FAVA BEANS

Posted in Fava Beans, Sowing Vegetable Seeds, Vegetable Gardening by jonesamye

Fava Beans, (Vicia faba) aka Broad Beans, involve you in a labor of love. They have a short season, are hard to find, expensive when you do find them, and are laborious to prepare, but I adore them so I grow my own. I admire the way their pods are lined with fluffy white batting, like some precious gift sent through the mail. I love their nutty, creamy, texture and the way they taste like fresh green sustenance after a cold brown winter. I love to pair them with their fellow spring compatriots – peas, asparagus, artichokes, mint, and arugula – in a salad or pasta. If eating that crew doesn’t make you feel alive, I can’t help you. They’re great in a frittata or mixed with goat cheese as a dip for crudites. I don’t mind the work it takes to get to that meaty morsel, it’s meditative, and if I serve them to you, it’s because I love you. In the garden they are lovely plants. Easy to grow and fairly unaffected by insects with handsome black and white flowers like they have somewhere fancy to be.

You can even eat the leaves in a salad. The flowers attract bees and other pollinators and as a member of the legume family they fix nitrogen leaving the soil better than they found it. They are an ancient crop, believed to have been part of the Mediterranean diet since 6,000 B.C. They are a great source of lean protein with no saturated fat or cholesterol, are high in dietary fiber and folate, and contain a number of minerals including iron, copper, manganese, calcium, and magnesium. And on the off chance you have too many, they also freeze well.

I’m growing two varieties this year; “Aquadulce”, a Spanish heirloom with large white beans and “Broad Windsor”, and old English favorite and the variety I grew last year.

I get a lot of inspiration from British gardening sources. My all time favorite garden magazine is BBC Gardens Illustrated and I love to watch Jaime Oliver’s show “At Home” online and pause it to lust after his gorgeous kitchen garden. A while ago I came across a video of a British gentleman planting fava beans in what he called “loo” rolls. (I love how it sounds like Lou Rawls, and so much better than toilet paper rolls.) I began collecting loo rolls myself. They are the perfect container for starting fava beans as they’re deep enough to allow a nice root system to develop and they’re biodegradable so the whole thing can be planted causing no root disturbance. With a little forethought, they’re readily available.

I found an inexpensive plastic bin at Home Depot, lined them up in it, and filled them with planting mix. (I made a funnel with some rolled up paper which helped.)

I soaked my fava beans in water overnight, popped one into each container with the dark eye facing downwards, made sure they were buried to a depth about twice their size, topped them up if they needed it, and watered them in. I’ve also been saving my half and half containers to make plant labels. I clean them out, cut off the top and bottom, slice open one side and cut them into strips. They are somewhat waterproof and can be inscribed with a Sharpie.

They should germinate in 8-10 days. Last year I direct seeded mine on March 15th.

Here they are (above) on April 26, 2014.

And again on May 23rd with potatoes above them, swiss chard below, and “Calypso” bush beans just coming on in front of them. I hope by starting them a little earlier this year and growing two kinds, I’ll get to enjoy even more of them.

It should be noted that ingesting fava beans and even inhaling their pollen can trigger a hereditary disease, known as favism, in susceptible people of Mediterranean descent. If you’re curious, you can find a lot more information regarding this online.

And by the way, the leeks I planted last week have germinated! I promptly removed the plastic wrap and have put them where they can soak up some sun. I’ll keep you posted!

27Feb2015

LEEKS

Posted in Sowing Vegetable Seeds, Vegetable Gardening by jonesamye

There’s still snow on the ground, but the days are getting longer and birds of every feather have something to say about it. Crocus are erupting, I’ve seen daffodils blooming, and the maple trees are glowing rosy in the tree line. It’s time to start some seeds! The first seeds I’m starting are leeks.

What a gorgeous vegetable! My eyes are especially done in by anything that pulses between blue and green. I love the way I can feel my brain trying to process the visual information. Is it blue? Is it green? Does it matter? Iris leaves are great for this. As are my bedroom walls. And so are many varieties of leeks. They have an ethereal quality in food as well. When slowly cooked with butter they are onions’ sophisticated cousin, harmonizing with other flavors in a way that onions can’t. Their mildness is a great complement to chicken and fish dishes and they are succulent alone. Visually, there is something so pleasing about their symmetry, the way their flags weave back and forth along the stem. The creamy white giving way to ever darker greeny-blue. An ombre dream. Left to flower they send up thick sturdy stems with happy white pom-pom flowers. Fireworks arrested mid-explosion.

