Gardening Sites and Resources I Love

This time of year my gardening bug kicks into overdrive.

I feel so excited to get my hands in the soil and start planting, and it can be sooo difficult to wait patiently until after the last frost dates.

So while I wait, I plan and scheme what I want to grow this year.

While most of my planning is done by this point, there are usually still a few odds and ends that I like to pick up or get ready beforehand, and today I thought I would share with you some of my go-to sites and resources for gardening supplies and seeds.

Ace Hardware:

You may or may not expect a hardware store to be a great gardening resource, but I end up going to Ace Hardware all the time during the gardening season.

As our garden had been empty for a while, we like to amend our soil with fresh fertilizer and nutrients which you can find for great prices at Ace- along with seed trays, seed packages, garden rakes and tools, gloves, pots, plant covers and so many other great resources.

If I’m looking for something quality and I need it fast, Ace is usually one of my first stops to find what I’m looking for at a good price.

Barebones Living:

Barebones Living is a local company for me here in Utah, but I actually stumbled across them first online and have loved their high end, quality products ever since.

While not specifically a garden resource, Barebones Living specializes in a variety of outdoor activities and gear from outdoor cooking, camping, foraging and gardening.

Two of my favorite products from them that I have loved for gardening over the years are their French market basket and their hori hori knives– a Japanese style garden knife and multipurpose tools which has become my most relied upon tools in the garden.

Ultimate Hori Hori, Photo from Barebones Living

I have also been eyeing their beautiful harvesting and foraging bags,

Harvesting and Gathering Bag from Barebones Living

and their great quality work gloves.

Classic Work Glove from Barebones Living

Gardener’s Supply Company:

As a large scale company, Gardener’s Supply Company literally has EVERYTHING. And I do mean everything!

One of my favorites is all of the different trellises, towers and cloches that they have to add visual interest to your garden space, as well as provide protection for your plants that is both functional and beautiful.

While I don’t have a lot of items from them yet, there are a few items that I have had my eye on here for a while.

Like their Hammered Copper Kitchen Compost Pail,

Chicken Wire Cloches,

Jardin Round Garden Obelisks,

Panacea Giant Wall Trellis,

and one day this beautiful Canopia Victory Orangery Greenhouse!

Gardeners Supply Company also has a broad range of great quality storage containers and trays to help you use and preserve your harvest for longer.

Some of my favorites are the Root Vegetable Storage Bins,

Stackable Bamboo Vegetable Storage Basket,

and someday- their Orchard Vegetable Storage Rack.

GrowVeg Garden Planner:

I found the GrowVeg Garden Planner the first year that we did a big garden and it ended up being one of the most helpful tools not only for referencing but for educating myself on the needs of my plants and some garden and landscape designing concepts.

GrowVeg Garden Planner is a software program that allows you to map out your entire garden layout and decide where and when to plant your crops.

What makes this so much nicer than the pen and paper version is that it provides you so much helpful plant information right at your fingertips while you are plannings. From sun and water requirements, best placement and distance needed for different plant types and planting dates specific to each plant and your local area.

It even allows you to keep a journal to record how certain plants did to help you tweak things and improve your garden’s progress for next year!

As a new gardener that first year, I found this added information SO helpful in making sure I was successful with my garden even while I was still learning so much.

Even if you’ve been gardening for 30 years, I would still recommend this site as a great resource to make mapping and planning out your garden requirements a breeze!

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds:

I first found Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds online while on the hunt for a very specific and somewhat hard to find pumpkin variety that I was in love with.

Not only did Baker Creek have my rarer variety of pumpkin, but they actually specialize in bringing back ancient and rare seed varieties that have been at risk of going extinct.

I am a big fan of older plant varieties, not only for introducing some excitement and uniqueness to the garden, but also because I feel like some of these older varieties are packed with so much more nutrients and biodiversity than some of their more modern and generic counterparts.

I feel like I am connecting with history and my gardening ancestors by using varieties that they might have used sometimes centuries ago.

I love browsing Baker Creek’s website to get inspired by all the beautiful colors and varieties that I can try to enhance my garden’s beauty and interest, all while feeling like I am helping to reclaim a bit of history and culture along the way.

Some of my favorites that I am hoping to try this year are:

Their Purple Peony Poppy