New Seeds for 2015

I have to admit that I meant to write this post when my seeds arrived back in January. Whoops. Later is better than never though, right? I figure if you live somewhere warm where the danger of frost is already over, you’ll be planting outside right now. And if you live somewhere (like me) where the last frost isn’t over until the end of May, you’ll still be starting seeds indoors. Either way seeds will still be used, so this post is relevant, even though it’s late.

Once I’ve ordered my seeds online (in the dead of winter when it’s hard to imagine it ever getting warm again), I’m always impatient for them to arrive in the mail. The wait seems like forever even though it’s only a week or two. I order 99% of the seeds I use in my garden from Baker Creek. They only sell heirloom seeds.

Heirloom means that they’re cultivars that were used years and years ago, but aren’t used today in modern agriculture. For example, I’ve grown peas that were used in backyard gardens 40 years ago and eggplant seeds from Italy that were used 60 years ago. I think it’s pretty cool to think that I’ve growing the same types of veggies that people did half a century ago.

I buy my tomato seeds from Casey’s Heirloom Tomatoes. He grows his tomatoes just outside of Calgary, which means they’re used to the short growing season here as well as the weather. He grows the tomatoes, cleans the seeds, and packages them up all by himself, so I know exactly where the seed is coming from.

Since I still have so many seeds leftover for the last few years, I only had to order a few this year. You don’t have to buy new seeds each and every year. Older seeds will still germinate, though a little fewer the older they get. Don’t buy into the seeds companies telling you you need to start over every year! This year I only had to order peas from Baker Creek. They always sends a fun ‘surprise’ envelope of seeds with every order. This time it was some strawberries. I’ve never tried growing them from seed, so we’ll see how they go.

Apparently when I ordered the seeds I was all about the tomatoes. I decided to get five different kinds! The ones I picked I picked because they’re either early or mid season producers. I’m always worried about things growing in Calgary’s short growing season, so I like it play it on the safe side. I had a mix between full sized and cherry tomatoes. From the looks of it, a large part of our garden this year is going to be tomatoes.

Last week we got some more snow and cold temperatures. Every time this happens during spring it’s kind of depressing, and spring seems further and further off. But having my little tomato seedlings in the window helps. It’s a small sign that spring will eventually get here.

What’s your favorite thing to grow in your garden?