Seeds

Friends! Have you started thinking about your 2021 garden yet? If not, I would encourage you to start gathering your plans and seeds. If we learned anything in 2020, it is that everyone is jumping on the homestead, homemade bandwagon and things are hard to find. Chickens? Sold out. Flour? Same. Garden seeds? Not to be found. Canning jars, lids, rings? Goooood luck with that. So friends. Time is of the essence. I ordered my seeds a couple of months ago from Seeds Savers Exchange. One of the things that I learned about gardening this year was that you should purchase your seeds (if you don't save them) from a company that is in your general area versus buying from a company that is clear across the country and in an entirely different growing zone from you. I have a couple of seed companies near-ish me in NY State but I chose to go back to seed savers exchange. I had moderately good success with the garden and I don't think it was the seed company's fault as to why my garden wasn't more prolific. So I decided to just purchase the things I tried to grow in 2020 and a few additional things as well. As you might recall, we are moving the garden to a different spot for 2021 and I will have a lot more growing room.

So before I get too much further into my seed purchasing or into planning the garden for 2021, I thought it was essential that I inventory my seeds. I had that seed inventory sheet in my homestead binder and was going to use it but then decided I wanted to switch to an online platform. You'll see more of that here in the coming weeks. But how should I keep track of my seeds with an online or digital platform? I decided to build a spreadsheet! Why not? It is pretty straightforward with the type of seed (veg, fruit, herb, flower, etc) and then the name of the seeds, the year I purchased it, company name, how many packages, and so forth. I've listed it in my shop (for free) for your use. Feel free to snag it and then use it or make changes, updates, etc. Let me know how it goes. You can also get my seed starting template while you're over in the shop, that way you'll be super prepared for the 2021 growing season!

And then after I was done entering the seed and their info onto my spreadsheet, I organized the seeds alphabetically in their category type. Now they are all tucked away awaiting spring to get closer. And I can now start thinking about and planning the 2021 garden. There will be lots of cut flowers in 2021 too. I did not list all my flower seeds on the spreadsheet, mainly because I don't know what they are yet. But as we move forward and I learn more about flowers and the cut flower garden, I will start to include those on my spreadsheet as well.

I'm also hoping 2021 is the year I start saving veg and herb seeds too and start working toward the sustainable, low cost garden that I've always dreamt of. Most of my seeds are now heirlooms and I feel really good about that. But I really want to save my own seeds and try my hand at growing my garden, from scratch, from seeds that I saved. #goals, #homesteadingdreams.

And if you're not planning on going into all this detail or ordering seeds, I would still encourage you to make a rough plan and figure out your growing zone and when you can safely plant outside. I have a feeling that 2021 is going to continue much in the manner that 2020 unfolded, as far as planting, growing, and making your own goes. And if there's one thing that 2020 has taught me, it's to be prepared. And organized! The seed inventory is just one more example of how I've been taking inventory (hehe) and getting myself organized.

Have you started planning the garden yet? Tell me what you're thinking of growing!

'til next time
-k
xoxo