Day 1: The seeds of knowledge

Welcome!

I have decided to take on the challenge of producing, growing, and maintaining a garden on my back patio. I have been mulling this over since last fall when I moved into my residence and this last week I began purchasing the start of my supplies.

My goal for having a garden is to be able to produce enough food that I can freeze a good portion and to not have to buy as much from the grocery store. Last fall the kids and I tried our hands at freezer jam, and this year I am going to get the stuff for making it on the stove.

So far I have started some squash seeds, pumpkin seeds, herbs, and Roma tomato seeds, and there are turnip, beet, and carrot seeds waiting to be planted as soon as I can get the soil. I also bought some berry plants that are sitting dormant in my basement for me to get soil for them too. With the exception of the berry plants, most of the seeds I have are heirloom seeds.

So, as a topic today I am going to discuss heirloom seeds! Smooth transition, right? ;-)

Heirloom seeds are seeds that have been gathered from plants that have an ancestry of 50+ years. They are not radiated so they bare fruits that the seeds can be gathered from and replanted the next year. The seeds I found were at my local natural food store and the selection was pretty small, but there are some awesome sites online where you can buy literally THOUSANDS of different types of seeds. On one site there was over 100 varieties of tomatoes, all heirloom.

Here are a couple of sites that I have been to in the past to drool over while I pictured my perfect back yard with row after row of delicious, organic, homegrown fresh produce. All of these links I tested before adding them, so they should work. Enjoy!

http://sustainableseedco.com/home.php

http://www.amishlandseeds.com/

http://eldoradoheirloomseeds.com/http://sustainableseedco.com/home.php

http://rareseeds.com/

Also, give the site "about.com" a shot, they have some really cool articles and videos.
P.S. Some of these sites also have their own tutorials and supplies to take care of your garden. While most of us are in places where we can get to quality organic fertilizer or pest control, not everyone can and ordering them online with the seeds can not just save time but money. Which is one of the top reasons to grow stuff yourself!