And hardy! Over-wintering varieties can be harvested straight from the ground throughout the winter and into spring. I don’t have a root cellar yet, so I am deeply appreciative of a vegetable that not only stores itself but looks great doing it.

Leeks are easily started from seed, or so they say, and we’re going to find out. Last year I grew sets that I got at a local nursery. This was a great way to do it, and I would recommend it, although as enjoyable as it was, I don’t know which leeks I grew and that’s important to me. I do know that the soup I made from home grown leeks and potatoes was simple, sublime, and satisfying.

This year, armed with a little more knowledge, I’m going to give starting them from seeds a go.

There are two categories of leeks based on hardiness and grow time. Shorter season leeks are harvested in autumn and called ‘summer’ or ‘autumn’ leeks. Those that need at least 100 days to fruition and are harvested throughout the winter and into spring are called ‘over-wintering’.

The seeds that I ordered, ‘Bleu de Solaise’ are over-wintering leeks. They are an old French variety and their leaves are said to turn violet in the winter. Once I started researching leeks, I couldn’t stand trying just one kind, so I ordered two more varieties. ‘Giant of Musselburgh’ is an over-wintering Scottish variety that’s been around since 1834, its large stout stems are said to have very mild taste and to do well under many garden conditions. ‘King Richard’ is an early variety with long pale green stems.

I wanted to sow them in something at least 6” deep so that they could get a nice root system working before I planted them out. I saw a British guy online make good use of an old styrofoam cooler, but nobody had one lying around and I certainly wasn’t going to buy one (we can lament the existence of styrofoam another day). I decided to make use of the literally hundreds of black plastic nursery pots I am encumbered with after several garden installations. I hate to throw them in the trash and hence into a landfill, so I hold on to them in case I start a nursery someday. I was pleased to have an opportunity to make use of a few of them.

I cut the tops off of them so they were about 8” tall, which was probably unnecessary and made the pots less stable, but I didn’t want to use any more potting soil than I needed (it’s expensive) and I didn’t want them to be shaded by having the dirt too far down in the pot. I filled them with a bagged growing medium that I got at my local nursery.

It’s worth buying a special mix for starting seeds. The one I used is a blend of sphagnum peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, and dolomitic lime. Seed starting mixes are sterile to protect seedlings from fungus and bacteria, they are light to allow tiny new roots to establish themselves, and they are very absorbent to keep those babies moist. What they aren’t is nutritious, so once my seeds have germinated, I’ll give them a little diluted fish emulsion (until I start making my own liquid fertilizer a la Mother Earth News – http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/liquid-fertilizers-zm0z11zhun.aspx?PageId=1).

Once the pots were filled, I watered them thoroughly. This is important because the soil medium is absorbent, but it comes dry, and I wanted it nice and saturated before I sowed the seeds. When it was thoroughly moist and water had made its way out the bottom of the pot, I scattered the tiny black seeds generously on the surface.

I sprinkled a scant layer of potting mix over the seeds and very gently pressed that down. Next I sprayed thoroughly with a mister, labeled the pot, and covered it with plastic wrap. I’m keeping them inside by the glass door. When they germinate, in 10-14 days, I will thin them out, hopefully ending up with 35-50 leek plants that I can transplant to the garden in late April or May.

Once they germinate, I may move them to the hot box. Have I told you about the hot box? It’s pretty exciting.

I’m still figuring out the best way to use it, so I’ll tell you more about it next time. Also coming up, my first experience making cassoulet with the Tarbais beans that I grew last summer!

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

20Feb2015

SNOW DAY DOG BISCUITS

Posted in recipes by jonesamye

It’s mid-February and we’ve just had our first snow day of the season. (Sorry East Coasters.) I know a lot of people here who were ready for one, so I’m glad they got it. I enjoyed mine after I finally settled into it – I tell you, I can squander half a day off deciding on the best way to spend it. Why is it so hard to simply let a day unfold?

I recently rearranged my living room so I could plan my garden and work on this blog in front my newly painted fireplace. It’s so much cozier, and the light is better too. It’s made me much more productive.

I began by starting a fire. Then I brought in some branches from the quince out back that is going to take over my neighborhood if I don’t do something about it soon. Hopefully they’ll start blooming in the next couple of days.

