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February Newsletter

This month, we have lots of exciting info to share, including updates on the release date for our seed bundles. And we'd like to extend a hearty welcome to the 47 new members who filled out membership forms at the wildflower seed giveaway at Crossroads on January 23!

This month's newsletter is brimming with these inspiring gardening topics:

Garden Calendar: Seeds
Seed Library Updates
Upcoming Events
Community Connections: Ken and Nina Paschke Garden & Seeds
Plant of the Month: Okra
Book Review: The Triumph of Seeds
Featured Grower: Cheyenne Sundance
Volunteer Opportunity: Seed Stewards for Ken Paschke Beans

February Garden Calendar: Seeds

The time is finally here to commit to your garden and start to gather your seeds. Hopefully you spent some time in January planning out your garden for the coming year. If so, you might already have decided which varieties your garden will feature this year. It’s time to go through your seed inventory, consider what additional seeds you need, and get to work!

If you haven’t done that level of meticulous planning and want to, it’s not too late to start. Check out our January newsletter for tips and resources.

If you’re not much of a planner — don’t worry. Give yourself permission to be impulsive. Gardening should bring you joy and it’s all right if you don’t want it to feel like a homework assignment.

No matter what your planning style is, be sure to keep these tips in mind for your seed selections this season:

Steer clear of hybrids or F1s and instead look for varieties that are labeled as “heirloom” or “open pollinated.” You’ll be able to save these seeds for next year instead of purchasing new seeds again.
Be mindful of Door County’s climate when choosing seeds. The rule of thumb is that it’s safe to put plants in the ground on Memorial Day weekend, and the first frost of the year occurs around the beginning of October. Plants that need warm weather and 100+ days to reach maturity probably aren’t going to give you a good harvest. Spend a little time researching how the crops you want to plant will do in our cool, short-season climate.
Keep in mind that the seed library will be distributing free pre-packaged seed bundles again this year, which will help to flesh out your seed inventory. See the Seed Library Update section below for more details.

Lastly there are many BIPOC (i.e., Black, Indigenous People of Color) who sell seeds as well! Unlike bigger companies, their seeds will almost certainly be open pollinated. Check out some different seed sellers here.

Happy gardening!

Marigold Seeds

Seed Library Updates

We were blown away by the response to our first wildflower seed giveaway held at Crossroads at Big Creek on January 23. We distributed 270 packets of seeds and gained 47 new seed library members. The event was co-sponsored by Crossroads and Wild Ones of the Door Peninsula.

We are excited to announce that we will be offering pre-packaged seed bundles through the Door County Library branches this year. Seed bundle #1 (available ~ March 1) will contain seeds that you start indoors and seed bundle #2 (available ~May 1) will contain seeds that you sow directly in your garden.

These seed bundles will be available to seed library members. If you’re not a member, click Join Now on our website to join today. We will make an announcement on Facebook and via email when the seed bundles are available.

~~Upcoming Events~~

February 20: Our second wildflower seed giveaway will again be held at Crossroads at Big Creek. Time TBD - follow our Facebook page for more details.
March 1: Scheduled release date for pre-packaged seed bundle #1, which will contain seeds that need to be started indoors, including herbs, cabbage, flowers, onions, tomatoes, and peppers. This year, the seed bundles will be available through your local Door County Library branch. We will send out an email with more details later in February.
May 1: Scheduled release date for pre-packaged seed bundle #2, which will contain seeds for directly planting in your garden, including beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, flowers, greens, herbs, lettuce, peas, radishes, and summer and winter squash.

Community Connections: Ken and Nina Paschke Garden & Seeds
By Renee McAllister

Ken and Nina Paschke live in rural Door County. Ken is a seed and garden enthusiast who developed a love of gardening as a child growing up in a family of six children. His mom had a huge garden every year to supply food for the family. She did lots of canning and preserving for the winter months. When Ken married, he continued his love of gardening. He received some bean seeds from a neighbor and saved them. Not sure even what variety they were, he only had a few at first, but over the years the seed amount became plentiful. Now Ken has enough to feed his family. After 55 years he is still growing what is now known as Ken Paschke bean.

When talking with Nina and Ken, I learned that he has already started to get seeds ready for this spring. His garden has flowers, potatoes, green beans, beets, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. All these vegetables grow well in our Zone 5.

The only thing Ken does not like to grow is corn. Even with a fence, raccoons get into his corn stalks and eat everything.

Ken Paschke Beans - a Door County original!

