5 Year Garden Plan: Buying Seeds

About the middle of January the weather here was FREEZING cold! With the windshield the temperatures reached below zero. While the wind was howling outside, I resisted the urge to annoy Charles by loudly singing "Baby it's cold out SIIIDE!!!" Instead I poured over my seed catalog, coffee mug in hand, and planned my garden for this year.

 I bought from the Botanical Interests website. I bought their seeds last year and was impressed with them. They are a small family-run company who offer a large variety of organic, heirloom, non-GMO seeds. Their prices are reasonable too and their seed packets come packed with information. This year I bought my seeds with the following strategy in mind:

1) Vegetables/Herbs that I buy every week at the grocery store (like tomatoes and cilantro)
2) Vegetables that are the most expensive at the grocery store (like brussel sprouts and peppers)
3) High yield vegetables (like beans and peas)
4) At least 1 vegetable that I'm not familiar with (like Kohlrabi)

And this is the list of seeds I ended up buying:

Bean Bush Blue Lake 274 Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Bean Pole Trionfo Violetto HEIRLOOM Seeds

Beet Gourmet Blend Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Cabbage Chinese Michihili HEIRLOOM Seeds

Corn Sweet Sugarbaby (bicolor) Seeds

Cucumber Homemade Pickles Organic Seeds

Onion Bunching/Scallion Tokyo Long White HEIRLOOM Seeds

Onion Ringmaster Seeds

Pea Snow Oregon Sugar Pod II Organic Seeds

Pea Shelling Green Arrow HEIRLOOM Seeds

Pepper Sweet California Wonder Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Turnip Purple Top White Globe Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Rutabaga American Purple Top HEIRLOOM Seeds

Spinach Bordeaux Seeds

Tomato Pole Red Siberian HEIRLOOM Seeds

Tomato Bush Glacier Seeds

Tomato Cherry Sun Gold Seeds

Bok Choy Toy Choy Seeds

Kohlrabi Purple & White Vienna Blend HEIRLOOM Seeds

Micro Greens Savory Mix Seeds

Lettuce Romaine Little Gem Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Lettuce Romaine Parris Island HEIRLOOM Seeds

Kale Dwarf Blue Curled HEIRLOOM Seeds

Kale Redbor Seeds

Stevia Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Cilantro/Coriander Long Standing Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Basil Italian Genovese Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Celery Utah Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Brussels Sprouts Long Island Improved HEIRLOOM Seeds

Garden Stakes 10/pack

I'm pretty sure I bought way too many seeds (and Charles raised his eyebrows when he found out I spent $70 on seeds), but I'm sure I will have some leftover for next year's garden plus if when this garden is a success I will be saving twice that much each month this summer on my grocery bill AND hopefully have enough to preserve for fall/winter.

I'm also planning on buying some seed potatoes this spring and trying to grow those for the first time as well. What's your favorite thing to grow in your garden every year?