And Yet More Seeds

I swear every year that I'm going to pare down my seed order and not be overwhelmed. I swear every year I won't have seeds that can't be planted. Every year I fail. I am a seed addict. I just can't say no to seeds. I thought I was doing well. Really I was.

I spent only $33.80 on seeds from Fedco. That isn't a lot of seed is it? They give free shipping for orders over $30 so I had to buy at least that much. When they came earlier this week I was overjoyed. Then I noticed three in back order. My zucchini and winter squash are no problem. I won't need them for quite a while. But the last was Varsity, an onion. Ack! They send a letter with your order which talks about what is going on at Fedco. What seeds have run out etc. In addition they said six varieties of onion were on backstock. They swear to drop everything once they come in so they can get shipped out. They know we need to start them soon. Yes! I do! At least they know it is an issue. I hope they come soon since they need to get started in a couple of weeks. I'm not freaking out quite yet.

Then the next day another set of seeds showed up. My wintersown seeds. They will let you choose six packets of tomato seeds if you go through their little wintersown quiz. They have lots to seeds to choose from. This year I picked out all paste tomatoes and good canning tomatoes. I got tired of making sauce out of cherry tomatoes last year. Really it isn't the way to do it. Of course they didn't send me just the six that I chose, but they sent me eight tomatoes plus two other packets. The flat leafed parsley isn't really necessary, but I'll grow a few to add to my self sowing flat leafed parsley. I figure a gene infusion can't hurt. Especially since this coming year is an off year for my parsley. Being a biennial and self sowing in my garden, certain years are better than others. The other was Lemon Queen Sunflowers. Score! I grew them last year for the Great Sunflower Project, but the seeds they send are terrible and few. This ought to get a better stand of them in the garden.

So I sorted all the seed out and put those and all the seed given to me by my blogging friends. I came up with a list:

Asian Greens, Chinese Cabbage Rubicon
Asian Greens, Chinese Kale
Asian Greens, Ching Chang Bok Choi
Asian Greens, Choy Sum
Asian Greens, Fun Jen
Asian Greens, Komatsuna
Asian Greens, Michihili
Asian Greens, Napa Cabbage
Asian Greens, Purple Mizuna
Asian Greens, Senposai
Asian Greens, Shanghai Bok Choy
Asian Greens, Tatsoi
Asian Greens, White Stem Bok Choy
Asian Greens, Yokatta-Na
Bean Pole, Scarlet Runner
Bean Dried Pole, Cherokee Trail of Tears
Bean Pole, Kentucky Wonder Wax
Bean Dried Pole, Vermont Cranberry
Bean Dried, Black Coco
Bean Dried, Red Kidney
Broccoli, Packman
Broccoli, Piracicaba
Cabbage, Gonzales Mini
Carrot, Mokum
Carrot, Purple Haze
Carrot, SugarSnax
Chard, Argentata
Chard, Rubarb
Cucumber, Armenian
Cucumber, Diamant
Flowers, Borage
Flowers, State Fair Zinnia
Flowers, Jewel Mix Nasturtium
Flowers, Ground Control Marigold
Flowers, Lemon Queen Sunflower
Greens/Herbs, Golden Corn Salad
Greens/Herbs, New Zealand Spinach
Greens/Herbs, Red Leaf Holy Basil
Greens/Herb, Cumin
Greens/Herbs, Flat leaf parsley
Greens/Herbs, Sweet Basil
Kale, Mix
Leek, King Sieg
Leeks, Hannibal
Leeks, Malabar
Lettuce, Anuenue
Lettuce, Bath Cos
Lettuce, Dazzle Romaine
Lettuce, Deer Tongue
Lettuce, Freckles
Lettuce, Jericho
Lettuce, Korean
Lettuce, Manoa
Lettuce, Paris Island
Lettuce, Red Sails
Lettuce, Tom Thumb
Onion, Evergreen Hardy White/Scallion
Onion, Red Wing
Onion, Varsity
Peas Snap, Cascadia
Pea Snow, Blizzard
Pepper, Cayenne
Pepper, Early Jalapeno
Pepper, Hawaiian Chili
Pepper, Serrano
Pepper, Sweet Cherry
Radish, French Breakfast
Radish, German Beer
Radish, White Icicle
Spinach, Space
Squash, Costata Romanesco
Squash, Waltham
Tomatillo, Verde Puebla
Tomato, Amish Paste
Tomato, Chocolate Cherry
Tomato, Early Kus Ali
Tomato, Heinz 2653
Tomato, Hong Yuen
Tomato, Market Miracle
Tomato, Opalka
Tomato, Peiping Chieh
Tomato, Principe Borghese
Tomato, Romeo Roma
Tomato, San Marzano
Tomato, Siberian Tomato
Tomato, Sungold F3
Turnip, Oasis
Turnip, Tokyo Market

Gack! Those are not going to fit into my garden. Take the tomatoes list for instance. I have 13 currently on the list (not to mention Cherokee Purple that Dan is sending me and I really want to taste). I have room for only about 10 tomato plants. I'll have to pick and choose. Opalka (from EG), Amish Paste, San Marzano will all make the cut as paste tomatoes. I'll have to think about the others. Two of the Asian tomatoes are great uniform ones for whole canning so I might pick one. Sungold F3, Market Miracle and maybe Chocolate Cherry will make the list. Knowing me I might just start them all then have to put them in pots again this year. I swore to myself I wouldn't do potted tomatoes this year. It might be another broken promise.

As you can see my Asian green supply runneth over too. Again I'll have to pick and choose. I might do all new ones this year and let the old ones sit in their seed packets. Except mizuna. I need my purple mizuna. It is too pretty not to grow.

Then there are the lettuce varieties. I only have a 3'x3' spot every year for lettuce. And that is a lot of varieties. How will I keep them all separate? I had trouble with five varieties last year. Some at least are summer lettuces - Jericho (Israeli), Manoa (Hawaiian), and Anuenue (Hawaiian) will all be grown at different times than the others.

So I have more seed that will ever fit in the garden. Again. I ought to know better. Somehow most of it will get shoved in. If my garden weren't surrounded by a cedar fence and maple trees I would be eyeing the land outside of it, but as it is I've only got about 250sqft. Hmm that community garden plot is looking better and better.