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Selecting Seeds
Buying seeds is just like getting tickets for a Rolling Stones concert. Well, maybe not exactly, but in either case itâ≈ s good to get them early, before they are sold out. I’ve already missed the boat on one variety, but think I have everything else I need – and some are already planted indoors.
Last year I grew a broccoli-type green called Piricicaba, that I got from Fedco Seeds (www.fedcoseeds.com).When I called them in late March, it had already sold out. Dang. They are the only supplier I know of that sells them, though I suppose that Mr. Google would help me find them if I were really keen on it. Fortunately I got a similar green from Johnny’s Select Seeds (www.johnnyseeds.com or 877-564-6697) called Happy Rich, which is a name I like. Hasn’t made me rich yet, but it does make me happy.
Happy Rich (like Piricicaba) makes broccoli-like florets but not big heads. It is only 50 days to harvest, and is very tasty raw or cooked – unlike broccoli raab, which is bitter until cooked. The stems and leaves are good to eat, too. It produced food until Thanksgiving and it froze well for winter eating.
This year I bought a packet of purple mustard greens, a variety called Osaka Purple. Many mesclun mixes contain a few mustard seeds, and Iâ≈ ve developed a taste for those very spicy leaves, so this year I will sow them in a bed of their own. I got mine at the Boston Flower show from a company called Landreth Seed Co from New Freedom, PA. Landreth is the oldest seed house in America, founded in 1784. Osaka Purple is fast â√˚germination in as few as 4 days and 40 days to harvest.
Also new to me this year is the southern favorite, collard greens. Visiting the diverse seed racks at Gardnerâ≈ s Supply Companyâ≈ s store in Burlington, VT I found them from Botanical Interests, Inc. â√˚another seed company I’ve not tried before. The package says collards grow under more adverse conditions than lettuce or cabbage. They can be picked small for salads or cooked. They produce well in hot summers even though they are related to kale, a cool-weather crop.
Another green I am trying this year is spreen. Its Latin name is Chenopodium gigantium, which tells me 2 things: it is related to the common weed, lambs quarters (and also to quinoa). And it should be a big plant if left to grow tall. The description says this variety, Magenta Spreen, has young leaves “dusted with a beautiful iridescent magenta”. And it says to pick when 6-8 inches tall – I will try it in salads and lightly cooked. I will be careful not to let it blossom and distribute seeds since it is related to a weed. I got it from Johnnyâ≈ s Seeds.
I am planting flint corn this year, the corn that you dry and grind for cornmeal or polenta. Corn takes a fair amount of space, and you cannot crowd it – plant it too close together and you get small ears. Seeds can be planted 8 inches apart in a row, but only one row per 30 inch-wide bed. And instead of one long row, itâ≈ s better to plant 4 short rows for better pollination. I got my seeds from High Mowing Seeds at the Upper Valley Food Coop in White River Junction, VT.
I haven’t planted flint corn before, and itâ≈ s been 25 years since I grew sweet corn, but farmers tell me that warm soil temperatures are critical. The soil must be warm at planting time. I’m thinking of using a “plastic mulch” – laying down a layer of clear plastic before planting.
Clear plastic mulch lets the sun rays warm up the soil directly (as opposed to black plastic which warms up, and then radiates heat to the soil, a less efficient way). I once tested the temperature under clear plastic spread out with the edges sealed off to contain the heat. On a sunny May afternoon in the sixties, it was in the 90s under the plastic. I”ll pull of the plastic before I plant.
I’ve never had much luck growing melons or watermelons. Talking to a seed tester at Johnny’s Seeds in Maine in February, I was told that there is a hybrid cantaloupe/muskmelon that will do in my short New Hampshire summer: Sarah’s Choice F1 hybrid. He sent me a packet to try, so I will.
Photo by Johnny's Seeds
By the way, the information on Johnny’s Seeds packets is more complete than on any others I have ever found. It says to start (Photo by Johnny’s Seeds) cantaloupes indoors in 3-4 inch pots a month before last frost, and to pre-heat the soil with plastic mulch to get a good start. The soil should be 65 degrees at planting, the pack said. And though I know this for all vine crops, it warns to plant with as little disturbance to the roots as possible.
Sometimes I wish I had an acre of sunny garden so that I could grow everything I wanted, and in quantity. Fortunately, I do not – so I have a life, in addition to a garden!