Seeds are in!!!

I wasted no time this year ordering seed, and have received my long-awaited back orders. FINALLY!

Every year around this time, I am anxious to start sowing seeds, getting the garden prepped for spring. I've been super impatient this year with the warm winter we've been having--thank you, El Nino!.

So far I have sown two--only two!--of my crops this year: Cardoon Rouge d'Alger and dwarf orange Allegro poppies.

The Rouge d'Alger cardoon supposedly has red-tinged petioles. I check my starts every day to see if they're starting to show signs of blush. So far, right at the soil level, some plants have a little hint of red.

I'm a HUGE fan of dino kale, or lacinato kale. It has great texture and great flavor, and is takes on an interesting shape in the garden. I've also heard it described as palm tree kale since the plants look like little palms has you harvest the leaves from the bottom. Well, Fedco Seeds came out with a Rainbow Lacinato kale when they crossed dino kale with Redbor. I'm not sure if it will be as colorful as Bright Lights Swiss chard, but one can hope!

Two eggplant varieties I'm looking forward to are 'Galine' and 'Applegreen' both from Fedco as well. I was sold on 'Galine' since it was described as dependable and not fussy. It's also supposed to mature in about 70 days. The 'Applegreen' is supposed to produce tiny little green eggplants. Also supposed to mature in 70 days. I'm a little concerned that the seed packet tells me to wait until June to transplant. June just seems so far away!

I'm going to give it a shot with melons this year with Charetais and Sakata's Sweet. Our local radio gardening show says not to bother with melons as they take too long to ripen. I love a challenge. With a little help from indoor starts and some black ground cloth, I like to think have enough heat to have at least a couple fruits. I love Charetais--so crisp and sweet. One of our Columbia City Farmers' Market vendors has carried this gem. Hopefully, I won't have to buy any this year since I'll be enjoying the ones I produced in my garden.

Another crop I'm super excited about is the Beer Friend soybean from Fedco. I like this purely for the fact that edamame and beer go hand in hand. I've never grown soybeans before so it should be fun to see how this one does.

The weather is getting warmer, light drizzles of rain here and there, lots of blooms on the trees all around town. It's beginning to look a lot like spring around here!

2009 Seeds

It took awhile for me to figure out what to plant this year. I had my usual catalogue favorites arrive in the mail: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds, Seeds of Change, and Kitazawa Seeds.

I am easily distracted by color photos and irresistible descriptions as I peruse each catalogue. And Seeds of Change has sent me a couple already making it really hard to decide what to grow.

Kitazawa saved me this year. The simple, yet informative catalogue, with a few sketches of selected veggies helped me decide what seeds I'll be starting this season. I also made a promise to myself to not grow anything that requires more than 75 days of maturity.

Of course, I made a few exceptions. Plus, promised are meant to be broken, right? I had success with Odoriko tomatoes a couple of years ago and they were so tasty that I decided to grow them again. And I bought my seed from Kitazawa then as well.

When traveling in Hong Kong in December, I came across the Giant Cape Gooseberry, or Poha Berry. These fruits are orange-yellow, the size of a large grape, and topped with a papery husk. They taste like a mixture of pineapple and strawberry. Unfortunately, they will take 75 days to mature AFTER flowering. I'm going to get a start on them the day the seed arrives! I'm always up for a challenge, so when I saw the seed I had to order them.

Another veggie I came across during my Hong Kong trip was a winged bean. We didn't know at the time what it was we were eating, but knew it was sweet like a bean yet had four sides to it. I was convinced the veggie was some sort of sweet broccoli. I made the connection when I read the description in the seed catalogue. It says it does well in humid climates, but I'm hoping for a super warm summer.

I was also suckered into a packet of beetberry seeds from Baker Creek. The pictures show vibrant red fruits nestled in between dark green leaves that would look great cascading over my rock wall. Good thing that they only take up to 60 days to mature! Zonal denial has been avoided!

This last weekend, I was at the last Flower and Garden Show at the Washington State Convention Center. I didn't have the willpower to pull myself away from Ravenna Gardens' racks filled with Renee's Garden Seeds. Though I was disciplined since I knew Kitazawa would receive most of my business this year. Only three packets were purchased: scarlet runner beans, container cucumber 'Bush Slicer', and 'Bright Lights' Swiss chard.

The other display I couldn't resist was Franchi Old World Italian Seeds since the focus of my garden is edibles. Farmer John was so friendly (he is the mayor of Half Moon Bay, CA) and was taken by me being over eight months pregnant and Eldon being a Bay Area native. He gave us a deal on our 'Fino' basil and broccoli raab seeds and threw in a packet of forget-me-knots. "That'll turn you into a real gardener!" he said, patting me heartily on the back. We promised to bring the new baby to the Pumpkin Festival in the near future.

As we walked away, I thought, "Great! I just got rid of all the forget-me-knots from the garden! I've gotta find someone to take these seeds off my hands!"