Seed Catalogs

It is time to spend quality time with the new year's seed catalogs. Every serious gardener eagerly awaits the procession of seed catalogs that come to us in the mail and online.

This year the organic push keeps marching on. Everybody wants their share of organic foods and I always wonder where they have been for the last thirty plus years. We are pushing forty years with organic seeds and it gets easier every day to find the sources.

On my coffee table are some of the better seed houses that serve the organic grower. Johnny's, Territorial, Parks, Burpee, Garden's Alive and a few I do not remember requesting the catalogs.

There are some really intriguing newbies this year. A white pickling cucumber, more heirloom tomatoes, and others will find their way into my garden. We also plan to fight the bugs naturally with praying mantis egg case, lace wings, lady bugs and nematode injections. This crew of bugs can do more than a spray can any day.

As I have said, my garden is always in a constant state of experimentation. We will try a different design of caging this year because we actually had a problem with some of the plants being too heavy for their supports. The garden will also be on the move this year because of the problem with the fall rotation of the earth.

The best gardens are well planned with a little common sense sifted in for problems. All gardens will suffer bugs, too much heat, too little water or too much water. The thing to remember is that you have to go with the flow.

Our hope is that we will not have as much problem with the help of our little beneficial bugs. Twenty years ago my youngest daughter had to make up something to help the world. Erika and I put our heads together and came up with a combination of a ladybug and a praying mantis, and Erika named him Petey. This little fellow had the bright red wings with black spots like a lady bug and the body of a praying mantis. Erika had to make a model of this little guy and she won the contest in her elementary school. Petey then found his way to a Smithsonian exhibition before being returned to our home.

I wonder if we could actually cross a ladybug and a praying mantis. What a lively garden that would be with all of them hunting bugs down. A dream yes, but remember all hybrids are a cross between two somethings.