Seed-stravaganza!

Okay. I may have gone a little overboard (again) with my seed gathering and tree, plant and bush ordering. The good news is that I am still under budget and should have plenty left for fertilizers and soil for starting seeds.

After ordering online and visiting a local seed company, I find that I have knocked out almost everything on my list.

In addition to the replacement blueberries and kiwis from Raintree, I also ordered the following:
More yellow Alpine strawberries (4) – they taste like a pineapple crossed with a strawberry. Delicious!
Loch Ness Thornless Blackberries (3)
Autumn Olive (2 more in addition to the replacement that is coming.
Nanking Cherry bushes (4) – I found these last year but didn’t want to go too overboard so decided we would order them this year. After doing a bit more research on them, I wish I had started them last year. They are fast-growing winter hardy shrubs that reach heights of 6-10 feet. The fruit is said to make delicious pies and jellies.
Apple and Cherry rootstock (3 each)
Yacon, a potato-like tuber (1)
Mashua, another tuber that has a peppery flavor (1)
Crimson cherry rhubarb (3)
Asparagus
Kinnickinnick – This is a ground cover that doesn’t need a lot of attention. It produces edible berries in the fall that last well into the winter months.
Pinot Noir grapes for one of my favorite beverages.

From Burgess Seed & Plant Co.:
Almond trees (2)
Burning Bush (4)- Lush and green in the summer and fiery red in the fall. We’ll add this to our fedge and have some edible red berries to munch on in the fall.
Bartlett Pear tree (1)
Lavender (3)
Dwarf flowering cherry (4)
Creeping Phlox (12) – Beautiful blanketing ground cover that attracts butterflies. We’ll throw this down under our grape, hops and kiwi area hoping that it spreads like crazy so we won’t have to mow there. We’ll also throw some down in our fedge area for the same purpose.
Crowvetch (16) – Another ground cover that will go in the fedge, vine area and under the pole beans to help control erosion.
Sugar Sweet Cherry (3)
Heirloom Rainbow Blend
Spineless Okra
Muscadine Grapes (2)
English Walnut (2)
Chestnut Tree (4)
Ground Cherry – You guessed it, more ground cover.
White Pumpkin – Because it looks so cool!
Vine Peach
Dark red potato
Snow in Summer – More ground cover and beneficial insect attractors.
Everbearing blackberry (4) – For our fedge
Strawberry Allstar (25)
Popcorn corn
Shallot
Sunshine Blue Blueberry (2)

Everything listed above will ship at the end of March to arrive the first or second week in April. We will then have our work cut out for us as we plant, plant and plant some more!

After ordering all of this online, I decided to go check out a local seed company. I’d heard that they had a great selection and a very helpful and knowledgeable staff. I was greeted at the door and after perusing for awhile started to ask questions and found that not only was the staff knowledgeable about seeds, the person I chatted with also gave me a lot of valuable pointers for my garden.

And now, a picture gallery of the seed packets I bought at Kelly Seed and Hardware as well as some of the seeds we saved from last year.

An assortment of companions, beneficial insect attractors and ornamental beauties: nasturtiums, marigolds, butterfly mix, salvia and more.

Pumpkins and other squash

A rather insane amount of carrots

The Brassicas: Broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower…

An assortment of peppers from sweet to bell to hot and spicy

Beans!

Lettuces!

Tomatoes, new and last year’s seeds

Petunia, ground cherry and leek

Okra, new and seeds saved from last year.

Watermelon and cantalope

Several varieties of amaranth as well as a dried up sprig from last year.

Sunflower seeds saved from last year.

Herbs, herbs and more herbs. Everything from cilantro, dill, basil, thyme, rosemary, lemon balm, chamomile, hibiscus, parsley, sage, lovage, borage and many, many more.

Ground cherry, petunia and leeks

Radish, Okra and Beets

Now that I have it all typed out…I see that I have gone more than just a little overboard. Let the seed starting extravaganza begin!