I’ve been wanting to make Wilson some more dog biscuits since I ran out of the last batch and today seemed like the day. This is a quick fun recipe. It’s also a nice tactile activity that provides healthy unprocessed treats for your best buddy and gives you a good reason to turn on the oven on a cold day. They make great gifts too. Turn up the music, get your hands into it, and in 45 minutes, with a few basic ingredients, you can have approximately 50 Homemade Dog Biscuits. If you don’t have wheat germ on hand, it’s a good thing to have around. It’s filled with vitamins and minerals, and is a good source of animal-free protein. You can slip it into all sorts of recipes from smoothies to baked goods. This recipe is adapted from the 2014 holiday issue of Front Porch, the magazine of the Arkansas Farm Bureau.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

Servings: 50
Time: 45 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

H O M E M A D E D O G B I S C U I T S

1 C whole wheat flour

1 C white flour

1/4 C cornmeal

1/4 C wheat germ

1/4 C Asiago cheese, finely grated

1 egg

1 t (or so) fennel seeds, pestled (optional, but good for the breath and health of your dog)

2 T (or so) fresh parsley, chopped fine-ish (optional, see above)

1 C (or so) chicken stock

——

Preheat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix all ingredients except the chicken stock into a big bowl. Add the chicken stock and stir until everything comes together. You might need to add flour or chicken stock at this point to get a nice dry-ish dough that won’t stick to your rolling pin. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, or a piece of parchment paper. (It took me forever to get the dough out of the cracks of my rustic prep table last time, hence the parchment paper…)

Roll it out until it’s about 1/4″ thick.

I borrowed dog bone-shaped cookie cutters from my sister, but you could simply cut them into an appropriate size for your friend or use a cookie cutter of another shape. I assure you, the recipient won’t care.

Keep putting the dough scraps back together, rolling it out, and cutting biscuits until you have used up your dough.

Place in the oven and bake for around fifteen minutes. Keep an eye on them and don’t let them get too brown. Because they’re golden to begin with that can be a little tricky.

Try one yourself when they cool down – you know what’s in them. With the addition of some salt, they might make a decent little person biscuit. I’m going to experiment with adding applesauce or peanut butter in there next time. Keep them in an air tight container and dole them out when appropriate. Since Wilson found a rib, a bagel, and a Super Sonic breakfast burrito (the tater tot gave it away) on our walk this morning (in the snow, no less) and reluctantly relinquished them, maybe I’ll give him an extra one today. He’s obviously starving.

Next up, all about leeks! Stay warm out there!

13Feb2015

PLANNING THE GARDEN

Posted in Vegetable Gardening by jonesamye

So now that I have assessed the seeds that I have on hand and new additions are on the way, I have to decide where to put it all! We had a couple of beautiful 70 degree days here. My sap began to rise and I got a little anxious. I started to feel overwhelmed, like I was already behind. I had to remind myself that gardening and well, a lot of seasonal things, and things in general, are continuums. It’s not a race, it’s a circle. You can jump on the train at any point. Or you can enjoy watching it go by. It’s nothing to get anxious about. And really, what is? Today is cold again anyway, so I can relax in front of the fire and get down to the business before me. Okay, I’m not the one relaxing in front of the fire.

What really helped me last year was making a plan.

I started with a blank drawing of my garden. And then I began to fill it in. It helped me prioritize space and desire. Of course changes occurred along the way as happens when a creative work comes to life, but having this place to start was incredibly helpful. It also serves as a document I can refer back to over the years. And if I forget what variety I planted where, I can just check the plan. I was careful to note planting dates, but I still need to make some overall notes on the season that was while last year’s successes and failures are fresh on my mind. And a column along the side with weather and rainfall information would be a nice addition. I definitely need to note harvest dates this year. That will help with late summer planting. For instance, last year I planted purple hull peas and potatoes way too close together and the purple hulls never had their chance in the sun, but then after the potatoes were finished, I was able to plant purple hull peas again and had a nice late summer harvest. We’ve almost decided to skip purple hulls this year. As much as I love them, they take up a lot of space for the yield and are almost always available at our exceptional farmer’s market.

This week, I got out last year’s map and made a copy in ink so I’d have a keeper and so it would read better in a photo for y’all. This is not the garden’s finest hour, but I wanted you to have a real life comparison, so bear with me.

