03/24/2020
It's almost time to get seeds for your garden. Some seeds remain viable in storage better then others so a sustainable choice is to use seed while it is fresh, if possible. Even the smallest seed packets will often have many more seeds then you need for a small garden so step one is asking your gardening friends if they have a few to share. Now source the rest of your seeds from a reputable company. Often times companies will highlight their most popular varieties or those that are best for beginners. As I said yesterday, look for disease resistant varieties for best results. Some vegetables are seeded once and you harvest off the same plant for several weeks, like tomatoes. You will only need a few seeds. A vegetable like radishes only gives one radish per seed and you can reseed over and over during the season so you should buy more seeds of those vegetables. Some packets are sold by weight like the chard in the photo. Others have a seed count like the snap beans. The seed company will almost always have a chart for you to figure out how many seeds you'll be getting. Remember some seeds are tiny and others are quite large so check the charts. Another important number is the germination percentage. In the upper right side of the chard packet it says 95% 2020. That means 95% of the seeds should germinate this year. The snap beans list a minimum germination of 80%. The beans are also old seed I still had in my bin and they are dated September 2011. If I use them I will expect the germination rate will be much lower, maybe 25%. There is much more to be said about that but for beginners just remember that 10 seeds won't always give you 10 plants. Packets you buy will always give you the germination percentage for the current year.
The other important number on the packet is for days until harvest. The beans say 53 days, the chard says 56 days. Again, it isn't quite that simple but let's pretend it is for now. The sooner you can eat something from your garden, the more fun it is. I don't even really like radishes very much but I grow them every year because I can pick them in about 30 days and that just makes me happy! Choose a few things that will harvest early to reward you for your hard work. They may not be the 'best' varieties so that isnt the only factor but choose a few. Beginners shouldn't pick varities that have over 120 days to harvest if you live in NH, like I do. Lots of factors can slow your plants down (more on that in the future) and you want to be sure to reap your rewards before the frost. So go for the cherry tomato not the giant beefsteak.
OK, now for choosing you vegetables. Decide why you are growing a garden to make the best choice on what to grow and what to avoid.
Are you looking for harvesting the most food possible? Consider cherry tomatoes, peas, beans, summer squash, root crops, peppers, and greens.
Do you want something beautiful that might provide some food as well? Consider purple beans, summer squash, okra, cherry tomatoes, Bright Lights Chard, sweet potato.
Is it an adventure to see the different ways our vegetables grow? Consider potatoes, beets, cabbage, greens, popcorn, eggplant.
How about an herb and tea garden? Fedco sells small packets of herb seeds at very reasonable prices.
Just give some thought to how things grow and if you aren't sure, ask me in the comments. A potato plant will take all summer to give you 1-3 meals worth of food. The same space could grow 4 bean plants with many meals and then a second planting of a broccoli plant that could have a main harvest and several small harvests after that. Home grown corn is delicious but you usually get one good ear from each plant and they need to be planted in a group to get good pollination. Ask me whatever you want about the plants you want to grow and I'll help steer you in the right direction.
One last thing for today. Some things are tricky to grow. I think it's still fun to try them but be prepared for some successes and some 'learning experiences' (sometimes called failures).
So, what are you going to grow? Share your ideas. I'll post some of my favorites below.
