As the garden at Bedlam Garden Manor has grown from pots to actual gardens, there is an excitement that begins to brew around this time of year.
First it begins with looking out the windows at the garden tucked in sweet slumber beneath a fluffy down of snow. It's beautiful, and in fact it's one of my favorite times of year.
First it begins with looking out the windows at the garden tucked in sweet slumber beneath a fluffy down of snow. It's beautiful, and in fact it's one of my favorite times of year.
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| One of my beloved Maple Trees here at Bedlam |
BUT...BUT...there is this sport that begins in mid-January...Postman Stalking. Luckily, he has a great sense of humor when I rush out the door in hopes that it's arrived. Like a child anxiously awaiting Santa Claus, hardly able to contain their excitement, I peer out the window for that little white truck to rumble up the street, the dark-blue uniform of it's driver a welcome site, the satchel carried on his hip full of potential wonder and delight.
And there is that blessed day when it arrives. Gleaming, the pages filled with decadent treats from around the world, tempting me to try all of it for myself...my seed catalog.
Year to year I collect seeds from my own garden, when I can, especially when I find something I truly adore and can not be promised to find again (last year was a Russian Yellow Tomato with the perfect heart shape, and a small yellow cherry tomato called Snow White that convinced me that I should never eat red cherry tomatoes again). However, there are those people who travel the world to find seeds for us to try and expand our gardens with the new, the unusual, the heirloom varieties whose look and taste make even the best local produce seem humdrum. The efforts of those few souls, of whom I have a tremendous amount of envy, tend to be captured in my favorite seed catalogs- Baker Creek Seeds from My absolute favorite place to find rare seeds and My other favorite catalog for an incredible Seedventure and for the herb lovers among us there is Check out there herb seed bundles to get many different varieties of a similar nature!
And there is the king of them all...Sand Mountain Herbs who not only includes the seeds which they grow and harvest themselves (and which they often send with instructions hand written on the plain little envelopes of seeds!) but also helpful tips and advice on the website. With these 4 there is truly no reason to go elsewhere.
What is a Seedventure? It's when you look beyond the commonplace; the Beefsteak tomatoes, the Black Beauty eggplant, the Sugar Daddy watermelon to find the truly rare or interesting gems. Spinach that has red berries growing on it? Why, yes I will. Ground cherries? What a delicious compliment to my tree cherries! Melons for pie making, or that have jelly inside? Goji berries? Buttery lettuce perfect for the grill? Hell yeah!
So, upon that seed catalog arrival day, because digitally looking at them is, to me, like licking a photo of cake- just not the same, I make myself a tea and grab my Gardener's Notes list paper. I pull out the photo album I organize my current seeds in to make sure I won't be tempted into something I already have. With graph paper and a pencil I map out my garden, fitting in what I already have, noting what seeds I am out of, and seeing where I have room for new.
Then my personal Christmas begins. In each catalog I cross out what I already have, removing temptation of duplication, and go to the sections of what I need to replace. Then...THEN... I read everything the way that a bride scours through wedding magazines- searching for every detail.
What's new? What's different? WHAT CAN I GROW?
It's a decadent afternoon of lazily day-dreaming about the garden. I can almost feel the chill of the tilled earth in my hands, smell the damp soil, hear the hum of the world waking in the morning.
I have my list, sitting right here beside me. It's long and luscious and has to be culled back to fit into my budget. This year it looks like my Seedventures will include Cardoon, Noodle Beans, Ground Cherries, Gooseberries and Roselles. Maybe there will even be Ground Nuts (nuts that grow in the earth, not pulverized ones), maybe. *happy sigh*
And there is that blessed day when it arrives. Gleaming, the pages filled with decadent treats from around the world, tempting me to try all of it for myself...my seed catalog.
Year to year I collect seeds from my own garden, when I can, especially when I find something I truly adore and can not be promised to find again (last year was a Russian Yellow Tomato with the perfect heart shape, and a small yellow cherry tomato called Snow White that convinced me that I should never eat red cherry tomatoes again). However, there are those people who travel the world to find seeds for us to try and expand our gardens with the new, the unusual, the heirloom varieties whose look and taste make even the best local produce seem humdrum. The efforts of those few souls, of whom I have a tremendous amount of envy, tend to be captured in my favorite seed catalogs- Baker Creek Seeds from My absolute favorite place to find rare seeds and My other favorite catalog for an incredible Seedventure and for the herb lovers among us there is Check out there herb seed bundles to get many different varieties of a similar nature!
And there is the king of them all...Sand Mountain Herbs who not only includes the seeds which they grow and harvest themselves (and which they often send with instructions hand written on the plain little envelopes of seeds!) but also helpful tips and advice on the website. With these 4 there is truly no reason to go elsewhere.
What is a Seedventure? It's when you look beyond the commonplace; the Beefsteak tomatoes, the Black Beauty eggplant, the Sugar Daddy watermelon to find the truly rare or interesting gems. Spinach that has red berries growing on it? Why, yes I will. Ground cherries? What a delicious compliment to my tree cherries! Melons for pie making, or that have jelly inside? Goji berries? Buttery lettuce perfect for the grill? Hell yeah!
So, upon that seed catalog arrival day, because digitally looking at them is, to me, like licking a photo of cake- just not the same, I make myself a tea and grab my Gardener's Notes list paper. I pull out the photo album I organize my current seeds in to make sure I won't be tempted into something I already have. With graph paper and a pencil I map out my garden, fitting in what I already have, noting what seeds I am out of, and seeing where I have room for new.
Then my personal Christmas begins. In each catalog I cross out what I already have, removing temptation of duplication, and go to the sections of what I need to replace. Then...THEN... I read everything the way that a bride scours through wedding magazines- searching for every detail.
What's new? What's different? WHAT CAN I GROW?
It's a decadent afternoon of lazily day-dreaming about the garden. I can almost feel the chill of the tilled earth in my hands, smell the damp soil, hear the hum of the world waking in the morning.
I have my list, sitting right here beside me. It's long and luscious and has to be culled back to fit into my budget. This year it looks like my Seedventures will include Cardoon, Noodle Beans, Ground Cherries, Gooseberries and Roselles. Maybe there will even be Ground Nuts (nuts that grow in the earth, not pulverized ones), maybe. *happy sigh*
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| You thought I was joking about the Gardener's Notes List page, didn't you? |
May your Seedventures be full of promise and excitement, of rich soil and bountiful harvests!
And please, please, share them with me! The best Seedventures are the ones shared!
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