It’s raining gardening catalogs
Did I miss something? Did the government declare a specific day in late December or early January when seed companies are all required to mail their catalogs? I mean, I know this is the time of year when they always arrive, but yesterday when I checked my mailbox I had four seed catalogs in it. FOUR!
You know what that means: If you are a gardener, it’s time to start planning and dreaming of all the delicious fruits and vegetables, not to mention beautiful flowers, you would like to plant in your garden this year.
The Burpee company is celebrating 135 years in business this year, and they’ve revamped their website and plan to send free seeds for marigolds and “White Wonder” cucumbers with any order of $30 and up. I also received catalogs from Heronswood, The Cook’s Garden and John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds.
Flipping through the photo-saturated Burpee catalog made my eyes light up and my heart thaw out (just a little). Midnight black Triple Crown blackberries! Pinot Noir hybrid sweet peppers! Purple Passion asparagus! Gold Mine yellow beans! Big Rainbow heirloom tomatoes! Sigh.
Some catalogs offer certified organic seeds, and I believe all of them sell at least some heirloom varieties. If you are looking for a lot of heirloom varieties, check out Seedsavers.org, Heirloomseeds.com or rareseeds.com, among others. The difference between hybrid and heirloom, in case you are wondering, is that hybrids are crossbreeds of two different plants. Although they are bred to be more prolific (and more resistant to diseases and pests, as reader Julie pointed out), hybrids — unlike heirlooms — cannot reproduce themselves exact replicas of the parent seed from their own seed (thanks for the clarification, Julie).
This always brings to mind one of my favorite quotes, from Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”: “You can’t save the whales by eating whales, but paradoxically, you can help save rare, domesticated foods by eating them.”
I haven’t quite decided what I want to plant this year, other than the obvious – tomatoes. But this is going to get me thinking. What are you all going to plant?
January 6, 2011 - 6:06 AM
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I got the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog in the mail last week. I love it for the artwork as much as anything else! Just gorgeous.
I didn’t get any garden catalogs until after Christmas. In the last two weeks, I’ve probably gotten 5-6 of them.
Those things are like crack to aspiring gardeners. I’ve narrowed down the varieties of tomatoes that I want to raise to a mere sixty. I’m thinking I might need to narrow it down a little more, but it’s a challenge.
Seed catalogs started arriving here Dec 4 and triggered cabin fever early! http://eatingfloyd.blogspot.com/2010/12/dreamin.html
We really like Southern Exposure Seed Exchange ( http://www.southernexposure.com/index.php )for heritage and open-pollinated varieties (some pretty obscure) geared specifically to the mid-Atlantic region.
Both Gourmet Seeds ( http://www.gourmetseed.com ) and Osborne Seeds ( http://www.osborneseed.com ) offer quality seeds at a great price with a more than generous amount of seeds in the packet compared to many of the better known companies. They also offer small bulk pricing that’s handy if you do succession planting.
We are going all out this year. Potatoes, lettuce and black eyed peas are the big never tried before items.
Lindsey, If I could offer a couple teeny-weeny corrections to your comments about hybrids. Hybrids are not only bred to increase productivity through more/larger fruits, but also to increase resistance to pests, disease, or drought. Many hybrids can (and do) reproduce from their seeds, but the offspring ‘fruits’ are not true to the parent plant’s characteristics (size, flavor, shape, disease resistance, etc.) I planted some seeds I saved from a hybrid variety of butternut squash. The squash matured with a green skin instead of orange, but they were still delicious. As always, I will plant both my gardens (starting with cold crops in March, followed by warmer crops thru May) with great excitement; watch with tears in July as some plants fall prey to drought or critters; and swear under my breath in September when I have pounds of produce to can or freeze before the first frost. Then dance with joy again in Jan. when the seed catalogs come. What a vicious cycle. Wouldn’t change it for the world.
I welcome that clarification, Julie! That subject can be very confusing, and I am certainly no expert. Thanks for the additional information.
@juliep we bought a rain barrel from a local guy simplepeacebarrels@gmail for $55 to help with the dryness of last year. Should help keep my garden watered!
@Mrs. Jones – I have 2 rain barrels and they definitely help. But I have 2 gardens (1 in Floyd Co., 1 in Roa. Co.) totaling just over 1/4 acre, so it’s a little hard to water that much garden space when there’s been no rain for 2 weeks!!
Hmm. I think I need a rain barrel.
Mrs Jones, I tried to google simple peace rain barrels and came up with a defunct craigslist listing. What info can you provide about these rain barrels? How they’re constructed, the size, etc. Thanks in advance!
Oooooh I’m finally having a garden after a two-year, forced hiatus. I ordered several catalogs this morning and drooled over the linkage in your post.
I will definitely have at LEAST the following:
tomatoes, green leaf and red leaf lettuce, jalapenos, zucchini, a few different types of peppers. I may also try my hands at eggplant again. The last time I had some beautiful plum-colored gems in my garden!
Question:
Lindsey, do you have an updated list of local CSA opportunities? You had a great article on them last year that I accessed again this week but am curious to see if more reputable farms/producers have cropped up since last year. I want to invest early this year so I have fresh veggies and fruit throughout the summer without having to visit the store.
Lindsey, This is off subject but I saw a new restatruant on Memorial today, Jonny Sardines Italian something I think. Any word?
I plan on doing my usual garden list this year – tomatoes (not really 60 different kinds, probably 6), bell peppers (3 types), hot peppers (3 kinds), squash (2 kinds), cucumbers, green beans, October beans.
The rest will come from the Farmer’s Market. Veggies like corn or potatoes don’t make much sense for me to plant on a small scale. It’s far easier to collect them at the Farmer’s Market. Or at least it is for me.
I always think that I’m going to do a small herb garden, too, but I never manage to accomplish that.
