Oh, the love the between farmer and vegetable: so crisp and sweet, so full of tending and toil, reward and riches. All winter long, we farmers scour the pages of the seed catalogs, ogling vegetable variety names and descriptions. Who among us is not swept away by the thought of row upon row of King of the Early dry beans, Sugar Ann peas, Winter Luxury pumpkins, Bleu de Solaize leeks, and Ruby Perfection cabbage? Even the names sound delicious.
Here at Chewonki, our seed order process began in December with a conversation during a Food Action Committee about the hopes and wishes for next year’s garden based on the realities of last year’s. The farmers then waded head-long into garden planning and seed ordering over the winter slow period. We submitted our orders to FEDCO and Johnny’s – two Maine seed companies – and then headed straight into the woodlot, putting a halt to imagining the growing season and instead immersing ourselves in the frozen world of firewood production, our January to April work.
And then Valentine’s Day came. The hubbub of seed ordering (so much time spent on an Excel spreadsheet!) many weeks behind me, I was fully focused on chainsaw and Sal time this week until – bam! – the garden came crashing down in my lap. Quite literally, the whole of the 2014 Chewonki garden was hand delivered to my breakfast table in a bag. As of yesterday, the seed order is IN!
Our seeds weigh 15 pounds right now, but will produce around 10,000 pounds of vegetables this summer and fall. With a little love, that is.
