As we are almost at the end of 2023, I’m gearing up for my garden with a sense of anticipation and wonder. You may think, “Isn’t it a little early to be announcing your seeds for 2024? 2023 isn’t even over yet!” Well if you didn’t know November is when most seed companies announce their 2024 catalog. From personal experience, If you do not get in and order what you want right away, a lot of the varieties will be sold out. Specifically potatoes, garlic, and onion plants/sets. Last year I completely missed out on potatoes, so this year I am ordering as soon as I am allowed to. In this blog post, I’m thrilled to unveil the seeds that will find their home in my garden this coming up season. Some will be the same as last year but there are quite a few new varieties.
I still have some F1 seeds left over from my first year on our homestead. My goal is to get what I have left planted so that in 2025 I will have all heirloom or open-pollinated seeds, making seed saving that much easier. Because of this, I will be overplanting some crops, mainly peppers, to get them out of my inventory. My goal is to grow a year’s worth of produce for our family and save enough seed so that I do not have to purchase any the following year.
My garlic seed I bought in 2021 and have saved from those every year to replant. So if you have the space plant a bit more garlic than you actually need and you won’t ever have to buy it again. Why do I have so many garlic varieties? Well, that’s because when I ordered them my internet was acting weird and I didn’t think the order went through. So I did a second order and ended up with double the amount of garlic. I gave some away that year to my neighbor but still ended up with a lot of garlic. I could have canceled the order but I thought, “Ooh I have the space I’ll just plant it all and then have some left over to save. That has turned into me planting 800+ bulbs this year.
Where I buy my seeds 2024
This year my seeds are from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, High Mowing Organic Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, and Fedco Seeds. There are a lot of really great seed companies out there, but for me, these companies have the best selection of bulk seeds at a good price. I am super excited to try out some of these new varieties for 2024.
How do I decide what varieties I will grow every year?
When deciding on varieties to plant you want to take a couple of different factors into consideration.
#1 How long is your growing season?
This is important because you will want to grow varieties that will mature and produce within that time frame. It will also tell you how early you need to start your seedlings indoors. For me, in Northeast Ohio, my average last frost is May 4th and My average First Frost is October 7th. That is 156 days, giving me a pretty long growing season, and allowing me to grow most varieties. I will say I do not plant anything out until after Mother’s Day because it seems like we always get one late frost. In 2023 we had a light frost the first week of June. Our first frost has varied a lot. in 2023 it was not until October 23.
#2 How is your climate?
Different varieties thrive in different climates. If you live somewhere where the summers are 120° with no rain, you will want drought-tolerant varieties versus where I live, where summers are 80°-100° with high humidity and rain, you want higher disease-resistant varieties.
#3 Soil Type
What kind of soil you have will make a big impact on what and how you grow. For heavy clay soils like mine, root crop variety selection is important. If you select varieties that do not tolerate moisture very well, They will just rot in the ground.
Anyway on to the list. Here is my list of 2024 seeds with links in case you are interested. I’ll make notes of any seeds that are on my “I will always grow this variety” list.
Arugula
Artichoke
Bean
Provider (Fresh) ** Open Pollinated, Grows really well in my region. Continues to produce a lot when weather gets cooler in the fall.
Jacobs Cattle* New for 2024
Mayflower * New for 2024
Rattlesnake* New for 2024
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower:
Celery
Chard
Bright Lights** Open Pollinated. Grows really big tasty leaves.
Collards
Corn
Who Gets Kissed Sweet Corn* New for 2024
Cucumbers
Lemon** My favorite cucumber. Tastes so good on fresh salads.
Eggplant
Garlic
Kale
Leek
Lettuce
Dragoon** My favorite head lettuce. It grows really well and tastes great.
Muskmelon
Amish Melon * New for 2024
* New for 2024
Okra
Onion
Red Spring * New for 2024
Walla Walla Sweet* New for 2024
Peas
Pepper
Early Jalapeno** Has a lot of hot fruits.
Potatoes
Kennebec ** The best storage variety for my region. Grows well in my soil.
Georgia Jet Sweet Potato * New for 2024
Pumpkin
Musquee de Provence ** Love this pumpkin. It looks like Cinderella’s Carriage and tastes really good when roasted.
Radishes
Spinach
Summer Squash
Tomatillo
Tomato
Amish Paste** The best paste tomato you can grow. Huge fruits that taste great. Never had them rot (unlike San Marzanos which for me never fully ripen.)
Turnips
Watermelon
Moon & Stars (Cherokee) * New for 2024
Oh So Sweet * New for 2024
Winter Squash
