Seeds and dreams....

You know what I LOVE about January...seed catalogs. In January the garden is all about possiblity. It's a way to try new things, start over. All the wrongs I have done in the past can be forgiven with this new garden. In January, I have high hopes. I even believe that this year I might just weed. I might just give plants enough room to properly grow. I might, I might, I might. By June reality has set in and I am back to my usual ways. Luckily my usual ways, while leading to rather untidy gardens, work pretty well.

But meanwhile, in the long, dark nights of January I sit near the fire with a huge stack of seed catalogs and dream. It's wonderful. I have such big ideas.

This year I am especially captivated by Wild Garden Seeds in Oregon . Last year, every single seed variety I grew from their catalog was a rousing success both in taste and vitality. I only wish they grew more kinds of seeds--they specialize in greens and a few herbs. I would buy all my seeds from them if only I could. It's amazing what the difference GOOD seeds make. I didn't know how much of a difference until I ran into this catalog.

Sadly, I think my other favorite seed catalog -- Fedco Seeds in Maine was lost in the mail. I love that company. We have been buying seeds from them since the mid 80's. I love the seeds and the wide variety they have. I especially love how they are trying to change the world one gardener at a time. Another thing I love about them is how they give a discount for large orders. By ordering in bulk (aka a group order with your friends) you can save significant money and build community at the same time. Sweet.

Every year I try to experiment with some new kind of plant. Last year I dabbled in cabbages and this is what we got. Amazing. We made the best sauerkraut. Yum.

My goal this year is try to grow a small plot of grains, which we can then feed to the chickens for some of their food. The plan is to grow oats so we can have both the groats and the straw for their nesting boxes. I am excited to try something so completely different than anything I have ever grown before. I even bought a book to help me learn. It's called Small-Scale Grain Raising and looks really good. Hopefully I will read it BEFORE I start planting. It would be like me to just wing it and wonder what happened later. But seeing how it is January, I still have hopse that I might be different this year. Ha ha.