Finally my Diggers catalogue has arrived! This one is the big bumper annual issue with all the seeds in it. This year I have also requested an Eden Seeds catalogue, which hasn’t arrived yet (I only ordered it two days ago so no surprise really) but when it does I will have all the veggie goodness right at my finger tips, everything that I need to begin planning what we will grow this spring/summer/autumn.
We’ve been Diggers members since we moved up here and decided that we wanted to try and grow our own veggies, and we’ve been very pleased with the quality of the Diggers seeds and especially with what we have been able to produce. I’ve been able to buy a few books a bit cheaper with our membership as well as plants and seeds and we’ve been to visit both of the Digger’s gardens (St Erth’s is not too far from us) so I feel like we have well and truly gotten our money’s worth from the membership.
I’ve only recently discovered Eden seeds and having a quick (ok slow, nothing is quick with our net access) look online their prices look very comparable to Diggers, they have a great variety of seeds on offer and even some that we weren’t able to get from Diggers last year so this year I am getting their catalogue too so I can have them side by side and compare and try out some Eden seeds too.
We actually don’t need to get a heap of seeds, we still have plenty left from the past few years, as well as some we have saved from plants we have grown. I need to sit down with the box of seed packets and figure out what we have, and what we want and then order. I also need to decide when I will start the first seeds off and where they will go in the veggie patch.
Yes it is still the middle of winter here so it may seem a bit early to be planning a spring/summer garden but if I don’t start now I won’t get it all done in time and we will be late… again.
Last year I had grand plans of getting in an early early crop. Seeing if we could manage two successive crops of some of our favourites, one early and one late in the season and to see if we could get some tomatoes to actually ripen any time before Easter. It didn’t happen. A lot of things were working against us last year, seeds that didn’t germinate, late frosts, earwigs, a brand new baby and a Twinado who spent rather too much time visiting the hospital. This year shall be different. This year I will put in the first round of seeds early early early, by September, and that is only 6 weeks away! eek!
Buoyed by a lovely sunny day spent in the veggie garden yesterday, with a wonderful helper who worked so hard (thank you!) we made a huge dent in the winter weeds and began the process of re-jigging the garden. The Baldy boy and his big boy’s toy (the tractor and rotary hoe) have plans to make the weeding and turning of our really dense clay soil much more successful, so we needed to rebuild some beds and change the way we had been doing things a little. Inspired by all the work yesterday (I even did a bit myself while the small boy ate dirt) I am keen to spend time pouring over catalogues, writing lists and making plans….
In other news… thanks to everyone who made fruit tree suggestions. Sadly oranges and most citrus are not going to grow for us. We even struggle to keep a lemon tree a live with our harsh frosts. We already have four kinds of apples, (pink ladies are also a favourite in this house too) a Nashi, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, olives, mulberry, quince, and um… maybe some others that I forget… so it was kind of mean to ask you for suggestions when we already have so many. What we don’t have is a pomegranate tree… so we are looking to see if we can get one and if it will grow for us… fingers crossed and thanks Polkadotbride for your suggestions!
I’m sorry I have no idea if Pomegranate would grow here the thought just appealed to me! Yummy icecream and all the things you could make!
I’m jealous you’ve got a tractor and rotary hoe… neat toy! LOL I think you’ll enjoy the Eden’s seeds… I’ve been using several of theirs with the last crop of beans, peas, greens etc and they have been fabulous. Great germination rates, vigorous plantlings and tons of veggies that kept producing longer than we expected. If you’re looking for fruit trees I was recently put onto a couple of good places: http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/fruitindex.htm and http://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au As for other tree ideas – what about various sorts of bush tucker plants? Not sure what’d grow in your area but worth a look perhaps. The fellow helping with my garden is a big one for bush foods and it’s something I want to incorporate.
I would love to start a garden, it would be so much fun to do with the kids! Please be sure to share your photos when your garden is ready!
The list of fruit trees and other stuff you grow is so impressive. I really need to do something about creating a vegie patch in our garden.