If you have been on the lookout, you will have noticed that nearly every store has a rack of seeds out on display. Flowers, annuals, perennials, vegetables and herbs create the lineup of choices. When they first came out it seemed early, but the time is moving right along and some of the seed choices enjoy an early start indoors to be placed outside when the time is ready.
Seeds are always an interesting thing to me, as there are so many to look at and sometimes the choices seem overwhelming. This is my very own reaction, so for a new gardener, I can only imagine the thought process!
I always find it best to go to the stores and just take a look at what is available out there, but not to buy anything on that day. After you have gotten familiar with what is there, go home and figure out the things you want to buy and plant for the year. Make a list and then take this along and only buy what is on the list, as this will make the process so much easier. I can’t tell you how many times I bought way too many seeds on impulse and then ran out of room to plant them only to give them away to someone else.
Many seeds can be planted directly into the ground without any trouble, but there are some that like to be planted early. When working with flowers, many of the perennials like to be planted a little early as you only want a few for the garden. This way you can pick and choose the strongest of the seedlings. If you read the packages it will tell you how many days it takes for them to germinate and some of these can be as long as 30 days. In our short growing season, we don’t have 30 days to wait for just a seedling to appear.
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More people than not plant vegetable gardens for fresh produce and to raise in bulk for preserving for use at a later date. Even with vegetables, it can be tough to make choices on what you really want to grow. Items such as tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage and eggplant gain numerous benefits from being planted early and planted when the threat of frost has passed. Most of the other vegetables can be grown via direct seed into the garden with speedy germination rates.
Vegetables that produce a crop early are called cool-season vegetables. These would be items such as radishes, lettuce, spinach and peas. These items either go to seed or just dry up when the hot weather arrives. Hot-season crops are the ones mentioned above grown as transplants, along with all the vine crops of cucumber, squash, pumpkins, and watermelons.
Herbs are a great addition to the garden as most of them can be harvested throughout the entire growing season and when the autumn season arrives, they can be pulled up and dried to be stored for winter use. Many people grow herbs indoors for use all year long and many of these grow very well as long as they get plenty of direct light.
If you are in the market to grow a garden that grows many of these items, check out the resources throughout town that provides these types of seeds. The Jamestown Seed Library is open once again this year at the Stutsman County Library. There are many seeds this year so what a perfect way to start the season off. Peruse through the numerous seed selections to see what will work best for your garden. These seeds are free to the public and are limited to 5 packages per visit, so choose wisely. The library is usually stocked with nearly 1200 packages of various seeds for the use of people within the community. It is a great way to become a part of the gardening world and get your children interested in growing their own food.
Check out the Seed Library when you get the chance as the seeds go rather quickly within the first month. This is the eigth year for the program and it has gained quite a following. Stop in to find out more information on this great program. Spring will be here before you know it so may as well get prepared!
The Trust Project
