Here it is at last: a new decade.
Now is the time for improving the things that we can, time for more of the good and less of the bad, time to start throwing roaring 20s soirees, and (because it’s January) it’s time for crop planning, garden planning, or single-potted-tomato-on-the-patio planning.
Seed catalogues are out and if they aren’t filling up your mailbox (and living room, and dining room, and kitchen, and bed) yet, the wait isn’t long now. If you don’t get seed catalogues and would like to, you can sign up to receive them on just about any seed company website. Don’t want a paper copy? No problem! The online stores are pretty sleek these days, and they make purchasing very easy.
This season I had a shock when my first seed catalogue arrived, which happened to be the commercial seed catalogue for Territorial Seed Company. The first thing that I noticed when I saw the cover was that it was me. The second thing I noticed was that I was wearing the exact same clothes as I was in the photo, because once you have a good thing figured out why change it?
Needless to say it was a surreal and exciting thing to discover my new status as a covergirl, quickly followed by major nostalgia for some great days in the trials field at Territorial. The photo also reminded me of an article that the New York Times released several years ago titled “What is Your Opposite Job?” It was essentially just a database that you could plug your job into, and out it would spit the job that was most unlike yours. Oddly, the New York Times failed to register “Farmer” as a job, so I went with “Agricultural Operator” and what I got in return was notification that I was the furthest thing from a fashion model.
I don't know how accurate the quiz is, but I’m going to go ahead and say that farmers may be different from models, but some farmers may be models, and lots of my role models are farmers.
Bringing it back to seed catalogues, I’m hoping you all get the chance to curl up and ponder what green friends you want to make when the snow thaws, the clouds break, and the air warms up again. While you’re planning it’s a great time to consider growing something new.
Here’s a quick quiz that might help you pick something out:
Interested in your results? Check out these links to some of my favorite varieties.
Artichoke:
Snow Peas:
Heatless Hot Peppers:
Flint/Flour Corn:
Sweet Peas:
Monarch of the Veldt:
Strawflower:
Thanks for checking in with us for another year. We're gearing up for some exciting news that we'll be sharing next month, so stay tuned!
As always feel free to send me your thoughts on this post and any other plant-y topics!