Seed catalog time again

I'm patiently waiting for catalogs to come in the mail so that I can order seeds for the 2012 garden.
Remember my order placed last January? Looking back at 2011, told me, more of everything. I couldn't brine pickles as fast as the family was eating them. AND more tomatoes and peppers, means more salsa and conqueso.

 This year will be a bed of rhubarb and strawberries, a bed of lettuces/spinach/swiss chard, a kitchen bed (onion/pepper/herbs), a tomato bed and a cucumber/zucchini bed. Just waiting on the catalog.......

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Mail Order Seed Catalogs

This evening was spent looking over the catalogs to put together an order for seeds. The kickoff to my 2011 planting season.

This year's garden will be expanded.
I do have to decide this year if I (A) clear a new garden space and plant it or (B)just groom the new space for 2012 planting.

If Plan B is chosen, then:
I will grow tomatoes and peppers in new earth boxes on the patio,
in the cold frame will be lettuces, spinach, argula and sorrel (will have to build another cold frame)
the cucumbers grow on the ladder
the zucchini grow out by the living willow fence

I am adding
- yellow wonder wild strawberries this year, they don't have runners and the birds will not know that they are there.
- flat leaf parsely
They both will make nice border plants for a flower bed.

The most fun item ordered is the "Simply Salad Alfresco" from Stokes.

This is truly salad in a pot. It is a seed pellet with three different seedlings in it. You can cut it down to 2 inches every three weeks and it will regrow. Stagger the planting in each pot and there will always be salads.

The seeds for this growing season are being purchased from:
Johnny's Selected Seeds - Winslow, Maine
Territorial Seed Company - Cottage Grove, Oregon
Stoke's Seeds - Buffalo, New York
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company - Mansfield, Missouri
Totally Tomatoes - Randolf, Wisconsin

The seeds being ordered are:
Cucumber : Summerdance (Totally Tomatoes)
Garlic: Will receive plants in the Fall for next year
Lettuce: Dancine, Density (Johnny's) this seed is pelleted so you will waste less and have to do less thinning out of the small plants
Peppers: Planet (Territorial Seeds) grilling peppers; Carmen(Totally Tomatoes) salad peppers
Spinach: Emu (Johnny's Seeds);
Tomatoes: Sugary, Early Girl, Taxi (Totally Tomatoes) I am buying determinants, meaning they grow, yield fruit, stop growing, makes nice patio plants
Zucchini: Cavalli (Territoral) I picked these for the color and it has an upright, bush habit and bears loads of fruit.
Basil: Pelleted (Johhny's)
Parsley: Laura (Stokes) will plant as a border along a planter bed
Argula: Sylvetta (Johnny's)
Strawberries: Yellow wonder (Baker Creek) can grow as a border for a bed, no runners, birds will leave them alone
French Sorrel: (Territorial) good for quiche and salads
Zinnias: Whiligig (Stokes) will scatter under the Norwegian Pines.

This is the year of the Zinnia, so everyone should be planting them.

If you get a chance go here and look at this catalog., the pictures are artwork.

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