"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date"!

I need to get my seeds ordered!!!!  If you start your plants from seeds now is the time for many of them to be started indoors and some needed to be started in January.  This is the R. H. Shumway seed catalog.  It's as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside and they have been family owned for the last 142 years!  They are out of Randolph, Wisconsin. 

Here are a few others.  Another beautiful and heritage seed catalog that I love is from Baker Seeds out of Missouri but I didn't receive it this year so I'll have to order from it online.  Of course there are many more wonderful seed companies besides these. 
I am doing something different this year which makes garden planning SO EASY and succession planting, which I never seem to get a good handle on.  It is Mother Earth News Garden Planner  accessible from their website  Mother Earth News 

Just do a search when you get there for "garden planner".  It is free for the first month and you can print off your plan and then if you want to continue you can purchase it for $25.00 a year but it is SO much more than a garden planner.  Here's a peek!

There's a video to show you how to use it and what it's capable of which is A LOT, much more than I can show you here.

Here's one of my little raised beds for example.  Below, you can click on "i" for information on specific plants and here is showing only about half of the information...you can scroll down on that window for Apple tree and there's lots more info!  The garden planner includes fruit trees and bushes in addition to vegetables and flowers.

This is my favorite part!  Based on your frost start and end dates, it tells you when to start inside, when to plant outside and when to harvest.  It also lets you know when you need to rotate certain plants year to year and where and when to plant your succession crops.  It's AMAZING!!!!!  I've had other garden planners both paper and software and this one is the best for the price that I have ever seen!   Thank you Mother Earth News!!!  Their magazine is only $10.00 a year and their website has so much free information it's mind-boggling!  No, I get nothing for saying all this but I have subscribed to their magazine for years and it's one of the few magazines that I will not cancel!  I hope this information is helpful to you gardeners out there.  I always like to share information about products and items that help me in my life.