Friday, November 20, 2009

Seed Order for 2010...

Today I placed my 2010 seed order...
Because I have major OCD (self diagnosed of course) I like to have my order in early just in case there is a shortage of seeds (evermore the reason to SAVE SEEDS). Or at least that's what I tell myself. Maybe I just like having it checked off my list... one less thing to obsess over.

Last year I spent a total of $308 on seeds/plants. Which included vegetable seeds, garlic bulbs, onion bulbs, 20lbs of seed potatoes, 150 strawberry plants, 3 rhubarb plants, 3 artichoke plants, and a few heirloom tomato plants I picked up at the farmer's market. And after growing a little over 1,000lbs of produce it worked out to be about .33cents a lb for homegrown organic produce.
Plus, of course my time spent gardening... which I don't count... as gardening is my hobby...so all in all it works out to be a relative inexpensive hobby/to grow your own food if you ask me.

Because of all the leftover seed... next years "hobby" is going to cost me a grand total of $187 ($167 Seed Savers, and $20 Ed Hume).

Not bad... if you ask me. Plus I get to eat it all... and give some away too. Pretty Neat-O.
One of my gardening goals for next year is save more seeds... thus reducing my future seed orders even further.
I try to buy most of my seeds from Seed Savers.org... I like the idea that even though I may be paying a little more for my seeds... I am paying it forward in some small way.
Because I ordered an abundance of seeds last year... lucky me... I don't have to order so many this year. So without further ado... here is what I ordered for my 2010 garden.

Garlic Sampler
Yukon Gold Potatoes 5#
La Ratte Potatoes 2.5#
All Blue Potatoes 2.5#
All Red Potatoes 2.5#
1000 Green Arrow Peas
1lb Empress Beans
Carrots
Chives
Basil

I am also setting aside $20 for some additional seeds which I plan on buying from Ed Hume...
they usually go on sale in the local grocery at a 2 for 1 discount in early February. It's a local seed company that I like to support.
Here's what I'm buying from Ed...
Gold nugget squash, Kale, Pickles, Kohlrabi, Watermelon radish, Bok Choy, and Walla Walla Onions
Everything else I am planning on growing I already have in my super organized and chic seed box :)

However, I'm still on the lookout for the following seeds:
Pineapple Tomato and Soapwart.

If you find them somewhere... please let me know.

6 comments:

  1. Lady, you've got it together. I just got my SSE catalog today in the mail. I couldn't open it. Save it, yes. Open it, no. It's too soon. Still a bit too soon for me. I need a good break in between:-).

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  2. Good luck on the seed saving venture, it can be a real hassle but well worth the effort in the end...the knowledge of how to do so alone makes it a worthy undertaking. We also use Ed Hume for certain seeds and have never once had any germination issues with any of their seeds. I bought my first Gold Nugget Squash seeds from them.

    I can't believe that you are going to grow blue potatoes! That's just not normal...you realize this right? You may lose dinner guests with those kind of healthy colors.:) But they are so good.

    .33¢ a pound does make growing your own food a worth while hobby doesn't it, and organic at that. Your veggies look fabulous!

    You can either buy your soapwort from -www.thymegarden.com or send me an email and I will share some with you. Mine are the Saponaria officinalis variety.

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  3. I don't know about a source for seeds unless I collect them from the soapwort that is a WEED in our flower gardens and in the ditches all up and down the county roads around here. I tried making soap out of it, but used too much green - not enough root so it wasn't very soapy and smelled like boiled greens. I need to experiment more - appreciate the link.

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  4. Hi Mavis! Just starting in on this gardening thing...I think you are doing great! What gorgeous looking strawberries!! I have only a small garden box so I will not produce as much as you...but you are inspiring! :)

    Blessings,
    Camille

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  5. Thyhand... now I can relax... I've placed my order and don't have to think about it until Feb. 1st when I start my indoor seedlings :)

    Mr. H...Who doesn't like a blue potato :) And free soapwort seeds... are you kidding me? I have some long Island Cheese Pumpkin seeds I can trade you.

    Stephanie: I'm excited to try the soapwort as shampoo and to wash the clothing... I bet even Olivia Walton used it :) I'm sure you'll spend hours over at Mr. H's site....it's very informative!

    Camille: I've learned you only have to buy strawberries once... because they spread so quickly... in a year or two you'll have enough to make jam :)

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  6. Thanks for the encouragement...I would love it if my whole box was full of just strawberries! :)

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