My love of gardening really started as a young child when my grandmother and I would carry our watering cans around to her beautiful flowers. Something about that time seemed magical to me.
Now I find that same magic in my own garden each year.
For me the magic starts each winter, when my excitement starts to grow in anticipation of the treasures my garden will share in the upcoming year. I know that when January rolls around, it’s time to take inventory of our seeds, come up with a plan, and pull out those seed catalogs.
If you are planning a garden this year, there are a few things to consider before buying garden seeds for the year.
What Do You Eat?
When choosing what seeds to order for your garden, try to stick with what your family eats the most.
My family eats a lot of salads. and greens. Rather than purchasing greens each week, I try to grow enough to meet our needs.
You also want to ask yourself what your family eats frequently that is expensive to buy? Herbs are the first thing that come to mind. Fresh herbs, especially organic herbs can be pretty pricey.
I always grow fresh herbs because I know that I can grow a ton at a fraction of the cost of the grocery store.
Try Something New When Buying Your Garden Seeds
It is always fun to try something new. That’s no different in the garden. Every year I try to choose just a few new things to add to our garden.
I try to find things that are good for long term storage like a new squash variety and I love trying things that I can’t easily find at the grocery like kohlrabi or a new heirloom tomato.
Don’t Forget The Beauty
A garden isn’t complete without beautiful flowers that can be used to attract beneficial pollinators, beautify your garden, and your home.
We always tend to see the same types of flowers at the garden centers and nurseries. There are so many other beautiful plants and flowers available to you if you only planted a few seeds.
I love having a variety of flowers to create beautiful bouquets for my home. When buying my garden seeds, I always include zinnias and amaranth. They are two of my favorites for making homemade bouquets.
Why Choose Seeds Over Seedlings
Choosing to purchase seedlings over growing your own plants from seeds may seem like the better choice. It is less work and you may get a little jumpstart on your garden.
However, there are limitations when choosing to purchase seedlings rather than seeds.
The biggest limitation is that the variety of plants that are available is so small compared to what is available to you through seeds. I know that where I live I can only find seedlings of a few tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and herbs. On top of that, all of the varieties that are available aren’t very exciting. They are usually the same varieties that can be found at the grocery store. One of the most exciting things about growing your own food is the ability to grow things that you can’t find at the store.
Another reason to buy garden seeds over seedlings is that if you want to grow an organic garden, it is hard to find organic seedlings and if you can find them they are much more expensive.
Buying Organic Garden Seeds
One of the huge benefits of growing a garden is that you can choose to grow your food without harmful chemicals and pesticides.
If you plan on growing your food organically, you want to make sure that you start your plants from seeds that came from a similar environment. That means that they were not grown in an environment where synthetic fertilizers and harmful pesticides were used.
Organic seeds are able to resist disease and pests better than conventional because of the environment they were grown in.
Buying Heirloom Garden Seeds
Over the years I have learned that heirloom is better than hybrid when buying garden seeds. Heirloom seeds will produce seeds that are true to type. This is important because it means that you can save your heirloom seeds year after year and you can expect to get the same plant year after year.
When buying non-heirloom seeds it means that you are buying hybrid seeds. Hybrid seeds have been bred with another variety of the same plant. This is done to create a plant that tastes better, resists disease better, among other things. However, in order to get the same results you have to continue to purchase those seeds year after year because if you try to save hybrid seeds and regrow them you won’t get the same plant as you would with heirloom seeds.
Where To Purchase Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company
Baker Creek is my favorite place to order from. The variety of heirloom seeds is outstanding. They are a bit pricey, but worth it. This is where I go for unique finds.
This is another great company that I love. I have had a lot of luck with germination rates with their seeds. They do sell heirloom and hybrid seeds, so if you are only looking for heirloom you need to only look for their heirloom seeds.
All of their seeds are heirloom and organic. They also have a ton of educational backyard gardening tutorials on YouTube that are great for new and experienced gardeners.
When To Buy Your Seeds
Planning your garden and purchasing seeds is definitely not something that you want to wait on. You will have a more productive gardening season if you take the time in winter to plan and purchase all of your seeds.
Typically, early winter is the best time to purchase your seeds. Usually you can find everything you are looking for.
Happy Gardening!
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