Farmers and gardeners can turn to the Web for planting info By JIM BROOKS The unseasonably warm temperatures we've experienced have had most folks at my office talking about spring. Gardeners have been thinking spring since first receiving those seed catalogs right after the Christmas holidays. I've been trying to decide for weeks what I plan to raise -- or attempt to raise -- in my garden. My first planting of sugar snap peas was finished a few days ago; now I've got to figure out what next to plant. For help in making these decisions, I've turned to my print catalogs and their online counterparts. The first difference I've discovered between print and online seed catalogs is that the online one often has more content. After all, the seed company has to shell out some major bucks for that four-color, slick paper, 88-page catalog. Their companion Web site uses the same photos of the flowers and vegetables, and can actually contain additional, lower-demand variety of seed, and the extra info doesn't use ink or paper. Here's some sites I found useful while doing my own pre-planting prep. BURPEE. I put them first only because I remember their catalog as a kid. The print catalog is still a wonderful resource, full of old-time vegetable and flower favorites, along with new hybrids and unusual varieties. But there's more from Burpee. The Burpee Web site (www.burpee.com), is more than an online catalog, it's a true gardeners' resource site. In addition to seeds and plants, you'll find quality accessories like do-it-yourself greenhouses, furniture, organic pest controls (like Ladybugs) and more. In resources, you'll weekly updated news for the various regions of the country (the writer covering our region was promoting the use of old newspapers to make paper pots for your seed starting), and even a complete section of recipes for use (presumably) with the veggies you harvest from your garden. I've ordered quite a few things from Burpee's Web site, including some bare-rooted grape vines and something that isn't in the print catalog -- Luffa gourd seeds. Visit Burpee online at www.burpee.com. SOUTHERN STATES. I've lived and worked in several places across Kentucky, and I have yet to find one that didn't have a Southern States cooperative nearby. Southern States is the place where farmers get their supplies, seed, feed, and more. They also sell smaller quantities to gardeners and small farm owners and operators. Southern State's seed catalog was a great resource for my garden last year; in the back, it had a handy planting/spacing guide, along with pest control suggestions. This year's catalog is a bit smaller in size; however, a new Web site more than makes up for the loss of printed paper in this year's catalog. Southern State's Web site -- www.gardensouth.com -- has something for ag-minded folks with plots of all sizes. You find all the same seed varieties on the Web site that you'll find in the print catalog -- making the Web site a handy resource when you don't have a printed catalog handy. Southern States goes to the trouble of packaging larger packs of seeds -- ideal for the farmer who wants to plant larger plots of vegetables. Like the printed copy, you'll find the online version an essential read, including its guides for spacing and information about the variety and when it's likely to best plant and harvest. Most of the balance of seed that I'm going to use in my garden will come from Southern States; if my dealer doesn't have the variety I want, they'll order it or I can quickly order the ones I want via Southern States' secured shopping area. The online catalog also carries plenty of other items, including garden accessories, tools, shoes, gloves, pet supplies, lawn care items, and more. Think of the variety of items you find at Southern States and you'll know what to expect at their online store. If you own a fairly diverse farm operation, you might want to check out the company's other specialty Web sites: • Agri-land: focuses on land use practices, ag markets, trends and forecasts (www.agri-land.com). • Mane Points: For the horse lovers in the family. (www.manepoints.com.) • Turfnotes covers what it says -- turf management issues and news. (www.turfnotes.com) • Outdoorsman Store: If you hunt, fish or camp, you'll find it here (www.outdoorsman-store.com). OUTSTANDING IN THEIR FIELDS. Don't be surprised to see Web addresses on the covers of every seed or gardening catalog you receive this year. These noted names in seeds also have companion sites: • Johnny's Selected Seeds has been a favorite ``reading'' catalog because they pack so much extra information in each copy. They also advertise they do not knowing buy or sell genetically modified seeds or plant material. In addition to the vegetable and flower seeds and information, Johnnies has some of the best looking garden tools you'll find on the Web. After my wife bent my favorite garden hoe chopping vines, I've got my eye on a new one at Johnnies. Visit their Web site at www.johnnyseeds.com. • Thompson & Morgan have a catalog that looks more like a reference book. Their comprehensive A-to-Z listing of flower seeds is without comparison among growers. The Web site is as comprehensive as the print catalog -- maybe more so, since it is available in multiple languages. You may want to request their print catalog while you're at the site. Visit Thompson & Morgan online at www.thompson-morgan.com. MOON SIGNS. While they might not admit it openly, a good many gardeners plant according to the phases of the moon. As a new gardening fanatic, I didn't have much luck finding out about planting by the moon until I ran across an old copy of an old gardening almanac. Flowers and above-ground crops should be planted during the light of the moon, or in the time between a new and full Moon. And as you might expect, root crops and flowering bulbs should be planted in the dark of the Moon, or the day after a full Moon until the day before a new Moon. Keeping track of the Moon's phases, along with other things like frost dates and soil temperatures is enough to make a seasoned gardener's head spin. Fortunately, there's a Web site that offers a quick and easy way to keep track of it. The Old Farmer's Almanac has extensive planting information in print, and they also have some of their same planting data online. You'll have to dig a bit to find it, but it's worth the time searching for it. Their Outdoor Planting Guide is a chart that shows a map of the United States marked by growing zones. The chart below the map lists the names of the plant, planting times, and the moon-favorable planting times. I've never planted a garden by the moon, but this year I'm using the Old Farmer's Almanac guide to give it a try. After last year's drought, my sweet corn and melons could use whatever help moon planting might offer! Visit The Old Farmer's Almanac Web site at www.almanac.com and select "Gardening" in the pull-down menu. Once you get to this page, scroll down and click on the link for the 2000 Outdoor Planting Table. Keep this page bookmarked, and you'll have planting information at your fingertips all season long. And who knows, my moon-planted sugar snaps may be a bit more plentiful come May. Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web. | HOME |