Pittsburgh was covered in snow this weekend and looking out the window I could only think of one thing. Frozen ground. And when it would become unfrozen. And how soon I would be able to get seedlings in there.
Over the past few months, I’ve accumulated a tall stack of seed catalogs and – better later than never – I finally cracked them open this past snow day and started circling favorites.
A lot of my seed shopping feels reactionary. In the past few years my tomatoes have been cracking a lot – probably because of Pittsburgh’s dry spells that are always followed by drenching thunderstorms – so I was drawn to all the write-ups that mentioned “crack-resistance.” I decided on a slicer called Momotaro in Territorial Seed Company’s catalog which displayed a little trophy icon next to the listing – that means it’s a taste-test favorite. I also consulted the tomato round-up I wrote last winter (How to Pick the Perfect Tomato) where a range of serious gardeners shared their favorite varieties.
I’ve taken a few years off from growing zucchinis because I was having a lot of trouble with squash bugs (Anasa tristis). This year I’m hoping to reintroduce zucchini to my garden without reintroducing the beetle. I selected a more traditional-looking Noche as well as the fun, striped Dario. I’ve missed my bountiful zucchini harvest these past two years and I’m excited to dust off my many recipes for zucchini soups, sautes and breads. Please send any tips for dealing with squash bugs that you may have.
I dabbled with bush beans last year and was delighted with my small harvest so I wanted to devote more space in the garden to them this year. In addition to planting the Blue Lake, which Brooke’s grandpa Jerry swears by, I also selected Jade and Mascotte so we can have a proper taste test.
Brooke reminded me that I used to think growing potatoes seemed boring. Then I watched a segment from Gardener’s World where Monty Don was growing potatoes at Longmeadow and suddenly I wanted to do it myself. Monty Don makes every gardening activity seem both thrilling and incredibly meaningful. Monty was right! Digging up my first big harvest of potatoes felt like uncovering an underground treasure. Last year I experimented with a new potato, Austrian Crescent, and had a disappointing harvest so this year I placed an order for an old reliable favorite, Adirondack Blue.
If you’re not interesting in growing potatoes yet, here’s Monty Don to help:
I’ve enjoyed growing Aunt Molly’s husk cherries in our garden. They look like tomatillos with their paper husk but they taste like pineapple-flavored berries. This year I discovered the Ambrosia Cape Gooseberry in Fedco’s catalog. It’s similar to the husk cherry but it’s a larger plant with larger fruit and here’s how they describe the flavor:
We fell instantly in love from first bite, with taste notes ranging from an exuberant YES! to full on rhapsodizing about the extraordinary flavor (hints of coconut milk and pineapple, bright and citrusy)
I always like to grow one new plant that’s totally new to me. It’s exciting to grow something so unfamiliar and be surprised with a completely new flavor. In past years I’ve grown skirret and salsify and Malabar spinach. This year’s selection is Tarwi. It’s a Meso-American crop that was popular in Incan cuisine. The bean is native to the high Andes and, when cooked, it’s apparently similar in texture to a cooked soybean. The plant also produces beautiful lupine-like flowers in blue and purple. It takes 130 days or more to produce the beans which might not be possible in Pittsburgh but the folks at Fedco still recommend trying:
Even if you lack the climate or the dedication to grow the plants to seed, all is not lost. These leguminous beauties grow in poor soil, fixing nitrogen and attracting beneficial insects with honey-scented flowers.
I also threw a few more things in my online shopping cart: Pink Lady Slipper radish, Genovese basil, Napoli carrots, Mexican sour gherkins, few different kinds of zinnia and a pink Japanese dandelion.
Do I have room for all these plants in my relatively small vegetable garden? Of course not. But that’s the same mistake I make every year. And that’s part of the fun. Once I’m overrun with seedlings I’ll start sharing them. Those of you in the neighborhood will probably be hearing from me in a few months: “Anyone want a Tarwi seedling?”
How do you do your seed shopping? Anything you’re particularly excited to grow this year? I’d love to hear about it.
And one more thing: At the park the other day I discovered these bagels they hung up for the birds. They appear to be regular bagels spread with suet and topped with seeds.
Didn’t see any birds nearby but they looked pretty appetizing to me.
Been whiling away late winter doing trial germination in damp paper towels of old seed packets. 4year old beans germinated just fine! actually they all have, so far. Hmmm. Should this discourage me from getting shiny new toys for a small garden space? Hmmm
In New Mexico since December, 6,000' elev. so whole new set of challenges. Growing greens under gro-lights, will try putting them out next month with frost cloth. Local sourced pepper and tomato seeds to try in late April. Also trying some Ukrainian varieties I stumbled onto online! ( https://us.nikitovka.com/en/ if you're interested).