Winter isn’t just for flipping through the seed catalogs! It’s an excellent time to work on planning and building a healthier, more productive garden. Complete these winter garden chores to have stress-free planting season come spring. 

Organize and Check Seeds

Don’t toss those old seeds! Seeds don’t go bad after a certain date; their germination rate slowly declines. 

Whether you saved seeds from a previous season or have leftover seeds from us, it’s time to sort, test, and organize them. How you sort your seeds is a personal preference, but it’s a good idea to divide them into categories like tomatoes and salad greens, so you know what you have. 

Properly storing your seeds is critical, as it will affect their shelf life. The best-case scenario is to store them somewhere below 40°F with no sunlight and low humidity. If you have the space, airtight containers in the freezer are a perfect option. 

For in-depth advice on seed testing, expected shelf life, and proper storage, visit:

• Seed Shelf Life, Proper Storage, and an at Home Germination Test

Garden Plan

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Flipping through seed catalogs and looking at gorgeous garden layouts on Instagram is always a fun way to brighten a winter day. But, to make those dreams into something real, you need to plan for next season. And the earlier, the better that’s why we’ve included it on this winter garden chores list.

Crop rotation is key to pest and disease management, so a rough sketch of last year’s layout is a great starting point. Using your sketch, you can plan beds for next season, ensuring that you avoid planting any crop family (ex. Nightshades, alliums, brassicas) in the same spot for at least two years.

Once you have a basic layout, you may also want to incorporate some companion planting. Gardeners use companion planting to maximize space, control pests, attract beneficial insects, provide natural trellises, and more.

Consider succession planting. It’s a great way to extend the season and avoid gluts and shortages. Think about seeds you’ll need for spring planting and any you want to plant during the summer for a fall harvest.

Resources:

• Companion Planting: Benefits & Techniques
• Plant families: What they tell us
• Summer Succession Crop Planting: Avoid Gluts & Shortages
• When to Plant A Fall Garden
• SESE Garden Planner

Order Seeds

Now onto everyone’s favorite on the winter garden chores list: ordering seeds.

You’ve taken stock of your seeds and built a garden plan. Now is the time to order anything you’re missing. Getting your order in early ensures you get the first pick of your favorite varieties.

While you’re browsing the website or flipping through the catalog, take notice of key features. Watch for days to maturity, phrases like early, drought-tolerant, or heat-tolerant. You should aim to choose varieties that have resistance to pests and diseases that you have struggled with in the past.

Get detailed advice on what to look for when ordering seeds:

• Understanding Seed Catalogs

Build Healthy Soil 

A productive garden begins with healthy soil, and winter is a great time to work on soil building. 

Cover crops, and green manures are among the best methods for improving the soil over the winter. They provide nutrients, organic matter, and protect the soil from erosion. Unfortunately, it’s too late to plant winter cover crops in many areas. However, it’s a good time to think about spring sowing. 

One of the simplest, most effective winter garden chores is composting. It’s a great way to add organic matter and fertility to beds in the spring. Just add a couple of inches of finished compost to the top of each bed. 

Amending the garden can be tricky, especially when we can’t pinpoint the issue. A soil test is the best way to determine what your garden needs and winter is a great time to get one! Soil labs get busy in spring, so get your samples to them as soon as possible.

Soil texture is one feature that you can easily test at home, using a simple jar test. Knowing your soil texture will tell you key features about how your soil drains, compacts, and holds nutrients.

Resources:

• Composting 101
• Cover Crops for Beginners
• Cover Crops for Great Green Manure, Mulch, and More
• Build Soil with Green Manures
• Cover Crops: Improve Clay Soils
• Soil Season: Winter Cover Crops
• Getting a Soil Test
• Understanding a Soil Test
• Soil Texture: The Jar Test

Prepare a Seed Starting Set Up (and start seeds)

When you start seeds at home, you can grow anything you want. 

Growing your own seeds at home rather than purchasing plants means extra winter garden chores, but it also means you have access to an incredible range of heirloom vegetables, native wildflowers, and medicinal herbs, and more at your fingertips. But you’ll need a set up for them.

