on decisions--- seed catalogs

In my classroom are students who have differing abilities to focus. They range from those with OCD, who can get stuck in search of certainty; and those who have ADD who are quite certain that they may be a bit impulsive. I am more like the latter so while trying to choose a variety of tomato out of the multitude can be difficult, I don't get stuck for long. But does my attention stay there long enough to get the order completed? It is not done yet.

Then today I am sitting in a library examining who got published in the best Short Stories of 1967. Raymond Carver, who my plant ecology professor would introduce me to in 1985 (24 years later I am still hooked on short stories and plant ecology, can we say MENTOR). Joyce Carol Oates, who was in the 1963 anthology (the year I was born), is back again. But I get distracted by a book on my wife's pile. Melons for The Passionate Grower by Amy Goldman. My wife was attracted by the amazing photos. I read the growing tips then page through the amazing photos of heirloom melons while waiting for my wife.

I do not despise melons, but I would not say I am passionate about them. What happened during 2007 still makes me wonder. I left a thriving melon bed to go on an August vacation. I came back to the school to be saddened by the sad state of the bed.

I sit in a library reading and wondering... we could try again. First, I have to stop and focus on the seed order.

It is a call to be in the present moment. Not being obsessed and not being distracted. A place many find hard to find, but a place full of life when we arrive.

more on loyalty--- seed catalogs

When speaking of pollinators and flowers in my classroom we ended up making an analogy. Flowers want loyalty in much the same way as chain restaurants --- look the same, smell the same, and the menu items are consistent and taste the same.

Inconsistency destroys loyalty.

My table space at Pathway has been encroached by seed catalogs and old seeds. Two of those catalogs have been favored for ten years. When they arrive in my mailbox (always after the first really hard frost) my eyes light up like a bee seeing the ultraviolet light reflecting off a dahlia.

So what traits bring upon loyalty...

• early to arrive (I am far into my planning of a seed order and I am lacking one I used last year)
• a desire to preserve heirloom varieties ( such as... Riesentraube Cherry Tomatoes from my ancestors-- PA Germans)
• support of organic seed farmers
• diversity
• seeds that germinate at high %'s
• information that helps to make wise purchases
• fine customer service
  
• plants that do what the catalog promises

Off to the left you can find links to my favored catalogs, here are the two that have earned my loyalty...