Its finally here! One of my favorite times of year!… no not Christmas, well yea that too. But what I meant was… seed catalog season! It’s every gardener’s favorite time of year. It’s the time of year when all the seed catalogs start arriving in the mail. You are probably wondering, “why would now, at the end of fall, with Christmas and winter on its way, be a gardener’s favorite time of year?” Well, gardeners also love summer when they are harvesting their fruits and veggies that they poured blood sweat and tears into in spring. But the behind the scenes planning time in winter is the part that is often forgotten. Even though I’m still experiencing almost 80 degree weather here in sunny southern California, many other gardeners are getting snow in other parts of the country. With cold weather and snow comes winter blues. Most gardeners either stop gardening all together or garden very little in winter without the use of greenhouses, row covers, and other ways of keeping plants from freezing.
These winter blues make it very exciting to receive a seed catalog in the mail with pictures of bright vibrant vegetables that we instantly recognize as items that we harvest in spring and summer. It’s the time where we gardeners can use our extra time indoors, pen and highlighter in hand, snuggled up with a good blanket, to do some garden planning. The act of scanning seed catalogs and planning what fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers to grow in early spring and to harvest in summer instantly fills me with warmth and excitement for long summer days grilling zucchini on the BBQ with friends and family.
But that’s only the beginning of the excitement; for these aren’t plain boring seed catalogs, these are heirloom seed and organic seed catalogs! If you have never browsed an heirloom or organic seed catalog before, then I can understand why you would be questioning why it’s so exciting. According to this Mother Earth News article, “Heirloom vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs are varieties that have remained popular with home gardeners because they grow well and taste great. Loosely defined as plant varieties that have been grown for at least three generations (and sometimes for three or more centuries!), heirloom food plants are varieties that have been selected for their flavor, resistance to pests and diseases, and other traits important to home gardeners. Unlike modern hybrids, heirloom seeds are open-pollinated, which means they will breed true and can be saved by the gardener from year to year — an important consideration for food security and self-sufficiency. Also, heirloom seeds are never genetically engineered. And best of all, I can save these seeds and re-plant the next season!”
These catalogs are packed full of interesting and diverse kinds of seeds that you may not have heard of or seen before. From striped tomatoes of a range of different colors, to orange watermelon to crazy looking gourds. You are sure to be amazed! The second the pages start turning, I can’t pull myself away. How quickly and easily my pen and highlighter take to the pages. By the time I have finished with my first pass through, I have circled more seeds that I could even grow in my tiny backyard garden.
I also love reading about the stories behind the heirloom seeds. I then realize how much bigger this is than merely planting a garden. I am preserving culture and heritage from all over the world.
Here are a few of my favorite seed saving catalogs to order from:
Happy seed hunting!
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