What do you do with a seed catalog? Be careful as you watch our little happy dance. It may be contagious. The celebration gets the feet going when the mailbox reveals—the seed catalog.

What Do you Do with a Seed Catalog? Make a plan and grow with it.

Gardening can be fun, entertaining, rewarding and a boost to family economics. Even urban apartment dwellers can grow quite a bit in containers. We have heard about amazing innovations that make it possible. More space gives more opportunity. How much space? Lees than you might think.

Mel Bartholomew’s name may be familiar. On television, he’s the Square Foot Gardner, offering ideas and suggestions for everything from a one-person container garden to a full-fledged community garden. His ideas worked for us in our patio home. He suggests raised beds in 4’ by 4’ frames. Our neighborhood restrictions caused us to use 3’ by 3’ frames, but we were able to squeeze in four of them. The approach keeps us from over-planting, but we still had sufficient produce in some varieties to share with the neighbors.

Check out Square Foot Gardening online, or get yourself a copy of the book. Click the picture. It will help you plan, but do it quickly with winter winding down and spring approaching.

Our little happy dance will not be quite as happy this year, even though the arrival of the Sow True Seed Catalog brought a thrill. Many of our readers know we’re from North Carolina, but this year we sold the place, moved to the Southwest, and plan to move again before the seeds would produce any veggies. So, if we order any seeds, it will be a few and later in the season. Nevertheless, we’re thinking about the veggies, herbs, and flowers we would like to be ordering.

For five years now, we have been mentored in garden practices by Bartholomew and a few others, but we have relied heavily on the fine folks at Sow True Seed, based in Asheville, NC. Founded in 2008 by lifelong gardener and food activist, Carol Koury, the company serves as a beehive of activity, supplying home gardeners and small market farmers in a unique way.

The product line includes open-pollinated and heirloom seeds for organic veggies, herbs, and flowers. Koury envisions “empowering individuals to become more self-sustainable and less dependent on multi-national food corporations which may not have our best interests in mind.” The company chooses to be a signatory of the Safe Seed Pledge put out by the Council of Responsible Genetics, not knowingly selling any GMO seed. You can buy and grow organically.

In Florida and SoCal, you’re already into the growing season. The rest of us will need to get the seed starters going in a few days or weeks at the most. So, get your catalog, do a little happy dance, and then dig in to make your list. (Pardon the pun.)

Why Open-Pollinated?

Seeds that will grow true to type, because they have been protected from crossing with other types, will maintain their genetic strength and diversity. Saved and stored properly, they will faithfully reproduce from year to year and are more likely to readily adapt in a variety of climates.

Why Heirloom?

Many varieties have been handed down from generation to generation and display outstanding qualities. Many pre-date the introduction of cross-pollination which “Big Agriculture” produces as hybrids. The true seed will more likely reproduce dependably with known characteristics each year, making your gardening more sustainable.

Why non-GMO?

Without jumping headlong into the politics of food, we state a belief that our bodies respond to nature and natural substances. Many man-made attempts to improve upon nature have introduced items that appear to have toxic results. We believe this to be true about seeds in particular. GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) have been banned by some countries and have never been researched sufficiently to ensure their safety over generations. Patented seeds and processes have served manufacturers well with huge profits from, not just the sale of seeds, but from monopolistic practices with regard to royalties and legal protections. Oops, maybe I got into the politics of food a bit anyway. Suffice it to say, we believe in non-GMO seeds as well as non-GMO end products on store shelves.

What Do you Do with a Seed Catalog?

You may pull several seed catalogs out of your mailbox. As a child, I watched my grandfather pore over the pages, looking for new varieties for the flower garden, perennial favorites for the veggie plot, and tips and suggestions to make the work more efficient and more effective. The catalog and a copy of The Old Farmer’s Almanac guided the selections and the timing each year. We ate well. We ate fresh. We shared with the neighbors. It was good.

We wish the same for you. Happy gardening and be well!