Every year I try to order all the seeds I need to reorder or out of from one supplier. This year (2020) I chose Johnny’s Select Seeds. I have never ordered from them and I liked some of their varieties. After placing all my seeds into my Seed Tracker. (you can get yours here in my Free Mini Garden Planning Course) I realize I was short a few things. We are also planning on redoing the strawberry bed this Spring. Here is what I decided to buy below. I have organized them by maturity date or by the order that I will be planting them. I do try to buy organic if I can. It is hard to find organic options that do well in my area.
But before I get started I need to tell you that what I choose to raise in my garden may not be right for your garden. I am growing in Zone 4a and only have 107 frost free days. I am also above the 36 degrees north latitude or 36 Parallel. Why is this important? I am not going to grow varieties of vegetable that take longer then 120 days to mature. And when it comes to onions I am going to chose long day and neutral day varieties. The below links are not affiliated. Johnny's Select Seeds is not paying me to share the following seed varieties with you. With that over let’s get to it.
Let’s start with Onion. I have struggled with growing onions from seed for years. I think it was because I was not picking the right varieties. As I stated before I need Long Day Onion Varieties. Our common day length in the summer ranges from 14 to 17 hours. That is a very long day. I could grow onion varieties from my local garden store. Why? Because they were choosing the right varieties, I wasn’t. So this year I am going to try onions again. The old Farmer’s Almanac has a great article on growing onions here.
.
Onion:
Next are peppers. When it came to my pepper pick I was looking for a mild jalapeno. I made some jalapeno poppers from some jalapenos a neighbor gave us. My husband loves how spicy they are. I don’t. I guess I like mild jalapeno poppers.
Pepper:
Next are tomatoes. Everyone loves a good homegrown tomato. I use my tomatoes to make our own salsa, tomato paste, and pasta sauce. I will break them up by how I plan to use them. For salsa I was looking for a good Orange tomato variety. For my pasta sauce and paste, I was looking for a paste or Plum.
Salsa Tomatoes:
Pasta/ Paste Tomatoes:
Next is Pumpkins. Last year I purchased a few pumpkins from our local farmers market and taught myself how to pressure can them. It was kind of an experiment on how well I could use them in my recipes as they were not pureed but in chunks. They are working out great. Last year was our first year we raised a pig. I found that we ran low on garden scrapes after all my canning was done for the year. My plan this year is to raise some of my own pig feed. All the old books say pigs love Pumpkins and that pumpkin finished pork is to die for. We are going to find out!
Pie Pumpkins:
Storage Pumpkins:
Next is my pea seed choice. Now that I am getting confident with the pressure canner, I want to add peas to our root cellar. I love using canned peas and carrots in my Chicken pot Pie and Potato Ham soup recipes. My hope, with the Lord’s help, is to grow and store our own.
Shelling Peas:
Next is Turnips. I tried to grow then for my family but I was the only one who like them. I plan to grow them in the fall, in hopes of feeding them to my goats through the winter and storing some for winter use.
Turnips:
I did just realize I forgot to order some carrot seeds. I will just have to add them to my cart. Here are my choices. I choose one with short maturity date and that will take our hot summer days and another that I can plant in the fall.
Carrots:
Last are the strawberries! I love strawberries and so do all my boys. I chose to get a pack with three different varieties. My thinking was that with three different varieties I could spread out our harvest times and I would increase my survival rates. Strawberries are hard to grow in my clay soil.
Of course I will be planting more then just these varieties in the garden this year. I will share all my Spring seed choices in Part 1 of what I will be growing in 2020. I will also be sharing my review of the these seeds and plants in the Fall. Tell next time.
Remember don’t let the world hold you back! Pray, Just Plant!
コメント