While most vegetable garden seeds don’t need light to germinate, they do best with some form of supplemental lighting once they start to grow. You’ll also need a place to put your seedlings, good seed starting mix, and containers. You may also want to consider heat mats for heat-loving seedlings like peppers.

If you’re new to seed starting, you may be surprised to learn that much of it takes place in the winter. We’re tucking seeds into trays weeks before our last frost date. For those in our zone, we offer a list of planting at the back of our catalog (available as a pdf below). You can also get personalized planting reminders with our garden planner or the Farmer’s Almanac “What to Plant Now” app. 

Watch out for varieties that need cold stratification. You’ll need to complete some extra steps to get a good germination rate from these.

Resources:

• The Basics: Seed Starting Supplies
• Basics: When to Start Seeds Indoors
• Basics: How to Start Seeds Indoors
• 8 Common Mistakes When Starting Seeds
• Cold Stratification
• Zone 7 Planting Dates

 

Take advantage of the off-season with these five winter garden chores. What do you do in the winter for your garden?

Each year we’re enamored by all the beautiful seed catalogs that come in the mail. Flipping through the pages of charming old heirlooms and stunning new varieties is one of the best ways to spend a winter day. But whether you’re new to gardening or an old hand, understanding all the nuances of seed catalogs can be a challenge and getting it right can make a vast difference in the productivity of your garden. 

In today’s post, we’ll tackle how to ‘decode’ all of your seed catalogs so that you can select varieties with the disease resistance, climate requirements, and growing period that work well for your garden.

Find the Seed Companies Location

Purchasing seeds from companies that grow in your region is a great way to ensure you’re getting varieties that will thrive in your climate. Here in the Southeast, we often look for plants that will tolerate long, hot, humid summers, common pests like vine borers, fungal diseases like blight, and mild winters. 

That said, growing seeds from outside your area isn’t a terrible idea, but there are some features to keep in mind. Therefore, it’s important to check the address on the catalog and find out where they grow their seed trial gardens. 

When browsing northern catalogs, take sun requirements with a grain of salt. A variety that thrives in full sun in Maine might enjoy some afternoon shade in Georgia. Crops also tend to take much longer to mature in cool, northern summers, so the ‘days to harvest’ may differ from what it will be in a southern garden. 

Many growers in the Northeast are doing breeding for disease resistance. You may find some interesting new varieties that are worth experimenting with in their catalogs. Cool season crops from the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest may also work well for growing in the Southeast’s mild winters.

Catalogs from California and the Southwest may also offer great heat-tolerant and drought-resistant crops that could be worth looking into, though they may not be as tolerant of our humidity. California catalogs are also a great source for Asian heirloom vegetables. 

Understand Days to Maturity or Days to Harvest

Most gardeners know that days to maturity is a rough estimate of the number of days it takes a crop to mature enough to harvest. But there are some nuances to this number.

When talking about transplants, the days to maturity usually refers to the number of days to harvest from the time you plant the transplant out into the garden, not from the date you started it indoors. When direct sowing, it starts the day the seed goes into the soil.

Occasionally, seed packets and catalogs may specify whether the number is referring to direct sown seed or transplants. 

It can also differ widely when you’re talking about greens. Is the days to maturity referring to full heads of lettuce or big bunches of chard, or is it talking about baby greens for salad? Sometimes, descriptions like ours for Barese Chard will specify: 25 days for baby greens/50 days for mature leaves. 

Keep in mind that conditions will also affect days to maturity. Cool spring nights will make heat-loving crops like tomatoes grow more slowly. Dwindling day length in the fall can significantly slow down fall crops like lettuce. In fall, we recommend you add 14 days to the days to maturity time for any variety you’ll direct sow and 14 to 28 days for any variety you will be transplanting. 

Learn more in our post, When to Plant a Fall Garden.

