Seeds the Day!!

Funny.  I checked the pile on the shelf in the kitchen.  The top shelf, just tall enough so that I can launch a seed catalog into it in a sort of neatly fashioned pile.  That tidy pile waits until a cold day in January, and now here it is February, where a cabin feverish farmer can pore over them and try not to let any saliva fall out of a half-grinning, gaping mouth.  The shelf should have a name like “the future” or “dreams” or “rainbows and unicorns.”  The seed catalogs promise all of that. 

On frozen days, I want to believe every claim and picture!  The authors of seed catalogs are not bound by any laws of science, and are certainly not pledged to any honest order.  They are graduates of Don Quixote University; degrees rendered only by proof of rose colored glasses.   I put mine on.  The scientist, the cynic, the budgeter all rest awhile as I circle, highlight, make lists and dog ear pages. 

Oh sigh….

Back to “funny”.  What is funny is that the stack of catalogs is really short. It's like the catalog companies knew of the layoff this Fall where my employer of 6 years closed doors, shutters banging shut like a scene from the Wizard of Oz.  “Nobody gets to see the wizard! Not nobody, not no how!”  How did the post office know that the garden plans are small?  Do I have to shop like it’s a small garden?   I do have some very short highlighters…

Funny again.  Funny that last year I forced myself to buy flower seeds.  Cosmos, they are my favorite, leggy and prolific, all light pinks and white then whammo! there’s a dark pink-petaled face blazing bright and deep like a treasure poking its glint up through a sandy beach.  I forced the purchase last year because I had stopped planting flowers that weren’t edible.  I had stopped measuring beauty with my eyes because tastebuds and pocket books drew me in.

“If you can’t eat ‘em, don’t plant ‘em” was the mantra until one lunch at a great little restaurant in town.  The restaurant’s owner came to talk about gardens with me, and he spoke of boring large holes into a privacy fence just to see sunflower faces peeking through.  Then he described planting corn in serpentine (drunken tractor driver) fashion simply for the beauty of it.  

Just like Dorothy remembering how wonderful “Home” was while in Oz, I surprisingly remembered that I had forgotten beauty.  The garden had always stunned me with the unexpected grace of spectacle, but I had forgotten to plan for beauty - as if the gardener had no hope of influencing it!  Had I lost hope?  Is only function without form a recipe for hopelessness?  

Oh My!!!

This year the garden won’t be shaped by the fads of chefs or driven by the efficiency of the overcommitted grower.  This year there will be beauty in spite of the farmer, of course, but there will also be beauty because of the gardener!  WoMan was created in God’s image, likeness, or nature.  God creates. God plays with color and light just for joy, and this year in an attempt to be like her creator "Daddy," so will this Farmgardener.  Function will take a step aside and form might have a chance to blossom into some much needed hope. 

So back to the pages in the “unicorns and rainbows” booklets.  I will take one of these and one of those and….never mind the drool.

Favorite Gardening Catalogs to Drool Over:

Pinetree Garden Seeds- www.Superseeds.com

          - A very diverse seed collection with sections laid out                       according to cultural regions of crops.  Seeds are packaged in           smaller quantities and are priced accordingly.  There is                     always something interesting to try!

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange-  www.SouthernExposure.com

          -They have great varieties geared for Southern growing                       conditions.  Great descriptions and varieties, and they are                 absolutely committed to preserving heritage varieties.

The Growers Exchange-  www.thegrowers-exchange.com

           -Live herbal plants.  Very nice specimens shipped in high                quality packaging,

Bountiful Gardens- www.bountifulgardens.org

          -Specialize in heirloom, untreated and open pollinated                      varieties.  All sorts of varieties you never thought existed.                One year I grew Egyptian greens from them.  Very yummy!

Territorial Seed Company- www.territorialseed.com

          -They have all of the familiar varieties and some interesting               things too.  Great seed quality.  Beautiful pictures (the                       source of much drooling).  Their shipping is a bit steep                     though.