This being the beginning of January, the seed catalogs have all arrived and I have pored over them ever so carefully, looking at the photos and reading descriptions. I like to call this garden porn and until I looked through the Burpee catalog it was a joke, but Burpee, OMG! Here I saw tomatoes the size of a child’s head and a pumpkin as big as a Smart Car. And someone at Burpee got a little overzealous playing with the color enhancing features in Photoshop. Nearly everything in the catalog looks obscene and completely unnatural. It is so repellant I will not be buying any seeds from them even though they sell organically grown varieties.
Where I will be buying a lot of seeds from is Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. The owners of the company are vegan, the catalog is gorgeous, and the seeds they sell are heirloom seeds that have been grown around the world for decades and sometimes a couple hundred years. This means the seeds are not hybrid and so should I save seeds at the end of the growing season, I can plant them again the next year and they will grow true to their variety.
I won’t be ordering all my seeds from them, however, they do not offer a few things that I want. The other companies I will be getting seeds from are Vermont Bean Seed Company, Territorial Seed Company, and Pinetree Garden Seeds.
Bookman and I had a date this afternoon to talk over what we wanted to plant and grow from seed. I won’t go into the detail of the exact variety, but here is the list:
- Mustard. For the greens and for the seeds.
- Lettuce
- Fennel
- Dill
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Corn. An open-pollinated variety. This year we will defeat the squirrels!
- Cucumbers for pickling
- Zucchini. Same variety as last year
- Peas.
- Kale
- Parsnips
- Radishes
- Pumpkin
- Turnips
- Cilantro. I just found out that cilantro and coriander are the same thing! The greens are cilantro, the seeds are coriander. Someone please tell me this isn’t something everyone already knows and I am a big dope.
- Beans. The same yellow and purple ones as last year, plus pole beans, and beans for drying and making into soup. Lots of beans!
- Leeks
- Quinoa
Because we aren’t quite prepared for indoor seed starting, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant will be bought plants at the annual plant sale we go to.
How’s that for a veggie garden?
Our seed date this afternoon was a nice vacation from the cold outside. Beginning last night we slipped below zero F (-18C) and will not rise above that until late Wednesday afternoon, maybe. In fact, we are going to get as cold as, possibly colder than we have been for 17 years. The governor ordered all public schools closed Monday and the university where I work is even going to be closed due to the dangerously cold temperatures. We might be as cold as -27F (-33C) with a wind chill as low as -50F (-45C) by late tonight, early Monday morning. I can’t say how grateful I am that I will not have to wait outside for the bus in this weather; unfortunately there will be plenty of people who do. Poor Bookman won’t have to wait for the bus but he will have to go to work. We have our fingers crossed that the car will start and we won’t have to call for a jump.
Here is an example of the kind of fun that can be had in cold weather like this:
However, the cats and I will be curled up together with a a quilt, a hot drink, and a good book.
Wow. You & Bookman are regular farmers. I don’t know how you have all that time to garden. AND do all the reading you do !!
I knew that cilantro and coriander were the same thing! But I didn’t know the greens were called cilantro, and the seeds called coriander.
Loved the video with boiling water!
We’ve been having snow & cold weather here but not below zero temps (yet!). I like the snow. We were able to get out & use our new snowshoes. They’re pretty FUN!
Stay warm π
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Helen, we are getting there! I think we might have missed our true calling π It really isn’t all that much work after the initial planting in spring. Bravo for knowing cilantro and coriander are the same thing! I was so surprised when I learned that. Isn’t the boiling water interesting? I am glad you got to try out your new snowshoes. I think the cold is heading your way so you stay warm too!
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I guess the only good thing about it being so cold where you are is that you get a day off from work!
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So much snow here (for this part of the country) and brrrrr…cold! I’m in awe of your garden. If I had places to plant, I’d be thinking: “wow! I can do that”, but in reality I don’t know that I’d have the dedication for all that. Having cukes to pickle, though, would be so awesome. Will probably try container garden tomatoes again but hope to get more than the 7 teeny ones I had last summer. The largest made one sandwich. It’s a drawback of living in the woods-no sunny spot to grow things and the pH of the soil isn’t right for a lot of things.
