How to read a seed catalog!

If you are new to gardening, the catalogs, equipment, planning, planting, and growing can seem a bit daunting.  Just keep in mind that plants grow wild… you’ll probably mess up…. it’s okay… don’t think it hurts the team…… and read all of the words.  Failing that, get started, write down what you do, and don’t do something that doesn’t work more than one time. Also remember, that, like a doctor, the first rule is DO NO HARM!!  Keep petroleum products, pesticides, herbicides, and generally nasty stuff OFF your organic vegetable garden.

If this is your first organic vegetable garden, you may consider starting with live plants.  This will/may increase your success and enjoyment of your early gardens.  If you, like me, are silly and believe, hey I can do that, then you will go with seeds and save the money.  Here, keep in mind that there are lots of seeds in the packet.  Don’t use them all at one time and you can have lots of do overs if something goes wrong. But it won’t.  Here I am getting ahead of myself.  First you have to buy seeds.  Where do you do that, there are so many catalogs and websites out there….what do I do?

First look for a catalog or site that is in the same geographic region as you.  You will then know that the seeds are generally good for your climate.  Failing that, figure out the zone in which you live. The catalog will have a map with the states and the zones on them. You can also just google climate zone map and have more choices than you can shake a stick at!

So you know your zone and you have a catalog.  What do all those words and symbols mean? You’ll see words that look this under a fancy picture of a vegetable:

Purple Sweet (F1): 90 Days. (V, T, FF, N) An award winning  variety with a dark red flesh.  Very widely adaptable and disease resistant. Good producer even under adverse conditions. 25 lbs.
62679-A Packet (50 Seeds) Zone 6-10. $2.95 [this is made up]

F1 is the genetic line of the hybrid.  F1 one means that two genetically dissimilar plants were crossed and the offspring resulted in a plant with increased yield and heartiness. You cannot take seed from these plants and replant with the same results. If is says OP, it is open pollinated, which means that seed collected will produce offspring that is genetically very similar to the parent plant. Heirloom varieties are open pollinated.  I prefer OP. 90 Days is the time to maturity of the plant.  How long until you can eat it!??! Hooray for organic vegetables! (V, T, FF, N) indicates the disease resistance.  Every catalog has its own key for decoding disease resistance.  While this is not glamourous, it is very helpful.  Match the disease resistance to prevalent pestilence (say that real fast) in your area. Adverse conditions means its weather tolerant.  Zone 6-10 are the zones in which the plant will thrive.  Be sure to match the plant to your zone (see google: climate zone map referenced above – remember… you have to read all the words) …and, finally, 25 lbs.  is the size to which it grows.

Now you know how to read your seed catalog.  Now get outside and plant your organic vegetable garden!!!