Sunset - June 2, 2020

Sunset - June 2, 2020

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

"S" Is For Seeds...



"S" is for Seeds...such a simple little word - for such a miracle. If you are a gardener, the weeks following Christmas & New Years can be magical  in its own way. Each day might bring another seed catalog to the mailbox. Perhaps a favorite company that you return to year after year, perhaps a brand new name which has you eagerly exploring the glossy pages. For those of us in northern climates, it can be "the dream time." While the snow piles up outside and adds layers to the gardening beds, we gather up the newly arrived publications, a cup of something warm and comforting and find a comfy chair by the fire. A red marking pencil is clutched in our hands and the journey begins. 

Each page reveals wonders - packets of seeds in sizes that will be more than adequate for the home gardener with a small area, to seeds by the pound for those who take their harvests to a local Farmers Market come summer. From January to March, the winter-bound gardener knows that all things are possible - every seed planted will yield flowers and vegetables beyond our wildest dreams....one just has to read the descriptions to know that is true.

"I don't believe the half I hear,
Nor the quarter of what I see!
But I have one faith, sublime and true,
That nothing can shake or slay;
Each Spring I firmly believe anew
All the seed catalogs say!"

(Carolyn Wells)


"A masterpiece of size and flavor..."
"Blooms like big pink snowballs..."

A winter squash called Amazonka that "behaves decorously in the garden..."
Mizuna - "light & graceful, these feathery mustards float in the slightest breeze, the garden's corps of ballet dancers..."
An imported Asian cucumber that is "demurely burpless...:"

My red marking pencil goes to town...I certainly want my squash to behave decorously!
Just yesterday, the first seed order has arrived...what potential awaits...


Webster defines the word seed as - that part of a plant from which a new one will grow. How mundane a description for the life contained within its protective shell.  To plant a little seed in its own tiny pot or to sow a row in a raised bed, is to connect with our earth on such a basic level. We mark the newly planted pot or area and wait for the time when that first little break in the soil appears. Then the new seedling puts forth its first set of true leaves and we hover over it like a mother watching her newborn.We water, weed and guard these young plants knowing that the harvesting will repay us many times over.

Seeds - such a simple word - for such a miracle

"The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies..."
(Gertrude Jekyll)

Thank you for dropping by today - I hope you enjoyed your visit!
Be sure to visit all the other "S" posts over at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.











21 comments:

  1. I have not ordered any seeds yet. Think I have missed all the early discounts this year. Must really start getting some orders out. I do have a lot of sticky notes with lists on them though. Here in Michigan we cannot plant until May so I have started backing off on the early orders.

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  2. Oh how wonderful. I am not a gardener, but my grandmother used to pour over her seed catalogs. Such wonderful memories. Have fun!

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  3. Yes, the promise of the miracle in a tiny seed!
    I'm going to Seedy Saturday this week - can't wait!

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  4. When I received a gardening catalog earlier this week, I thought, I bet Pat is pouring over her many books and catalogs this time of the year up North where there is still snow on the ground. We have Jonquils, tulips, mums and patches of new grass coming up. I so love the magic of Spring. Wonderful post. Judy C

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  5. Fantastic choice for S. The arrival of seed catalogs always felt like the beginning of spring. Months away yet the images in those catalogs uplifted our hearts and carried us through. Fostering the seedlings brought spring even closer.

    Thanks for the spark. It's been a very long winter.

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  6. I really like looking through them too. If only they would look the way they do in the catalog in my yard.

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  7. I havent ever gotten a seed catalog. I am going to have to spend some time on the net today fixing that! All though I have already been collecting seeds. I never gardened before moving here. I am getting excited though about starting seeds very soon. :0)

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  8. I am still in panic mode with my seed ordering. Too many options yet so little time to use them all. But man is it fun to plan out what you are ordering. Happy to have found your blog!

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  9. I've been perusing the catalogs and dreaming too.

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  10. The Cook's Garden catalog looks very nice, TO. I may have to get one just to peruse it! I haven't ordered from them for a while. I think they charge me tax because I'm in PA and so is their distribution point! We are going to be traveling at the wrong time for seeds this year. :{ I'm off to sign up for a Cook's Garden catalog. Bye for now! Hope you lose some snow soon. Ours is just about gone!

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  11. what a truly wonderful post ... I am without planting space now, but i love to look through my friends catalogues and dream of gardens ...

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  12. I want to grow some wheatgrass for juicing . I also have tried sprouting a couple things and love it but if I could grow food from seeds I would but I need hydroponics .

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  13. I have so many seed packets that it is not funny!!! I get drunk on seeds every year, buying more than I could ever plant! There is such a thrill planting a tiny seed and a plant that produces a flower or a veggie is amazing.

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  14. Seeds are ture miracles aren't they. Sometimes they are too easily dismissed.

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  15. Oh! It is always so exciting to see the sprouts growing from the seed that are sown.

    Blessings & Aloha!
    (Thank you for your visit and your anniversary wishes. Oh...it has been a wonderful week here in Savannah...beautiful, sunny, warmer weather!)
    Sorry to ask again, if I had already...but what type of sewing machine do you have and what are your thoughts on the different ones?) I really need to keep track of the wonderful input I have been given....in my hunt for another machine...I love what I have seen of the Bernina 440 QE, but they are expensive. Dont know much about them in comparison to other brands, like the Janomes, Brothers, etc...

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  16. I use post-it notes to mark all the pages of the seeds I want to buy and try.

    After hundreds of notes decorate the pages of all the catalogs I whine to my husband about needing a 5 acre garden.

    He, quite depressingly, declines to buy me one

    And then I start eliminating post it after post it and feel very sad!

    Love, love, love this stop on our little journey through Alphabe-Thursday's letter "S".

    You really made me smile.

    A+

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  17. I did! I did enjoy my visit! Here's to the tiny little bitty things holding the miracle of life! Here's to hope once again!

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  18. I'm smiling because I am doing the same thing today. I made a small order from Botanical Interest and have one waiting to place from Seed Saver's. Now I need to head over to Cook's Garden!

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  19. SEEDS! I always feel very excited when I see the seed racks in my local hardware store. For sure, spring is near.

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  20. Yes, now is the time for drooling over plant catalogues and seed packets.
    All is still possible, we believe the promises and trust in our green fingered abilities.

    The disappointment comes much later.

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