My Favorite Things (Seeds!)

I have some of my seeds ordered, but still need to get a couple more orders made.  The first thing I do when preparing to order seeds is inventory what I have left over from last year, make a list, and then determine what I need this year and what I would like this year…..not always the same thing!  :-)

Now that I have been gardening as a business for a few years, I have a few varieties that have become favorites and I would like to share those with you:

Asian Greens

• Kyona Mizuna
• Prize Pac Choi
• Tatsoi

Beans

• Bush - Royal Burgundy Snap
• Pole - Red Noodle

Broccoli

• Umpqua

Cabbage

• Red Acre

Cauliflower

• Romanesco Veronica

Cucumber

• Armenian (technically a melon, but grown and sold as a cucumber)

Eggplant

• Ping Tung

Endive

• Treffine Maraichere Frisee

Garlic

• Chesnok Red
• Chet's Italian

Herbs

• Genovese Sweet Basil

Kale

• Lacinato
• Red Russian

Onions

• Dakota Tears
• Italian Red Torpedo

Peas

• Oregon Giant Snow

Peppers

• Wenk's Yellow Hots
• Purple Beauty (sweet)
• Anaheim

Potatoes

• French Fingerlings
• Yukon Gold

Pumpkins

• Howden-Dakota

Radishes

• French Breakfast

Summer Squash

• Costata Romanesca Zucchini

Swiss Chard

• Rainbow

Tomatoes

• Japanese Black Trifele
• Oxheart
• Black Cherry

Winter Squash

• Hidatsa
• Red Kuri
• Winter Luxury

You may notice I haven't listed many favorite items:  corn, lettuce, spinach, melons, most herbs.  It's not because I don't like them, I just haven't found a "favorite" yet.  I like pretty much every vegetable and fruit that I grow, but some really jump out at me as must-haves for future seasons.  I reserve the right to update my favorites on a yearly basis!  Happy seed shopping!  And as always, please order your seeds from sustainable sources, seek out the heirlooms (and even better, organic certified!), and try to buy as regionally as you can, even if that means the "northern states" or "midwest".  Your garden plants will thank you for it!

Michelle
www.BearButteGardens.com
Michelle@BearButteGardens.com
Sturgis, SD

Gearing Up!

It's time!  The first shelves and grow lights are set up.  One shelving unit can hold 8 trays with each tray containing 50 soil blocks.  Some soil blocks have one seedling, some have up to four per block, depending upon the type of seedling.  We will have at least two shelving units set up at peak germination time, perhaps three.  Once seedlings get a couple inches high they are moved out to the starter greenhouse to benefit from the perfect grow light---sunshine!  Once one batch of seedlings is moved out, another batch is started under the grow lights.    

The high tunnel greenhouse is waiting (high tunnel on the left, starter greenhouse on the right).  ----->

Leftover seeds are inventoried.  The new seed orders are nearly complete and ready for online confirmation. 

The soil block ingredients and mixer are lined up in the garage.  

And last, but certainly NOT least, the CSA share payments are rolling in day by day.  

So here's the plan for the next several weeks:

• This week - order and pay for seeds
• This weekend - start making soil blocks, seeding them, and germinating indoor under lights (onions first!)
• Next week - set up watering system and direct seed inside the high tunnel greenhouse
• Early February - seed a few tomatoes and cabbages to be planted into high tunnel early as a trial
• Late February - attend MOSES Organic Conference in Lacrosse, WI and on return hopefully start harvesting baby greens out of high tunnel to sell
• Early March - move early seedlings out to starter greenhouse
• Mid-March - seed cabbages and parsley into soil blocks and obtain seed potatoes

In March things really start moving along quickly.  The starter greenhouse (our permanent structure greenhouse on the right side in the above photo) should be very warm during the days and safe at night for seedlings that are covered.  And it's time to seed pretty much everything else into soil blocks (tomatoes, peppers, herbs, celery, leeks, flowers) so they will be a nice size to transplant out into the outdoor gardens beginning mid May.  Eggplant get seeded just slightly later for an early June planting outdoors.  

This year we are adding another aspect to our seeding and germinating.....we will be germinating a limited number of starter plants to direct sell to customers for their own gardens.  These will, of course, be certified organic starters and will be ready to go out into gardens in mid-May.  Right now we are planning to start early tomatoes, slicer tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, hot peppers, bell peppers, eggplant, herbs, and cabbages to be sold as certified organic nursery stock.  Of course this step requires one more license through the state, but we're hoping it will be worth it for us as well as our customers.  

That's how my calendar is shaping up!  It's been glorious having a couple "down" months to focus on outdoor off-season gardening tasks, household chores, holidays, family, and cooking, but now it's time to get the hamsters running in the wheel and step things up a little.  Yay mid-winter!  

Michelle & Rick

www.BearButteGardens.com

605.490.2919

Michelle@BearButteGardens.com

Rick@BearButteGardens.com