It’s seed season. January can be a bit blah from a weather standpoint. Gray days, whipping winds, dark mornings. But thinking about and planning your seedlings can bring a little sunshine.

This year I’ve had the most catalogs show up in my mailbox. Ordinarily, I can’t pass up the temptation to order at least a few packs from each supplier. The glossy pages and photos are just too beautiful to pass up. But I’m pretty proud of how sensible I have stayed on the veggie front (flowers are another story so don’t ask).

While this is mostly an exciting process, it can be a bit overwhelming to start thinking about what you need to start in February and March to get the harvest you want later in the year.

To avoid the overwhelm, here are a few tips.

1. Take inventory of the seeds you already have. If you aren’t keeping them organized in a photo album, binder with plastic sheet protectors, or one of these storage boxes, you aren’t doing yourself any favors. There are many different ways to organize your seeds so do whatever makes sense to you – alphabetical, cool vs warm, etc. The key here is to just do it.
2. Discard the seeds in your compost that were a flop last year.  Flop is loosely defined in my book – didn’t germinate well, took too much effort to grow, didn’t like the taste, or any combination.
3. Think about what produce you buy most often at the grocery store each week and over the course of a month. Could you grow any of this yourself and make a dent in your spending? My suggestion would be salad ingredients, like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and lettuces.  You can’t go wrong with green beans, fresh herbs and leafy greens either.
4. Try something new to challenge yourself. Go with something that should work well in your growing zone – a spicy pepper, a wonky eggplant, a crazy crucifer. It’s all learning and you may find a new favorite.
5. Most importantly, don’t go crazy. If it helps to rein yourself in, I’d go with 5-7 cool crops and 5-7 warm crops. You want to enjoy going out to the garden every day, not dread it.

Lastly, don’t forget the flowers. You won’t regret a boarder of sunflowers, zinnias at your entrance, or some celosia as book ends on one of your beds. And the impact on your harvest will be noticeable.

For more thoughts on this, check out other suggestions and considerations to keep in mind.