Gardening

The Great Annual Seed Sort

Is it too early to start planning the spring garden? Absolutely not if you start your own seeds. Spring will be here before we know it and in preparation I have just completed my Great Annual Seed Sort. “What the heck is the Great Annual Seed Sort?”, you ask. I am so glad you asked!

Sometime shortly after the holidays each year, I will spend a cold winter day by the fire sorting through my seed inventory to determine what I want to grow for the upcoming season. I then map the dates when each of the seed varieties need to be sowed on a calendar. This usually takes the better part of a day being as my seed collection is housed in a small chest of drawers. Literally. I do not have the capacity to grow everything in my collection in a given year; therefore, I must decide which varieties to put into rotation each season.

After I have selected the seeds for this year, I then organize them by when they need to be started. Alliums (onions and leeks) need to be started now, a full 12-14 weeks before the last average frost date. Tomatoes on the other hand will be started approximately 6-8 weeks before the frost date. And so it goes from 14 weeks, 12 weeks, 10 weeks counting down all the way down to direct sowing seeds outside after the last frost date has past, and beyond.

There are computer programs available to assist in this endeavor or a person could even create their own spreadsheet with formulas. I have tested several techy methods in the past in an effort to make the process more efficient. Experience has taught me that I prefer the old fashion way of starting with my last frost date, counting backwards, and marking it all down on a paper calendar. Very archaic. I have found that when I complete this process manually, the data sticks in my brain better and I actually need to refer to my written plan less often. As opposed to when I used a computer method, I had to stop frequently to refer back to the screen. The more frequent interruptions resulted in a less efficient process overall. I far prefer the analog method and my recycled boot box seed organizer.

I use June 1st and October 1st as my first and last frost dates to be very safe. Siskiyou County boasts an extremely diverse range of growing conditions and microclimates. No two gardens are the same in all 6,347 square miles of our beautiful rural county. Make sure to research your dates for your area. You can do this online but I recommend a much more reliable source, your gardening neighbors.

What is growing right now? Indoor seed starting this week: alliums (onions, leeks, shallots), celery. I am also starting a super cold hardy cabbage to be transplanted out to the garden in 6-8 weeks as an experiment. Direct sowing into the garden beds: parsnips, carrots, sorrel, hollyhocks, chervil, spinach. Winter sowing in recycled milk jugs for cold stratification: marshmallow, 2 echinacea varieties, elecampane (horse heal).

Here’s to growing all the things,
Shannon


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