It’s supposed to be 70 degrees today and that has gotten a lot of people thinking about Spring plantings! Farm Girl is a great local landscape and garden design business that has offered this advice for seed purchases. Check them out for help!
SEED SELECTION FARMGIRL STYLE
I LOVE selecting seeds for the new growing season…and I have a tendency to go overboard, like when I go grocery shopping hungry. This can be very expensive and wasteful, which for me, equals stress! To avoid this, I have a Garden Design and seed budget in place.
FARMGIRL SEED SELECTION GUIDELINES
NO TO GMO SEEDS! YES TO OPEN POLLINATED & HEIRLOOM VARIETIES, GROWN NATURALLY.
As a gardener who is ecologically conscious, my number one goal is to make sure that none of the seeds I purchase are Genetically Modified. My second goal is to ensure the seeds come from Open Pollinated plants, insuring diversity and seeds that will reproduce true. Heirloom varieties are open pollinated, have a robust nature and ignite my nostalgia for the old time gardeners and Homesteaders.
BUY LOCAL!
We all know that buying local is best and for seeds even more so. When you purchase seeds that have been grown in your area, you will grow plants best suited for their environment. The most ecological way to buy seeds is directly from the farmer.
I have chosen to purchase from the Seed Companies below because they are mostly family-owned, grow seeds themselves or from contracted farmers, work to select varieties that will do well in our area and have the mindset of No GMO’s, Yes Heirloom, Open Pollination and Grown Naturally.
HEIRLOOM TOMATO SEEDS:
Appalachian Seeds, www.appalachianseeds.com , Asheville, NC.
VEGETABLES:
New Hope Seed Company, www.newhopeseed.com , Bon Agua, TN.
VEGETABLES, HERBS, FLOWERS, GRAINS:
Turtle Tree Seed, www.turtletreeseed.org, Copake, NY.
HERBS, FLOWERS, GRAINS, COVER CROPS, VEGETABLES and COTTON:
Southern Exposure, www.southernexposure.com, Central Virgina.
HERBS, FLOWERS, VEGETABLES:
Sow True Seed, www.sowtrueseed.com, Asheville, NC.
SEED EXCHANGES AND PLANT SWAPS!
You will almost always end up with surplus seedlings. Share your abundance with others at Seed Exchanges and Plant Swaps. It is a great way to share seeds, plants and garden knowledge. Organize one in your neighborhood.
EXPERIMENT!
I always make one purchase that is something new, something that makes me laugh, that is unique or rare. Whether it is a Tomato that looks like a peach, Flowering Tobacco, Tomatoes the size of currants or Nipple Fruit, I experiment each year and it’s a lot of FUN!
Always remember, “You reap what you sow,” and “Sow Seeds Not Greed!”
