Sky Dancing in the Garden: Here comes Dream time!

Note: I’m posting this on Monday because Sunday was super busy, both personally and on the blog!

And now, for something entirely frivolous and decadent.

This year’s gardening catalogs.

Many a garden writer has said it before, and many will say it again (in fact, this one is just about to).. catalogs are for dreaming. In catalogs there are no slugs, no snails, no powdery mildew and no late blight. The plants are a glistening glossy green, with bright shiny flowers that stand out like beacons under the perpetual benevolent sunshine. Every plant is wonderful, superlative, the cream of the crop. The vegetables look, taste, and even smell better in your favorite garden catalog, or at least, so say their descriptions.

Watering? Only from this stylish classic verdigris water can on page 25 or the oh-so-environmentally conscious drip irrigation ‘system’ on page 50.

Bugs? NEVER! But if you might see a stray sign of a leaf-hopper on the poor neighbor’s fuscia, head out to page 65 for a complete list of bug preventatives.

The thing that draws me in every time, every single dang time, is the ‘NEW VARIETIES!’ I love reading about new vegetable varieties. I’ll read a bit, then my gaze’ll wander and I’ll stare out the window at the cold, grey, wet winter’s day. In my mind’s eye I see this or that great new broccoli variety, or corn, or swiss chard, or whatever, growing proudly in long rows; producing abundant, life-sustaining nutrition (and a few bucks for the poor farmer). And this or that great new variety will be innately resistant to slugs and will scoff at both heat and cold, wet and dry. It’s such a great variety, it’ll grow under your bed, or on the moon! Ok, I’m getting a bit carried away.

Catalog season generally starts in December. It can run into April in some areas of the country or end as early as February in others, because it ends as soon as planting begins and reality sets in. I keep all the farming and gardening related catalogs in the same pile and look through them before I go to bed, or when I have a few free moments. It’s a peaceful, dreamy time.

If you’re anything like me, you get tons of gardening catalogs from seed suppliers from all over the country. It’s hard to tell the good seed company from the bad, hard to tell what will grow in your area and what won’t. Therefore, here’s a few tips.

Do a bit of google research to explore where a seed company is getting their seed. Few actually grow seeds themselves (although some do). Many smaller seed companies still offer non-Monsanto (or other huge agri-business) controlled seed.

Beware of seed that is copyrighted or trademarked. This doesn’t mean it’s an F1 hybrid, this means it’s actually illegal to grow it yourself. If it’s that important to some business, you probably don’t need it.

To determine if a variety will grow in your area: Start with the basic hardiness zones. If the variety is within your zone, it’ll probably grow. But remember, many varieties need heat, so a zone 8 in the PacNW is not going to get as much heat as a zone 8 in northern California. This matters for things like corn and eggplant and many flower varieties. Most catalogs do not give heat requirements (known as degree days), so here’s how I figure it out. I use a catalog provided by a local (to me) seed merchant; Territorial Seeds. This is a great company, and they do a lot of their own growing and testing down in Oregon. I look at the days to maturity they give for different varieties of vegetables and flowers. Although the days to maturity are still a bit low, because they are in Oregon and I’m in Washington, I at least get in the ballpark. Then I compare these days to those in other catalogs. For each vegetable, this gives me an offset for each of the other catalogs, which I can use to get a semi-accurate guess whether something will grow for me or not.

Why do I do this? Because my favorite seed place is Johnny’s, in Maine. And in Maine you can, for instance, grow corn varieties which won’t grow in the Puget Sound area of Washington. Maine is hotter and has more days over 60 F than Washington, even though coastal Washington has a higher hardiness zone.

Another point to consider:  Look at the natural habitat of the plant.  Make sure your garden area is similar to that natural habitat if you want carefree gardening.  For instance, rosemary is naturally a Mediterranean scrub plant.  It likes cool mornings and nights, mist, wind, quickly draining soil and hot sun.  It doesn’t like snow, and it doesn’t like places without that mist and wind.  So around my area rosemary often dies.  However, I can grow it because I live in a little valley on a peninsula with sea water within a mile or two on 3 sides.  I get the winds and the mist, boy, do I get the winds!  I then went further for my rosemary and grow it in raised beds to achieve the drainage it wants.

For farming, I use Johnny’s and Territorial seed mostly.  I get catalogs from other seed merchants, but they don’t hit a chord with me, for some reason.  I use Nichols and various other places for herbs.  I love the Heirloom seed catalogs and tomato catalogs.  I use onion starts, rather than the little onion bulbs or seeds.  I get mine from Dixondale farms.  Drip Works is a great drip irrigation site, and cheaper than the ‘system’ available in most catalogs.  Green house stuff comes from Charley’s in Washington, or Greenhouse Megastore or other places across the Internet.

So let’s hear it, what are your winter gardening dreams, 2011 gardening plans and favorite catalogs and tips for seed selection?