2013 Garden Seed List

I need an intervention.

You know how they say never go grocery shopping when you're hungry? Yeah, well never do your seed order in the middle of winter when you are craving salads, either!

Yes, I went a bit crazy on the lettuce selection this year, but everything else is within normal limits, right? RIGHT??

124 varieties, almost 1000 sq. ft. of planting space (I'm planting beds more than once), somewhere around 4000 separate plants.

It's going to be a busy summer!

Brassicas	Broccoli	Green Sprouting
	Broccoli	Spigariello
	Broccoli	Romanesco
	Cauliflower	Snowball
	Kohlrabi	Gigante
	Turnip	Purple Top White Globe
	Rutabaga	Laurentian
	Napa	Michilli
	Cabbage	Mammoth Red Rock
	Cabbage	Copenhagen Market
	Cabbage	Early Jersey
	Kale	Heirloom mix
	Kale	Russian
	Collards	Georgia Southern
	Collards	Variegated
	Radish	Bouquet Mix
	Radish	Specialty Mix
	Radish	French Breakfast
	Radish	Round Black Spanish
	Radish	China Rose
Greens	Spinach	Bloomsdale
	Swiss Chard	Five Colour Silverbeet
	Swiss Chard	Rainbow
	Arugula	Arugula
	Mache	Mache
	Cress	Curly
	Lettuce	Paris Island
	Lettuce	Red Romaine
	Lettuce	Oak Leaf
	Lettuce	Grand Rapids
	Lettuce	Bronze Arrow
	Lettuce	Amish Deer Tongue
	Lettuce	Yugoslavian Red
	Lettuce	Bunte Forellenschluss
	Lettuce	Black Seeded Simpson
	Lettuce	Drunken Woman
	Lettuce	Brune d'Hiver
	Lettuce	Merville Des Quarte Saison
	Lettuce	Forellenschluss
	Lettuce	Tennis Ball Lettuce
	Lettuce	Heirloom Romaine mix
	Lettuce	Heirloom Leaf Lettuce Mix
	Greens	Pac Choi
	Greens	Tah Tsai
	Greens	Mustard
	Greens	Red Komatsuna Mustard
Onions	Onions	Ailsa Craig
	Onions	Yellow Globe
	Onions	Red Wethersfield
	Onions	White Pickling
	Scallions	Southport White Globe
	Garlic	Garlic
	Leeks	Blue Solaise
	Leeks	Giant Musselburgh
Cucurbits	Winter Squash	Sibley
	Winter Squash	Chersonskaya
	Winter Squash	Table Queen Acorn
	Winter Squash	Spaghetti
	Summer Squash	Black Beauty
	Summer Squash	Bennings Green Tint Pattypan
	Cucumber	Straight Eight
	Cucumber	National Pickling
Carrots/Beets	Carrots	Chantenay Red Cored
	Carrots	Scarlet Nantes
	Carrots	Colourful Mix
	Carrots	Jaune du Doubs
	Carrots	Dragon
	Beets	3 Root Grex
	Beets	Albino
	Beets	Golden Detroit
	Beets	Chioggia
	Beets	Mix
	Beets	Cylindra
	Beets	Detroit Dark Red
Toms/Peppers	Paste Tomato	San Marzano
	Red Cherry Tomato	Riesentraube
	Yellow Salad Tomato	AAA Sweet Solano
	Tomato	Oxheart
	Tomato	Canadian Heart
	Tomato	Brandywine
	Tomato	Stupice
	Sweet Pepper	Alma Paprika
	Sweet Pepper	Marconi Sweet Red
	Sweet Pepper	King of the North
	Hot Pepper	Ancho
	Hot Pepper	Hinkelhatz
	Hot Pepper	Fish
	Hot Pepper	Long Red Cayenne
	Hot Pepper	Hungarian Hot Wax
	Hot Pepper	Early Jalapeno
Legumes	Dry Beans	Ireland Creek Annie's
	Dry Beans	Black Calypso
	Dry Beans	Romano
	Dry Beans	Pinto
	Dry Beans	Soldier
	Dry Beans	Black Valentine
	Dry Beans	Blue Jay
	Dry Beans	Saskatchewan
	Dry Beans	Bird Egg
	Dry Beans	Black Turtle
	Dry Beans	Littlefield's Special
	Dry Beans	Canadian Wonder
	Dry Beans	Jacob's Cattle
	Dry Beans	Mrocumiere
	Dry Beans	Fall Speckled
	Green Bush	Blue Ribbon
	Yellow Bush	Beurre de Rocquencourt
	Striped Bush	Dragon Tongue
	Green Bush	Empress
	Purple Bush	Royalty Purple
	Runner Bean	Scarlet Emperor
	Pole Bean	Lazy Housewife
	Pole Bean	Rattlesnake
	Pole Bean	True Red Cranberry
	Snow Pea	Oregon Giant
	Sugar Pea	Dwarf Grey
	Shell Pea	Green Arrow
	Shell Pea	British Wonder
	Shell Pea	Sutton's Harbinger
Oddballs	Okra	Green
	Okra	Burgundy
	Okra	Pakistan
	Celery	Tall Utah
	Celeriac	Giant Prague

