garden} beginnings
and the season begins... For total control over your vegetable choices, you need to begin the season when there’s still snow on the ground. Starting your own plants allows you to grow your favorite varieties that may not be found in locally, and can save money in the long run.
Choosing seeds
If you think there are a lot of options in a well-stocked greenhouse brimming with plants in the spring, stand in front of a seed rack and try to narrow your selection. Thumbing through seed catalogs can be equally overwhelming. With outstanding descriptions and gorgeous photography, you might end up buying more seeds than you can possibly use or choose varieties that won’t do well in our climate.
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When deciding what to plant, first consider the length of our growing season. Don’t choose a melon that needs 120 days. It won’t mature. We have 90 days on average, and even then, it’s not 90 days of ideal growing conditions. Your safest bet is to choose vegetables that mature in 75 days or less. WOMAN 76
By AMY GRISAK
It’s always a good idea to have a basic list of the types of vegetables you need to grow, but leave room to try new ones. For instance, I always plant ‘Stupice’ tomatoes, a short season Czechoslovakian heirloom that produces no matter how terrible the growing conditions, plus I need a paste-type tomato for canning. This year I will include ‘Oregon Spring’ to see if it grows as well here as it does on the coast. Talk to other gardeners to gain some insight on what to try. Serious gardeners often place their mail order seed orders by February to ensure they receive their desired varieties because companies do sell out of popular ones, especially with millions of new gardeners joining the market. But if you aren’t ready to delve into the mail order world, by mid-winter seed racks appear in most local nurseries and home improvement stores.