Thursday, November 21, 2013

Radical Homemaking | Seeds

I am not a gardener and as a California native, I am completely out of my element in Texas. However, I have a pioneering spirit, optimism and a healthy sense of adventure. I just placed an order for seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE). Basically I bought a dream - one that with hard work and luck will be come a reality in the summer of 2014.



It was sheer pleasure reading through the descriptions of each fruit and vegetable in the Seed Savers catalog. Even if you don't garden, its a good read. The SSE is a non profit devoted to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Its a great alternative to conventional seeds and the limited variety of genetically modified crap you find at the big box stores. I look at it as my own little tiny way of thumbing my nose at "big agriculture". Here's a look at what's going in my raised beds next season:






Are you a Texas gardener?
Any tips for a novice?


5 comments:

Peggy said...

No tips since I've never had a garden, but definitely pinning for the future!

Connie said...

I loved their site. I'm going back when I have some time to pick some out for myself. Good luck with your planting.

Desi said...

If you're adding totally new, rich soil to raised beds, it won't be a problem, but if you're using existing soil from your yard, get it tested for it's nutritive value! I struggled for my first two gardening years with plants that just wouldn't thrive. I finally got my soil tested, and found out that my poor plants were living in totally barren soil!

Teacats said...

Here in DFW -- add LOTS of used coffee grounds and Epsom salts to the new soil -- and have drip hoses in place ... Do watch if you choose to use vegetable or fruit compost -- might attract rats and other fun creatures ...

Also don't forget to prepare for the storms -- especially hail -- have stakes or even basic wood skewers(buy from Amazon -- restaurant supply places for shishkabobs) and use plastic bags from dry cleaners to stake into the ground and protect the plants from the storms ...

Rachel Anderson said...

We gave up on our soil this year and just did herbs.. too many critters and too craptastic soil for a rental property to invest in improvements.. I'm slowly learning to plant Texas hardy foilage...I miss peonies and lilac.