Seedy Saturday Recap

Seedy Saturday was this past weekend, and it was great! Although I had done most of my seed buying already, there are always a few last things I need to pick up. Like, for example, when I just assume I have enough beet and carrot seed, without actually looking.  Ooops!

Or when family members mention seed they want you to start for them - after you've done your buying for the year, of course.

So, I picked up some stevia seeds for my brother (I'll keep some for me too, just to play with), but I'm still looking for catnip seeds for Dad. Well, for Dad's cat, but you know what I mean. Anyone out there with catnip seeds?

I also picked up some curly garden cress, red garnet amaranth, Pakistan okra and true red cranberry pole beans from Rhizome Farms - things I didn't know I wanted, but you know how that goes! Well, except for the beans - I always want new bean varieties, but I had put a moratorium on buying any this year. Hrm.  Unfortunately, I didn't actually get to talk to Elva about the okra seeds, but I hope to get some more info about them. I'm intrigued :D

And speaking of my bean addiction, Kate from the USC booth gave me some Blue Ribbon bush beans, supplied by Greta's Organics. Enablers, all of them!

Linda from Tree & Twig was nice enough to bring my seed order with her, and "refunded" my shipping charges by throwing in a pack of arugula seeds. This will be the first time I've grown arugula - thanks Linda!!

I also bought some carrot and beet seeds from both Tree & Twig and Urban Harvest - I love being able to go to events like this and see all the varieties on offer!

I managed to see a couple of the talks, but I had to leave early, which was too bad. It was nice to see just how popular the event was. There were a LOT of people there - it's great to see so many people interested in both gardening and in supporting some of the fantastic small seed suppliers we have in the area!

And So it Begins....

And it's almost time to start some of those!

January Harvest

As a follow up to the last post, this is what I harvested today. Not bad, considering they had no protection at all!

Not bad for a mid-winter harvest!

The leeks will get sauteed, and some will go with tonight's supper (steak and potatoes, in case you were curious). The rest, along with the cabbage, will join some mashed potatoes for something special... any guesses??

The Garden in January

After a few weeks of cold and snow, we've hit our annual January Thaw. It's been above freezing, even at night, for the past couple of days, and, according to the weather peeps, this will continue into next week. Woot!

I didn't get a winter garden going this year (renos won out), but I did leave a few things in the garden, mainly to see how they would do.

Did you know rabbits like leeks??

Shorn leeks

The leeks, although shorn, are still edible, and I'm going to have to pick a few this week, just in case it freezes again. Potatoes are on sale this week, so a pot of leek & potato soup is on the menu! (Did I ever mention that my second crop of potatoes, those earmarked for storage, got decimated by a one-two punch of voles and wireworms? Grumble, grumble, grumble...)
 
Rabbits also like celery.

Leaf celery

I was impressed at the hardiness of celery -  I used garden celery in my Thanksgiving supper, and it was still going strong into December. I'm even more impressed with leaf celery - since I use celery mostly in cooking, leaf celery works perfectly fine, and seems to be more resistant to whatever it was that was gnawing on the outer celery stalks. 


Rabbits also like my currant bushes :(

Drowning currant

I don't know what I was thinking, but I neglected to protect my fruit bushes from the rascally varmints.  The got the grape vines too :((

Nibbled grape vine

And the carrots. Sigh. If I want to store more things right in the garden, I'll need to come up with something to keep the critters out.

Ignore the weeds, focus on the carrot - just like the rabbits did

But, the rabbits don't like kale and collards!

Collards

Kale - anyone know the variety? The one problem with variety packs, I don't remember what is what!

They look good enough to eat, especially the collards, and I think I will!

The beets are doing well too. And they are HUGE. The rabbits are nibbling on the leaves, but not the roots. I purposely left some of the 3-Root Grex beets in the ground, to see if I could over-winter them and get seed this coming summer. If not, no big loss, but I am interested in figuring out seed saving for biennial species.