Plant of the Month: Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (of the Mallow family)
By Brenda J. Wolfe

Okra certainly has come out of hiding as evidenced by the beautiful Jing red-orange variety appearing on the 2021 cover of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog.

Historians write that African slaves brought okra seeds from their native ‘Gombo’ plants to our deep south. They used the whole plant; even the ripe seeds were ground and used as a coffee substitute. If you added roasted ground peanuts and some imagination, it resembled chocolate.

Not only does okra have a delicious taste, but it also makes an attractive hedge (most varieties are 3-6 feet tall), has interesting autumn seed pods, and gorgeous hibiscus-like flowers. Bees love it!

In our climate, it is best to start seeds indoors about 4-5 weeks before the last danger of frost. Don’t transplant the seedlings outside until the soil is really warm, about 70 degrees. Full sun and nights that stay above 60 degrees are ideal. Once they start producing pods, harvest frequently and cut, never pull, the pods. When cooking, use the smallest pods you can find. The older pods get tough, and you can actually make rope and paper from them! Okra gumbo, okra with sweet potato curry, creole okra, and okra bacon casserole (!) all sound yummy.

Clemson Spineless and Burgundy are two open-pollinated varieties that are known to grow well in our shorter, cooler summers. Check out this article for growing tips in northern climates.

~~Seed-saving notes: Okra plants have perfect flowers (both male and female parts on the same flower) and will readily self-pollinate. However, pollinators are drawn to the showy flowers, so cross-pollination between plants does occur. If you want to save okra seeds, plant just one variety and make sure that your plants are at least 500–1,600 feet away from any other okra varieties (check with your neighbors!).

Jing Orange okra on the cover of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog

Book Review: The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson
By Mikayla Kiefer

As members of the seed library, we know that seeds are evocative, inspirational, and powerful. But how much do we know about what seeds actually are, how they’ve changed human society, and what they can teach us? Thor Hanson dives into the topic in his book, The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History.

Although the subject may seem a bit tedious at a first glance, Hanson’s excellent storytelling, thoughtfulness, and humor make this book come alive. Both the author and the seeds themselves offer kernels of wisdom tucked into the pages. By the end of the book seeds will not only have your fondness, but also your awe and respect.

Dig into potentiality and learn about how it all begins with The Triumph of Seeds, which is available through InfoSoup.org, the Door County Library’s online library catalog.

Featured Grower: Cheyenne Sundance

Meet Cheyenne Sundance. Just 23, Cheyenne is the owner and founder of Sundance Harvest, a 1/3 acre ecological urban farm in Toronto, Ontario.

At age 18 Cheyenne studied agriculture in a self-sustaining village in Cuba. When she returned home, she partnered with a local church to start a program called “Growing in the Margins,” which provides free urban agriculture mentorship and education experience for low-income youth on the margins (BIPOC, LGBTQ2s+ and persons with disabilities).

In the (few) years since, Cheyenne has started her own farm and continued to initiate programs which allow marginalized youth to access fresh food and farms.

Cheyenne explained, “Sundance Harvest is the first place where people can come and learn, get their hands dirty, and even if they don’t want to farm, they have the chance to explore it, experience it, and see it as a possibility for their future.”

To learn more about Cheyenne and her vision for the future visit her website, or check out this interview with Farmer’s Footprint.

Cheyenne Sundance of Sundance Harvest

~~ Seed Stewardship Opportunity~~

Ken Paschke has gifted the Door County Seed Library with his bean seeds. Through Ken’s 55 years of dedicated seed saving efforts, he has ultimately developed a new variety that has adapted to our local climate and soil. With his permission, we have named this the Ken Paschke Bean.

We are honored to be custodians of this wonderful gift and are looking for seed stewards to grow out the beans, save the seeds, and donate them back to our seed library. By growing and saving the beans, we will ensure that we are maintaining this special made-in-Door-County variety. Seed stewards can be experienced gardeners or just beginning to learn about the art and practice of saving seeds. As a seed steward, you will be responsible for ensuring that your seeds are carefully grown and skillfully selected for seed saving. If you are new to seed saving, we will provide the information that you need to successfully save your seeds.

Please send an email to info@DoorCountySeedLibrary.org if you are interested in being a seed steward for the Ken Paschke Beans.

Thanks for growing with us, Door County! Make sure to follow us on Facebook, where we will be posting updates on our upcoming seed bundle giveaways! Not a member? Click the Join Now button on our website to join today. Membership is free! Seeds are free!

~~The Door County Seed Library planning team