MY 2013 SEED ORDER looks kind of crazy—heavy on the legumes, with a side order of salad, broccoli and a few flowers, and not much else. That’s because I have various leftover seeds to balance it all out, and also because I share and swap with a friend, so he’s got certain crops (such as tomatoes) covered for both of us. But to continue my annual tradition of full disclosure, here’s my order so far:
my 2013 order, by catalog
Wild Garden Seed (my recent story on Wild Garden)
- ‘Purple Peacock’ broccoli
- Antares Flashback calendula
- Triangle Flashback/Zeolights calendula
- Citrus Sherbet Mix calendula
- Wild Garden lettuce mix
- ‘Brown Goldring’ lettuce
- ‘Deer Tongue’ lettuce
- ‘Merlox Red Oak’ lettuce
- ‘Delicata Zeppelin’ winter squash
- Visit Wild Garden Seed’s online catalog
Turtle Tree biodynamic seed (my story on Turtle Tree)
Hudson Valley Seed Library (my story and podcast with Hudson Valley)
- ‘Piracicaba’ broccoli
- ‘Panther’ edamame
- ‘Gigante’ parsley and ‘Mammoth’ dill for pickling
- Visit Seed Library’s online catalog
Peace Seedlings (my recent story on Peace)
- ‘Red Swan’ snap bush bean
- ‘Shin Shu’ runner bean
- ‘Romano’ snap pole bean
- ‘Jack in the Beanstalk’ runner bean
- ‘Green Beauty’ snap/snow vine pea
- ‘Sugar Magnolia’ snap vine pea
- Visit Peace Seedlings’ online catalog
Daggawalla (my recent story on Daggawalla)
- Nicotiana collection
- Visit Daggwalla’s online catalog
Thompson & Morgan (my story on their giant shallot)
- banana, or chef’s, shallot
Non-seeds items ordered:
- Potatoes from Fedco Moose Tubers (my veggie-growing Q&A with founder C.R. Lawn)
- Onion plants from Johnny’s Selected Seed (my story on growing under cover, with Paul Gallione of Johnny’s)
margaret’s past seed orders
- my 2009 seed order
- my 2010 seed order
- my 2011 seed order
- my 2012 seed order
I got ‘pretzel’ pole beans from blogger Nan Ondra ( HAYEFIELD) Have you ever heard of them? I can’t wait to taste them. She sent me a bunch of flower seeds too.
The one seed that I MUST have this year is ‘Helda’ beans. My favorite. I wait 9 months out of the year for those beans. I never put them up because they get eaten too fast.
I hope this comment will not be too forward of me: if we could all plant a little more than what we ourselves will use this year and donate the excess to our local food banks when harvest comes? This is my request and my challenge to all of us gardeners – plan for extras around our virtual tables and help the local poor taste locavore at its finest! Thanks to all of you!
Not at all, Shenandoah. Great idea, and one that is a worthy goal for each of us: to share the harvest. Thanks!
I am so far behind tis year w ordering and planning!!!
Hope you will share what you plant when the time comes, so we get the whole picture.
I still have some seeds left on my wishlist for this season! I usually just do tomatoes, peppers, and herbs, but this year I’m going to branch out and try some artichokes, potatoes, and maybe pumpkins…
Hi, Karyn. This comment almost got away from me! Sorry. Artichokes fascinate me…but I have never dared!
Wow, except for the beans, what you have listed is what I’d plant for a winter garden. It’s too darn hot here in the coastal south to plant any of those things now. My winter garden is just wrapping up for the year- kale, cabbage, mustard, chard, lettuce, rutabagas and Brussels sprouts.
We’re about to seed the tomatoes, inside for now – too much snow and ice here… This list makes me jealous. Thompson & Morgan is a great place to shop! Planning what to seed and seeing the first young plants is my favorite time of the year
I’ve not done a lot with seed ordering up to this point; I have, in fact, spent the last three years treading water in the deep end of my over ambitious garden with my ear buds in listening to your podcast (and any others that apply to my neck of the woods) for a life-preserver. I finally feel like I’m understanding what’s going on out there, and had moderate success last year–even with the hot-cold-hot-over moist-ridiculously dry-odd ball growing season. This year, I would like to try my hand at starting more items from seed–and was fascinated by the “duh” moment I had when reading your article on using “local seeds”. So the question is, how do I hunt down local seed growers in my general area? I live in MA right on the NH border in the middle of my state…. . The only seeds choices with which I am passively presented are those from local ag-way shops, Wal Mart, Burpee & Johnny’s catalogs…. you often speak about seed cats you read cover to cover for info… where/how do I find those kinds of resources? (thank you, from an ambitious neophyte)
Hi, Caprill. A good start might be to explore High Mowing Organic Seeds, which farms much of what they sell on their land in Northern VT (they note which varieties are their “homegrown” ones I believe). The company doesn’t have to be right in your ‘hood of course — but check to see if they are growing like you do and in a similar climate, conditions, etc. (or if the place they get the seed is).
Hi Margaret, I love reading your blog. Can you help us NYC terrace gardeners please. I plant flowers and a small herb garden every year but would love to branch out. I need help with what vegetables can I grow in small containers? Tomatoes, baby cukes, garlic? Any suggestions with what I can experiment with on a terrace? Thanks –
During the last few years their has been a lack of pollinators. This year i purchased mason bees
blue orchard and leaf cutter spring and summer. Have you noticed the decrease and our made friends with the mason bees, Got my fingers crossed.
Hi, Recoush. Am actually interviewing some pollinator experts soon on the radio show, and yes, I have noticed the declines, definitely.