 The other thing that is going strong in my winter garden? A herb. Recognize it?

  Believe it or not, oregano! I might just have to pick some for tonight's pizza!

A flock of honking geese flew over while I was out in the garden. Too bad they don't eat rabbit...

Heads Up - Seedy Saturday is Coming Soon!

 
It's that time of the year again - time for Seedy Saturday! And really, you should go. It's a great event - a chance to hear some great speakers, and peruse the wares of local (well, at least regional) businesses and organizations, including heirloom seed suppliers.

This year, it will be held on February 9, 2013, at the Glengate Alliance Church, 6009 Valley Way, Niagara Falls, from 10-3pm. A nice central location, good parking (and the parking should be free).

Confirmed speakers: Kathy Renwald (author, journalist, tv host), Theresa Forte (garden writer), Kate Green (USC), and Elva T (Rhizome Farm). 

Confirmed exhibitors: Seeds of Diversity, Urban Harvest, Garden of Eating Niagara, Your Private Gardener, Master Gardeners of Niagara and Tree & Twig (Linda of Tree & Twig is the main force behind Seedy Saturday - I don't know where she gets all her energy?)

There will probably be more exhibitors there, and of course, there is always the main focus of the event - the seed swap. But even if you don't have your own seeds to bring, you can still attend. It's an excellent event, and it's a great chance to meet other gardeners in the area.

You can read about last year's event here, and get more information about this year's event here.

These events are held all over, so if you aren't in the Niagara area, look around for your own event (sometimes it's held on Sunday, so make sure to search for both Seedy Saturday and Seedy Sunday, plus your location!). And if you can't find one in your area - start one :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This?

This?

This isn't just a squash.

This isn't just a winter squash.

This isn't just the first (and only) winter squash I've managed to grow.


This?

This is a certified, prize-winning, champion squash.

This is not me. This is Wil Wheaton. Just in case you were wondering.

_______________________________________________
Full disclosure: there were only four squashes entered, because crappy summer, but still.

Do you see what I see?

Do you see it?

No?

Do you see it now?

No??

How about now?

Isn't it cool! Yes, that is indeed a tomato hornworm being parasitized by a wasp - the white things are the wasp eggs, and when the larvae hatch, they feed on the hornworm.  Bwahahahahhahahaha!  I love nature in action, especially when it means I don't have to squish that damn thing!

If you ever see a parasitized hornworm in your garden, do NOT kill it. Let it live, so that the wasps can reach adulthood, and go out and kill more hornworms. Natural insect control for the win!

As the tomato season winds down...

Yes, it's that sad, dismal time of year once again. The time where night time temperatures start to drop into the 60s (and even lower), signalling the beginning of the end.

And for me, it's time to give the tomato plants a hair cut.

While the tomato plants are all still flowering, there is no way those flowers will have time to develop into tomatoes. So, I went in and cut out a lot of dead/dying leaves, growing shoots with flowers, and any tomatoes too small to grow and ripen. Even though our first frost is (hopefully) a ways away, the cooler temperatures mean the small fruits simply won't grow, and I'd rather have the plants spend their remaining energy on ripening the existing, larger fruits.

The pile of trimmings. Lots of dead leaves- Septoria leaf blight was an issue this year.

Trimmed plant. Some almost ripe tomatoes, and a few green ones that will hopefully still grow and ripen.

Oh, and do NOT wear your good clothes when working in the tomato patch. Because, the plants are covered in...

... shiny, happy, glistening little trichomes (microscopic hairs) on the tomato plants that result in...

... this. Green gunk, aka Tomato Tar.

This stuff will NOT come off with just soap and water, and WILL stain your nice white hand towels. Ask me how I know. Rubbing alcohol to the rescue: before you wet your hands, rub some rubbing alcohol on them. Then soap and water can do their trick.

So, how did this season go? Not bad, not bad at all. I tried a couple of cherry tomatoes in pots, and was not happy with the results - I only got a handful of tomatoes off of each plant. Of course, I do have a tomato thief in my midst...

"That wasn't a tomato seed in my beard, honest!"

Yeah. When your dog comes in with tomato seeds all around her mouth, that might just be the reason you aren't getting as many tomatoes as you thing you should.

"I'm the good dog!" Yes, but you are SCRUFFY!

But even with the dastardly thieving, the plants in the pots were no where near as large as their counterparts in the garden. So next year, no tomatoes in pots. Except maybe one...