Look at Disease Resistance Keys

Disease resistance is a critical aspect of selecting the best varieties for your garden. These days, most catalogs show a variety’s disease resistance using codes and a key. 

For example, in our seed catalog you’ll notice our flagship tomato, Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter says (vw, fw1). When you check the key, you’ll notice that this means it’s resistant to Verticillium wilt (vw) and Fusarium wilt, race 1 (fw1).

*Note: In heirloom tomatoes, the lack of disease resistance in the description doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of resistance. Many heirloom tomatoes have not been extensively tested for disease tolerance either in the laboratory, or in extensive field trials.

Below are our disease resistance keys for tomatoes and cucumbers. Other catalogs may use different keys, so it’s important to check each one.

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Other crops in our catalog also feature disease resistance information, though it’s just plainly in the description. For example, the Golden Bush Scallop Summer Squash description says, “Downy mildew resistant.”  

Gardeners in the Southeast Should Focus on the Heat

If you grow in the Southeast and are shopping for summer crops, heat tolerance should be a major focus. Consider varieties that have phrases like drought-resistant, heat-tolerant, and good pollination in heat. 

The long summer also means a short spring, so we need to carefully select our cool season crops. Look for keywords like short-season, early, bolt-resistant, and long holding. 

Consider Gardening in the Shoulder Seasons

Particularly in the Deep South, it may be prudent to plan a break during the height of summer. Few crops truly thrive in intense heat. However, the long seasons usually make it possible to grow one crop in early summer and another in early fall.

For example, you can often get a crop of early maturing tomatoes like Djena Lee’s Golden Girl (64 days), Pink Ozark VF (65 days), or Rosella Purple (65 days) in early summer. Then start more seeds indoors in July and get another crop as the season cools down in early fall. 

Understanding what to look for in seed catalogs can make a big difference if your garden. Decode your catalogs this season to find varieties that will work well in your climate, thrive against local disease pressure, and fit into your succession plan. 

Most of this information was based on Ira Wallace’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast. Grab a copy today for month by month advice. 

The holiday season is upon us! If you have a gardener, herbalist, homesteader, seed saver, or other grower in your life, you’re in luck. We’ve put together a gardener gift guide filled with ideas. For each list, we’ve included a few crop ideas plus handy tools, supplies, and books.

The Beginner Gardener

Welcome a friend, neighbor, or family member to gardening crew with a few of these basic essentials. We’ve picked out a few easy crops for beginners plus some supplies that will help them succeed.

• Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomatoes
  These little tomatoes pack tons of flavor into a ferocious little package. The plants are extremely resilient and virtually invincible against common tomato diseases.
  
  
• Garden Guides by Ira Wallace
  Southern Exposure’s own gardening expert Ira Wallace gives home gardeners the regionally specific information needed to succeed in our hot, humid climate. Ira offers one guide to the Southeast and five state-specific guides.
  
  
• Green Salad Bowl Lettuce
  Help your friend grow their very first salad with easy, cut and come again Green Salad Bowl lettuce.
  
  
• CobraHead Mini ‘Steel Fingernail’
  Make weeding a bit easier with this solid tool made from USA steel. SESE and National Garden Club testers were really impressed with the tool and all it can do.
  
  
• Color Fashion Mix Sunflower
  Help them brighten their space with the easy-to-grow Color Fashion Mix Sunflower.
  
  
• Green Finger Slicing Cucumber
  Give the gift of crisp, summer cucumbers with this productive, tasty, disease resistant variety from Cornell University. 
  
  
• SESE Gift Card
  Want to help them fill out their whole garden with their favorite seeds? Grab a SESE gift card so they can fill their own cart.

The Heirloom Tomato Lover

Few crops seem to develop the same ardent following as tomatoes. If you have a heirloom tomato fan in your life try some of these:

• Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad Tomato
  Give the gift of a legacy with Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad Tomato. Seeds for these dark pink, tangy tomatoes were carried through the Underground Railroad by an unnamed black man as he crossed to freedom in Ripley, OH, from KY. Seeds were passed on to Aunt Lou, who passed them on to her great nephew, and eventually on to heirloom tomato enthusiast Gary Millwood.
  
