Seed Selection

By:Jacob
How to choose the best seeds for your location.

I love to browse through the seed catalogs, I have about a dozen sent to me each winter. It is fun to look at all of the varieties and colors. What will work best for you in your climate zone? That is the tough question and often times it will depend on your specific soil. So where to start.

• Talk to your gardening neighbors about what they have success with & failures too.
• Find a local garden club
• Talk to a local Master Gardener.
• Try to find local blogs or websites.
• Visit your local nursery (not big box store) seek their advice.
• Visit your farmers market, find the varieties they are growing near you

Ultimately after you narrow down some good candidates try them out. It is wise to plant multiple varieties to see what works in your personal garden. Also if you have the room try different areas in your garden, playing with shaded areas etc.

When we moved here (East Texas zone 7a/8b) we were told by allot of people that gardens do not do well here...We dug in and planted. We had some things languish and die and others thrive but overall we have had great success. Sometimes you have to just try and ignore what people say.

We like to try out new things every year and see how they go. But we always have our old standbys that we know will work and produce for us. I have a great wife that keeps me in line along the way (beyond just picking up the catalogs I leave here and there). I think that if I bought something every time I found something cool or neat we would have a huge box of various seeds and no room to plant them.