Prolific monster - Aunt Ruby's German Green cherry tomato

I grew a green tomato this year: Aunt Ruby's German Green cherry tomato. It farking took over the ENTIRE bed! And talk about prolific! The only problem (in addition to being the tomato that ate New York) was that it's, well, green. And thus, it's hard to tell when it's ripe - especially in my typically over-grown tomato bed. But since I REALLY liked the taste of it, I'm thinking that growing it in a pot next year will solve two problems: it wouldn't be quite as monstrous, and it would be easier to keep an eye on the fruits and pick them when ripe.

For other varieties - well, I don't know. I'll have one and a half beds for tomatoes next year (the other half is devoted to sweet peppers), and I give each plant 4 square feet, so that means 18 plants (no, that is NOT too many for one person - and one thieving dog). 10-12 of those will be pastes - and no, I still don't have a favourite paste tomato. The Federle this year had nice fruit, but inconsistent sizes, and it wasn't that productive. I grew Amish paste last year, which was really productive, but it had tiny fruit - a pain in the arse to peel for canning. And I'd like a determinate variety for paste tomatoes - it's easier to have a few big canning days, rather than have dribs and drabs of tomatoes coming in over time, in my opinion.

I still want indeterminate varieties for eating tomatoes, though - and Stupice will be back. I can't argue with a variety that gives me tomatoes that early! Other than that, I don't know.

Sob.

Taste is SO individual. For example, I think I'm the only person who liked the German Green. And while I found the yellow cherry okay (at best), my neighbour RAVED about them. I'm tempted to toss some money at my local tomato genius, and ask her to send me a selection of tomatoes that taste like tomatoes :)

But still, life is good. Even though the tomato season is winding down, I picked over three baskets today (those are 3L baskets, if anyone is wondering - and a bushel is around 35 L). I'll have one more big canning session, and get some crushed tomatoes done, and maybe another batch of sauce. And there are still tomatoes in the garden, soaking up the last of the summer sun. And maybe, just maybe, I'll get two full months of fresh tomato eating this year.

A garden tomato, every day, from July 12 to September 12? Not bad at all!

Sauce, salad, sandwich - the best of the summer, all in one fruit!

The Garden in August

In this last week of August, the garden is indefinitely winding down.

The second bed of potatoes is almost ready for harvest. These are (hopefully) my winter potatoes, so I'll leave them in the ground until the foliage is completely dead, then dig them up. I thought that two beds of potatoes might be a bit much, but considering I've eaten my way through at least 3/4 of the first bed already...
 

Potatoes!

The garlic has all been harvested, and it's apparently a Goldilocks year. 

Garlic!

Onions and garlic hanging out in the shed on my fancy-schmancy curing tray.

I planted three varieties (no, I don't remember what they are, because, even after all these years, I'm still under the illusion that I'll actually remember things like variety names). One variety was too small - it produced wee, little, tiny, pain-in-the-ass heads. I've already used the entire harvest, making roasted tomato sauce. The heads were so small, the easiest way to use them was to roast them - trying to separate and peel the minuscule cloves was. not. fun.  Another variety was (almost) too big. As in almost-as-big-as-my-hand big. And each individual clove is enormous. I don't remember it being this big when I planted it...

It's huge!

And one variety was just right :) I'll keep cloves from these two varieties (as long as the taste is okay) for replanting. Oddly enough, I'm second guessing myself, and I'm tempted to try some fall planting again.

Just right - and purple!

I pulled out the Lazy Housewife beans - they aren't really producing, and I don't like them anyway, so off to the compost bin with them! I'm keeping the Rattlesnakes going for a while, even though they've only produced a handful of beans in the last couple of weeks - hopefully with some more rain and cooler temperatures, I'll get another flush of beans. I'm amazed though - last year at this point, the bean trellises were so full, they were in danger of falling over. This year? Ha!

But what about the Scarlet Runner beans? Complete, utter, 100% failure. Oh, they are pretty enough, but not one bean from 32 plants. Not one.

We don't need to be productive because we are pretty!

I'm assuming they aren't getting pollinated? Because they are flowering heavily, but pods simply aren't forming. And there are pollinators around, right Katy?

What's that? Can I eat it?

Carpenter bee - that explains the sawdust in the raised beds!

There are also hummingbirds around, so I'm not quite sure why I'm not getting any beans. I do know, however, that it's doubtful this plant will make a repeat appearance in the vegetable garden. The flower garden, maybe...

Burgundy okra

One crop that will come back is okra.  I'm really liking it, especially in vegetable soup. I had hoped to save seeds this year, but had one of those brain fart moments: Even though I know they are insect pollinated, I didn't think about cross-pollination. And since I grew two varieties...

