by Miriam Hansen

It is time once again to order seeds, toss old seed packets (three to five years old, depending on the vegetable) and start planning the garden. I order my seeds in January because I don’t want to miss the lower prices Fedco offers on some of the hotter varieties. Even that approach doesn’t always work! This year, in spite of ordering super early, ‘Fortex’ pole beans (a stringless French bean that produces extra long pods) were already sold out. I’ll have to get the more expensive packet from Johnny’s Selected Seeds and pay a second set of shipping charges.

Lettuce, spinach, mesclun mixes and cilantro have continued to produce well through mid-January in my single-ply greenhouse and cold frames. We’re slowly working our way through two freezers of frozen vegetables, and I’ve been converting some of our stored squashes into delicious puréed soup, which I freeze and pair with empanadas for weekend treats.

The beautiful sweet purple onions, ‘Rossa Lunga di Tropea’, are not very good keepers, so I chopped them up when they started sprouting in December and froze them to use when the ‘Copra’ and ‘Varsity’ storage onions run out. The ‘Ailsa Craigs’, arguably the best sweet onion on the market, are just starting to sprout and may go to the end of February. For an onion that doesn’t store well, that’s pretty impressive.

A tip I recently shared with a young friend is to wring out frozen vegetables after you’ve defrosted them. They will be crisper and taste fresher. I run the frozen vegetables under hot water long enough to break them up. Then I just grab a handful over the sink and squeeze hard enough to get a stream of water out but not so hard that they get mushy or disintegrate. It gets rid of the extra moisture, which can make frozen vegetables soggy. I used to only do this with summer squash but have discovered it works equally well with everything from Brussels sprouts to cauliflower, green beans and snap peas.

This year, my seed order reflects how much I have come to appreciate annual flowers, the workhorses of the perennial garden. I’ve spent so many years trying to plan perennials to keep the color parade going, forgetting that annuals not only give continuous bloom but will continue to bloom long into the fall. Many flowers, such as poppies, cleomes and nasturtiums, will also self-seed so you can move them around in early spring.

In general, annuals are plants that germinate, flower and set seed in one season. Perennials bloom for a short time but come back year after year. Biennials flower the second year, set seed and die. Foxgloves, lunaria (money plant) and clary sage are biennials that self-seed copiously. With biennials, the trick is to start the plants from seed two years in a row. That way you have blooms every year.

Just when you think you’ve got it all straight, some annuals are described as hardy, tender and half hardy. Level of hardiness just refers to how much cold they can withstand in the spring. Hardy annuals, like alyssum and violas, can be planted in the very early spring. Half-hardy annuals, like cosmos and petunias, can be directly sown outside when all danger of frost has passed but the ground is not yet warmed up. Tender annuals (most bedding plants) can’t be planted until the ground has warmed up.

Then there are half-hardy perennials like dahlias, geraniums, tuberous begonias and sword lilies that must be planted each spring after danger of frost has passed, and you have to lift their bulbs in the fall before a hard frost. Some folks think this is too much trouble, but if you’ve ever breathed in the fragrance of the white-flowered sword lily, dancing in a breeze with backlit rosy pink Japanese anemones, you might think it’s worth the bother.

Some of the colorful, prolific flowering annual varieties I’ve chosen this year include, ‘Profusion Series Zinnias’, ‘Durango Marigolds’, ‘Sparkler Hybrid Cleome’, ‘Twinny Snapdragons’ and ‘Chantilly Snapdragons’ to plug into perennial beds for color through the summer and into late fall.

It is reassuring to note that after almost 40 years of gardening, I continue to receive revelations. Last fall, a commercial flower grower explained why my sunflowers did not hold up well in bouquets. Apparently, certain sunflowers are naturally pollenless or male sterile. These sunflowers don’t shed piles of yellow dust, are less apt to be allergenic and hold much better in bouquets. The Sunrich series from Johnny’s Seeds, as well as ‘Soraya’ and ‘Zohar’, are some of the varieties I’ve chosen for cutting.

