Well today was a big day. It was a wet, cold, grey, west coast day so perfect for getting the seed order done. We sat ourselves down at the kitchen table with coffee cups in hand, pencils sharpened and ready and an array of our favourite seed magazines.
We try to get at least two of each one so we can look through them at the same time, discuss the variety of seed, the amount of seed, whether it has organic availability and price. It probably takes up to half an hour sometimes just to agree that we have found the best source at the best price and the right quantity. Even though we do this year after year it still takes time.
You are always looking at whats new and has potential to try as well as the surprise when you can't find or get seed that you have gotten all the other years. It makes you realize how even the experts have crop failures for varying reasons. Seed saving is a very tricky business and many varieties of seeds require some very precise conditions in order to succeed.
As growers we sure notice how sophisticated seed catalogues have become. They are really a wealth of good information and we keep a few copies of some of the best up in the seeding greenhouse handy so we can refer to them. We are always learning a new tidbit of information which will be helpful or make something easier.
Today in the Johnny's catalogue we figured out that if you want to harvest some of the winter greens as late into the season as possible the plants need to be well established by the time we are down to 10 hours of daylight per day. We figured out that the date here would be approx. November 5. This means that your plants should be seeded or transplanted no later than September 21. So for transplants you need to add about 3-4 weeks making a seeding date of beginning of September. Growth after the 10 hours of daylight mark slows down substantially. We have marked these dates on our calendar and are going to try to adhere to this schedule and make it an experiment.
I like to think that I can always try something in a different way and get better results. Its worth a try.
So after eight hours, YES 8 ! we were finally satisfied with what we wanted to order for this year. A few cups of coffee, streusel cake curtisy of my mom, a warm kitchen and spending some good hours with my better half it was done. Now the exciting part comes of getting those first parcels in the mail!! It feels like Christmas opening those boxes and looking at ALL the potential of those seed packages. Nature provides such abundance from such little packages.
A happy day indeed...........
