Seeds!

I ordered a bunch of seeds from Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving rare seeds. I'm pretty sure that the first thing I ever grew from seed was the beets that I planted last November. I grew up on a plant nursery, and I was surrounded by beautiful plants in different sized pots 4", 6", 1 gallon, 5 gallon, and on up. But as much as I intellectually understood that you can grow these plants from seeds, I clearly had never really stopped to think about how amazing that fact is. I'm still marveling at the six medium-sized beet plants sitting in my garden that came from six tiny seeds. My decision plant from seed is partially an economic one. It makes sense to pay $.10 for something that without much effort at all can turn into something that would cost $2.50 to buy at a nursery. Another advantage of growing vegetables from seeds is variety. You can grow crazy nearly-extinct vegetables that have gone out of fashion due to the economic pressure of industrial farming. A purple watermelon with splotchy yellow stars all over it? Thought to be extinct, the Moon and Stars Watermelon was rediscovered a few years back on a farm in Macon Missouri.  

Below is my haul.

Tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos (seeds to start indoors).  

Seed Savers had a huge selection of tomatoes.  Our yard neighbor Anna, who we share the yard with, grew tomatoes last year in the front yard raised beds.  They were wiped out by early blight.  My mom told me that one of the reasons that heirloom tomatoes are not farmed commercially is that they are not nearly as disease and pest resistant as those tasteless red globes from the supermarket.  So I will try growing these heirloom varieties in pots in the backyard this year to see if I can avoid the blight.  I've got Dr. Wyche's Yellow Tomato, Black Sea Man Tomato, Hartmann's Yellow Gooseberry Tomato (the only cherry tomato in the bunch), and Black Plum Tomato.  I started the Black Plum and Dr. Wyche's Yellow inside last Saturday February the 5th in a 6-pack.  I've kept them on my sunny kitchen table in the morning and on my sunny desk in the afternoon, but I haven't seen any green yet.

A couple of peppers survived in the front yard raised beds, but I thought I'd add a couple more varieties.  I picked Wisconsin Lakes, an early-yielding bell pepper and Joe's Long Cayenne Pepper. 

I love tomatillos and picked the Green Husk Tomatillo for no good reason.  

Peas, beans, and cucumbers (things that climb)

I bought A&C Pickling Cucumbers and Parisian Pickling Cucumbers (where cornichons come from).

The Champion of England Pea can grow 10 feet, and can produce a lot in spall spaces.  I also bought the Henderson Bush Lima Bean, and the Painted Lady Improved Runner Bean.

Squash and Melons

One of the seeds I'm most excited about is the Moon & Stars Van Doren Watermelon.  I started making watermelon-strawberry frescas a couple of summers back, and this summer I discovered that limes are a delightful and much cheaper alternative to the tartness of strawberries in the drink.  This summer, I will be using my Meyer Lemons.  

Although I rarely cook with zucchini (I think it made too many appearances in the bland beginner vegetarian dishes I was surrounded by in Seattle in my early 20s), I do have a great recipe for zucchini gratin, and I think that zucchini bread is heavenly.  So I'm going to plant some and see how it goes.

Random Seeds

Fennel and carrots are lovely, but pretty straightforward.   The other seed to end up in my  random seeds category is mysterious and exciting -- Strawberry Spinach.  It is also known as Strawberry Blite (not nearly as nice a name).  You can eat the berries and the greens!  Seed Savers says that it was grown in Europe for centuries, but is now very scarce.  Wikipedia says that it is native to North America and that the leaves should be eaten in moderation.  Hmm.