Of all the books on perennial gardening, my hands-down recommendation is The Art of Perennial Gardening by Patrick Lima. Still, for an education from A to Z, my favorite reading at this time of year is garden catalogs. When I have a specific gardening question, I type my question into the computer’s search engine and check out the gardening forums where gardeners share tips, discuss and disagree. For more advanced gardeners, Johnny’s has some very helpful planning, planting and growing guides available at johnnyseeds.com/t-interactivetools.aspx.

Every year, my resolution remains to grow the flowers I truly love and the vegetables and berries that I and my family really like to eat. I’ve begun growing some vegetables commercially, and that adds another layer of complexity to planning the garden. But whether you’re a home gardener or commercial grower, Happy gardening in 2013!

Miriam and her husband, David, live in East Montpelier, where they grow most of their own vegetables, berries and meat on less than one-quarter of an acre. Your questions and comments are welcome. You can reach Miriam at freshair460@gmail.com.

Eat Fresh! Winter is the time to order seeds for spring gardens, and seed companies have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity as health and wellness moves to the forefront of the minds of not just gardeners, but consumers as well.

Western Washington gardeners are lucky because Ed Hume Seed company is located near Puyallup and as a local garden legend, Ed himself continues to oversee the operation of the seed varieties that do best in our cool summer climate. You can order seeds online at www.Edhumeseeds.com or just visit a local nursery or garden center and scan the display of seeds in the distinctive dark black seed packets.

The most important tip for successful gardening from seed is to read and follow the instructions on the label – and arm yourself with extra information on soil preparation and harvest tips to insure a productive experience.

Grow fresh tips for Western Washington

1. Slugs will eat everything soft and tender – and are especially attracted to lettuce and other leafy greens. Plan ahead and bait for slugs before your lettuce seedlings sprout. One way to beat the slugs is to lay damp newspaper on top of your lettuce patch right after you plant the seeds. Tiny baby slugs will collect under the newspaper so you can gather them up easily.

2. Heat-loving crops such as tomatoes, basil, eggplants and squash should not be planted too early. I wait until after Father’s Day to add these warmth-seeking plants to my garden.

3. Peas need to be planted in early spring because they fade quickly in hot weather. Pre-soak your pea seeds or wrap them in a damp dish towel so they are partly-sprouted before you plant. This helps to prevent sweet peas and garden peas from rotting in the cold wet soil..

4. It takes skill and lots of heat to grow amaranth, the ancient grain now being sold as a complete protein and the darling of the heirloom seed companies. Stick with seeds that do well in cool soil – carrots, broccoli, cabbage and kale are crops to start with for beginners.

(Want to learn more about heirloom seeds? Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has great information and fresh seeds for sale. www.rareseeds.com)

5. Crops in pots is the answer for beginning gardeners. Patio tomatoes, bush cucumbers, basil and other herbs all benefit from the extra heat generated by setting a clay or ceramic container on a sunny patio.

6. Plastic pots and light-weight foam containers (some look just like terra cotta and stone) keep the soil cool and do not release moisture. Gardeners in Western Washington have better luck growing vegetables by using clay or ceramic containers that absorb heat and release excess moisture. If you do use plastic pots, don’t over-water.

7. Most potting soils are sterile or made form what is known as a “soil-less” mix of peat, sand and perlite. This makes the potting soil light weight and quick-draining and excellent for preventing disease. But this also means that most potting soils have no nutrition for the plants. You must fertilize container gardens.

8. Berries are easier to grow in Western Washington than fruit from trees. This is because apples, pears and cherries are more prone to disease in our cool climate. Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries grow better here than almost anyplace in the world. Easiest of all, harvest native blackberries and huckleberries and reap the health benefits without planting a thing.

9. Perennial herbs from Mediterranean climates such as rosemary, thyme and oregano will return year after year but only if grown in a raised bed, rock garden or container with excellent drainage. Fresh herbs can be grown indoors but after a few months the plants will weaken from lack of sunshine. Most herbs do well in poor soil – they are great plants for beginning or busy gardeners.

10. Some crops grow too well. Mint will take over in a garden with damp soil and horseradish, hops, and kiwi have all generated lots of complaints about invasive growth from local gardeners. Just a reminder that growing your own food is not that difficult in our climate. So plan to plant something this spring – and eat fresh!