I can not stress that enough. I order a lot of our seeds online, through catalogs, but I still have to visit our local garden center Gales Garden Center, a least once a week, and I never walk out of there without buying some seeds. Today I had to stop at Gales because I had a short list of seeds that I had to get, actually a log list, that turned into a really long list. But anyhow, I bought some seeds that I am really excited about. Here is what I bought:
- Kohlrabi: This will be my first time growing this, and selling it. I mostly bought it because it is something new for me (I have to try everything), and because it should mature early enough to be able to sell at Valley City in the spring. According to the package in can be used in stew, stir-fry, sauteed, or steamed and raw with dip or in salads. It is suppose to taste like a mild white turnip, and is a member of the cabbage family. I sounds really interesting, like it could have lots of potential. I can't wait to experiement with it.
- Diakon Radish: These radishes are suppose to be different from normal radishes because of their mild flavor. They are white and can grow up to 18" long. I think that these radishes should be good for those who do not like the strong taste of regular radishes.
- Lettuce (Romaine Hearts): These just looked interesting to me and should be something else for us to have available for our first market of this year. I can also use the baby leaves for our bagged lettuce mixes.
- Leeks: I really should have bought these earlier and started them in the cold frame or hoop house, but I didn't because I did not like the fact that they take soooo long to mature. But the more I thought about it, and the more research I did I figured I can start them a lot earlier that I had thought and have them mature earlier that I had imagined. So of coarse I just had to buy them. I have read that they take to transplanting really well, so I will be able to start them earlier then expected.
- Onions: This is another one that I should have started aready. I have been debating for I long time now weather or not to grow any onions this year or not. But I love onions so how can I not buy them. I am still not sure weather we will be growing enough to sell this year or not, but at least I will have them for myself :)
- Okra: This is another one that I was not sure if I should grow or not. It has been tempting me for quite some time now, so I decieded to just go ahead and buy some seeds. I really don't know much of anything about okra. You just don't see it much around here. I wasn't sure if it was something that would sell well in our area. So I will probably only be planting a limited amount of okra just to give it a try.
- Sunflowers: I bought two beautiful kinds of sunflowers that I am really excited to grow for cut flowers. I think they should look beautiful together. I can't wait to see them bloom.
- Nasturtium: I bought these to add a little bit of color to my bagged lettuce mixes. The flowers are edible and have a spicy, peppery flavor.
- I also bought some more flowers for cutting. I am so excited to be able to add cut flowers to the list of things that we will be selling for this year, and can hardly wait to see how the flowers that I have selected look together!
- I just learned that some varieties of sweet peas can be grow for containers and hanging baskets! I can't believe that I did not know this before! I found a package of sweet pea seeds that are for hanging baskets and just had to get them. The only thing is there are progbably not enough of seeds for me to be able to sell any. I will just have to be for me :) But the good news is that I looked through one of the catalogs that I order from and they carry a few varrieties that can be used for baskets! So if they work out good for me this year I will hopefully have some to sell for next year!
I should have just got them from the beginging, what was I thinking? I should know by now that I just can not resist buying new seeds.
And that is what happens when I make a trip to the garden center. I always come home with more seeds!
Tomorrow and this weekend I will be starting my first group of seeds for this year. I just can't wait to get started with this years growing season! Hopefully now that I will be starting seeds soon that will keep me busy enough to where I will stay away from the garden center for now, at least for a little while.
