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GARDEN |
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Seed Selections 2002 (with
their stories) Vegetables,
Flowers, Herbs Beans: Cherokee Trail of Tears (SSE) given to SSE in 1977 by the late Dr. Wyche, SSE member from Hugo, Oklahoma. Dr. Wyche's Cherokee ancestors carried this bean over the Trail of Tears, the infamous winter death march that began in October 1838 in the Smoky Mountains and ended March 1839 in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) leaving a trail of 4,000 graves. Shiny jet-black seeds. Green 6" pods with purple overlay are good for snaps and dry beans. Pole habit. Will start succession planting in early May. Beets: Bull's Blood (SSE) Selected by seedsman Kees Sahin in the Netherlands from the French variety Crapaudine for the darkest-colored leaves. The juice from the beet is used to make the only red food coloring allowed by Swedish law. (Might be a good exchange crop for some of my spinner friends.) Planted some in mid-March, will sow more in May. Carrots: Danver's Half Long (SSE) Introduced in 1871. High yields in heavy soils. Leading main crop variety for home and market; excellent fall crop, stores well into winter. Worked in with beets in mid-March. Royal Chantenay Supreme (SOC last year's seeds) Highly productive sweet and crisp carrot, even sweeter in storage. Planted in a separate patch. Neither variety has sprouts through the mulch yet (4/14). Leeks: Scotland (SOC) Rare heirloom from a Scottish farmer whose family had cherished and planted it for generations. Hardy and short-shanked with great flavor and texture. Started indoors end of March. Wispy sprouts now are about 3 inches tall. Saved some seeds to sow directly. As of May 4, the leeks are still small and look like chives. I'll put them out front with the calendula. Lettuce: Flame (SSE) Introduced to gardeners in 1988 by Harris Moran Seed Co. Described as distinctly red, slow-bolting. No longer available through commercial sources. Grandpa Admire's (SSE) Bronze-tinged leaf lettuce that forms large loose heads. George Admire was a civil War veteran born in 1822. In 1977, 90-year-old Cloe Lowrey, Grandpa Admire's granddaughter, gave the seed to SSE's founders, the Whealys. As of May 4, the lettuces are about ready to thin for salads. Will weed and thin the beds next week. Peas: Amish Snap (SSE) superb snap be that was in the Amish community long before the present snap pea types Vines grow 5-6 feet tall are are heavy producers. Planted in March around old Christmas tree skeleton I sunk in the patch as a trellis. I've got 23 sprouts on their way up. As of May 4, the peas are trellising up the dry branches, about 2-3 foot vines. Gave them some manure/compost tea today. Radish: Early Scarlet Globe (SSE) Early forcing radish for home or market gardeners. Classic bright red skin with white flesh. I remember plucking this variety out of my first garden. Scattered seeds among peas, lettuces, and beets. As of May 4, these are about ready to pick. I'll sew some more next week. Spinach: New Zealand (SSE) Not a true spinach, but similar in flavor and usage. Large strong spreading plants branch freely. Thrives in hot weather. Best when 4" tips of branches are picked all summer and fall. New Zealand native brought to Europe by Captain Cook in the 1770s. Good source of vitamin C. Planted in early March with peas and in a patch alone. Good thing the folds at SSE warned that they are slow to germinate, since no action yet. As of May 4, nothing has come up. Maybe since it's not a true spinach, I shouldn't have planted early. I've got some more seeds to sew next week. Squash: Nimba (SSE) Early Polish zucchini, compact cold-resistant bushy plant. Young plants have light-green skin with dots, older fruits have dark green stripes. Grew last year's squash on top of two hills of compost piled on top of sod. Will choose another location if I can find some sun. Tomatoes: Cherry Roma (SSE) Incredible heavy set of 1" long plum-shaped fruits. Addictive sweet -spicy flavor. Introduced to SSE by Meilie Moy-Hodnett of my own state of Maryland. Crnkovic Yugoslavian Pink (SSE) Brought into the U.S. by Yasha Crnkovic, a colleague of SSE member Carolyn Male. Large beefsteak type. Italian Heirloom (SSE) Beautiful heirloom from Italy. Plants are loaded with fruits over 1 pound. Started seeds indoors on March 10. Good growth, but pale. Started to harden off outside on April 10 when no frost was predicted, but some look nipped anyway. Added some nitrogen to promote cell growth. We'll see. As of May 4, I lost about half the tomatoes to frost, but the other look vigorous. They almost compete with the transplants I just received from SSE. (I needed a little insurance in case I lost all of them). The new SSE heirloom varieties are Amish Paste, German Pink, Gold Medal, and another Czech variety called Stupice. I gave these and the others a good dose of manure tea. Bee's Friend (SSE) can be used to strongly attract bees to the garden. SSE is experimenting with it as a cover crop and so offers it in larger quantities. Seeded indoors. Pretty leggy and fragile. Probably better to plant outdoors after frost. Fortunately, I saved some seeds. Forget Me Not (FHE) from Marc and Nancy in New York who exchange organic seed year-round (www.goodadvicepress.com) They also sent me some Day Lily seeds as freebees, which I'll plant in the fall. Nice folks! I'll plant the Forget Me Nots in July for next springs blooms. (Biennial) Hollyhock: Cherry Red (FHE) sent from Sharon in my own state of Maryland with a lovely note saying she got the seeds from William Woys Weaver and they get 8-10 feet tall!. I sowed some indoors which look healthy and will plant the rest after the frost date. As of May 4, about a half dozen of these are about 4-5 inches tall, ready to go in with some seeds next week. I suppose I'll put them out front next to the tall phlox and lilac. Larkspur (FHE) from Cathy in Vermont who says she got them from a gardener near Dallas, a variety she suspects is called "Bunny Blooms." I sowed them out front with the tall phlox and lilac bush in March (she said they need cool soil to germinate). Will have to keep the black-eyed-susans from crowding them out. As of May 4, hard to tell if anything's sprouted. Moss Rose, Single (SSE) Beautiful old-fashioned moss rose. Tried sowing indoors, but looks a little sickly so far. Well, these croaked, so will try sewing some directly. Basil: Lemon (SSE) Citrus aroma that has become popular for herbal vinegars and seafood dishes. Basil: Lettuce Leaf (SSE) Classic variety described in Vilmorin's The Vegetable Garden. Started both indoors, looking pale but hope will green-up in the sunshine. These also got nipped by frost, but about 2/3s have recovered, although not as vigorously as I'd like. Bergamot; Lavender (SOC) Citrus and oregano scented leaves and flowers make a soothing tea, sometimes used for influenza and bronchial infections. Native to the western U.S. Nectar-rich flowers court butterflies and humming birds. Will sow this perennial near the garden after frost date. Calendula (FHE) from Eileen in New York who suggested clumping them in front of the herb patch as they tend to droop. They also reseed. Planted in front with oregano today (4/14). These guys are up (5/4). Will put the leeks and some cilantro in with them next week. Cilantro (SSE) This herb is ancient and was used as funeral offerings in Egyptian tombs. Seeds are Coriander. Suggest sowing successively to ensure continued supply. Will start after frost date as companion plant. Hyssop (FHE) from Kevin in Illinois. Started indoors early in April. Looks fragile but may perk up. Although I think hyssop is supposed to be easy to grow, mine sprouted up then died off. Not sure why, maybe a little too dry? Mint: Korean Licorice (SOC) Aromatic leaves and blue-purple flowers make this a haven for bees. Started indoors in late March. Hope I saved some seeds, because these had the same fate as the hyssop. Thyme (SSE) Native to the western Mediterranean. European cottage gardeners planted it because it was believed to be a home for fairies. Started indoors in mid-March, but didn't germinate. I may not have planted on top of soil as instructed.
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