Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Garden Dreaming . . .


Winter weather advisory, the radio guy just said. 
Time to pull out the seed catalogs and think about the garden.


I have a nice little starter clutch of wish books here: John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden Seeds, R.H. Shumway's, Johnny's Selected Seeds, and, my favorite, Seeds from Italy.


I'll probably give the radicchios and endives a miss -- they are usually too bitter for our taste.  Though I am certainly intrigued by Escarole Bionda Cuore Pieno (Blond Full Heart) of which they say "You cannot have chicken soup without it."



Cucumbers are a must -- mainly the long skinny Chinese Suyos. I grew them on trellises last year and we feasted on cucumber and onion salads with a light dressing of sesame oil and rice vinegar. (My mouth is watering as I type this.)

But what's this? Mexican Sour Gherkin. Tiny little fruits (not particularly high yielding) that look like watermelons and taste like citrusy cukes. It's this sort of weird thing I'm often tempted to grow, just so I can taste it.  At this time of year, my zeal usually exceeds my grasp on reality. . .


And speaking of reality, why do my bush beans never yield like this picture from Schumway's?  (They use charming old timey engravings as illustrations .)



Oh, look at the unique Turkish Orange Eggplant -- which can be grown as an ornamental. Tempting . . . .


And purple eggplants and lavender and white and green and purple with white stripes . . 

And surely it's time I planted a Pawpaw -- I've never tasted one in my life. I did plant one maybe twenty years ago but it had been mislabeled and turned out to be a persimmon . . . which is nice but I still need a Pawpaw.

Garden dreaming . . .


6 comments:

Brian Miller said...

oh i really must get me some of those mexican sour gherkins..ha...i am all for trying the strange....

Ms. A said...

Since my daughter is now out in the country, she is planning her first "real" garden. She may have to wait a little longer, but she's excited at the prospect. Beats pondering the lousy weather and having a washed out driveway!

KarenB said...

We placed our orders on Monday after a particularly lengthy discussion involving onions.

Our bush beans usually do produce like the picture, giving us far more than I can possibly deal with. And so, trips are made to the food pantry with large baskets brimming with the overflow.

Barbara Rogers said...

What a lovely pursuit, garden dreaming! I recently ate my first Star Fruit (from Florida).

Frances said...

Vicki, thanks for letting us look over your shoulder at the garden catalogues...I also really like the old timey engravings.

We've got a brief respite from wind chill today...just chill. More snow and freaky cold weather returns tonight, and will stay for a while. Good grief.

xo

Vagabonde said...

Oh to have a garden … and be able to plant these exquisite little seeds! Wishing, whishing … Don’t know if you read on my blog that the Water Commission is going to cut 80 of our trees and demand permanent easement. Then we’ll get some sun, but – we are not supposed to plant anything on that land – ever.