Artichokes? You bet they do well here and, if started from seed early enough, they will produce a few flowers their first season. The Cook's Garden has two kinds of them (www.cooksgarden.com/vegetables/artichoke) and plenty of other great stuff. You might also check out Abundant Life Seeds, another artichoke-carrying site worth visiting (www.abundantlifeseeds.com/category/5). They carry open pollinated biodynamic or organic seed. Of course, when you see what it costs to ship a packet of Imperial seeds, you might just want to stick with Nichols Nursery (www.nicholsgardennursery. com) or find seed locally.
Onions? Another decent crop for us. Dixondale Farms is a great place to learn about growing onions (www.dixondalefarms.com/category/onion_plants) as well as leeks. They sell started plants. The site also contains some great stuff, downloadable, on growing onions and leeks. The Internet is a wonderful medium. High Mowing Organic Seed (www.highmowingseeds.com) is another place that has lots of interesting, organic offerings including onions.
Cabbages? I never heard of Reimer Seeds (www.reimerseeds.com/cabbage_437.aspx), but one reader pointed to their 30 or more different cabbage offerings. Park Seed (www.ParkSeed.com) has 11.
Lettuces? Well, there is no disputing these are a top crop here. Start with High Mowing Organic Seed (above) which is located in Vermont, I believe. Of course, looking at pictures of lettuce in catalogs, sans slugs, this time of year is a dangerous thing to do. Burpee's offerings (www.burpee.com/vegetables/lettuce) are really tempting. The photography on this site is extremely well done.
Heirloom seeds? These are the ones that are open-pollinated and you can save them from year to year. You would want to start with Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org), a nonprofit dedicated to saving heirloom varieties. Check out their exclusives. Next, a kind reader sent me to the Ohio Heirloom Seeds website (http://ohioheirloomseeds.com). It has a great collection of the classic heirlooms. Look over the tomatoes, for example. They have a cheap shipping policy, too. Good find. Finally, Heirloom Seeds (www.heirloomseeds.com) has lots of selections, as the name would suggest, but no pictures. If you like reading seed catalogs, this is one for you.
Potatoes? Ah, here is one "seed" that Alaskans should only buy locally and not bring in from the Lower 48. This helps protect our disease-free potato crops in the Valley. The Alaska Plant Material Center in Palmer has a fantastic collection, examples of which often come on the market. If you are looking for something special, you may want to check with their potato expert.
Sprouting seeds? Wow, this was an unusual one, but at least these seeds can be started now. However, there are lots of places out there specializing in sprouting seeds. The one that claims to have the biggest selection is The Sprouting People (http://sproutpeople.org). This is a beautiful website, worth looking at even if you hate sprouts. I had no idea. Same for Wheatgrass.com (www.wheatgrasskits.com/sproutingkits.htm?gclid=CNiL5tq0q6YCFQRvbAodhFJHpA), which I found to be a strange web address for a company so named!
Finally, Landreth Seed (www.landrethseeds.com) is the oldest seed company in the United States. Hey, if they have lasted that long, they must be doing lots of things right! And, of course, the home company, Denali Seed Co. (www.denaliseed.com) has its own web presence and may be a place to start before looking at the others. Their seed racks, along with Ed Hume's and others, will be up any day now. Have you been to a local nursery lately? With all this talk about seed catalogs, it may be time.
Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.
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