A View From My Garden

My seed orders are in the mail, and as usual they have put a dent in my credit card. I order what I believe are the best vegetable seeds available for this area, the primary consideration being that they are grown and developed in the northern latitudes. These seeds are fresh, uniform and clean, and will keep in a dark, dry, cool place for well over two years. The money I spent this week will cover two vegetable gardens and perhaps three for some plants. Bacteria inoculation for beans is a good idea. Of course the Pilgrims, and quite a few later growers, did not have these things, but for modern hybrids it does make a difference.

Onion sets and plants I will buy locally, along with seed potatoes. I have had bad luck with having these shipped and I do like to spend locally. Why doesn't this principle apply to seed orders? Because most of the giant and popular seed companies are in the lower Midwest or in the south, and they may have northern varieties, but it has been a long time since those plants experienced a cool, wet spring.

The seed company I currently use is in Wisconsin, Jung Seed Co. (http://www.jungseed.com). As do most of the large nurseries, they have several names out there. They all try to be homey-folksy these days, like they are all Mom and Pop and Grandpa-the-master-gardener-type businesses. Not so.

I do like Garden Seed Co, but even they have changed from a small Bitteroot Valley Nursery to something more involved. I like Jung because their website is reliable, their seeds are truly fresh, and the subsequent plants come through as represented. Anyway you look at it, ordering seeds at today's prices is a true leap of faith!

I asked my horticulturist friend if he thought it was time to plant the peas and fava beans. He did not give me an answer. I suppose he does not want to be considered a soothsayer, a diviner or even a forecaster, and I can't say I blame him. It all seems so simple. The seed packets and the garden books take care of when to plant the early, cool crop seeds by saying simply "as soon as the soil can be worked". Terrible advice for our lower Clark Fork climate. This winter, so far, except for several weeks around Christmas, the peas and onions could have gone in anytime. Some people use the Farmer's Almanac, which is published in New England, and I must admit that since my Seattle friend transplanted herself to New Hampshire, her winters have been a lot like ours, except she has snow cover most of the winter and we do not, and we have sharp unexpected dips in temperature any time of the year, which she does not. Her soil is not yet ready to work.

Too many factors and so little time! By rule of thumb, one should not waste time with huge jack-o-lanterns. And yet, every Sanders County Fair has some whoppers; maybe not those half-ton winners from Oregon or Alaska, but whoppers nevertheless. How do these gardeners do it? Timing. As in most things, timing is everything. Well, I have only been in this valley 10 years and that is just not long enough to really know, at the gut level where it cannot be explained, the exact time to start the seeds so the pumpkin plants will be at a perfect stage when the soil finally warms up. I do try, though, perhaps this will be the year.

So the seeds will come and I will sort them out and decide where they will go in the garden, and when they should be started in the greenhouse. I will, in other words, make a plan, and in my mind's eye, it will all be perfect and the harvest bountiful. That is what it takes to get me up and going, but I imagine this year will be like all the previous years; some will do very well, most will be okay and a few will flop. By the end of summer I will be able to tell which plants will fit into which category, for this growing year, and I will try to make some long-term sense out the last 10 years. Long-term trends, like in the commodity futures market. At least I am only risking a few seeds!

A View From My Garden

These posts are a way of further sharing a column on gardening and nature I am writing for the local weekly newspaper. For now, my original stories, articles and poetry, along with photographs, are appearing on Gather.com, a new venture in the world of blogging. Please notice the link on the sidebar of this page and take a tour. I think you will enjoy the site. Gather.com is still in the beta state, and feedback from viewers is valuable.