Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 11:47AM seeds, seeds, and more seeds...
;)
It's a rainy Tuesday afternoon in the middle of January. In a few short weeks, we will return to the greenhouse and start the first plants of the year. In the meantime, the focus here is on our annual seed order.
Throughout the growing season, members often inquire about the seeds we use. With seeds very much on our minds right now, we thought this would be a great time to answer some of the questions we get most frequently.
Where do the seeds you use come from? In both 2010 and 2011, the bulk of our seed supply came from Johnny's Selected Seeds, out of Maine. This year, we will be splitting our order among a handful of providers including Johnny's, High Mowing Organic Seeds, and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.
In some cases, we are fortunate not to have to order seeds. We've grown delicious tomatoes from saved seeds, and last year's Okra experiment would not have happened were it not for seeds saved and shared by a good friend. Garlic seed comes entirely from our own stock, and in time, we hope to expand our own seed saving efforts.
How do you select the seeds that you plant? Choosing which crops and varieties to plant each year is one of the joys of the winter season. In our first year, the crop plans we created were largely shaped by the experiences and successes Nate had as an apprentice farmer in the Hudson Valley. Last year, we modified those plans according to our shared experiences, other growers' insights, and members' suggestions. We also took a few chances on varieties that we found striking simply based on their catalog images and descriptions, like last year's fantastic Sorbet Swirl watermelons. This year, our overall list of crops will not change too much, but we will continue to experiment: We'll be trying our hand at dry beans and adding some new greens to the plans. We'll also be planting purple scallions, red bok choi, russet potatoes, kabocha squash, and several new varieties of tomatoes!
How many seeds do you order? The number of seeds we order varies greatly depending on what we are planting. In the case of a crop like kohlrabi, we'll only need about 1,250 seeds to get through the season. On the other end of the spectrum, onions will require an order of about 16,000! Almost across the board, we plan to plant more seeds this year than we did in 2011 in the interest of providing CSA members with more abundant shares. At the same time, we are using feedback from members who were with us last year to determine which crops to plant less of. One example: turnips.
The process of putting together a seed order is an exciting one in our house. We begin to see the season ahead of us and envision the harvests... We smile imagining the first tastes of spring and summer...
Next month, the 16,000 onion seeds mentioned earlier will be planted in the greenhouse. To give the onions the best possible start before transplanting later this spring, we're beginning things about three weeks earlier than usual. Soon, we will be back in the swing of greenhouse routines, and Open Acres CSA's 2012 season will truly be off and running! We look forward to sharing it with all of you.
Interested in joining us for 2012? Please use this form to secure your membership as soon as possible.
Until next time, all our best.
PS: In case you are wondering what type of seeds are in the photo, they're arugula!
Reader Comments (2)
"to sow seeds is to practice conservation" .... One seed so much hope! If you guys need help sowing please call me.
Hope indeed! Thanks, John. We will definitely give a call if an extra pair of hands is needed. Feel free to do the same!