Northern gardeners know, that the gardening season begins in January with the dream. As we look out the window, and see 3 feet of snow over our gardens, we think about what we want to grow, draw plans, and somehow come up with the mental image of a perfect garden where weeds never grow. Reality is we all get overwhelmed by the weeds by August 15th, but, being practical in the dreaming stage isn’t something I do. Last week I was looking at varieties of peas I would love to grow – and found 13 new varieties I “just have to try”.
But back to seeds – we needs seeds to grow a garden! I start almost everything from seed but you don’t have to! Garden centres and farmers’ markets are great places to get plants for things like tomatoes and peppers that need to be started indoors in our short Eastern Ontario growing season. Some things are easy to start from seed, and in fact don’t transplant well so are better to start from seed. Peas, beans, and carrots all fit in this group! Other things do well transplanted and from seed including lettuce and beets.
So back to the practical purpose of today’s post – where should I get my seeds?!?!?!
Option 1 – the grocery store. The seed racks are already out and carry a wide variety of popular varieties from a couple good quality seed companies.
Option 2 – your local nursery, farm store, or garden centre. These guys will have more varieties, and often carry some of the smaller and more specialized seed companies.
Option 3 – seed catalogues – Honestly this is my favourite! It is like the old Sears Catalogue but for my garden. I love turning the pages, reading the plant descriptions, and circling what I want. A lot of catalogue are online too (and some are only online, sad for those like me who love their paper versions).
Here is the most complete list I could find of Canadian seed companies – both small and large. It is on the website of Seeds of Diversity, the not for profit working to keep genetic diversity in Canadian seed. Canadian Seed Catalogue Index – Seeds of Diversity
And if that list is too overwhelming here are a few favourites: Heritage Harvest Seed and Revival seeds, as well as Richters for all your herbal needs (they ship live plants too). The links are below.
Canada’s #1 Source for Heirloom Seed – Heritage Harvest Seed
Richters Herbs | Medicinal, Culinary, Aromatic | Live Plants & Seeds
My advice, start with things you like to eat and that are easy to grow. Peas, beans, lettuce, carrots, beets, tomatoes, basil, are some easy favourites. And if something really strikes your fancy, grow it for sure, just be aware that sometimes it takes a few growing seasons to get it producing just right. We will get into some details in the next post – but first, order a few free seed catalogues and enjoy the dream!