Monday, September 15, 2008

Your seed order has been shipped!


Winter vegetable seedlings: cauliflower, broccoli, some
kind of hardy lettuce, red cabbage and green cabbage.
(And I managed to keep it all within a $100 budget!)

It started with garden bloggers who have written posts on their seed and bulb purchases (thereby planting the idea in my head). I tend to procrastinate on such things, so if it weren't for them, I'd have put off the task until it was too late...and end up waiting out the seed order rush later on. Vegetables will always come first in the orto of course, but as tulips are my favorite blooms, 7 dozen assorted varieties should be making their debut in the yard come spring.

In other news... The situation went from bad to worse for the japanese red maple. Wilting and dried out leaves earlier in the year alerted us to the presence of Verticillium wilt which gradually engulfed and destroyed the 8-foot tree by the end of July. Such a loss, as we've had it for only a year and it was the first tree to be planted when we bought our home. My husband is not looking forward to digging it out!

Now as to the list — I go insane for the unusual, and wrestled ongoing debates between me...and myself. Bet I'm not the only one. You got a spot for that in the garden? I'll find one. Will a cute name alone justify the effort to grow it? Oh c'mon...what's in a name anyway? The weirder, the better, but in the end Prickly Caterpillar got the axe (and no, not because it's a caterpillar per se). Oh yes I'd toss it in a salad for interest and crunch, it's just that I'm not so sure my husband would find anything that resembles a bug equally as thrilling.

  • Dragon Tongue beans
  • Tiger's eye bush bean
  • Bull's Blood beets
  • Rat tail radish
  • Dwarf gray sugar peas
  • Quadrato d'Asti Rosso (italian red bell pepper)
  • Listada de Gandia eggplant
  • Kamo eggplant
  • Lau's Pointed Leaf lettuce
  • Merveille des quatre saisons lettuce
  • Tigger sweet melon
  • Collective Farm Woman sweet melon
  • Yellow Scallop summer squash
  • Red Kuri winter squash
  • Shishigatani or Toonas Makino winter squash
  • Waltham Butternut Squash
  • Tomatillos (both green and purple types)
  • Tomatoes: Marmande, Japanese Black Trifele, Omar's Lebanese, Black Krim, Rose De Berne, Ananas Noire/Black Pineapple
  • Kyoto Kujo Negi bunching onion
  • Red Beard bunching onion
  • Stella Alpina (Edelweiss)
  • Teddy Bear sunflower
  • Herbs: Pyrethrum, Basil Nufar, Epazote, Feverfew
  • Add to that seeds from this past season that I neglected to plant at all. Sis, if you read this, remember it's free for the taking! But if your garden gnome meets the gnome girl of his dreams, can I adopt one of the kids?

  • Borage
  • Chinese Long White bittermelon
  • Salsify
  • Rampion
  • Wapsipinicon Peach tomato
  • Keckley's Sweet watermelon
  • Carosello Tondo di Manduria (a small oval-shape cucumber)
  • Ronde de Nice round zucchini
  • Edible Chrysanthemum
  • Sorrel
  • Purple Beauty bell peppers
  • Black Aztec sweet corn
  • Ping Tung eggplant
  • 11 comments:

    Fern @ Life on the Balcony said...

    That's quite a list!

    Rowena said...

    Fern - I wonder if they have a 12-step program for people like me -- Seed Shopaholics Anonymous! After dinner I was at it again on the pc, only this time I was putting tomato seeds in my wish list.

    Tira said...

    Your list looks totally delish.
    I know about these seed addictions...At least I have no qualms of conscience with the herbs and veggies-its all food, right?

    K and S said...

    nice list, just bought some kyoto kujo negi (green onion) for miso soup. hopefully will try to plant the stalks afterwards.

    Anonymous said...

    I'm totally overwhelmed by your list. The 12-step programme may be the way forward.

    Clicked on your prickly caterpillar link. Gordon Bennett! Never seen anything like it.

    Sad about your lovely tree, my edelweiss has finally given up and gone to the same place.

    Rowena said...

    Casalba - even though I had an idea from the beginning, I love your expression 'Gordon Bennett'! I'd use that, but it would be lost to american ears, I think. Hmmm...{lightbulb moment}. I wonder if it would be okay to substitute with George Bush?

    Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

    There seems a lot of growing to be done next spring at the l'orto. I look forward seeing it all; especially the tulips! I don't know about the Scorpiurus muricatus it is a mouthful in any sense!

    Rowena said...

    Titania - I think I've found my 'calling' in the world of gardening. Perhaps next year I'll take it up a notch by dabbling in ornamentals. Hedgehog gourds and batwing pumpkins sound too cute to dismiss!

    Cathy said...

    Wow Rowena! Wow. I didn't even realize you could buy seeds yet! Where are you going to start all those seeds? I didn't have very good luck trying to do it in the window this year - I've decided that an overhead growing light is a necessity for starting seeds indoors. Did you buy your seeds from the same place as last year?

    Rowena said...

    Cathy - it seems kind of premature doesn't it? The main reason for ordering early though, is because of that nail-biting incident with italian customs. The seeds are being shipped to Hawaii...I'll retrieve them when I go back!

    There's enough space in a south-facing window to start the seeds. It's next to a radiator so that takes care of a heat source too. Oh, and yes I did order from Baker Creek again plus a few other sources.

    Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

    Rowena; thank you for your comment on my SWF.
    Yes join SWF, it is fun and interesting to see many pictures from all over the world. It is nice to share a beautiful sunset or sunrise, anything what you would like to share with like minded people.