Selecting Garden Seeds        Seed catalogs Jerry Apps Photo

            Starting in late December, and continuing through January and into February, the garden seed catalogs began arriving.  One, two a day.  Until I had a pile of them.  They came from all over the country—East, West, South and of course from Wisconsin.  Sort of fun to see all those brightly colored vegetable photos on a cold winter day.

            As we have done for several years, my farm garden managers, Steve and Natasha, and I met for lunch and an extended discussion around which vegetable seeds to order this year. We have a map of what we planted last year, and where it was planted in the garden as our guide—we try not to plant anything in the garden where it was planted last year.  Cuts down on disease problems.  We also try to order vegetable varieties that have done well in recent years.

            We have the most fun trying to decide on tomato varieties—of course we always go with the old standbys, Wisconsin 55, Early Girl, and Big Boy.  We usually plant five to seven different varieties. 

After the old favorites we read tomato descriptions: “bursting with flavor,” biggest tomato ever,” “incredible tangy flavor,” “savory old-fashioned flavor,” “hands-down champion,” and much more. One catalog had 39 pages of tomatoes. Which ones to choose?

            Our second interesting discussion revolves around sweet corn varieties.  We always have trouble deciding on which to order.  Here are some of the descriptors: “most widely used hybrid in the world,” “delectable describes its taste,” “filled with 14 to 16 rows of tender, creamy kernels,” “phenomenal eating quality,” “explosively crisp, sweet flavor,” “sweetest of all,” and much, much more.

            Of course, there is always discussion around each of the other vegetable varieties we should order—beans, carrots, kale, lettuce, etc. sometimes jokingly— “Which will the rabbits leave alone?”

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Ordering garden seeds is a peek into Spring.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books including my book, Garden Wisdom, at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books.