Plan for the New Year

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Bill McDorman, Seeds Trust, High Altitude Gardens, Hailey, Idaho 

Pacific Northwest

The days are cold and rainy, and spring seems light-years away. Why not fill some of those winter days by planning your vegetable garden? Dont limit yourself to just what will go where. Include such considerations as when to sow seed, when to transplant, approximate weeks to maturity, how many plants you need for your family and when the crop will mature. Peruse seed catalogs for new varieties as well as old standbys, and for inspiration and information. While you have the catalogs out, dont forget to consider gifts for gardening friends and family. Possibilities include mushroom kits that allow the lucky recipients to harvest fresh gourmet mushrooms right in their kitchens, a pair of rubber boots for wet days in the garden or myrtle wood baskets for harvesting.

Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Nichols Garden Nursery, Albany, Ore., and Josh Kirschenbaum, Territorial Seed Co., Cottage Grove, Ore. 

Southwest

Although most gardeners consider December a sleepy month, many of us are busy cleaning seed: removing the chaff and separating the heavy from the light. Then we test to make sure each seed lot surpasses standard germination rates, is the correct variety and is vigorous. Once January rolls around, we eagerly peruse catalogs to fill our gardens in the seasons to come. I give precedence to new varieties of flowers??I appreciate their beauty as well as the activity of the beneficial insects attracted to them. But timing is of the essence. Some native perennial species and herb varieties require a 30- to 90-day period of moist chilling before they will sprout, so dont delay sending in those orders. Youll be rewarded next summer when winter snows are transformed into fields of flowers.

Erica Renaud, Seeds of Change, Santa Fe, N.M. 

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