Before heading to the garden center or online to buy seeds for your garden, take some time to plan your upcoming growing season and be prepared with a list of herb, vegetable and fruit seeds to buy 📝

Some pre-planning of your garden will help with over-buying of seeds that will never get planted.🌿  Those seed packets and their promise of bountiful harvests are ever so seductive – at least to some of us 🙂

And you will save time from heading back to the garden center or placing a second order for seeds you wanted but forgot to buy.  Been there, done that too!

Here’s a mixed bag of tips and info to help you purchase the herb, vegetable and fruit seeds that best fit your and your family’s needs so you can get the most out of your garden from the seeds you buy.

Also, if you would like to purchase any of the seeds I feature throughout this post, I have provided a reference list at the bottom of this post.  I may receive a small commission from some of the links – this does not however affect the price you pay for any of the seeds.

🌿Start with:  What is your garden’s purpose.

Is it to grow a few herbs and veggies to supplement your meals with home-grown produce?  Or to grow all your family’s herbs and vegetables?  Or maybe to grow herb and vegetable plants as ornamentals in flower gardens and planters?

Knowing what you want from your garden will help you determine what to grow.

I have limited space in my suburban garden.  As much as possible I try to combine growing herbs and vegetables to harvest as food, and that will add colour and texture to my landscape.

I like growing tricolor sage as a border plant, and painted lady runner bean as a towering ornamental.

🌿Grow What Your Family Eats

Sounds obvious, but it’s so easy to get lured into growing cool sounding veggies and herbs.

Really, if cilantro is this year’s popular herb and you have never liked cilantro, why plant it?  Unless of course your neighbour loves cilantro and you are growing to share 🙂

Even if you have been growing herbs and veggies for a long time, it’s always good to revisit what you grow as families increase and decrease in size and tastes change.

Growing what I eat is one of the biggest joys of gardening for me (even watching chipmunks eat my alpine strawberries is fun to watch – sometimes 😞 )

Basil, parsley, cilantro, rosemary and thyme are the workhorse herbs in my kitchen garden.  Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar snap peas and beans are my family’s vegetables of choice.

Determine or revisit how much space you have allocated to your garden  – do at least a simple plan before you buy your seeds.

This is a good time to plan out your garden – how much space do you have; how many herb and vegetable plants do you want to grow.

Will you be expanding your garden space.  Or decreasing your garden space to a more manageable size.

It’s so easy getting carried away and buying a lot more seeds than you will need.  I am always amazed at how easily a few tiny seeds become overcrowded full-grown plants.

If you are looking for more info on garden planning, here’s a couple of resources to help you get started:

🌿Review Your Garden Journal From The Last Growing Season

If you keep a journal, take some time to flip through it for clues on improving this year’s garden.

I love nothing more on a cold winter’s day than to make a cup of tea, and sit down to read my gardening notes from last season ☕

I was thrilled with the Giant From Italy Parsley I grew last summer.  The earwigs destroyed my young bell peppers (pepper-loving earwigs are a constant problem in our neighbourhood, yet my neighbour and I insist on planting a few sweet pepper plants anyway).

Even if you didn’t keep a journal, take some time to reflect on last year’s garden.  And no time like the present to start this season’s journal 🙂

Here’s some notes to on using a garden journal to help you get started

https://herbgardengal.com/174/why-keep-a-garden-journal/

As much of a pain as it is during the growing season – at least for me – I do keep my journal nearby and make notes.   Yes, there are folks out there that love writing down all the details of their gardening adventures 💚💚  I just want to play in the garden 😄

After the fact, I’m always happy with the notes I took, and wish I had more 📝

🌿Starting Herbs and Vegetables From Seed Is Not The Only Way and may not be worth the time and money invested in your garden.

For example,  if one or two  parsley plants is sufficient for your household, buying the plants in the spring is much easier and more economical after you factor in seed starting supplies than starting parsley plants from seed.

