Seeds! They're Arriving!

I don't know which makes me more excited. Getting the seed catalogs in January or the seeds themselves in February! If you haven't done so, you need to order ASAP because seed sales are anything but sagging and last year, seed companies sold out of some varieties early.  As we all know, they just can't whip up a few more whenever they want!

This year I received seeds from three sources: Seeds of Change, Seed Savers Exchange, and Hometown Seeds.

Seeds of Change

I love their bright yellow packaging that is water proof - if you have them sealed! I find these are handy when out in the garden as the package really holds up.

On the back, they have covered just about every imaginable bit of information you might need while out planting. No need to keep going back to a gardening book to look up info.

Seed Savers Exchange

Can I have two favorites? Honestly, I think I split my ordering needs between these two companies this year. I was so impressed with Seed Savers Exchange mission to preserve seeds, especially heirloom varieties.

Love these photos...

And my favorite part? The directions for saving the seeds are right on the back!

Hometown Seeds

This was a new company that contacted me about survival seeds. If you don't have some of these in your freezer, you should. It's kind of like having a savings account, only in seeds instead of dollars. Now I'm not a doomsdayer, but there is such a thing as being wise - whether in regards to economy or catastrophy. Having some stored seeds allows you to have a back up for getting a garden started in the event that you can't get ahold of seeds at some point, whatever the reason. And all these are non-hybrid and will produce true to variety. 

As you can see, these came packaged in mylar, ready to go into my freezer. I love that! These should store for about 10 years in the freezer or 5 years on the shelf (if in a cool place).

I just have to share one thing I'm very excited about. I am going to grow my first beans for drying. I've wanted to do this ever since I went to Maine in 2003. We had stopped at a farm that had a stand with maple syrup, fresh apple cider, and produce. But they also had several varieties of dried beans grown right there on the farm. Not your ordinary varieties, but unusual ones, much like these two that I picked...

Actually, I picked two more, but they aren't all in yet. I will have to limit myself because I have only so much space, but I had to try!

So, now I just have to be patient to plant. That's really hard. I'd much rather have spring weather right away and get started! At least I can start some of them indoors and feed my gardening desire! I just need to plan when.

Please share something new you are doing in your garden this year and inspire us!