ThrivingTheFuture Podcast – Episode 9 – Planning the Garden

We just passed the Winter Solstice, and now is the time to plan the garden.

Wait – it’s still winter?! You may think so, but, according to Clyde’s Garden Planner, several types need to start inside (“si” in this chart) in Feb. Time to plan and to buy seeds.

Clyde’s Garden Planner, set to Last Frost date for April 20

Clyde’s Garden PLanner (Baker Creek)

Seeds have “memory”

This episode was recorded while we were on the road to an event (there is some road noise). This is how the podcast started – we were having deep conversations on the way to an event or meetup, and we said “it seems like no one has this spin on things” in the current podcasts that we were listening to. So we began recording ourselves having these conversations.

We discuss:

Seeds have “memory”. They have self selected to thrive in the climate that they are in. If you buy seed from another part of the country you are buying seed that has a “memory” of that location. Even if it is only one state over it still may be different from your soil and climate or microclimate.
Landrace gardening is saving seed and adapting your plants to your climate, soil, and location. As you save seed from the plants that thrive, you adapt those plants to what you like. You can choose the fruits and vegetables by taste and color and then cull out or discard the plants that you don’t like as much. This allows diversity and a depth of flavor. You can even cross the plants to more directly choose by your color or flavor preferences or adapt the plants to do better in shorter seasons.
The level of record keeping that we do (not much). I record what I planted and when in a spreadsheet. I also include first and last frost date. but I don’t track conditions, or bugs, or things like that.
From a permaculture standpoint, what is your land trying to tell you?