How to Select Garden Seeds

“Anyone who thinks that gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year. For gardening begins in January, begins with the dream.” Joesphine Nuese

Caring for a garden is a one of the most fulfilling hobbies that one can have. It allows individuals to connect with nature, create beautiful outdoor sanctuaries, and have the satisfaction to grow their own food. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or just starting out, I want to share some of my tips and tricks that can help enhance your gardening experience when it comes to selecting the right seeds. In this blog post, we will explore a variety of seed topics for you to consider in order to help you choose what you want to grow in your garden, some important information for you to learn about the different seed varieties, and I will share my favorite place to purchase seeds.

Before you purchase seeds for your upcoming garden, please consider the following:

1. What does my family eat?

This seems pretty obvious, right? One would think so, but I myself have been caught in the trap of trying to grow everything. For example, when I started out, I planted a ton of squash because that’s just what everyone does. I had failed to realize that at the time, I didn’t really use squash in our meals and to be honest, I didn’t really like it. I had gobs of squash come harvest time that I didn’t know what to do with, and it ended up going bad in my storage room from not being used up. Now, I love squash and have found all sorts of recipes to implement it. If this is your first-year gardening, my advice would be to try and avoid experimenting with your tastebuds. If you know you love corn, grow corn. If you don’t like squash but love the idea of it, don’t grow squash. As you grow your gardening muscles, you can begin to add more and more to the foods you grow.

2. What grows best in my area?

Here in Southeastern Idaho where I live, I am in growing zone 6a. We have a very short growing season, which means I have to be realistic about what I grow in my garden. Most varieties of potatoes do marvelous here with the exception of sweet potatoes. It is not uncommon to have snow on the ground in June, so frost tolerant crops are something I like to grow in abundance. Is it humid where you live, cold, dry with little rain? All of these are things to consider when deciding what you want to grow, and which crops thrive in your climate and soil type.

3. How much space do I have?

If you are limited on gardening space, or if you have a large plot but want to increase your yield, there are some crops that give you more bang for the space. There are also gardening methods that when implemented will enable you to double if not triple your harvest. I will give you an example of a plant that can produce a large amount of food in a given space along with a popular favorite that takes up quite a bit of space for the amount that it produces.

1. Green beans can be planted fairly close together, and if you keep up with picking them as they ripen, one plant can give you a ton of food. You can also purchase pole beans which will grow vertically on a trellis. Either option is great.
2. Corn- corn is delicious and definitely a crowd pleaser, but it does take up a significant amount of space. In my experience, 1 corn stalk will usually produce 1-3 ears or corn. If you want to enjoy a few meals that have corn in the summer, this is perfect. If you are wanting to grow a large amount, you will equally have to have a large growing area to produce enough to add to your pantry for the winter.

4. What different ways can I preserve this fruit or vegetable?

Of all the topics I have discussed so far, I would say this is my favorite to dive into. Did you know that the process of canning food only began in 1809 when a Frenchman named Niccolas Appert developed the method of sealing food into glass jars? That was just a little over 200 years ago, and that really is a fairly recent phenomenon when you consider the span of how long we humans have been roaming this earth. I have an upcoming blog post that dives a little deeper into how each of these methods work, but for right now let’s just take a quick look at what our options are. Some of these methods have been used for thousands of years while some are very recent technologies.

1. Canning- like I mentioned above, this is usually the go to for individuals. It requires some equipment and knowledge, but there is really nothing more beautiful than shelves full of filled mason jars to display your beautiful hard work.
2. Cold Storage- This is definitely the simplest methos that is listed here. Cold storage is basically picking an item, giving it time to cure, and then placing it in an ideal area to sit on the shelf for the winter.
3. Dehydration- People use to dry food by leaving it out to dry in the sun, or they would use salt to draw out any moisture. An example of this is salted pork. Depending on what was being dehydrated, different methods would be used. Today, we have the convenience of an oven. If you really want perfectly dehydrated products, you can purchase a dehydrator. I love this one! This is a great option if you aren’t quite ready to invest in a freeze dryer.
4. Fermentation- This is a preservation method I have dipped my toes into a little in the past but would love to dive deeper into. This method is wonderful as it adds additional benefits and the good bacteria that your body needs to function its best.
5. Smoking-This method was mainly used for preserving meats. When I think of smoking meat, my mind instantly goes back to reading Little House in The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I love the way she described how Pa used a big log to makeshift a smoker.
6. Freezing- This is also one of the simpler ways to preserve food. While I do freeze some produce from my garden, I like to reserve the space of my freezers for meat.
7. Freeze drying- If you own a freeze dryer, I’ll be honest, I am entirely envious of you. This is something that is on my lists of “somedays”. This is the most recent technologies in the preservation world, and it is simply amazing how the nutrients are so beautifully maintained.