I still might keep the seeds, since I really have no preference between the two, and see what I get. And to all those people I promised okra seeds - oops! Yes, I should really have known better :(

 I'm cautiously optimistic on the squash front. Even though my grand total for zuchinni zucchini (OMG - it only took two attempts this time!!) this year will be four, and the cucumbers are a complete wash, and the winter squash plants look like complete, wilty, mildewy crap, I might, just might, actually harvest something from them this year. There are still two Chersonskayas - the others, unfortunately, never grew and ended up rotting :(

Look at the stem getting all brown and hard!

Smaller, but still okay. And yes, that is an acorn squash along side.

Ugh.

There are two good Winter Sibleys too, which I hope will make it.

Winter Sibley among the ruins (and weeds) :)

And hopefully 2-3 spaghetti squash. 

Hang in there, little squash!

The acorn squash are still looking good, but I'm kinda disappointed - only 4-5 fruits in total, and they are small. Oh well - they'll be a good size for individual meals. And really, squash is squash - considering the failure from past years, I shouldn't be complaining about any that I'm actually able to grow!

The sweet peppers are all done, and had a respectable harvest this year, even though each pepper was somewhat small - lack of water, I think.

Yummy yellow peppers.

 And of course, the tomatoes are still going strong. I'm still picking at least one 3-liter basket every day - not bad at all!

Have I mentioned that I love summer?

The Great Dry Bean Experiment - and giveaway!

You may remember that, after my success with dry beans last year, I decided to try a bunch of different varieties this year. I ended up with 15 different varieties, which is truly a drop in the bucket when it comes to dry beans. And of course, being the geek I am, I did things like monitor germination rates and harvest totals.

Blue Jay - the most incredible purple-blue colour.

What, doesn't everyone?

Calypso. Or Orca. I like Orca.

Well, most of the results are in. There are a few varieties that aren't ready to harvest yet, which is actually a bad thing - if, in this year of insane heat, they aren't ready in 3 months, what hope will they have in a cooler, "normal" summer? But don't worry - I won't bore you with graphs and table and statistics. I wanted the information for my own use, since hard data is useful for making certain decisions - like which beans grow better than others. Of course, taste matters too, and I'll be doing taste tests this fall and winter. Like the Lazy Housewife green beans, if they don't taste good (to me), I won't grow them.

Mrocumiere. Yes, they really are that colour.

Since I only planted a single row of most varieties, I don't have a lot of beans for each variety. And I want to keep some to plant next year (a single year trial, especially when that year has abnormal weather, really isn't enough to make firm decisions) and some to eat, of course!

But, I'm excited about being able to grow such a good source of protein. In such pretty packages ;)

Littlefield's Special. Or, as I like to call them, Holstein beans.

I'm so excited, I'm willing to send seeds to anyone who wants to try to grow dry beans next year.  Yes, for free.

Caveats: 

• Limited to Canadian addresses, since I'm getting mixed info about mailing seeds across the border (If you are really interested in getting some to try, and live in the US, e-mail me, and we'll work something out). 
• You will only be getting a few seeds (4-10, depending on the variety and the amount of requests). I'm trying to share the joy of growing dry beans, not take business away from seed growers.
• I make no guarantees about germination, disease contamination (but as someone who worked in plant pathology for years, I'm pretty confident in saying these are good, clean seeds) or hybridization, as I took no effort to separate varieties, since beans seldom cross-pollinate. 
• Amounts are limited, so when I'm out, I'm out - first come, first serve! 
• I still want to dry the beans out a bit, as well as finish the harvest, so I won't be mailing anything out for a month or so.

What do I ask in return? If you have a blog, please blog about this (and link back here, naturally), and blog about your results next year. And hey, if you want to send me some seeds in return, feel free :)


List of varieties (see key below for the varieties in the first photo):

• Ireland Creek Annie (limited)
• Black Turtle (good harvest)
• Calypso (harvest not complete)
• Blue Jay (good harvest)
• Littlefield's Special (limited)
• Canadian Wonder (good harvest)
• Black Valentine (good harvest)
• Saskatchewan Dry (limited)
• Fall Speckled (limited)
• Mrocumiere (harvest not complete, should be good)
• Lina Sisco's Bird Egg (limited)
• Romano (limited)
• Pinto (VERY limited - only one plant grew!)
• Jacob's Cattle (limited)
• Soldier (harvest not complete)

How to get seeds? Leave a comment here, and e-mail me at myoldnewhouse at gmail dot com with the list of varieties you want to try and your mailing address.

Oh, and if you have any good bean recipes? Share!