For this year, peas are a good place to start because they get planted first and the legume bed is pretty simple having only a few inhabitants. Peas and fava beans can go along one side, several pole bean varieties up the towers in the 4 x 8′ bed, bush beans beneath them, and potatoes along the other side. Ideally the peas will climb up the fence, but I think I’ll also make them some supports perpendicular to the fence and have them grow between fava bean varieties. Yellow Finn potatoes supposedly spread more than other varieties, so I’ll keep that in mind when I plant them. And voila, one quadrant planned! I do like to think about how things will look together, because some combinations are more satisfying than others, but in the end, it’s all beautiful, so I’m not going to lose sleep over it right this minute.

The root bed is pretty simple too; onions, leeks, carrots, radishes, beets, parsnips, and maybe some turnips. I’ll probably put some chervil in there too since it’s in the carrot family. I really enjoyed it last year in all its ferny delicacy.

I planted garlic on November 20th of last year in the then empty 4 x 8′ bed in the fruit quadrant so that it would end up in this year’s root bed. I worked the soil and added compost when I planted, so that bed is prepped and ready for carrots. As a space saver, I like to interplant radishes with carrots. The radishes break up the soil for the slower germinating carrots and they’re gone and eaten when the carrots get going. Onions can go along the long side to keep them away from the peas, just in case. Supposedly they don’t do each other any favors. Beets and leeks can alternate on the other side with parsnips taking their time along the fence behind them.

Already showing growth! I should give them more mulch.

How about those name tags? Sexy, huh?

So that’s half the garden planned for spring. Thanks for the motivation! Now to mulch the garlic, top dress the beds with compost, and figure out where to put all those leafy greens! And it’s about time to get some seeds started! This is when I’m thankful for a few more days of cold weather. I hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying themselves. See you next week!

6Feb2015

ORDERING SEEDS

Posted in Vegetable Seeds by jonesamye

It’s decision time. Not my personal favorite, never having been one for commitment, but you can’t get seeds in the mail and from there into the ground and from there onto your plate unless you decide which ones you want and order them. So today’s the day.

Here are the innocent looking culprits who have kept me up late into the night fantasizing. They are all so different and wonderful and I am filled with gratitude to the people who dedicate their lives to saving and distributing heirloom seeds. I think we’d all realize, if we thought about it long enough, that diversity is the key to most everything. Healthy systems are diverse. Whether the system is a garden, an eco-system, our body, an education, or our country – even an investment portfolio benefits from variety, or so I’ve heard. Anyway, Viva Diversity!

The seed catalogs I’m ordering from this year are:

BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM SEED CATALOG

This is the mac daddy of seed catalogs. Jere Gettle has been gardening since he was three, started his first seed catalog when he was 17, and now has the largest selection of heirloom varieties in the US. The tomatoes alone will make your head explode. Eggplants, peppers, squash, melons, rare plants sourced from all over the globe, herbs, flowers, seriously everything. They are located in Mansfield, MO (Road Trip!) but also have outposts in Petaluma, CA and Wethersfield, CT. I wish their catalog had photos of all their vegetables, but if it did it would outweigh the September issue! I could order all my seeds from them, but I prefer to spread it around a bit. As major anti-GMO activists and educators, as well as publishers of the quarterly magazine Heirloom Gardener, they really are at the forefront of our new food movement. If you see their 356-page The Whole Seed Catalog on the magazine stand give it a look, I promise you’ll see things you didn’t know existed. And check out their excellent website: www.rareseeds.com

What I’m ordering from Baker Creek this year:

JOHN SCHEEPERS KITCHEN GARDEN SEEDS

I know John Scheepers primarily as the premier source for Dutch bulbs in the U.S., which they’ve been since the early 1900‘s. I received their Kitchen Garden Seeds catalog for the first time this year, and I really appreciate it. Great descriptive writing, sweet illustrations, and a well-curated selection make this one a new favorite. They aren’t as wholly heirloom as Baker Creek, but they are members of The Safe Seed Pledge.* www.kitchengardenseeds.com

Here’s what I’m ordering from them this year:

SEEDS FROM ITALY

Seeds from Italy are the exclusive mail-order distributor for Franchi Seeds, which is Italy’s oldest (1783) family-owned seed company. They are located in Lawrence, Kansas and run by the Nagengast family. They have signed The Safe Seed Pledge* and sell mostly OP (Open Pollinated) heirlooms. The catalog is small, but chock full of magnifico semi! They have a crazy selection of Chicory, Radicchio, Endive & Escarole, as well as tomatoes, squash, eggplant, beans, peppers, herbs, flowers, the works! Check them out online at: www.GrowItalian.com

