I poured over the pages, looking and starring; making notes. The wish list grew long down the paper, then ran over to the other side. So many varieties of vegetables and herbs for the summer garden (and, truth be told, the fall and winter garden as well). All this planning and future growing to raise our own. To put by. To provision the larder. To nourish ourselves with wholesome, naturally grown vegetables, herbs, and fruit, picked just steps from our front door. It can all sound a bit romantic, yes, but even more than that, it’s a bit independent. It’s a bit ‘I can do this’.
I tapped away at the calculator keys; tallied up the long list, just to see.
Okay, then.
What’s the short list?
But wait. Wait one minute…
I already had seeds. In a drawer of the potting bench, I had seeds – those left over from last year, tucked away for another season! I wasn’t sure how many, but seeing as how a good gardener is nothing if not frugal, I pulled the drawer out and spread the packets across the table. Oh, my.
The short list from the seed catalog soon became a very short list. Nearly every seed variety I needed was laying out in front of me!
Are they still viable?
There’s only one way to find out.
