I love gardening catalogs. Stacked right next to my easy chair are...my bible, several books, Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn catalogs and... my gardening catalogs. I go through them over and over and over again. I highlight this variety and circle that variety. I put an asterisk next to this tomato and a star next to that pepper. I thumb through these catalogs...reading and learning and dreaming of having a beautiful garden. It all looks so easy on the pages of a catalog! There's just one problem. I am going through these catalogs and deciding which varieties of these wonderful vegetables I want to grow when it hits me: I don't have anywhere to START these seeds. Our house is very small. 960 sq. ft. to be exact. And every inch of it is taken. While the idea of starting all of my precious veggies from seed is romantic...and dreamy...for me it is not practical. It's just not. And believe you me...I am not known for my practicality. I'm known for diving head first and checking for water on the way down. However, reality is reality. And the reality is I just don't have the room to start my garden from seed. So...this brings me to my dilemma: hybrid vs. heirloom. Since I can't start my garden from seed, more than likely the seedlings I purchase will not be heirloom quality. I'm pretty sure that whatever my local box store sells is going to be whatever hybrid has been bred to do the best in this area and last the longest on the store racks. For about a year I've been thinking about this summer's garden. I've been focusing on heirloom vegetables so that I can learn to save my own seed from year to year. Hybrids haven't been an option. But...I'm thinking I might have to change my thinking...at least while we're still living in this house. And who knows how much longer that will be? A year? Two years? 20? I don't know. So...for now...I just have to be realistic. (Dangit!) Hybrids may have to BE an option. I think that's better than having no garden at all...so I'm willing to compromise. And hopefully it's only for one more season!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Decisions, decisions, decisions...
I love gardening catalogs. Stacked right next to my easy chair are...my bible, several books, Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn catalogs and... my gardening catalogs. I go through them over and over and over again. I highlight this variety and circle that variety. I put an asterisk next to this tomato and a star next to that pepper. I thumb through these catalogs...reading and learning and dreaming of having a beautiful garden. It all looks so easy on the pages of a catalog! There's just one problem. I am going through these catalogs and deciding which varieties of these wonderful vegetables I want to grow when it hits me: I don't have anywhere to START these seeds. Our house is very small. 960 sq. ft. to be exact. And every inch of it is taken. While the idea of starting all of my precious veggies from seed is romantic...and dreamy...for me it is not practical. It's just not. And believe you me...I am not known for my practicality. I'm known for diving head first and checking for water on the way down. However, reality is reality. And the reality is I just don't have the room to start my garden from seed. So...this brings me to my dilemma: hybrid vs. heirloom. Since I can't start my garden from seed, more than likely the seedlings I purchase will not be heirloom quality. I'm pretty sure that whatever my local box store sells is going to be whatever hybrid has been bred to do the best in this area and last the longest on the store racks. For about a year I've been thinking about this summer's garden. I've been focusing on heirloom vegetables so that I can learn to save my own seed from year to year. Hybrids haven't been an option. But...I'm thinking I might have to change my thinking...at least while we're still living in this house. And who knows how much longer that will be? A year? Two years? 20? I don't know. So...for now...I just have to be realistic. (Dangit!) Hybrids may have to BE an option. I think that's better than having no garden at all...so I'm willing to compromise. And hopefully it's only for one more season!
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