Garden Dreams

Happy new year gardening friends!

It was a super busy end to 2014. We opened a new New Seasons Market in the middle of the holiday season. It's been an exciting, fun, and all-consuming adventure. Please stop by and visit my beautiful floral department!

A funny drawing by Joseph Tychonievich of green sparrow gardens is floating around the internet. He says "the short dark winter days cause me to suffer from S.A.D. Seed Acquisition Disorder. My gardening friends and I can all relate to this! During November and December I am busy with the holiday season and happy to have a rest from my garden. At the beginning of every year the new seed catalogs arrive in my mailbox. I spend hours pouring over each catalog, wrapped in a blanket drinking pots of my favorite tea. I devour, absorb, every detail of the new and old favorite varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers. I find myself in pajamas and bogs boots clipboard in hand patrolling my mostly dormant garden. I ponder what worked and didn't work last year. I make list after list of garden plans for the new year. I mark up my seed catalogs and make online wish lists. I dream and fantasize about peonies, dahlias, sunflowers and lilies. Each night I fall asleep seeing all the vibrant colors of the annual poppies I am currently obsessed. I eat, drink, breath all the potential my garden holds in the new year. It is an exciting, fun time of year that has endless promise.

When buying seeds I encourage you to purchase non-GMO seeds from a reputable vendor committed to heirlooms and organics and that has signed the safe seed pledge. You can find a seed vendors that have signed the safe seed pledge by following this link. Some of my favorite seed sources are Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Territorial Seed Company , Seed Savers Exchange, Botanical Interests, Renee's Garden, The Thyme Garden Herb Company. And the very best place for dahlia tubers is Old House Dahlias.

If you are wondering where to start with your garden planning I suggest checking out some excellent free resources. Portland Nursery has detailed information for pacific northwest gardens such as a veggie planting calendar, companion planting, succession planting, crop rotation, and individual crop culture guidelines. Check out their free gardening classes.

Garden Fever nursery here in Portland has an awesome monthly gardening calendar They've got some great gardening events coming up.

Enjoy the season filled with garden planning and garden dreams!

In Health,
Miss Jolie