Seeds and Spring
By Cindy Naas
My seed catalogs all came in early January.
I have been trying to block out all thoughts of this cold Minnesota winter by looking at pictures of vines sagging under the weight of tomatoes, peppers of all hues brightening a summer garden, and lettuces of all colors and shapes beckoning temptingly from the pages of these catalogs.
I have seeds saved from my heirloom tomatoes last summer, I have some seeds given to me by friends and soon I should have a wonderful variety of seeds coming from organic growers.
There is a lot more room in my new garden and so I have the luxury of growing a much larger variety of vegetables this year. I will grow my old favorites but will also experiment with some new vegetables. Some of my new picks for 2010 are:
Strawberry Spinach, or Chenpodium capitatum- grown for the greens which thrive in cool weather but are heat tolerant, as well as the berries which make an interesting addition to salads.
Imperial Star Artichokes – requires shortest number of days till harvest.
Cosmic Purple Carrot - it’s purple! No other reason needed for me to want it.
Ruby Queen Corn - short season and bright red kernels have made me curious.
Jersey Knights and Purple Passion Asparagus – I finally have room for a large dedicated bed for asparagus, and I am going to try two varieties to see which does better here in the Upper Midwest.
– this is an heirloom squash which is pretty as well as tasty. I’m planting a variety of squash to see which produces the best and stores well.
I’m also going to be building a hoop house this summer with the hope of extending my growing season here. I’ll plant a variety of the hardier lettuces, oriental greens and spinach. More on that later.
For now, I am building a propagating table. After that, it’s a matter of waiting for the days to warm, the snow to melt and the ground to be workable. Happy gardening!
March 15th, 2010 at 8:01 am
if you are looking for more detailed information on USDA plant hardiness zones, there is an interactive USDA plant hardiness zone map at http://www.plantmaps.com/usda_hardiness_zone_map.php which will allow you to locate your USDA zone based on zipcode or city.