Is it Spring Yet?!?

I see you there...sketching out garden plans for spring, gazing longingly through seed catalogs, carefully recording planting dates. I know I am not alone! My dear neighbor sent a message saying that Atwoods had their seed potatoes in, which sent me into a gardening frenzy.

No, it can't be time to put in potatoes, what about other early spring crops! Maybe I should be out there wrestling with the jungle of dead tomato vines RIGHT NOW!! (Okay, I know I'm not the only one with ginormous dead okra stalks standing tall next to trellises of gnarled tomato vines...am I? Fess up, people!)

Then, I went to Wal-Mart and saw this:


I know...it's enough to send you right over the edge, right?

I'm not good at doing this winter thing. I prefer the promise of a new garden and the smell of freshly turned dirt, the summer harvest and canning season, the late summer tomatoes and okra. Christmas keeps me occupied for a bit, but then I'm ready to jump right back into the garden.

Well, the good news is that spring will be here before we know it. The seed catalogs are pouring in and there's plenty of sketching paper nearby. The dates you see above are from my iGarden app on the iPhone, but I've yet to check these against the lunar recommendations for planting. Anywho...they do give me hope that planting time is closer than it seems and I suppose that's all I need to make it through the next cold week!

And more seeds...

Okay...apparently I'm in the mood to buy seeds! Here are the ones I purchased today on Ebay:

Corn, Golden Bantam, Open pollinated, Heirloom
Bean, Blue Lake Pole Beans, Stringless
Zucchini, Black Beauty
THYME,thymus vulgaris
Cucumber seeds, Boston Pickling

I did a little Ebay bartering, OAH style, by selling some stuff I really didn't need to get a bit of PayPal "crazy money" which has funded all this seed craziness.

Seeds...

Here's a list of seeds I've purchased for this year's garden:

Italian Heirloom Constoluto Genovese Tomato
Pearly Pink Cherry Tomato
Green Zebra Tomato
Cherokee Purple Heirloom Tomato
Basil (Italian Napoleatano Bolloso)
Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach
Emerald Green Okra
Detroit Dark Red Beets
Mesclun Salad Mix (Sweet)
Looseleaf Lettuce Mix
Scarlet Nantes Carrots
Petite 'n Sweet Carrots
Sugar Snap Peas

And I have a good supply of saved seed from my Purple Hull Cowpeas.

In addition, I am really hoping that some of my tomatoes from last year will send up some volunteers. I'll try to do better at saving seed this year.

Urban Garden Hoe reminded me of The Three Sisters, a Native American companion planting method, that I've been meaning to try. I'll have to get the proper seeds to do this as well.

Buying Seeds...

Wandering around Ebay today, I found some great deals on seeds. After ordering okra, spinach, and beets from the same seller (Steve), I asked him if the seeds came from his own garden ('cause I'm nosey by nature and also I love to know more about the heritage of the plants I grow). I'd tell you Steve's story, but I'd probably mess it up, so here it is in his own words:

"I try to save all the non-hybrids and heirlooms from our garden unless we are trying something new. Our hybrids I order. We are trying to become as completely self sufficient as we can. I grow for farmers market but the flooding from hurricanes Gustuv & Ike destroyed all our crops, equipment, and greenhouses. So I’m selling some of our extra seeds that I had saved before the losses so we can start all over and am ordering extra big lots so I can try to sell and make a little extra. In the next few weeks, when my new orders arrive, I’ll be listing about a hundred or so new items. We are also hoping to teach our sons. They are both autistic and this might be something they can do later on if they can’t handle a job away from home."

Whattya say we practice the ideas behind Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) from afar. Check out Steve's Ebay site...he's got some great seeds at great prices...and if I've learned anything about homesteading, it's that we all need to stick together and run this race together.