I stand corrected
Here on Garden Variety, and in my gardening column in The Baltimore Sun, I have been trying to offer advice to the rookie vegetable gardener -- someone who missed the bandwagon last season and wants to jump on it this season.
In my enthusiasm, I offered a list of a dozen catalogs to consult for all sorts of exotic veggies, and readers who follow Garden Variety on its Facebook fan page called me out on it. Careful, they said, or you will overwhelm a beginner.
And I think they are right.
The catalogs are beautiful and full of heirloom, rare and new-fangled vegetables, but they can easily cause a new vegetable gardener to give up. There is just too much information and too many choices.
Not only that, but the shipping and handling charges on several orders from different catalogs would put a dent in a beginner's budget.
Garden Variety readers suggest instead that new vegetable gardeners go to their local independent garden center, have a conversation with one of the experts on staff and then purchase some seed packets there.
There are other advantages as well:
A local garden center expert is going to know what will do well in your area; you will be keeping your dollars in the community; and it will allow you to purchase, under an expert's guidance, the other garden materials you might need.
It is even possible your local garden center has some of those heirloom seeds!
Thank you to all my readers, who are the best source of information!
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Algerina Perna
Comments
Great Advice!!
Posted by: NotableM | January 26, 2010 8:38 AM
I wondered about those catalogs, because some of the plants in them need more attention than, frankly, I want to be devoting to a plant during most gardening seasons. Visiting the Garden Center is also excellent because the nice folks there can be encouraging suggest plants that don't need their leaves held over every little thing.
Is this the second time I've posted this? I stopped to answer the phone and lost track....silly job!
LOL, Eve. No. You're good. Just the one message. Let's all quit our jobs and garden! --Susan
Posted by: Eve | January 26, 2010 11:44 AM
As a newbie vegetable gardener in 2009 (started with annuals & perinnials in 2008) with only a small raised bed to work with, I found that one of the easiest ways to get started was buying seedlings from the farmer's markets. I did get some seeds for things I knew I would want more of (lettuce, spinach, peas, herbs), but for the larger plants, it was great to just buy what I needed and not have a whole packet of seeds going to waste. There is a great organic tomato guy at the downtown farmer's market - he has both hybrid and heirloom varieties, and will give you a little care sheet for each type. I also purchased seedlings of cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers. Everything (except the zucchini!) grew well and I'm now excited to get my 2010 garden going!
Posted by: HampdenGardener | January 26, 2010 2:16 PM
In general I have had very poor results from seeds, with some exceptions such as lettuces, so I use the wonderful garden catalogs as inspiration to guide me in buying plants, or swapping with gardening friends. Once a plant is established in my garden, I do often have good luck with self-seeding, but i am convinced the plants have minds of their own--they will only thrive where they are happy, and some plants move all over my garden.
You may be right!--Susan
Posted by: Dahlink | January 27, 2010 3:08 PM