  
• Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties by Craig LeHoullier
  Give tomato growing and selection advice from the very best. Author Craig LeHoullier introduced Cherokee Purple to SESE and the world. He has grown thousands of tomato varieties, most of them in hot and humid North Carolina, and here he shares his hard-won wisdom on how to grow great tasting tomatoes. 
  
  
• 50 Self-Seal Seed Packets
  Help your loved one neatly package their ever-growing collection of heirloom tomato seeds. These self-seal packs are easy to use and great for taking to spring seed swaps!
  
  
• Amy’s Apricot Mix Cherry Tomato
  Add a unique variety to your friend’s collection with Amy’s Apricot Mix. These colorful cherries are always a hit at our tomato tastings!
  
  
• Johnny’s Seedling Mat
  Tomato seedlings love a bit of heat! Get your friend off to a great start this spring with a seedling heat mat from Johnny’s.
  
  
• Cherokee Purple Tomato
  Gift the king of tomatoes, Cherokee Purple. Few tomatoes have gained the renown as this delicious, dusky, pre-1890 Tennessee heirloom.
  
  
• Tomato Towers
  At SESE we use DIY tomato trellises like cattle panels and the Florida weave, but if you know someone who uses tomato cages, they’d probably love to have a sturdy version from Gardener’s. 
  
  
• Wooden Garden Labels
  Help your loved one keep track of all their precious tomato varieties with these wooden garden labels. Made from uncoated New England White Birch.

The Herbalist 

Whether you’re loved one is just starting the herbal journey or has been creating tinctures for decades, these are sure to brighten their winter.

• Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals by W. Scott Persons and Jeanine M. Davis
  Give the herbalist in your life all the information they need to grow tricky woodland medicinals with success. This updated and expanded edition gives recommended methods of growing and marketing ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, bethroot, bloodroot, blue cohosh, false unicorn, galax, mayapple, pinkroot, spikenard, wild ginger, wild indigo, and other native woodland medicinals.
  
  
• Resina Calendula
  Herbalists prize this bright yellow flower! Give your friend a pack so they can create homemade salves, lotions, and more this season.
  
  
• Granite Mortar and Pestle
  Herbalism is much more fun when you have beautiful tools. This beautiful, solid granite mortar and pestle from our friends at Mountain Rose Herbs is perfect for grinding herb, seeds, and roots. 
• Spilanthes
  Spilanthes is a fun plant for any herbalist to get their hands on. It’s used in medicinal practices around the world and creates a strong tingling sensation in the mouth when consumed raw.
  
  
• Mesh Strainers
  Give the gift of convenience with this all purpose stainless steel strainer, which has been constructed of the perfect mesh with the herbalist in mind. A fabulous tool to be used in the production of extracts, herbal oils, tea infusions and decoctions, and in the manufacturing of some body care products.
  
  
• Anise-Hyssop (Licorice Mint)
  Give the gift of an easy-to-grow, native perennial medicinal and culinary herb. It’s wonderful for soothing teas and attracts pollinators. This herb has a lot going for it! 
• Ashwagandha
  Help fill out your herbalist’s garden with Ashwagandha. This unassuming herb is celebrated for its immune-boosting properties and ability to enhance resilience to stress. 

The Homesteader

Have a friend that won’t stop talking about food preservation or a family member who’s constantly dreaming about buying land and getting chickens? You might have a homesteader on your list!

• The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe
  A great read for intermediate and advanced growers by an Oregon farmer and plant breeder, Carol Deppe. She focuses on 5 main subsistence foods (corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and…ducks!) Great information on growing, cooking, and storing the tastiest and most nutritious varieties.
  
  
• Magic Cushaw Winter Squash
  Give the gift of good production and nutritious food with Magic Cushaw. Seed saver and grower Julia Asherman says, “We named it Magic Cushaw because it is so good and always pulls through, resistant to most everything, and now it is the only winter squash we grow.”
  