I always buy my rosemary plants in the spring from Richters Herbs  – and fairly large sized plants at that!  Rosemary grows slow.  And the plants I overwinter indoors need time to recover and grow outdoors before I can harvest from them.  A hefty plant to start cutting right away is exactly what makes my kids happy 🙂

🌿Choosing What Seeds To Buy

I always start by taking inventory of my seeds – what do I have that I can still use.  Seeds will stay viable for at least a year after purchase.  Remember to store your seeds in a cool dry place for best results.

The large number of varieties available to gardeners today is exciting, but can be overwhelming too.😕

Plant descriptions provided by the seed companies contain valuable information to help you choose seeds that will give you a better chance of success in your climate.

Based on my garden plan and local weather, I look for herb and vegetable varieties that grow well in cooler damp climates.  And for varieties that mature sooner – hopefully within my shorter growing season.

Also take into account other considerations that are important to you – e.g. if you want to buy organic seed, locally grown seed, or maybe seeds originating from Italy excite you, or you want to experiment with Asian herbs and vegetables this year, or grow a variety that your father used to grow.

You can make your seed selections as simple or as complicated as you like.  Some folks purchase the same tried and true varieties that work in their garden each year.  Others like to experiment and try growing different varieties each year or rotate favourites year to year.

I fall somewhere in between.  It’s always fun to try at least something new 🙂

Both garden centers and online seed houses offer a great selection of seeds.  If you are ordering online, remember to factor in the time it takes to receive your seed, especially if the seed is coming from a different country.

Seed mixes are a great option for gardeners with small spaces that want to grow more than one variety of the same plant.

I am seeing more seed mixes being offered each year, which is exciting for gardeners with small spaces that want to grow multiple varieties.

Lettuce mixes are common and have been offered for years now.  These mixes are great for growing cutting salad mixes, or for growing an interesting array of individual lettuces to maturity.

Renee’s Garden (seeds available at many garden centers, online and at Amazon)  has taken seed packet mixes to a whole new level.  You can buy mixed-variety seed packets for many herbs, vegetables, flowers, and watermelons too 🙂

Examples:  Scented Basil Trio, Tricolor Beans, Five Color Rainbow Beets, Rainbow Carrots, Tricolor Eggplants, Holiday Mix Pumpkins and there are many more.

Of course, you can just head out to the garden center or online to your favourite seed supplier and buy whatever tickles your fancy while you’re there.

i must admit, it’s a lot fun!  And most years I will set aside a bit of a budget to buy whatever I feel like from the seed offerings in front of me.

And as I sit at home admiring my bundle of seeds, reality kicks in.  Just where am I going to plant these watermelons ??!!  Oops!

Oh the joy of it all 🙂

I’d love to hear what seeds you’re buying this year. Leave me a comment below 🙂

Happy seed shopping,
Barb

Here’s the reference list I promised you:

Basilico Italiano Classico – Emanuele Larosa Sementi   (I bought these at my local grocer)
Genovese Basil – Richters Herbs
Lemon Basil – Richters Herbs
Thai Basil – Richters Herbs
Lime Basil – Seed Savers Exchange and Amazon
Tricolor Sage – Richters Herbs (available as plants/plugs only)
Painted Lady Runner Bean (aren’t they gorgeous?!) – Seed Savers Exchange and Amazon
Large Red Cherry Tomato – Seed Savers Exchange  and Amazon
White Cherry Tomato – Seed Savers Exchange and Amazon
Bouquet Dill – Seed Savers Exchanger and Amazon
Mammoth Dill – Richters Herbs
Giant From Italy Parsley – Seed Savers Exchange and Amazon
Moss Curled Parsley – McKenzie Seeds
Italian Dark Green Parsley – McKenzie Seeds
Rosemary – Richters Herbs (plants only)
Seed Savers Lettuce Mix – Seed Savers Exchange
Asian Salad Mix – Urban Harvest
Luscious Lettuce Mix – Urban Harvest
Mild Salad Mix – Urban Harvest
Tricolor Bush Beans – Renee’s Garden and Amazon
Delicious Duo Salad Scallions  – Renee’s Garden and Amazon
Doll Babies Heirloom Icebox Watermelons – Renee’s Garden and Amazon