Seed Catalogs Galore
It’s official. I need a bigger garden. In fact, I need a way bigger garden to fit all of the seeds I’m going to order. I came home from my three weeks away to a mailbox stuffed with seed catalogs. I’ve looked over almost all of them and am amazed at how many things I had never even heard of.
Case in point, the beetberry (Chenopodium capitatum) from Seeds of Change. This oddball green is described as “sprawling in nature” with “dark green leaves that snuggle the fruit amongst its foliage.” From the photo it kind of looks like raspberries have been glued to a tall, gangly arugula plant. To say that I am intrigued is an understatement.
(Clockwise from top left: Beetberry, ‘Golden’ purslane, ‘Magenta Spreen’ lambsquarters, and the Huazontle)
Seeds of Change is also offering a number of cultivars of weeds, including ‘Golden’ purslane, ‘Magenta Spreen’ lambsquarters, and Huazontle, a lambsquarter cousin with fuschia colored leaves and seed heads. I have wild purslane and lambsquarters in my garden now, but I can’t decide if I should just eat them or if I should order their refined relatives and do a taste test.
If you’re looking to grow a holy-cow-what-the-hell-is-that kind of vegetable, may I suggest the Mexican Sour Gherkin. I grew it way back in 2003 and it looks like a dollhouse-sized watermelon, but it tastes like a mildly sour cucumber (check out this You Grow Girl post for some great Mexican Sour Gherkin photos). It’s perfect for salads or for in the garden grazing. I’ve noticed it in a lot of catalogs this year, including Seeds of Change and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (which is a compendium of every cool, unusual, and down right weird vegetable you can think of and is one of my very favorite seed sources).
Radishes have also really caught my eye this year. In addition to ‘Easter Egg II’—my favorite blend of purple, pink, red and white radishes—I’m considering growing ‘Chinese Red Meat’, which has apple green skin and a bright red core.
I am also going to plant all three types of peas: English, snap and snow pea. ‘Golden India’, a snow pea with pale yellow pods and two-toned purple flowers, especially appeals to me.
Let me know what you’re excited about growing this year. I’m planning on placing my order by the end of the month, but I don’t want to miss out on anything really cool!
I’m mostly excited about doing more starts from seeds and expanding the veggie garden. And, I’m really excited to start some new potato bins that I read about in the Irish-Eyes catalog. I’m buying seed from them as well on the recommendation of my local CSA/farmer’s market vendor. They’re relatively local and small; more on them here, including links to order from them or get their catalog that is chock-full of great seed and great ideas: http://www.gardenhelp.org/gardening/starting-a-seattle-vegetable-garden-in-january/
And, I’m sure you all know this, but I encourage you to read more on who owns whom in the seed world. As I understand it Mars owns Seeds of Change. There’s a pretty good write up on the seed buy ups going on out there here: http://seedstory.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/who-owns-your-tomato-another-big-horticultural-seed-company-bought-by-monsanto/. If anyone knows of others that are more current, I’d love to hear about them!
January 14th, 2009 at 11:58 amHi Willi! We’re also getting really excited about this year’s garden and planning on ordering way too many seeds! Did you see the Scarlet Emperor runner beans in the Seeds of Change catalog? They have “stunning” scarlet flowers which attract bees, delicious stringless pods, and beautiful lavender and black beans with a savory flavor. We’re also going to try growing the Alpine strawberries from Kitchen Garden Seeds. They’re smaller and more flavorful than regular strawberries, plus they spread by seed instead of runners, so they don’t take over the whole garden, and I’ve read that they do very well even in areas that don’t get a lot of sunlight. Do you get the Seed Savers Exchange catalog? It also has some unique varieties, and is full of beautiful photographs. One of the things we’re ordering from them is the Joe’s Round hot pepper, which is the only open pollinated cherry pepper I could find. They also actually look a lot like cherries, and are good for pickling and for salsa. By the way, we love your blog! Cheers from the East Coast gardening Galloways!
January 14th, 2009 at 6:33 pmHey Willi,
Great suggestions! It’s funny; I also had the Mexican Sour Gherkin on my seed list for this spring. I’m also going to try ‘Boxwood Basil’ this year. The leaves are much smaller than on other varieties of basil, requiring very little chopping, or maybe none at all (that’s the part I like). You may already be familiar with it, but here’s more info on the boxwood basil if interested:
http://www.burpee.com/product/herbs/basil/basil+boxwood+-+packet+(100+seeds).do
January 16th, 2009 at 10:27 amAmy and Adam! You guys have a great last name
I did notice those gorgeous runner beans but I actually saved runner bean seed last year (my mother-in-law gave me the seed from Monticello), so I’ll probably grow them again. I also love Seed Savers Exchange! They have my very favorite pepper, ‘Beaver Dam’. It’s great for stuffing and is quite sweet at first, but then packs a kick at the end. I’ll have to check out Joe’s Round. They sound great for pickling.
Alan–I love those little basils! I haven’t grown them myself, but my colleague Pam who runs Organic Gardening’s test garden grows them as a border and loves them. I’m planning on trying them out this year. I think that I might try using them as a edging in my front yard ornamental border.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:37 amOh boy I cannot believe the season has begun! As this is only my second year growing, opening those seed catalogs is to me a bit like going to a huge grocery store when I’m hungry, which is exciting but overwhelming and a bit too much. I love your selections so far. The beetberry is also in Territorial but I decided to order seeds from one nursery (Nichols Garden Nursery- very reasonable prices and lots geared to container growing) to keep it simple and less overwhelming, and also to save a little money on handling charges. Please post how beetberry grows, I’m so curious! Two things I am trying this year are stevia, an herb that is super-sweet and can be added to teas and lemonades, and fennugreek, which is an indian herb that has an amazing flavor for curries and naan.
January 19th, 2009 at 10:41 pmSandra–I’m so curious to find out about your stevia and fenugreek experiences! I’ve never grown them before. Now you’ve got me thinking I should add them to list of things to grow!
January 20th, 2009 at 2:50 pmWilli and Allan – Something I tried last year and loved: basil ‘Pesto Perpetuoso’. It’s a dwarf bush basil with smaller leaves like the “boxwood” varieties, but it’s variegated. What could be prettier? Very peppery scent, too.
I haven’t had much success with runner beans in the past, but am trying them again this year – both scarlet and “painted lady”.
I’m also encouraged that you like the Mexican Sour Gherkins – this will be my first year for them. Can’t wait!
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:12 pmThe Golden India peas are gorgeous! I’ve not seen them before. Where are the seeds available?
What an excellent blog. I’ve only just found you today, but I’ll be back!
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:25 pmI’m not sure where you are getting the India peas from but I wanted to warn you about the ones from the Cook’s garden (they have a blue and yellow blend pea). We grew those one year and they grew like crazy (much bigger than normal shelling peas), and were really pretty – but unfortunately not very tasty. Not sure whether your India ones will be the same but wanted to give you that warning. Still might be worth growing just for the beautiful flowers that you mentioned but we were really disappointed by the taste.. but it sounds like you will have plenty of pea backup.
February 14th, 2009 at 10:16 pmSarah–thanks for the warning on the Golden India peas. I’m getting mine from John Scheeper’s Kitchen Garden, so hopefully they’ll be good!
February 17th, 2009 at 8:32 am