Looking forward to these Italian specialties:

JOHNNY’S SELECTED SEEDS

Johnny’s is a highly professional, employee-run business. They have decades of experience and I can’t pick up their catalog without learning something. They have great comparative charts and photos, as well as extensive growing information for each species, all of which are incredibly helpful. They sell a lot of highly productive and disease-resistant hybrid varieties, a lot of which they breed themselves and then trial rigorously. They also sell tons of great tools and supplies. They seem more geared to professional growers, but that doesn’t mean a home gardener can’t find plenty to put on their wish list. www.johnnyseeds.com

SEED SAVERS EXCHANGE

Yet another great company. Seed Savers Exchange is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their mission to “conserve and promote America’s culturally diverse but endangered garden and food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants.” To that end they operate a seed bank in Iowa that contains 20,000 heirloom and heritage varieties! As educators they conduct workshops and offer resources to advance their mission. Their catalog has beautiful photos of every variety, as well as seed saving materials and information. They have a great selection of books and this year to celebrate their 40th anniversary they are offering 40 varieties of heritage apple trees. They are member of the Safe Seed Pledge* and their website is: www.seedsavers.org

Now to decide where everything is going to go and when to start what. Never a dull moment!

*AAS: All America Selections. See http://www.all-americaselections.org for more information.

*SAFE SEED PLEDGE: This pledge was created in 1999 and has since been signed by 70 seed companies. It reads as follows:

“Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between genera, families or kingdoms poses great biological risks, as well as economic, political and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds. Further, we wish to support agricultural progress that leads to healthier soils, genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems and ultimately healthy people and communities.”

30Jan2015

SEED INVENTORY

Posted in Vegetable Gardening by jonesamye

What’s a gardener to do in these dismal days of winter when the chaos of the holidays has settled and there are still two months of staring out the window at your empty plot? Next year, god willing, I’ll still be harvesting food out of a hoop house, but not this year, which leaves me with my seed catalogs and my dreams of spring.

I actually appreciate a lot of things about winter and having time to fantasize and plan is high on the list. As are hot baths, a warm dog in your lap, reading a book with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and a fire in the fireplace, making soup and other dishes that take all day or several, getting together with friends. These are all part of what the Danes call ‘hygge’ (pronounced hue-gah) which translates loosely as cozy, but gives a name and a ritual to the survival mechanisms of winter. If the Danes can survive their winter with humor and gratitude then it would be shameful if I couldn’t do the same. Check out Alex Beauchamp’s site http://www.hyggehouse.com/about for a deeper description.

In that spirit, let’s get back to those seed catalogs! I love to get mail that isn’t bills and this time of the year it’s the seed catalogs I look forward to the most. They are like pornography for gardeners. The pictures! the descriptions! the names of vegetables! it’s hard not to get carried away.

It helps to look back on the year that was. I try to start by taking an inventory of the seeds that I still have on hand. It’s not a very scientific method of seed saving, but I have a rectangular basket that I keep in my refrigerator, it’s former calling was as a home for CD’s, and I keep vegetables in groups with clothespins. Do I dare list them? Well, I’m going to. You don’t have to read it, but it will be useful for me in the future, so thanks for your patience.

I’ll put an * asterisk by those that I grew successfully last year and a (*) parenthesized asterisk by those that I attempted unsuccessfully.

ROTATION:

I should probably explain my rotation, and perhaps my garden as a whole, but I think I’ll save that for another day. I have a four-year rotation. Leaf, Fruit, Root, Legume/Potato. I did a lot of research and this made the most sense to me. I got it from Tautons’s Complete Guide to Growing Vegetables and Herbs. Rotating crops helps to keep diseases from building up in the soil, is a good way to foil pests, and can help to keep from depleting the soil if the same crops take the same nutrients from it year after year. Plus you can add amendments on a rotation as well, giving each group what they need.

The benefits of this particular rotation are that since vegetables that are grown for their leaves need a lot of nitrogen, and legumes fix nitrogen, when you move your leaf bed counter-clockwise to where your beans were last year, they get the nitrogen they crave. Adding manure will also provide nitrogen and keep leafy things healthy.