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Your weather does put our storms/flooding into some kind of perspective! Glad you are enjoying your seed planting plans.
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Ian, your storms and flooding had been making the news here but got pushed out by the cold arctic air! I hope it isn’t too bad for you there.
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Anne Camille, all the snow missed us but the cold is swooping down on us directly from the arctic. We don’t have places to plant everything yet. We will be building a raised garden bed in the spring and we have a few additional beds we are in the process of creating through smothering the grass in addition to the vegetable beds from last year. It is always a work in progress! It wasn’t a good summer for tomatoes here either, too wet and cool early on, we didn’t get any heat until the middle of August and that is far too late. But there is always this year! I hope you container garden does better.
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Loved the slow motion part of that video. Amazing!
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Bettie, it’s pretty neat, isn’t it? I’ve seen it done with food coloring in the water to the resulting “snow” is blue or pink π
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I’ve been wondering how you were getting on in the snow and cold. I know how generous you are but please don’t feel you have to send it over our way. We have quite enough to cope with with our floods at the moment.
The Bears say that they love your optimism – nobody gets to defeat squirrels!
Do take care.
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Alex, the snow missed us in Minneapolis, it stayed south, but the arctic cold air is coming down directly at us. Brrr! I wouldn’t send it to my worst enemy so you are safe π When it comes to the corn I will beat the squirrels this year, just wait!
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It’s even cold here in central Texas! I had heard on the news about the weather you guys were having and I just can’t imagine. I don’t like heat but that cold is extreme! Bundle up Stefanie. At least you got to stay home and pour over more plans for your gardening. And, no, no clue that cilantro and coriander are the same thing. I love cilantro!
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Iliana, you’ve got the cold too? It’s creeping in everywhere! I had to go to work today (Tuesday) and I was so bundled up the only thing showing were my eyes. And I am so relieved I am not the only one who didn’t know about cilantro/coriander!
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I ditto Iliana–I love cilantro, too, and I have even grown it before–me the non-green thumb person! I shall be one of those people waiting in the cold for the bus–though tomorrow won’t be quite as nasty as today–I was home sick today, but I think that is going to make it even worse getting up and facing the cold and dark tomorrow. Do you get tomorrow off as well? I know MN and IA got the brunt of the really cold air, but cold is cold and with that wind. Ick. I have just started getting spring clothes catalogs Hah. Wishful thinking there. I will be sporting heavy flannel and thick sweaters for the next few months unless something changes weather-wise. When I was reading the May Sarton book she wrote about her garden and weeding and planting and I always thought of you when I came to those passages!
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Danielle, so I guess cilantro/coriander is not common knowledge. I am sort of relieved about that! I am sorry to hear you are sick. I hope you are feeling better and surviving the cold. I had to go to work on Tuesday. My string of vacation and off days were really nice while they lasted! Spring clothes? Ha! I’ve been thinking it might be fun to have a few new sweaters! Thanks for thinking of me while reading Sarton. Spring will be here eventually and then I really can be outside planting and weeding π
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I first heard of Baker Creek when I read this book : http://www.worldcat.org/title/heirloom-life-gardener-the-baker-creek-way-of-growing-your-own-food-easily-and-naturally/oclc/703206541&referer=brief_results
I have visited their site a few times but have not yet placed an order I’m so overwhelmed with the choices.
Your garden planning date sounds heavenly! I loved reading about it and if anyone can defeat those squirrels, you and Bookman can.
I think we are going to try the polyculture method you mentioned in a previous post. “The Urban Homestead” is due back at the library and I do not want to return it. The book was such a hit at our household. My father-in-law even pretended to steal it. As soon as I get some castile soap, I’m going to make my own cleaning products. Thanks for the recommendation.
That artic air has finally descended onto Pennsylvania and this morning our schools are all closed and some businesses on a two hour delay. Brrrrrr.
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Oh Vanessa, thanks for a link to that book, I am going to request if from the library right away! I am glad you like the Urban Homestead book, it is a good one! We will be trying a polyculture in the spring too. I am going to try a different vegetable mix but it will be a fun experiment! You will have to let me know how yours works π Stay warm in the cold!
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