It’s early November, and the first seed catalog of the year has arrived here at Freighter View Farms. There is something deeply comforting about holding that catalog in my hands, a book of possibilities, a promise of next year’s harvest waiting to be realized. When the days grow shorter, and the garden slowly quiets into its winter slumber, this is where the dreaming starts. Flipping through its pages, I begin to imagine the garden’s potential, one vivid, colorful variety at a time.

Every year at Freighter View Farms, our garden takes on a theme, adding a sense of purpose and creativity to our planting choices. One year, it was all about our favorite things, the vegetables that brought us the most joy. It was a garden filled with the familiar and cherished: King of the North bell peppers, vibrant Patty Pan Squash, and heirloom tomatoes that felt like old friends.

Another year, we chose an Italian theme, and the garden brimmed with flavors reminiscent of Tuscan countrysides. We planted San Marzano and Roma tomatoes for classic sauces, Italian frying peppers for a bit of sweet heat, and plenty of Genovese basil to bring it all together. There was also a French-themed garden year—filled with French pole beans, Nantes carrots, and tender lettuces like butterhead and mesclun mix, bringing elegance to our small corner of Michigan.

This year, as I sit down with the first seed catalog, the theme for Freighter View Farms is a bit different. Instead of focusing on a cuisine or a favorite selection, I am planning around the meals I want to create, the flavors I want to preserve long after the growing season has passed. One of my focuses will be tomatoes, specifically sauce-making varieties. I’m imagining rows of rich, thick tomatoes perfect for a hearty marinara or an all-day simmered ragú. This year, I’ll be on the hunt for the best varieties for preserving, those rich in flavor, meaty, with low water content.

Gardening isn’t just about growing plants; it’s about imagining possibilities. Planning a themed garden has always brought a special kind of joy. It invites you to think beyond the basics and delve into what makes each variety special. The catalogs offer inspiration, a way to envision the meals that will be shared and the ways in which this land will nourish not just the body, but also the soul.

The process of conceptualizing the garden’s theme each year has always been one of the most rewarding aspects of the journey. Planning a garden in this way turns it into an adventure, each seed packet chosen with intention, each plant growing with a purpose. The joy comes not only from the harvest but from the careful crafting of what that harvest will mean. It’s about knowing that the garden is more than just rows of vegetables; it is the promise of future gatherings, the anticipation of flavors to be bottled and enjoyed, the deep satisfaction of a thoughtful plan coming to fruition.

With this year’s theme in mind, I’ll be savoring every page of the seed catalogs that arrive, circling varieties, making lists, and imagining the meals yet to come. A garden full of purpose, steeped in dreams, that’s what Freighter View Farms is all about, and it all starts with the arrival of that first seed catalog, its pages filled with the promise of another growing season, another journey.

For variety recommendations, see The Best Heirloom Tomatoes for Michigan.

For more on saving seeds from your own garden, see the Complete Guide to Seed Saving.

— Chris Izworski, Freighter View Farms, Bay City, Michigan

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About the author: Chris Izworski is a writer, gardener, and technologist in Bay City, Michigan. He writes about seed saving, Zone 6a gardening, and practical AI at chrisizworski.com. Find his LinkedIn articles, press coverage, and reference guides.

📰 Featured in NENA’s The Call Magazine

Chris Izworski authored the cover story for The Call, Issue No. 51 (April 2025), the official publication of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). His article, “The Unstoppable Wave of Artificial Intelligence,” examines AI’s transformative impact on 9-1-1 operations and emergency communications, reaching over 21,000 public safety professionals nationwide.

More from Chris Izworski:
chrisizworski.com ·
Freighter View Farms ·
AI Breakdown ·
911 AI ·
Izworski Blog ·
Medium ·
GitHub Pages ·
Save Our Shoreline ·
About.me ·
Wikidata ·
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Photography by Chris Izworski — Freighter View Farms, Saginaw Bay, Bay City, Michigan.