Fruit crops; tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, okra, tomatillos, and cucumbers need phosphorus to set blossoms to lure pollinators to develop their fruit. Bonemeal and rock phosphate are the best way to feed these crops. Bonemeal breaks down quickly so it needs to be added more often, rock phosphate takes a year to get going, but will last for five.

Root vegetables rely on potassium but need less nitrogen which by this point has been used by the leaf and fruit crops that preceded them. Greensand is a good way to add potassium, plus it adds dozens of trace minerals. Tauton’s cites wood ashes, gypsum, kelp, and granite dust as other good sources of potassium.

There are drawbacks to this rotation. The fruit section is hardly big enough for everything I want to grow there, so I grow it pretty intensively. Every year I learn more about how much space things take up, how much of a particular crop I can eat, store, give away, compost… A kitchen garden is a bit like a handbag, or a house, the bigger it is the more you’ll cram in it, so it’s probably good I have some parameters. Speaking of parameters, perhaps you’ll begin to notice I have a weakness for French and Italian varieties. It’s a thing. But there are so many to choose from that having those parameters helps narrow the field. I lean towards French and Italian heirlooms with reputations for great taste and beauty.

JANUARY 2015 LEAF SEED INVENTORY

AMARANTH Love Lies Bleeding 2014 *

ARUGULA Wild Sylvetta 2013 *

ARUGULA Astro 2015 *

BROCCOLI Early Purple Sprouting 2013

BROCCOLI Romanesco Italia 2014 (*)

BROCCOLI RAAB Spring Raab 2014 *

BROCCOLI RAAB Rapini 2011 *

BRUSSELS SPROUTS Long Island Improved 2013

CABBAGE Cour di Bue 2013 *

CABBAGE Red Express 2013 *

CARDOON Rouge D’Alger 2014 *

CAULIFLOWER Giant of Naples 2014 (*)

CLAYTONIA 2012

COLLARDS Georgia Southern 2013 *

ENDIVE de Meaux 2013

FENNEL di Firenze 2014 *

KALE Early Curled Siberian 2013

KALE Lacinato 2013 (*)

KALE Red Russian 2013 *

LETTUCE Celtuce 2014 *

LETTUCE Crisp Mint 2013

LETTUCE High Mowing Mesclun Mix 2014 *

LETTUCE Mantilia 2013

SHISO Perilla Purple Zisu 2014

SWISS CHARD Verde di Taglio 2013 *

SWISS CHARD Vulcan 2013 *

Whew! That’s quite a list. Leafy greens are some of my favorites. For me, Broccoli Raab is reason enough to have your own garden. As is arugula. And fava beans. Choose your favorites and learn when and how to grow them well.

I need to replace Broccoli Raab Quarantina and I’d like to try some Radicchio, probably Castelfranco this year.

Moving on!

JANUARY 2015 FRUIT SEED INVENTORY

CUCUMBER Beit Alpha 2014

CUCUMBER Fin de Meaux 2011

CUCUMBER Parisian Pickling 2013 *

EGGPLANT Edirne Purple Striped 2014

EGGPLANT Rotunda Bianca Sfumata di Rosa 2014

PEPPER Ancho Gigante 2013 *

PEPPER Jimmy Nardello 2014 *

PEPPER King of the North 2013

PEPPER Leutschauer Paprika 2014 *

PEPPER Ozark Giant 2014

PEPPER Padron 2012 *

PEPPER Piquillo 2014 *

PEPPER Shisito 2014 *

TOMATO Cherry Roma 2013 *

TOMATO Costoluto Genovese 2014 *

TOMATO Dester 2013 *

TOMATO San Marzano Lungo #2 2013 *

TOMATO Tess’s Land Race Currant 2013 *

TOMATILLO Toma Verde 2013 *

SQUASH Costata Romanesco Zucchini 2013 *

SQUASH White Bush Scallop 2014

SQUASH Yellow Crookneck 2014 *

SQUASH Zucchino Rampicante 2014 *

I will not be growing Zucchino Rampicante this year. It was an enjoyable and memorable experience, akin to having a baby dragon, but I could not keep up with it. Tess’s Land Race Currant Tomatoes neither. In retrospect, names like Rampicante and Land Race could have informed me of their proclivities, but I heeded not their warning.

