Have any of you seen the shelves of late in your grocery store? Have any of you seen the hundreds of container ships anchored off LA Harbor? Do you think you will wait till the early spring to buy your vegetable seeds? Will you buy heirloom or basic hardware store seeds? There is a drought happening west of the Mississippi river, how will this affect vegetable's later this year?
In my opinion, we are moving from the pandemic drama to a economic drama. The
Build, Back, Better agenda AKA as,
The Great Reset needs to happen to save the world - Right? Moving on...
I placed my new seed order yesterday to the tune of $200-. I use
Baker Creek Seeds and
Johnny's Seeds. Both companies sell primarily, heirloom seeds.
I save my seeds from year to year. I use Suzanne Ashworth's book,
Seed to Seed to guide me in collecting the seeds from my heirloom vegetables.
The members of my home MAG and I trade seeds that they collect from their vegetables. Why do we do this you might ask? To keep the strains strong.
When I start the seeds in the late winter under lights, I mix the three strains together. My seeds from last year, my neighbor's seeds, and then the seeds I bought. Using Amish paste tomatoes as an example...
My goal is to grow twenty-four Amish paste seedlings for the garden. I plant 10 of my seeds from last year, 10 seeds from my neighbor's seeds from last season, and 10 seeds from one of my heirloom purchases. The extra seedlings are insurance. I plant the strongest and the rest I give away. This formula is used for all my heirloom seedlings.
What did I buy and what do I have on hand...
Rutabagas (Keep better than turnips)
Tomatoes
Amish Paste
German pinks
Brandywine
Cherry tomatoes that i grow in a pot on the porch. Easy access for MrsMac
Bush Beans
Sweet Peppers
Hot peppers
Jalapenos
Hungarian
Carrots
Typically, Short body better to grow in rocky soil
Cucumbers
Boston Pickling
Garden variety
Potatoes
I use my left-over potatoes as seed Usually red potatoes
Yellow squash
Zucchini
Lettuce
Butter head
Mixed spring
Radishes
Watermelon
Assorted herbs, some are
Parsley
Cilantro
Dill
Thyme
Oregano
Winter Squash
Acorn
Butternut
Jack o' Lantern Pumpkin
There are others...
The reason for the extra seeds that I bought in part, is to help my MAG, my neighbors, and my friends. If I can help to keep them fed, I will have less chance of becoming a statistic caused by a scoped deer rifle one morning as I tend the garden. Seeds are also a good barter item.
Bottom-line, buy your heirloom seeds today. Do not wait till the spring when suddenly other folks are going to figure out that they better raise some/most of their vegetable's. Don't be the person that snaps out of their Normalcy Bias and runs to the store to buy toilet paper. Whoops. The guy just before you bought the last roll.
Thoughts from you experienced preppers/gardeners?