Ordering Seeds, a simple guide
If you struggle with knowing what seeds to order and planning your garden for the upcoming season, you’re not alone.
Many of us can spend hours drooling over all the gorgeous seed catalogues, but have a hard time knowing what we should really order, or what we’ll use, in our gardens.
Our advice- divide your seed ordering into 2 separate steps:
dreaming and organizing.
Dreaming
Want to order seeds like a pro, stay in your budget, and know exactly what you'll be planting in the Spring and Summer?
First, dream big, baby! Make yourself a steamy cup of coffee or tea and flip through your favorite seed catalogues. You can circle, write a list, whatever you need to do to mark your interest in that seed (try not to circle the whole catalogue- we know, it's hard).
Much like brainstorming, don't get caught up in the details or what's realistic- just grab your marker and go to town.
Organizing
Once you have your big dreams down, make a simple spreadsheet of all of those seeds that includes some basic information like:
🌱 the name of the seed/plant
🌱 what company you would order it from
🌱 how much it costs per seed packet
🌱 how many seed packets you want to order
Once you have all the information in a spreadsheet, take a good, hard look at what you want to order, and thin out your selection as needed. Here are some factors to consider:
Budget- Seeds, compared to seedlings or starts, are relatively inexpensive, but any experienced gardener know the cost of seeds can add up quickly! Consider setting budget for your season.
Space- how much room you have in your garden? Do you really want to plant 3 types of beans if you only have two raised beds to use? If you only have a raised bed garden, do you want to plant all the flowers you added to your list, or just pick a few so you leave room for vegetables, too?
Plant preferences- Be honest with yourself about what you’ll use and won’t use during the season. Sure, the descriptions are mouth-watering and the photos are gorgeous, but if you don't usually eat leafy greens, maybe only start with one or two types to make sure you like them and know how to use them.
Not all seeds are planted equally- some plants, like tomatoes, prefer to be started indoors, which is a process that requires special equipment like grow lights and heat mats. Others, like carrots and radishes, prefer to be direct seeded, or planted as seeds directly in the soil in spring. If you’re ordering plants like tomatoes that prefer to be started indoors, make sure you have a way to do so.
Special instructions or considerations: Many seed packet descriptions will come with information about the variety. For example, “slow-bolting” cilantro, or “pest-resistant” squash. Feel free to take these into consideration, but remember that it’s better to focus on creating a healthy environment for your plants than selecting super-specific varieties that may fail no matter what if they’re planted in poor soil, don’t have enough sunlight, or are watered infrequently. Prevention is better than cure!
A Bonus Tip: waste not, want not.
Oftentimes, seed packets contain way more seeds than us as one backyard-gardener can handle, and they lose their germination rate, or their ability to sprout consistently, as the years go on. Consider sharing the seeds, and cost, with a gardener friend or two so you don’t waste any!
