My co-worker, Chris Ford, is a great chef. Both of us share a passion for food and can speak eloquently about whatever seasonal item strikes our fancy, but Chris is a bolder, more adventurous cook. Also far more patient – he once described the steps he takes to produce a red wine and herb reduction that sounds delicious but would never survive an impulsive, impatient chef like me. These days the topic occupying our kitchen chats and afternoon musings is spring vegetables. Domestic asparagus is starting, as are spring onions and garlic, with my favorite spring vegetable, artichokes, soon to follow. The dialogue mostly revolves around some of our favorite springtime dishes; his is a lemon-braised artichoke heart; mine a cream of artichoke soup.

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Around the first of March I start thinking about my spring vegetable garden. This is the time when I feel the closest connection to the growers throughout the U.S. as we emerge from another winter (in some places) and contemplate the start of a new growing season. There are lots of things to think about: Are we past our final frost? (I think so but my neighbors don’t agree.) Should I plant further apart in anticipation of a wetter spring? In my own modest way many of the decisions I make mirror those of far larger growers. Among the most important of these decisions is: Should I grow from seed or should I grow from starter plants?

Lettuce just emerging from seed – Carmel Valley California

For large-scale growers the choice between seed and starter plants begins with economics. The expense associated with bringing a seed to a seedling plant stage can be staggering. Germination time, plant type, climate, geography and expected yield per acre are all factors that influence the decision. Expected return is also an important factor. Fruits and vegetables with a low per pound value (like melons and pumpkins) are more likely to come from direct seed planting.

Sweet peas from last year’s seed crop

My choices are driven less by logic and more by habit. I tend to start from seed only those items for which I harvest seeds from the prior season. These are pumpkins and hard squashes, sunflowers and sweet peas. It is important to note that if you plant from harvested seeds you will often get a variation that differs from the variety of the parent plant. This is caused by cross-pollination and the effects will vary depending on how many varieties you (or your neighbors) grow. I happen to love this effect – the variations that come out of my “mystery garden” of mixed pumpkin seeds, for example, are often unexpected. It’s also interesting to see how similar (but different) successive generations of the same plant are.

Strawberry starts – 6-pack and 4″ Alpine, Variegated and Seascape varieties

Everywhere the farmers’ markets, grocery stores and nurseries are eagerly anticipating people like me. First a trickle but soon a flood of colorful seed packets and young, delicate starter plants in 6-pack, 2″ and 4″ pots will compete for the roughly 168 cubic feet of garden space I’ve carved out of my backyard. I am a seed and plant salesperson’s dream. I live in an area where you can grow almost anything; I know just enough about plants and gardening to be dangerous; and I cannot walk by a display without buying something.

That said, here are some basic tips I’ve learned about seed versus starters plant gardening:

• Avoid seeds with long germination times. As a rule, the longer it takes a seed to germinate, the more likely it is to be affected by adverse weather conditions. Herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage are good examples of long germination seeds and you may get better results going with plant starts. In contrast, lettuce seeds germinate quickly and are very successfully grown from seed. All seed packets will tell you how long the seed takes to germinate.
• Length of season – this will vary depending on where you live (and on how good you are at planting on time). If you live in the southern states, for example, where the spring growing season is short you might consider a starter plant over seed to give your garden a head start. Also, if you are like me and tend to be late getting your garden planted, starters will cut down on the time it takes a plant to mature.
• Garden size – my garden in my old yard was 1/5 the size of the one I have today. Seed planting has a higher rate of plant failure than a garden planted from starters. If your garden area is small and you want to be exacting about what grows and where, starter plants are a better option.

Aidan with my best ever sunflower- 2004 crop (I still have the seeds from progressive generations)

You can also get the best of both worlds by making your own starters from seed – I save all my containers from prior purchases to use for starting plants I know I want a lot of (like sunflowers). Results will vary, of course, from place to place so I encourage experimentation – and do please share what you have found. On the subject of gardening in particular, I’m always open to new ideas.

