Every year since our first summer in Victory Farms, I have vowed to have my ordering done on January 1st. And, every year, the seed ordering becomes an exercise in March Madness. I spent the day in front of my computer with dozens of safe seed catalogs, placing orders with everyone from Johnny’s, Peaceful Valley, Seed Savers Exchange, Seeds of Change, and Territorial Seed Company, among others. I did place a single order with the Natural Gardening Company before heading off to ski at Beaver Creek in February, spurred only by a deep-rooted fear of missing out on my beloved Ramapo tomato seeds. However, the rest of it was relegated to today.
I feel terribly anxious as I usually start my seeds slightly earlier. However, I am comforted by the fact that I sowed our seeds later than ever last year, and we ran into fewer issues when it came to transplanting. We are very fortunate to have a cold-frame greenhouse to use to harden off our seedlings and give them room to grow before getting them settled in the garden. Our greenhouse, though, is just 10′ x 12′ and things tend to get very crowded very quickly. So, working with smaller plants is infinitely easier.
Next week, when everything arrives, I will get them in their trays — an all-night affair when it comes to sowing north of 500 starters. I am very lucky that I have a big enough home to stash the growing set-up in an empty guest room. I am also very lucky to have a handy husband who has built me grow light cart that is big enough to accommodate all these seedlings.
We have a few extra bags of the fabulous Johnny’s 512 mix (Yes, I have three of those enormous yellow bags in our tool shed!), which has served us well for the past several years. I also have tons of trays left over, thankfully. And then, at our kitchen island, we’ll begin the journey of nursing hundreds of seeds from germination to hardy plants that are ready to start their lives in Victory Farms.
When do you order your seeds? Are you an early bird or do you drag your feet as I do in typical procrastinator fashion?