@Amy: Watch out for flea beetles! They’ll take your eggplant transplants down almost overnight! I’ve started growing them in large pots raised a foot off the ground. Unlike actual fleas, the beetles don’t jump that high.
@abdnva: I’m with you on the corn and regular potatoes. But this year I’m going to plant a couple of fingerling potato varieties using the vertical discarded tire and soil tower method. Found a pile of old tires on the piece of land we just bought, gonna put them to use! Do the herbs! Especially perennials. Plant once, good for years. You won’t regret it!
Ditto on the CSA thing Amy said. I’ve recent bought half a hog from Angie Lenoir and I’m going to pick up a 1/4 cow from another farmer at the end of the month(I got a freezer chest for Christmas)…our New Years resolution this year is to buy absolutely as little fresh stuff from Kroger as possible.
If there’s anyone out there with spots available in their CSA, or any new ones, please speak up!
I have a very small garden 15×25. I keep stakes in it all year and the deer don’t jump in (5′ fence). I eat greens out of it even in the winter and currently have spinach & baby collards for salad greens. I cover it with fabric I got at Seven Springs CSA in Floyd. http://www.7springsfarm.com/
Amy and Kristen, here is the list I published last year, and I have no reason to believe that much has changed other than perhaps the prices. I will let you know what else I hear about, but a good way to find all local CSAs would be to peruse localharvest.org, eatwellguide.org and/or roanokevalleylocavore.net
ABINGDON/BRISTOL CSA
Contributing farms: Frosted Hawk Farm of Bristol and River Valley Farm of Abingdon. Currently seeking other interested farmers.
Options: Three separate eight-week shares, which include fruit and vegetables, are sold. One covers spring, one summer and one fall. You can also buy the whole season. Both half shares (for two adults) and full shares (for four adults) are offered.
Cost: Spring, $160/half, $210/full; summer, $210/half, $260/full; fall, same as summer prices; all three, $510/half, $660/full.
Pickup locations: Abingdon and Bristol
Sign-up: Now
Contact: Steve Vencill at (276) 466-3868
GOOD FOOD-GOOD PEOPLE CSA
Farms involved: Too many to list; all of Southwest Virginia.
Options: Vegetable shares and fruit shares run 25 weeks and are sold separately in two sizes. Fresh egg shares available at an additional cost.
Cost: Vegetable shares are $575/single and $1,100/double. Fruit shares are $240/single and $465/double. Egg shares are $100/one dozen per week and $195/two dozen per week.
Pickup locations: Roanoke, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford and Floyd
Sign-up: Now
How: E-mail Tenley Weaver at gfgpfarmshares@swva.net or call (540) 745-4347, ext. 2.
SEVEN SPRINGS FARM CSA
Farms involved: Seven Springs Farm of Check and Waterbear Mountain Organic Farm of Floyd.
Others supply as needed.
Options: Half shares and full shares, with labor or without, last 32 weeks. Herbs cost extra.
Cost: Half share with eight hours labor, $560; half share without labor, $640. Full share with 16 hours labor, $943; full share without labor, $1,130. Herb share, $27. Customers may also contribute to the low-income share fund.
Pickup locations: Floyd, Roanoke, Blacksburg, Riner
Sign-up: Mid-February
Contact: Polly Hieser at (540) 651-3226
BLUE RIDGE GROWERS COLLABORATIVE CSA
Contributing farms: Moon Indigo Farm of Check and Full Circle Farm, Five Penny Farm and Grassroots Farm, all of Floyd.
Options: One unit size (more than enough for two adults) includes vegetables and fruit, runs 25 weeks. Eggs are additional. Each share requires some volunteer work at distribution sites.
Cost: About $500 per share. Call for more details.
Pickup: Blacksburg
Sign-up: End of February
Contact: E-mail Michael Burton at mikeburton7@hotmail.com
EDEN’S WAY ORGANIC FARM CSA
Contributing farms: Eden’s Way of Meadows of Dan; others may supply as needed
Options: Half shares and full shares include vegetables and some fruit; runs for 25 weeks.
Cost: Half share, $546; full share, $930.
Pickup: Roanoke, Blacksburg and Christiansburg
Sign-up: Now
Contact: Cherie Shelor at (276) 952-6283
Sources: localharvest.org, eatwellguide.org, United States Department of Agriculture, VDACS Virginia Grown guide, Southwest Virginia farmers
Do you operate a Community Supported Agriculture program that’s not listed here? If so, please contact Lindsey Nair at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com or (540) 981-3343.
Thanks, Lindsey for that great info on the CSA’s! For those of us who don’t have the space, need, or energy to plant several varying vegetables, that is a great alternative.
I just can’t express how important I think it is for people to eat locally grown ‘natural’ food. From dairy to meats to vegetables & fruits, the more you avoid chemical additives, the healthier…
Here is a local food source in Abingdon I just learned about from a reader:
Appalachian Farm to Family Cooperative (AFFC)
Registration is now open! To learn more or sign up, visit http://www.affc.locallygrown.net or contact the market manager at info@appfarmtofamily.com.
Ditto to Rebecca on the herb garden thing. I even use various herbs in my landscaping and filling up beds…I have enough thyme to last me forever.
I’ve done herbs in containers and in the ground, and they do well in both but get much much bigger in the ground. But there’s nothing more fun than just stepping outside your kitchen and clipping your own rosemary and things.
“I have enough thyme to last me forever.” Hee hee.
Puns aside, I agree wholeheartedly about the herb garden. It’s an easy, fulfilling beginner’s project, and you’ll save *boatloads* of money on fresh herbs. Now that I have my own, I am even more astounded by how expensive they are at the grocery store!
(by the way, this is Nair here. I don’t know what’s happened to my avatar)