Right around the middle of February we reach a point in the hard fruit season that often goes unnoticed in grocery stores throughout the country. This is the time of year when we find out if we have enough domestically produced, organically grown apples and pears in storage to make it until the fruit from the southern hemisphere starts to arrive. In the last few years this has not been a problem. Increased acreage in the U.S. Pacific Northwest has provided more than enough overlap for a seamless transition from the fall/winter domestic crop to the offshore imports of the spring and summer. This year is no different, but there are still some changes I make in how I buy (and store) apples. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite fall/winter/spring soups is minestrone. It’s easy to make, the kids will eat it (most of the time), it’s warm and comforting as the weather cools, and perhaps most importantly in my home it has many faces. For me, minestrone is a vegetable soup with pasta. This means that as the quality and availability of fresh vegetables changes with the seasons, the ingredients for my soup change too.

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I’ve had a long and funny relationship with orchids. Selling them in our stores, shipping them to different parts of the country, or just buying them for my home, orchids are a lot like people in that they never fail to surprise me and, like me, are full of contradictions. They grow just about everywhere in the world and are an odd combination of tough and fragile – needing some very specific environmental conditions to grow and then needing entirely different conditions to produce a bloom. I have a few at home pretty much all the time since I’m fortunate enough to live in a part of the world where the conditions for growing them are ideal. I am also fortunate enough professionally to have a reason to visit an orchid farm on occasion – my most recent trip coming just this week, in time for the build up to Valentine’s Day. Read the rest of this entry »

Throughout the year there are holidays or events that just have to have certain kinds of produce to go along with them. For Valentine’s Day, it’s strawberries (a nearly impossible task by the way); for Easter, its asparagus; cherries for July 4th; and watermelon for Labor Day. The January event is football — specifically the college bowl games, the playoffs and super bowl. Football doesn’t interest me much — aside from betting my mom a dollar every year over whose local team will do better (San Francisco for me, Dallas for her). The only thing football ignites in me is a professional focus on avocados and a renewed debate over who makes the “best ever” guacamole. Read the rest of this entry »

The new year means the start to another busy time for our produce buying office and many of us are looking for lighter dishes as we roll (literally and figuratively) out of the holidays. I crave a simpler diet now, less complicated and heavy, lighter on the sauces and oils. While maintaining availability and variety in produce can be a challenge this time of year, there is still an abundance to choose from. The supply lines are longer (and more treacherous) for a lot of produce but even as most of the country is shrouded in a quiet blanket of winter, domestic growers are producing a remarkable range and quality of products. Here are some noteworthy examples of what you will see in January.

Salad greens: Winter affects lettuces in almost the opposite of what happens in the summer. Shorter, cooler days and cold nights result in slower growing, denser plants. Cool weather also enhances the color of red varieties – what is light hued, almost pale red in the summer becomes a dark burgundy, almost black. While many of the green varieties of leaf lettuce are challenged by a broad range of problems during the winter, particularly romaine, chances are if you are in the mood for a good leaf based salad, Mother Nature will provide. Read the rest of this entry »

I had a bit of a panic moment earlier this month. Our annual office holiday meal was right around the corner and I was having no luck locating good foraged mushrooms (Chanterelles) for the dish I traditionally contribute. Fortunately I had a trip scheduled to Austin the day before the event and the Whole Foods Market store there had about 25 pounds of perfect chanterelles. I also discovered in the process that carrying four pounds of fresh mushrooms through airport security raises some eyebrows but is generally allowed. Read the rest of this entry »

I always look forward to the first cool evenings of the fall. It signals the time at home where we pull the extra blankets out of the closet, and add soups and stews to our dinner menus. Cool evenings also mean the oranges, lemons, tangerines and grapefruits that have been growing all summer are coloring on the trees and the early varieties are arriving at stores and farmers’ markets.

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Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our produce and floral buying office hosts a holiday meal. The tradition started four years ago as an appreciation for the remarkable work we do during the holidays. The idea was also to take some time to sample some of the great product we provide to our customers.

Most of the meal we order from the prepared foods team at one of our area stores (we now have three to choose from!) but prior to placing the final order, we put a shout out to everyone in the office to contribute one of their favorite family side dishes. From this practice came a sharing of cultures and family traditions in addition to some great holiday side dishes (and interesting flavor combinations). Read the rest of this entry »