We’re approaching mid-February, and the season of seed-starting is upon us. We’ve loaded up on potting soil for making our soil blocks and starting seeds (thanks to McEnroe Organic Farm in Millerton), and we’ve taken advantage of the recent spell of clear days and remarkably bare ground to do some pre-spring cleaning around the property. Dump runs have been made (we’re embarassed to say that months-old refuse from the autumn construction of the office was among the recently tossed debris), laundry has been air-dried outside (how does it still smell so fresh in the middle of winter?), and the greenhouse has been re-visited (though not yet cleaned–this week!). In short: we’re in full-fledged spring anticipation mode. Soon this will give way to frenetic non-stop whirling work mode, but for now we’re still chomping at the bit.

Little lost ground cherry (with dog hair). Dish by Mary Beth Wehrung.

We’ve discovered two terrific instances of vegetable resilience in our clean-up. One is in our greenhouse: a tray of tatsoi seedlings still waiting to be transplanted, happily enduring the heavy cold of winter, still perky and green and happy–sitting in a wooden tray atop the soil. We’ll toss them in the ground this week and, with any luck, be eating some decent tatsoi in three or four weeks (crossing our fingers that they don’t bolt early). Our other discovery was in a corner of our kitchen: a dust-covered bright orange ground cherry that’s been nestling against the baseboard beneath our kitchen counter for the past five months. We took a bite: still delicious! Amazing.

Find any resilient veggies in your environs this late winter? Share in the comments!

Our Imbolc present to retailers: Our new display racks for Garden and Library Packs, made by our friend Rustic Stu.

Well, folks–we’ve made it! No, winter’s not over yet. Though we did have a nice January thaw, the searing cold seems to have returned. But what’s gone for good–or at least another ten months or so–are the ultra-short deep winter days of December and January. The light is beginning to linger in the evenings, just a little, and we’re approaching one of the eight turning points of the calendar year: the day half-way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, the day the ancient Celts called Imbolc. (Never heard of it? Check out this Wikipedia article. In America, we celebrate a much diminished version of this holiday as Groundhog Day.)

While many gardeners and farmers take the months of December and January off from all garden labor, Imbolc marks the dawn of the new season. It’s an ideal time to emerge from winter slumber and prepare for the coming months of warmth and light. Here at Seedy Farm, we’ll return to the greenhouse after this day, cleaning and preparing space for the seedlings that will fill the space from late February onward. We’ll also plant some hardy crops directly in the soil of our hoophouse: according to Eliot Coleman, Imbolc marks the approximate date when the days are long enough to permit plant growth in sun-heated protected spaces. We’ll quickly see renewed growth of our overwintered spinach, lettuce, kale, and mustard greens after Imbolc, and we’ll find that with each passing day the pace of our farm work increases as the earliest signs of spring appear. (It’s also now possible to begin pruning trees and shrubs for indoor forcing; see this article at Fine Gardening for a great how-to.)

Imbolc also marks the beginning of our busy season. We’ll be returning to markets in February, and our online sales increase in number. We’re well equipped to handle the rush, and most orders are now shipping within 48 hours of receipt. We’re working hard to clear up the backorders we do have, and we’re doing our best to ensure that few–if any–additional backorders materialize this season. We’re also anticipating a few more items–including a few late-arrival seed varieties–in the catalog this season, so if you’d like to stay in the loop, be sure to sign up for our e-mail list through the form at the bottom of the left-hand column.

Happy Imbolc, folks! Have any ways you like to celebrate? Share in the comments below!

Kate surveys the inventory before it heads to our storage room.

Hi folks! Just wanted to give everybody an update on how things are going around here during this (surprisingly balmy) late January.

We’ve received plenty of January orders, for which we are very grateful! Our shipping season began this week, and by Thursday the 21st we’d managed to get out about a third of all orders received so far. We anticipate nearly all remaining orders will be shipped today (Friday the 22nd) or Monday (the 25th). Thanks for your patience and understanding; our business model doesn’t give us much down time anywhere during the calendar year, but early January is the best window we can find for a brief hiatus. In future years, we hope to be able to afford coverage during this window, too, but much depends on the success of this year’s seed-selling season (so please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in our project!).

Last year’s surge of interest in gardening–combined with the difficult weather much of the nation experienced last season–has taxed seed resources nationwide, with companies everywhere experiencing more early-season backorders than in previous years. So, unfortunately, we have more Garden Packs currently on backorder than we would like to see. If you’ve never ordered seed from a mail-order company before, please rest assured that varieties go on backorder every year–it’s nothing to worry about. If you do order a backordered variety, we will send it to you as soon as it is in stock. You don’t need to track it; it will arrive at your shipping address when it is available. If we are unable to get you the backordered items by the end of March (tomatoes and peppers, as well as cool season crops) or by the beginning of May (beans, corn, and other tender direct-sown crops), we will let you know immediately and refund that portion of your order.

Friends and helpers Kate, Linda-Brook, Aileah, and Erin wind down a seed-packing marathon.

Two Library Packs have done a switcharoo and become Garden Packs; this is because the locally grown seed for these varieties fared poorly in germination tests. So, commercial seed has to be obtained. It was a bummer to discover that these great varieties didn’t cut the mustard, but overall we’re very happy: our germ tests for the year have just concluded and, excepting these two let-downs, they were a resounding success.

A final note: Planting and seed-saving instructions for all varieties will be updated and current on the website by the third week of February, the earliest any of our varieties can be started in the Hudson Valley and similar climate areas. Do check in for detailed, thorough, fun-to-read growing instructions tailored to upstate New York and the metro New York area.

Thanks again for your support, and do not hesitate to e-mail us with any questions or concerns via our contact form.

p.s. We love our customers! What other seed company can report that its top-selling seed of the year so far is a ground cherry?!

There are all kinds of seed stories to tell. We tend to hear historical stories about the origins of some of our heirloom varieties, but seed stories are not just about the distant past. There are modern tales to tell as well.

Doug at the Tree project exhibit.

This one starts with Doug’s childhood babysitter, Facebook, our mini-vacation, a magazine, and a whole lot of serendipity.  Sarah, the one-time babysitter, emailed Doug, since they are Facebook friends, to tell him about a seed-related exhibit at the Horticultural Society of New York called Leur Existence * Tree Project. She had read about it in Organic Gardening Magazine. It just so happened that Doug and I were planning on going to the city to take a much needed break. So, even though we were mostly hoping to do things entirely unrelated to the Seed Library, we put the exhibit on our things-to-see-and-do list. The subject of the show was too compelling to resist.

(more…)