  
• Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz
  This book is a favorite among homesteaders and here at SESE, too. It contains nearly 100 home recipes for vegetable ferments (sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles); bean ferments (miso, dosas); dairy ferments (yogurt); cheesemaking (and vegan alternatives); sourdough and other grain fermentations from Cherokee, African, Japanese, and Russian traditions; vinegars and alcohol.
  
  
• Tennessee Red Cob Dent Corn
  The seedstock for this pre-1900 was supplied by Harold Jerrell who reported that in 1995 this variety produced a good crop on only 2 in. of rain from mid-June until the first of September. It was one of the driest years on record in his growing area in Virginia, and was the only variety that produced. Tennessee Red Cob is great for polenta, cornbread, corncob pipes, and corncob jelly. 
  
  
• Corn Sheller
  Give your family member a helping hand with this hand-held aluminum sheller that makes quick work of shelling corn.
  
  
• Jacob’s Cattle (Trout) Bush Dry Beans
  Productive and filling, few crops provide as much food as dry beans. Jacob’s Cattle bush bean is perfect for small or large gardens and is excellent for soups, baking, refried beans, and chili.
  
  
• Shiitake Mushroom Spawn
  Help your homesteader grow more than just vegetables with some shiitake mushroom spawn from our friends at Sharondale Mushroom Farm.

The Seed Saver

Seed savers know the value of open-pollinated varieties. They love preserving heirlooms, genetic diversity, and bits of agricultural and culinary history. Help improve their garden with these tools, books, and crops.

• Seed To Seed: Saving Our Vegetable Heritage by Suzanne Ashworth
  A thorough and comprehensive book on seed saving for both new and experienced seed savers. Covers all major and minor vegetable crops, many herbs, and unusual or rare vegetable crops. Discusses pollination dynamics, methods of maintaining variety purity, seed cleaning methods, seed collection and storage. An essential reference for seed savers.
  
  
• Cherokee Long Ear Small Popcorn
  Seedstock for this highly ornamental heirloom came from Merlyn Niedens, combining several strains of long ear Cherokee popcorn sent by Carl Barnes of Turpin, OK. Carl has helped save many of the Cherokee corns that came west over the Trail of Tears. The small kernels make surprisingly large pops with excellent flavor!
  
  
• The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving 
  Seed Savers Exchange partnered with the Organic Seed Alliance to publish this beautifully illustrated volume written both for home gardeners and farmers. An excellent complement to Seed to Seed, focusing on more of the main vegetable and herb families, and including new seedsaving research. Guidelines that break down numbers and methods for the home garden, commercial seed crops, and variety preservation are especially valuable.
  
  
• Utopian Ultracross Collard
  This unique new seed is part of the Heirloom Collard Project which is working to preserve collard stories and seeds as an important part of American food culture. This new “ultracross” collard was developed as part of a nationwide collard trial. Buying these seeds means your seed saver will have the option to join our Community Seed Selection (CSS) project. If desired, they will receive guidance and education for the process of selective seed saving. 
  
  
• 50 Self-Seal Seed Packets
  Keep your seed saver organized with these easy-to-use packs. They are  great for taking to spring seed swaps!
  
  
• Charlottesville Old Breadseed Poppy
  This old variety was kept alive by Seed Savers Exchange members Christina Wenger and Patrick Holland. It’s easy to save seed from and its crimson blooms with purple centers are sure to be a hit!
  
  
• Popcorn Sheller
  Popcorn is one of our favorite crops for beginner seed savers. Shelling it can be a hassle. Give your seed saver a little help with this hand-held sheller perfect for popcorn and other small-eared varieties.
  
  
• Aunt Bea’s Pole Snap Bean
  Each season we lose more heirloom pole bean varieties. They’re not practical for industrial agriculture, so despite their amazing flavor, they’re being left by the wayside. Help your friend preserve some history with a pole bean like Aunt Bea’s, which was stewarded by sisters Beatrice and Bernice Heuser.