In the middle of the cold of January, the heart of the Celtic Ozark Garden begins to beat once more. Now is the time to begin to get your seeds ready to go. Life returns to the garden very soon. Baker Creek Seed Company here we come.
The Baker Creek Seed Company in Mansfield, Missouri is about 1.5 hours southeast of my home. Yet, it is a drive to look forward to every year. Manfield, Missouri is the home of Laura Engles Wilder. It is like a walk into the past. That is definitely so when you visit the Pioneer Village at Baker Creek.
The trip to get seed is the most important part. I will be getting anything I need to make it through the year. Here is my plan for the trip.
Most of the Springtime vegetables will be planted by seed. My onions and potatoes will be the exception. Those I will grow from a starter. My Celtic Ozark Garden starts every year around St. Patrick’s Day, with the root crops. As a rule, it is around April 9th of each year, though, before the Ozarks gets past any chance of frost. So, lettuce and peas planted early have to be watched.
Having said that, it is still a good time to start the seed for tomatoes, green peppers, squash, etc. They won’t get planted much before the first couple of weeks of May, but they will get started. If you own a greenhouse, or have a place that is warm, where you can start seed, you can get going by February. You will give you plants around a 6-8 week headstart this way. You must, though, keep them warm.
I use a sunny part of a spare bedroom to start mine, near the window. It has a clear cover to keep the cats out! As Spring comes, and my garage warms up a bit, I will transfer them there, with a grow light. I have not built my dream greenhouse yet, but this is how I make use of what I have, to give the Celtic Ozark Garden of Summer a bit of a head start.
Get the seed catalog out! Go heirloom!
Slainte,
Ray Province
Celtic Ozark Garden
Ray Province is a retired minister and owner of Celtic Ozark Solutions.com and the Celtic Ozarkian.com. He likes to write about heirloom, square foot gardening techniques and products, as well as travel. You can reach him at contactus@celticozarkian.com or @celticozarkian on Twitter
