Yesterday (April 9, 2020) I completed sowing seeds of tomatoes, peppers, ground cherries, tomatillos and eggplants for other growers. Seeds for other gardeners and small farmers, that is. I still have not dropped a single seed for Delectation of Tomatoes for growing this year for fresh produce or seed production.
Truth be told, I have not set foot outside yet since moving here, except to make quick trips to the post office or other errands. Requests for seeds has been significantly higher that in previous years for the same time period. But considering all the seed companies that have published “Closed for the next three weeks because of extremely high demand” (or the like), it’s really quite amazing what a tiny bit of the excess demand for seeds has filtered down to Delectation of Tomatoes, especially since over 3,500 varieties are on offer, which is more than most of the big, glitzy, recognizable seed vendors.
So there must be at least 200 other small seed companies in the USA that are collecting the “leftovers” before they filter all the way down to this lowly corner of the immense Internet. No email campaigns, no Google ads, no SEO work, a very mediocre website, virtually no budget for marketing or advertising, extremely pressed for time, and a personality quite averse to self-promotion. I guess this all adds up to a dependence on the old-fashioned approach to growing a small business on a shoestring budget: quality product, customer service and word of mouth.
So yes, please let your gardening acquaintances know that there are bundles and piles of seeds available at Delectation of Tomatoes – I have scarcely made a dent into the seeds I collected in 2019, let alone all the years before then. With this pandemic heating up, this really is a good time time to start or expand your garden. Why depend on the grocery stores when you can grow your own?
Seeds are available here:
SEEDS FROM DELECTATION OF TOMATOES
There was some snow a couple of weeks ago, but it has warmed up significantly the past couple of days.
A few days ago I made a trip to the Wasatch Front to pick up a load of supplies (potting mix, pots, trays, amendments, etc.) The view of the back (east) side of Mt. Nebo was impressive, and inspirational. But it was disconcerting descending into and being in a big city environment where COVID-19 cases now number over 1,400 and climbing.
Light stand, set up against a south facing window, is now filled to capacity with 20 plug trays of 128 cells, so around 2,000 seedlings on their way to being ready for other gardeners in the area:
Getting good germination rates this year. Here’s a tray of peppers planted 12 days ago”
And thinned seedlings from just two trays – this is not much fun killing so many healthy young seedlings so that others will grow better, but that is just the way Nature functions.
Stay tuned here for lists of seedling varieties which will be available in Utah (sorry, no shipping this year):
Seedlings Produced by Delectation of Tomatoes
Packaging seeds is sometimes a huge challenge, as almost everything other than tomato seeds is still in a state of semi-chaos from the recent move.
Actually, I’m less than half way done unloading and reorganizing non-business related boxes and stuff – the biggest room in the house is wall-to-wall disarray and has only a narrow path that I can walk through, and it’s a bit frustrating at times to try to locate items:
So what’s up next is to help as many gardeners and farmers as possible to acquire the seeds they need to become more self-reliant and safe during this pandemic. I am also hoping to get some funding so that I can install a large high tunnel or two in the backyard, and grow at least something for seed production this year.
Hopefully by this time next year, this property will not only be highly functional gardening, but also very productive and aesthetically appealing with permaculture design principles implemented, etc. Plenty of big dreams to try to bring into reality over the next several months!
Hungering for fresh summer heirloom tomatoes…
Delectation of Tomatoes, etc. 