starts?
Seed catalogs and boxes of seeds arrive at the perfect time, when we're done with winter and ready for spring. Even though there are inches of snow on the ground, the warm little nursery in the basement is just the spot to get started.