I need to replenish Paul Robeson Tomatoes – our favorite, and I’d like to try Granny Cantrell this year too. Also, Principe Borghese, supposedly superb for drying…

I grew Fairy Tale Eggplants the year before last and would like to try them again.

And Okra, I think I’ve decided on Bowling Red. Such a pretty plant, okra.

JANUARY 2015 ROOT SEED INVENTORY

BEET Chioggia 2013 *

BEET Crapaudine 2014 *

BEET Lutz Salad Leaf 2011 *

CELERIAC Giant Prague 2013

CARROT Amarillo 2014 *

CARROT Danvers 126 2013 *

CARROT St. Valery 2014 *

PARSNIP Half Long Guernsey 2014 *

RADISH Chinese Red Meat (Watermelon) 2013 *

RADISH French Breakfast 2013 *

RADISH Pink Beauty 2011 *

RADISH Valentine’s Day Mix 2014 *

I won’t grow Crapaudine again, I think I’ll replace them with Golden Beet.

Onions, leeks, and shallots go in this bed too. I missed ordering French Grey Shallots which only ship in fall, but next year I’ll be on it! One of these years I will grow onions from seeds, but in the meantime, I will probably pick up a variety of onion sets at a local nursery. I am going to try leeks from seed this year – Bleu de Solaise.

JANUARY 2015 LEGUME INVENTORY

BEANS (Bush) Dragon Tongue 2013 *

BEANS (Bush) Maxibel Haricot 2013 *

BEANS (Pole) Good Mother Stallard 2014 *

BEANS (Pole) Rattlesnake 2013 *

BEANS (Pole) Sunset Runner 2014 *

BEANS (Pole) Tarbais 2013 *

COWPEAS Mississippi Pinkeye Purple Hull 2014 *

PEAS Lincoln 2013 *

I will definitely grow Tarbais pole beans again, they’re the bean that cassoulet is traditionally made from and I am planning a cassoulet party for the winter. If it’s successful, perhaps it will be a tradition! I definitely want to grow some Borlotto beans, Lamon is a pole variety that I’m keen to try. I am a big fan of pole beans. Mostly because I have two beautiful bean towers that the Mountain Man made for me and few things are more thrilling than to see them covered with beans! In a small garden anything that can grow up a support is desirable because it adds a third dimension visually, plus it leaves more room for potatoes and fava beans and perhaps nasturtiums below.

I’m also looking forward to Iona Petit Pois peas from John Scheepers. Supposedly… “once you’ve experienced the delicate texture and sweet, buttery flavor of this authentic petit pois, you’ll quickly understand why French cooks will accept no substitute”. I can’t wait to see the light! I’m also going to try their Emerite Filet Pole Beans, “Now, Pole Bean enthusiasts (that’s me!) can have their Filets and eat them too!”

And I must replenish my fava beans! I really should restrain myself and only grow a couple of kinds, last year I grew Broad Windsor, so maybe those again and Aquadulce an early Spanish heirloom?

Also, potatoes go in this bed. Last year I grew three kinds; La Ratte, Yukon Gold, and Desiree. Very enjoyable, but they took up a lot of room. I think I’ll go with two varieties this year, definitely La Ratte again, and maybe Yellow Finn? Yukon Gold are great, but they’re easy to find locally.

Almost finished…

JANUARY 2015 OTHER SEED INVENTORY

FLOWERS

Aster, Prairie Aster 2013

Hyssop, Lavender 2014

Hyssop, Korean 2014

Love-In-A-Mist 2014

Nasturtium, Moonlight 2014

Poppy, P. orientale, Garden Glory 2015

Poppy, P. somniferum, Album 2015

Poppy, P. somniferum, Giganteum 2015

Poppy, P. rhoeas, Shirley mix 2015

Zinnia, Pink Senorita 2014

HERBS

Basil, Genovese 2013

Bee Balm, Lemon 2014

Bouquet Dill 2013

Chervil 2014

Chives 2014

Cilantro, Slo-Bolt 2014

Oregano, Wild Za’atar 2014

MELONS

Charentais 2013

D’Amerique A Chair Vert 2013

Prescott Fond Blanc 2013

Wilson’s Sweet Watermelon 2013

Okay, that’s done! Stay tuned for this year’s Official Seed Selections. And then I have to figure out where to put it all. I’ll address that soon with a Garden Map.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you’re excited about growing this year!

The Cultivator

Can you dig it? I knew that you could.

Author Archives: jonesamye