What's in Your Garden in May?
Seed enthusiast Charles B. Ledgerwood (1906-1999) had a bulk seed business for over 50 years in Southern California, in the seaside village of Carlsbad. His home and store front were literally “a stone’s throw” from the ocean. He sold his seeds out of vintage 60 year old bread boxes in a one room store attached to the front of his home. Gardeners and farmers from all over Southern California, frequented his small stucco store with a simple “Seeds” sign above the door.
He loved his seeds, and loved to share his knowledge of seeds, growing practices, and tips with everyone. Tacked high above his shelves was the prophetic quote, “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” Charles B. Ledgerwood lived well into his nineties, but didn’t sell or leave his seed business to family. However, his seeds and vintage bread boxes live on in full glory at The Urban Seed, Home & Garden, an incredible creative garden shop located in Fiesta de Reyes, Old Town, San Diego. Friendly owners, Maurice Taitano and Michael Bliss, sell seeds and much more for your home and garden. It is worth a trip.
As a guide for all of us in Southern California, Charles B. Ledgerwood created a Southern California Vegetable Planting Month-by-Month Calendar. Here are his vegetable edibles planting suggestions for the month of May. Best planting names are capitalized.
BEANS, BEETS, CARROTS, CANTELOUPE, CORN, CUCUMBERS, EGGPLANT, LIMAS, OKRA, parsley, PEPPER, PUMPKIN,
RADISH, NEW ZEALAND SPINACH, SQUASH, SUNFLOWER, TOMATO, JICAMA, WATERMELON, and SWISS CHARD.
Please share what you are growing in your garden now. Please comment if you are familiar with Charles B. Ledgerwood and his seed business, of years past.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, I remember him! We moved to North County from the East Coast in 1995 and a new friend took me to meet the “Seed Man”. What a sweet place he had. I have a few of his pamphlets. Thanks for reminding me…
I work for the Agriculture Department and used to stop by the seed shop quite often. He was such a joy to talk to and had such incredible knowledge about the agricultural history of San Diego. He’d take his little metal scoop and carefully weigh your seeds on a scale that looked to be a hundred years old. Such a fun, unique shopping experience.
Nancy, what a nice comment on Charles B. Ledgerwood. He was endearing. Thanks for your great comment…VintageGardenGal
I am not familiar with Charles Ledgerwood, but will have to check him out! So I don’t have any comments…
I have carrots, onions, red potatoes, green beans, purple hull peas, cabbage, broccoli, yellow squash, zucchini, a little corn, tomatoes, watermelon, canteloupe, and sunflowers just for fun!
Vickie, wow you have a full garden going. It sounds lovely. Thanks for your great comment…VintageGardenGal
Wonderful history. I absolutely love learning from gardeners that have been around so long. He would have been a wonder to visit with.
I’m currently growing loads of tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, onions, radishes, chives, beets, squash, watermelon, various herbs, and fruit trees.
Really wonderful post. Thanks.
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Found this interesting bio after reading your post.
Maybelline, yes I had seen this, too. Very interesting on Charles B. Ledgerwood.
Thanks for your comment…VintageGardenGal
Hi Bonnie – just found your blog and the post about Charles Ledgerwood brought back very fond memories. We shopped there often and the descendents of his daughter’s wildflower mix still make a glorious spring display in our Vista garden.
Kay, I think Charles B. Ledgerwood leaves on in many people’s gardens. Thanks for your great comment…VintageGardenGal
I loved going to Mr. Ledgerwood’s “shop” to buy seeds. He would measure out the seeds and put them in a little paper envelope. It was great talking with him…..he had so much experience and knowledge to share.
He has been gone for many years now but I always look at where his house/shop was when I drive by it and remember a great nurseryman.
Alice, thanks for your lovely comment, Mr. Ledgerwood is remembered well….VintageGardenGal
I remember visiting his seed store in the late seventies and early eighties…still have one of his seed envelopes in my garden stuff. He listened to what you wanted to do in your garden.
How lovely to find this tribute to a fine man! Charles Ledgerwood was a wonderful local institution, and I met him when he was in his 90s and still full of zest and love for what he did. In 1999 the San Diego Horticultural Society named him as our Horticulturist of the Year, and it was an honor to have been able to do so.
Susi, I agree. He touched a lot of people’s lives, especially gardeners. Thanks for your lovely comment…VintageGardenGal
That planting calendar for southern California was part of a book, and I don’t remember the title. Do you know which book I’m talking about? Is it for sale? I used to have a copy but I don’t know where it is now. I used to go to his store in Carlsbad to buy seeds. Mr. Ledgerwood was truly amazing. Such a wealth of knowledge. I was so sad when he died.
All of the seeds were loose in bins (not prepackaged), and the bins were along the wall from floor to 6 feet high or so. I’d go in to get whatever seeds I needed, and he would customize the type of seed for the area of town I lived! (I only lived about 8 miles from him.) No joke – he would ask which part of town, because my area has a ton of “micro” climates, and Mr. Ledgerwood was intimately acquainted with them. Each type of seed requires a specific “micro” climate. HOW he acquired that knowledge – I do not know. Anyway, once he had your seeds he would weigh them in a scale on the counter (that looked like it was about 100 years old as somebody else here mentioned!) and place them into packets for you. Each customer had a completely customized order of seeds.
His planting calendar fascinated me to no end. I still tell my friends about it whenever vegetable gardening comes up. He had every month of the year listed. Like shown above, the best veggies are in caps, the second best are lower case. The most surprising part was that the best months for planting in so cal are October and November – there were more types of veggies listed on those months than in the typical planting months of spring. I had veggie gardens for several years and my best ones were the winter ones, all because of Mr. Ledgerwood.
Great post – thanks.
Wow, Jennifer, I wish I had gotten acquainted with Mr. Ledgerwood and his seed shop like you did. I have a little pamphlet from his shop that has the Southern California Vegetable Planting Calendar, plus the Flowering Plant Calendar and Flower Planting Seasons. Thanks for sharing…VintageGardenGal
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