Saving heirloom seeds is rewarding, but the drawback comes during those long winter evenings when all the different varieties look so fun.  It never fails, each winter once the catalogs begin to roll in, the list of desired seeds grows beyond what I can realistically handle planting AND maintaining.  Sending orders in through the mail gives a person to write the list, compare between companies and think about it before writing the check and making the trip to the mailbox.  However, with the advent of on-line purchasing it become all to easy to ‘add to cart’. 

Restraint is needed.  The virtue of Temperance is one that many struggle with at times. Temperance not only applies to those restricting their alcohol consumption or electronic buying but also to those of us who are compulsive seed collectors.  I try to write it off as being inexpensive, healthy and useful, but really, is there a need to have 70 different varieties of tomatoes in my basement seed vault? My issue of temperance also applies to my habit of wanting to collect and raise multiple species and breeds of livestock. 

I suppose there are worse things to collect, but this time of year I need to remind myself that while these wonderful ideas look great on paper, restraint will help maintain my sanity once the gardens are planted and weed maintenance begins. 

That being said here is the current list of seeds. They all may not make it into the garden, but were going to sure try.