Once you have identified the different preservation methods, you can begin to consider which foods have the most options. Also consider what are you going to have time for when harvest season comes around. If you know you are going to have very little time, come August-October this might not be your year to take up canning. Consider what equipment you already have, what equipment you can afford to buy, how much time you have to preserve, and what new preservation skills do you want to add to your toolbelt this year?

How easy can I create a quick meal out of my produce?

If you are wanting to have produce in your garden that you can go out and pick and create a quick and nutritious meal, then radishes, peas, and any type of ingredient that goes into a salad are a great choice. Don’t forget about berries too! There is no better treat than raspberries and cream on a hot, summer day.

Don’t forget about the bees!

The best thing you can do for your garden is to plant flowers, and lots of them. Not only does it add even more beauty to your garden, but it also creates an ideal ecosystem for bees to thrive. The more bees, the healthier your garden will be. I love to sprinkle wildflower mixes around the perimeter of my garden. It is absolutely stunning.

Seed Lingo

When you start shopping for seeds, you’ll notice you have a couple of options. I’m going to give you a quick rundown of what these words mean.

Heirloom Seeds– seeds that have been passed down from generation to generation. These seeds have been passed down from the beginning of “gardening”, and that is simply special. These seeds are open pollinated, meaning the plant they came from was pollinated by nature. Plants produced from heirloom seeds will be true to its kind. Heirloom seeds are NOT genetically modified (think scientist experiments), and they are NOT Hybrid (humans have cross pollinated plants of their choosing).

If you are wanting to purchase seeds that you can keep from year to year, these are really the only type of seeds you can do that with and have a good result in your garden. If you try to save corn seeds from a non-heirloom plant and try to use it the following years, the stalk will get shorter each year and produce less healthy plants. You can see that heirloom varieties are a great sustainable choice.

Hybrid Seeds– A hybrid seed is produced when humans have taken two different varieties of a plant and pollinated them to create a completely new variety. You cannot take the seeds from a hybrid plant and use the following year. Well, I guess you can, but you will have a less vigorous plant as I mentioned above.

Organic Seeds– seeds that have been produced without the use of any type of chemicals before OR after the harvest. Here is my take on organic seeds. If you can get them, that’s wonderful. What’s more important to me is learning how to grow a garden using organic methods. I can still feel okay about buying a non-organic seed as long as I am not putting chemicals in my own garden. I have a course you can take that is in the making where I dive deeper into how I grow an organic permaculture garden. I will be sharing all of my tips on how to grow thriving garden using natural ways of fertilization along with pest and weed control.

GMO– This means a seeds DNA has been altered by technology. This is often a practice used in commercial agriculture that has enabled farmers to get a higher yield. I always make sure to purchase NON-GMO seeds.

When I purchase my seeds

January is the time to purchase seeds. Depending on your location, there are some plants that need to be started earlier indoors. You of course, can purchase these plants at a greenhouse, but you can save so much money by starting them yourself. In Idaho, we have a very short growing season. I usually plant seeds of certain plants like tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, some culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, and flowers six to eight weeks before the last frost date. If you are curious what all you will need to start seeds indoors, I have linked what I use in the “supplies” page of this website.

Where I purchase my seeds from

Now that you have chosen WHAT you want to grow in your garden, it is now time to purchase your seeds. I used to get my seeds at my local farm store. They did okay, but once I started to shop around, I found a couple seed companies that I fell in love with.

One of those companies is Eden Brothers. I have been so impressed each year. They also have the best selection of flowers in my opinion. Below is a photo from the first year I used their seeds in my garden. I know it’s hard but try to look beyond the precious little toe-headed cowboy. Can you see how beautiful those green bean plants are? Good quality seeds make ALL the difference. You can purchase these tried and trusted seeds HERE.

I hope this blog post was helpful to you. I hope you feel confident knowing you are well equipped to grow a garden if you never have tried to grow one before. I want to be your mentor to walk you through the unknowns. Or if you are a seasoned gardener and are wanting to up your gardening game this year, know that I am cheering you on!

-Lyndsi