new seeds

I got a few new seeds on vacation in Europe. The little nasturtiums look very sweet on the package photo. The pumpkins look nice too - Bright orange with nice ribs. I was reading through the German on the back of the pumpkin package and mentioned to my son - gee, they get to be 70 kg. How big is that? He paused and looked at me, then to make sure he heard right, he asked again. Yes, 70 kg I said. Well, Mom, that's more than 150 lbs. Hmm. That's pretty big.

We'll, I didn't realize I was buying a giant. I'll plant a few seeds and see what comes of it. Maybe they'll take over my garden. I don't think so - I'll put them on the edge. The nasturtiums should be nice.

The little pepper is called Iddy Betty Bossy. These are peppers we bought at the supermarket and my son loves super hot peppers. He asked that I grow them. Peppers are particularly good for saving seed as they generally breed true (if they aren't hybrid). So I planted one of them.

mail ordered seeds

Here are seeds from my last mail order. I am trying seeds from an Asian seed catalog for the first time: Kitazawa. They look really interesting!

Also a bunch here from an old favorite: Botanical Interests. I love their plant drawings. I was pleased to spot their Komen for the Cure seeds - Celebration in Pink cosmos. An over-sized package with a donation to breast cancer research. I bought extra so I can share, since bc research is my profession.

organizing last year's seeds

I got out my seed basket, spread out all the seeds, stacked them by the type of vegetable, and then wrapped the little stacks with rubber bands. The basket is all organized and ready to go now.

My first seed order arrived yesterday and I added these to the basket. I'll be setting up my lights and starting up a few seeds soon.

seeds in the mail

I often get requests from small seed companies to check out their seeds. Here are packages I received from Urban Farmer. Shirley poppies, Roma tomatoes and Large leaf Italian basil.

The packages are recycled magazines. They have a nice website to check out. Here's a link: http://www.ufseeds.com/

I looked up the poppies on google images and found: this link. Beautiful! I also looked up when to plant and it says fall or spring. I will save a place to put these seeds this fall.

gift for a friend

This is a beautiful book that I was given to review. It has wonderful pictures and seems perfect for my friend and her very young girls who are budding gardeners. I also gave them broccoli and pea seeds, since broccoli is their favorite vegetable. They are container gardeners with a rooftop patio, so I'm interested to see how these will do for them. Its time to plant both now!

The Family Kitchen Garden: How to Plant, Grow, and Cook Together (link)
By Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner, and Annette Wendland
(Review copy from Timber Press)

planting seeds - 8 weeks BLF

Pepper, Numex Joe E Parker (Johnny's)
Pepper, Thai hot (Botanical Interests)
Pepper, cayenne, Amelia's (hand collected)
Marigold, Petit mix (Johnny's)
Marigold, Fireball (Johnny's)
Canterbury Bells, Cup and Saucer mix (Burpee)
Gaillardia, Sundance bicolor (Burpee)
Cosmos, Sensation mix (Burpee) 2 flats
Aster, Purple burst (Burpee) 2 flats