Gardening corner: Planting the seed; catalogs are too tempting

Spring garden planning begins in January with a game of self-evaluation. Start with location.

Use the same space as last year or does an adjustment need to be made evaluating full sun, shade, irrigation? Is there a need to evaluate physical limitations and make adjustments switching to container gardening or raised garden boxes rather than in-ground plantings?

What vegetables will my family really enjoy eating? If you want to try a new unfamiliar vegetable, purchase it from our Farmers Market or any of the local vegetable stands. If the family likes it, plan on growing the vegetable or salad greens next year.

Resist the temptation to plant all the seeds in the packets of radishes and lettuces. Better to do the successive plantings, the quality of the harvest will be better. The trick is to remind yourself to do the replanting. Add a few flowers or herbs to vegetable plantings to provide food for pollinators.

A healthy soil grows a healthy garden. Our native soil needs organic amendments. Adding them to the top of the soil is easier and better than digging the amendments into the soil and disturbing the natural activity that is already going on. Rain, time and hopefully worms, will work the amendments into the soil.

Last year I made a commitment to rely more on Oregon and northwest seed sources. For years Territorial Seed in Cottage Grove, Nichols in Philomath, The Thyme Garden in Alsea, and last year, Adaptive Seeds in Sweet Home have supplied my seeds in addition to East Coast suppliers. The question of how many other seed suppliers are there in Oregon needed an answer.

The “magic machine” provided an impressive list of 19 Oregon Seed sources. The list was formulated by Cultivate Oregon (www.cultivatreoregonoregon.org/contact). Cultivate Oregon is a group of volunteers promoting a more local food system to help support Oregon farmers and seed breeders. Seeds are non-GMO and organic.

One link always seems to lead to another. New York Times garden writer, Margaret Roach, featured a podcast interviewing Lane Selman, agricultural researcher at Oregon State University and founder of Culinary Breeding Network, a collaborative community of plant breeders, seed growers, farmers, produce buyers and chefs aiming together to improve quality in vegetables and grains.

Another area of interest that is developing is Dry Farmed. When you “buy dry” you are supporting water and soil stewardship and resilient food systems.

Selman recently returned from a trip to Italy where she has been leading a project on how to grow a better radicchio among other vegetables learning from Italian breeders. Also included in her research is an Italian storage tomato called Annarita which can hold for six months after harvest.

Growing your own vegetable or flower starts can be an intimidating, but an extremely rewarding experience. To remove all the mystery and hesitation in starting your own, the Central Oregon Master Gardeners, as part of their Community Education Outreach, offers a free class on “How to Grow Vegetables in Central Oregon.”

The class will include how to choose the rights seeds for our shorter growing season. Demonstrations will help give confidence in preparing seed trays, seeding mixes, using grow lights plus sharing some tricks of the trade.

The free class will be offered on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Oregon State University Extension Service, 3800 Airport Way Building No. 3 in Redmond. Free parking at Deschutes County Fairgrounds Parking Lot J, across from Building 3. Register to reserve your seat at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seed-sowing-and-transplanting-tickets-508076419247