I love looking through seed catalogues. I can’t think of a gardener who doesn’t! Each January, beautiful, glossy seed catalogues start appearing in your mailbox promising abundant harvests and, most importantly, a hope that spring and summer will be here soon.
But sometimes seed catalogues can be overwhelming. There’s just too many beautiful possibilities! I know I’m not the only one who’s cringed when I see the total in my shopping cart.
Or maybe you spent weeks whittling down your cart to a more reasonable amount of seeds you’re confident you’ll grow this year only to realize that half of the seeds you chose are sold out.
What if you could order your seeds with the exact method I use, so you get the exact seeds you’ll need to make your garden flourish this summer without wasting money?
What Seeds Do You Already Have?
Start by gathering all your seeds in one place. The seeds you stashed in your garage throughout the season. The seeds that wound up in your basement for some inexplicable reason. The seeds that are in your kitchen junk drawer (though they are not junk!), and the seeds that are (miraculously) still in your seed storage organizer from last year.
Maybe, now that all your seeds are in one place, you realize that you already have more seeds than you thought! Or maybe you realize that you used up a lot of your seeds last year and you do need to order more. Just this visual of all your seeds in one place should give you a good idea of how many additional seeds you need to order this year.
Sort All Your Seeds Into Piles
Create a few distinct piles to make it easier for you to remember what seeds you have. Here are the piles I suggest:
- Herbs (like basil, parsley, rosemary)
- Salad Greens (like leaf lettuce, head lettuce, kale)
- Root crops (like carrots, radishes, onions)
- Brassicas (like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower)
- Fruiting veggies (like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers)
- Flowers (both annual and perennial – bonus points if you plant native flowers!)
Take a look at how large each of these piles is in comparison to one another. A well-rounded garden has a good mix of each of these. But personal preference comes into play! Remember that your goal is to grow herbs and veggies that you and your family will actually enjoy.
So make a note to order more of a certain category if that pile is small and you’d love to eat more of those veggies. And hold back on buying, say, more tomato seeds if you already have more tomato seeds than you realistically know what to do with.
Another bonus of these piles is that they’re in order of easiest to most difficult to grow! So if you’re a beginning gardener, make sure you have herbs and salad greens to build your confidence and make sure you’ll have a successful season. Then once you have those down pat, expand into root crops for winter storage, brassicas, fruiting vegetables, and flowers as you are comfortable over the years. Make sure you don’t take on too much at once and become frustrated!
Now, Get Those Seed Catalogues Out
Now that you have a better idea of what you have and what you’d like to buy this year, it’s time for the seed catalogues! Flip through and dream of all those delicious summer days where your garden will look just like the pictures in the catalogues. Make a list of all the seeds you want to buy!
Then (and here’s the key step), sort your wishlist into the same six categories above. Did you add more tomato varieties to your already-large collection? Consider removing a few from your list. Did you mean to add more root crops to your seed order? Make sure you’ve done that. Look over your list one last time before you order to make sure that it aligns with your goals for your garden this summer.
Planning Sets You Up for Success
I know walking through these steps takes more time than you normally spend ordering seeds, but putting the work into planning gets you several steps closer to your Dream Garden: one where you are growing your favorite future meals and you always have something to harvest.
Most of all, enjoy ordering your seeds! After all, it’s the first task of our new gardening season. And what a season it will be!
Let me know on Patio Produce’s social media accounts how your seed ordering is going! I love hearing from you.
