Vegetable seeds, hopes, & dreams

With the snows of January continually enveloping us and the hope of Spring right around the bend (but not before several twists and turns, I’m sure) how better to spend a bit of time than by going through a few hundred seed packets and daydreaming about planting season?

2018, with all of its transition and learning, didn’t allow for a big garden (or even a small one). We planted a small herb garden up by the house and cultivated the garlic we put in in the Fall of 2017, but that was it.

Our Spring was consumed by settling in, as well as by catching up on winter chores like fruit tree pruning and berry cane cutting. There were fences to build and infrastructure to establish.

And so there were no cukes or peppers, no greens or roots. Not even my beloved blue corn made its way into the ground.

We spent the growing season tending to the berries and orchard, milking the goats, keeping the weeds at bay, and doing our damnedest to not lose our minds adapting to the longer commute while holding down our two full time (and sometimes all-consuming) non-profit jobs.

And so, what will make 2019 different?

Not a damn thing.

So why the hell am I stoked about seeds?

Well, why is anyone ever excited about getting a garden in the ground?

Hope.

And a little faith.

The kind of hope that only planning a food garden can provide (for me, at least).

And the kind of faith that allows me to believe it’ll all turn out wonderfully (though surely not perfectly) in the end.

We intend to stick to our 2017 goals for this year’s garden:

• Plant only what we eat on a regular basis (no getting fancy)
• Don’t plant what others can grow better than we can (no martyrdom allowed)
• Plan ahead (seed starting, trellising ahead of time, etc.) and
• Surrender to all the twists and turns (because; Life)

Plus, we have a 35×5 foot area already fenced in (where the chickens and turkeys spent last summer and where we planted the 2019 garlic) with all the necessary ingredients for a successful garden that will make for an awesome (and protected) kitchen garden.

So, with all this, I’ve just finished inventorying seeds for the first time in two years!

I culled super old packets (2014 and earlier)…

Consolidating varieties…

Labeled my (photo storage containers turned) nifty seed containers…

And fell headlong into daydreaming about getting my hands in the soil again!

Thank goodness we still have an abundance of seeds from the days Caitlyn (our oldest daughter) worked at the plant nursery or else we’d surely go broke this Spring! Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely going to need to get some lemon cukes, some snap peas and some tri-colored bush beans, but that won’t break the bank. And some of the packets we have go back as far as 2015, so germination rates may be a bit iffy, but I’ll happily take my chances.

The only hiccup we might hit is where to put the grow lights in our still new-to-us much smaller home…? They may actually wind up right in our living room, which obviously isn’t ideal, but how can I say no to a few homegrown tomatoes and peppers and tomatillos?

Right now, though, all there is to do is daydream, maybe draw out a plan or two, and wait just a bit for Winter to do her thing. Spring will be here soon enough (in 57 days, to be exact).

Are you already planning your 2019 garden? I’d love to hear your plans!

xoxo,
M