Ordering Seeds for Our 2023 Garden
Seeds are a big part of gardening when you plant as much as we do! We still rely on our local nursery and trades from friends for crops that we only want a few plants of, but we start most of what we grow from seed. We’ve been doing it this way for the last 5 years!
Purchasing seeds can seem like a big investment but growing from seed can actually save you a lot of money when you have a large garden. A packet of seeds is usually $2-$5 and can produce 10-100+ plants. A start from a nursery is $3-$5 and will produce 1-3 plants (typically just one but sometimes there’s an extra one or two plants in that pot!). This post will share where and what seeds I purchased for this season and reflect on some of the mistakes I’ve made in the past.
The first step in planning your garden is…
If you’ve been following our posts on Instagram on our garden planning process, you know our first step is to list everything that we want to grow. If I rely on my memory or recency I will inevitably forget something important. Instead, I get out my seeds and make a list of everything that I have that I want to grow again.
This is also the first step in ordering and organizing my seeds. The main goal of this is to make a rough list of everything I want to grow but I also organize the seed packets when I’m going through them by stacking them in piles of like seeds. So all tomato varieties end up together, and the same process with peppers, brassicas, pumpkins, etc.
I like to write down varieties of things like tomatoes, peppers, and any other crops that I have a bunch of seeds for or know I will purchase a few different varieties of. There are so many different varieties and I inevitably get them mixed up now and then!
Now you know what you have…
I have the hardest time getting rid of seeds because even though most packets have expiration dates or say they’re only good for a certain growing season, they will still be viable beyond that time. So this year I finally got rid of seed packets that were five years old, varieties that I didn’t enjoy growing, or seed packets with bad germination (from memory).
Time to hit the catalogs!
I’ll admit, I usually flip through the catalogs as soon as they hit my mailbox, but I don’t make lists of what seeds I want until I’ve organized my seeds and have an inventory. So now it’s time to flip through these beautiful pages with intention.
You don’t need to use the catalog of a particular company, in fact, I used a company’s seed catalog for inspiration because it’s pretty comprehensive and I ended up buying from 3 different companies.
I use my original list of what to grow that I created from my seed inventory but choose a different color pen. This helps me to keep one list as opposed to many and avoid missing something, misplacing the paper, or having Aurora (my toddler) color all over it. I use a different color pen or marker so that I can easily use this master list for ordering my seeds as well.
Time to buy! But from where?
There are a lot of different seed companies out there and a lot of different types of seeds. I mostly focus on regional companies, heirloom seeds, and varieties that I have grown before or have been recommended to me (some are hybrids).
I like to focus on regional companies because they are growing and harvesting seeds in a climate that is similar to mine. Many of these companies have been in business for decades and over all of that time the seeds they are growing, harvesting, and selling are becoming adapted to our climate to produce a better yield and be more resistant to pests and diseases common in our climate. These companies also tend to be small farmers and I’m all about keeping small farmers in business!
I prefer heirloom seeds because of the same reasons but also because they’re open-pollinated and perfect for saving! I’m only saving seeds from about 20% of what we grow, but want that number to increase year after year! Seeds are generally considered an heirloom if the variety or plant is 50+ years old. Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated and a seed will produce a plant that is true to type of the parent seed, which is why they’re great for saving (you know what you’ll get), and how the plant is grown year after year for 50+ years.
I do grow some hybrids - these seeds will grow plants modified for a certain characteristic. Sometimes that’s yield. Other times it’s color, juiciness, flavor, size, or how early it produces fruit. There’s a lot of reasons to choose a hybrid seed but the most compelling one for a home gardener is an early producer. Sometimes plants have such long growing seasons that the only way we can successfully grow a plant to maturity is to choose a hybrid variety that will produce fruit early!
I’m also a firm believer of voting with my dollars. It’s a small act that helps me sleep at night. I avoid companies owned by Monsanto (I think the reasons are obvious at this point) and companies with documented discriminations or malalignment with my personal values.
So what’d I buy?
I spent $56.55 at Fruition Seeds (including shipping) and purchased (all organic heirloom):
Zinnia
Larkspur x2
Craspedia
Sunflower
Cosmos
Rudbeckia
Chiapas Tomato
Chives
Cossack’s Pineapple Ground Cherry
Delicata Squash
National Pickling Cucumber
Piennolo Del Vesuvio Paste Tomato
Spilanthes
I spend $13.94 (including shipping) at Ohio Heirloom Seeds and purchased (all organic/heirlooms):
Thyme
Chamomile (German)
Coleus
Golden Pascal Celery
Finally, I spent $14.80 (including shipping) at MIGardener and purchased (all organic):
Munstead Lavender
American Flag Leek
Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean
Geranium Kiss Tomato (determinate variety)
Ace 55 Tomato
Pineapple Tomato
Cherrylicious Mixed Tomatoes
I spent a total of $85.29 on these three orders. I have a lot of seeds to start with and I grow a big garden so keep that in mind if you’re comparing! Don’t be shy - ask friends for swaps and extras because it’s a great way to figure out what you like to grow, build a collection, and learn to garden!
