Future food

Seeds for our square foot garden

I adore seed catalogs.  When we lived in Morgantown, I would sit and highlight, mark up pages, and daydream over the possibilities for our future gardens.  It didn't take long for us to realize that we wanted to grow heirloom varieties of our favorite vegetables.  From beans to tomatoes, there is such variety in heirloom seeds!  The catalogs often times read like a book as each variety tells a story from the past.

This year our garden will be small, including the seeds above as well as tomato plants, pepper plants, potatoes, flowers, and herbs.  I have ordered all of our seeds and tomato and pepper plants from Seed Savers Exchange.  From seed we are growing cucumbers, melons, squash, spinach, lettuce and carrots.  The Lemon Cucumber have a delightfully sweet crunch that pairs lovely with tomatoes for a light summer salad.  The Paris Market carrots are described to be highly desirable at Farmer's Markets.  We love fall squash, so decided to try the Long Island Cheese this year.  And some little boy I know loves melons in the summer. 

We will also be growing potatoes.  We ordered a variety that is good for storage since we have a root cellar and hope to put up as much as possible for the winter.  I ordered a variety pack of tomato and pepper plants, so it will be exciting to see what we get!

The herbs and flowers we will more than likely get at the local greenhouse.  The flowers will be there not only for color, but also to attract beneficial insects to our garden.  We plan to garden naturally, without the use of pesticides or insecticides.  Using flowers and herbs, as well as companion planting, helps to naturally control pests.  

If you get a chance, check out the Seed Savers Exchange website.  You will be amazed at the varieties of vegetables that are available!

P.S.  The numbers on the seed packets refer to how many seeds can be planted in each square of our garden.