There is not much you can do with the garden outside in January in Cleveland: most likely it’s buried under snow.
The seed catalogs are arriving! I love love love my seed catalogs. I order a few catalogs each year, and use postie notes to flag my planned vegetable and herb seed purchases. Don’t forget to also check the websites of the seed companies you are ordering from, as they often have additional varieties and specials that are only available online.
The catalogs and websites are also helpful in identifying varieties that could do well in your yard, and which varieties, not so well. Sadly, we are a little far north to grow edible bananas or pineapples, unless you have a seriously awesome heated greenhouse.
Now is the time to order goodies for seed starting, as well as to order seeds for the upcoming year’s garden. You may not need to purchase everything: inventory first what you might already have on hand.
Most seeds are good for more than a year if stored properly: Leek seeds will keep for four to five years, while brussel sprout seeds can remain viable up to eight years.
Go ahead and continue adding to your compost pile. Just throw the old coffee grounds and kitchen scraps on top of the snow. It won’t look great, but it will still start to break down during the freeze and thaws. In March, you can turn the pile, and the winter scraps will be moved towards the bottom, where they can finish turning into rich goodness for the garden.
Seed Catalog Sources
This is a small and by no means comprehensive selection of seed catalogs I like and in most cases have ordered from and will continue to order from. I am not affiliated with any of these, and receive no compensation for providing these links. I will continue to update this with more seed catalogs over time.
Heirloom and Organic Seed Varieties
- Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. An absolutely beautiful, glorious, glossy catalog, great selection, and great prices.
- Comstock Garden Seeds I just ordered this catalog. This is a 200 year old farm that was recently purchased by the folks at Baker Creek.
- Pinetree Garden Seeds. I ordered from them for the first time this year. Besides the vegetable seeds, they also have a nice selection of spices, mushroom kits, and even soap making supplies.
- Seed Savers Exchange. Members get access to an enormous variety of seeds not available in their catalog.
- Seeds of Change.
- Territorial Seed. Besides a catalog with a great selection, this site also offers tutorial videos and a downloadable seed planting chart (pdf).
Dave’s Garden Watchdog is a free directory of mail order gardening companies where gardeners can share their opinions on which companies really deliver on quality, price and service. Links are provided to the companies online stores. The site also indicates whether the companies offer a print catalog.