Garden Insanity

I've ordered seeds!

This is what I'm getting:

Dye Plants: Hopi Red Dye Amaranth, Indigo, Madder (also Maroon Coreopsis and Hopi Black Dye Sunflower).

Herbs: Lemon Basil, Thai Basil, Chocolate Peppermint, Black-Stemmed Spearmint, Peppermint.

Fruits and Vegetables: Snowy White Eggplant, Paint Dry Bush Bean, Cherokee Wax Bean, Mitla Black Tepary Bean, Satsuki Madori Cucumber, Bird's Nest Gourd, Rouge D'Hiver Buttercos Lettuce, Emerald Oak Looseleaf Lettuce, Red Deer Tongue Looseleaf Lettuce, Charentais Cantelope, Moon & Stars Watermelon, Oregon Giant Snow Pea, Sweet Cal Wonder Bell Pepper, Cocozelle Bush Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Stella Blue Squash, Red Currant Cherry Tomato, Red Calabash Slicing Tomato.

Grains: Four-O-Seven Quinoa.

Flowers: Maroon Coreopsis (also a dye plant), Scarlet Flax, Hopi Black Dye Sunflower (also a dye plant), Miriam Edible Sunflower, Sweet Peas, White Sweet Alyssum.

I know this looks like a HUGE lot of seeds. I figured I'd rather have them than not, and it was getting impossible to decide. I'm also probably only going to plant one or two plants of each kind, rather than several. (Only ONE (ONE!) zucchini!)

The seeds (and some plants) are coming from Seeds of Change and The Thyme Garden. (The Thyme Garden is a really cool place; they'll do organic catering and host weddings, too.)

Comments

[ianqui]

Holy crap. That's so cool. It is for that reason, pretty much alone, that I wish I had a plot of land an a house instead of an apartment in NYC.

[Rana]

Yeah, I've gone a bit berserk, haven't I?

Practically speaking, I don't have that much _land_ to grow in -- there's a couple of ugly patches in the yard that I'm going to put plants on, but most of it is lawn, and this is a rental, after all, so I can't do too much to it. So it's going to be lots of tubs on the deck.

Still, after making do with windowsills and postage-stamp-sized patios, I'm really excited about the chance to grow some _big_ things, like sunflowers!

(I wanted to grow corn, too, but _everyone_ around here grows corn, as in for sale, and it seems a bit silly to try and grow organic heirloom corn with all that GMO pollen floating around.)

[jo(e)]

Oh, it's fun to start thinking about gardening again! Just a few more months ....

[Claire]

That all sounds wonderful! Chocolate peppermint? That sounds divine.

I'm jealous of your garden-to-be.

[Chris]

Awesome. I'm going with the sunflowers that get only ~36" this year, and we'll see how they do. Thanks for the tip on the seeds of change.

[Rana]

Hey, jo(e), why not start a few indoors? *tempt, tempt*

Yeah, the chocolate peppermint is an awesome plant. It really is a mint with chocolaty fragrance!

Ooh, shorty sunflowers! Those should be fun. :) (SofC is quite cool, isn't it?)

[Lance Mannion]

I'm the world's most enthusiastic vicarious gardener. I read seed catalogs for fun. I have never ordered anything though. I'm looking forward to your regular reports on your seeds' progress.

[halloweenlover]

Sounds fabulous!!! Last year, I planted Diva Cucumbers, which are teeny little cucumbers with no seeds. They grew like weeds, it was pretty fun.

It sounds like it is a lot of seeds, but I think in reality it isn't. I also like ordering from bluestone perennials, they have good prices and lots of selection.

Good luck!

[Susan]

I love seed catalogs. They are so hopeful, visions of spring and summer in mid-winter. Although usually I just wait and buy plants. But maybe someday, when CG is bigger, we'll get back to starting seeds. I was thinking today that the storm windows taken out of the house in the renovation will make nice cold frames.

[Jill Smith]

But.... but what about the seeds you seem to have planted here???

[jo(e)]

My sister brought me a clump of chocolate peppermint, and it grows like crazy. I've got so much that I run the edges of the patch down with the lawnmover.

The smell of it makes me hungry when I am out working in the garden....

[jdee]

Watch out for the chocolate mint...I found out this year that the mint I planted last year was very INVASIVE. Apparrently mint is best grown in a pot as it spreads and can take over your garden.

Have fun.