Sunday, June 7, 2009

Down to seeds and . . . well, at least down to seeds again

Friday night, we attended a nice night out with friends, gathered to celebrate the birthday of our mutual friend, Amy. Linda and I sat at one end of the long table with friend Kirsten and her lovely 3-year old boy, Will. Will and I spent the evening playing with the toy "digger" (backhoe) he had brought along and, since it was a Japanese restaurant, we also had chop sticks, one set modified for him by the chef that had a rubber band hinge on one end that facilitated our using it as a cherry picker for loading lumber (other chop sticks) into a dump truck (my cupped hands ;-)

Sitting with them brought to mind a recent thoughtful favor Kirsten had done for me. She belongs to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) provided by the Poughkeepsie Farm Project (PFP). Knowing of my interest in local heirloom vegetables, she asked if I might be interested in purchasing some seeds from PFP's City Seeds program which provides an opportunity for local youth (14-24 years old) from Poughkeepsie and Beacon to participate in a local heirloom seed saving project. Of course, I was interested, and I bought the following 6 kinds of seeds (each packet cost $3 apiece):













Early Wonder Beets
Midnight Black Turtle Beans
Magenta Lettuce
Super Lakota Tomato
Prudens Purple Tomato
Gogosari Sweet Pepper (a Romanian variety brought here by one of the PFA members)

I'm probably only going to risk a few of the tomato and pepper seeds this year as it is late to be starting seedlings for them but I'll definitely be planting the lettuce, beets, and turtle beans, hopefully, this weekend. Can't wait to taste the results.

Speaking of seeds, I haven't bought many this year as I had a surplus of seeds leftover from previous years. However, I've been remiss and been putting off buying some Golden Bantam heirloom corn seeds recommended by Lee Reich. There are also a few other types of seed I'd like to buy for late summer planting but I never seem to find the time to complete the list and place the order. I still have some time before I absolutely have to order those other seeds but the time to plant corn is NOW OR NEVER!

So Wednesday night, after I did our food shopping at the local Adam's market, I wandered over to the gardening section of the store on the outside chance that they might have some Golden Bantam seeds. And, sure enough, they did! And they were Burpees's brand. Until then, I hadn't been aware that Burpee's was marketing a line of organic heirloom seeds. Sign of the times, I guess. I scooped up a couple of Golden Bantam packets, one of yellow summer squash, and one of French Breakfast radishes. All packets sold for $2.49 apiece except the radishes that went for $1.79. And I got my Wednesday night Adam's 10% discount!

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Your garden must be really swinging into gear! Hope those deer find something else to eat. Tell Linda thanks again for nudging me to buy those garlics in Ithaca to plant in November. My garlic patch is just gorgeous.

Leo said...

Hey Rachel, yeah, my garden is swingin' into gear and leavin' me behind ;-) Bet yours is doing pretty well, too. You should send me some pictures. Linda is glad you're enjoying your garlic. It's a great crop to grow. BTW, I never see anything from your FB page. Have you restricted who gets to read your wall posts? Also, please let me know if you see this comment back to you. Want to make sure you do.

Thanks, Leo

vgmky said...

Gogosari Sweet Pepper (a Romanian variety brought here by one of the PFA members)

I have been searching for the Gogosari Pepper seed you have been growing at City Seed. Can you direct me to a source for these please!
Gary Millwood
Louisville, Kentucky

gary.millwood@gmail.com