Getting My Seeds Lined Up in a Row

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

It feels like I’m going to be able to be more forthcoming with the garden projects I’ve got going on this year so I thought I would take advantage of the freedom by posting all the seeds I buy or acquire by trade, gifts, etc.

When I bought bean seeds the other day I also purchased some assorted vegetable seed but decided against posting about them there to keep the post on topic. In the meantime a pack of Gourmet Mesclun Asian Baby Leaf (Phew that was a mouthful) seeds arrived in a press packet from Renee’s Garden. Packets of lettuce and greens never go to waste around here! I’ve had “Get some greens started on the windowsill” on my to-do list for over a week now. It’s way too early to get them going outdoors around here just yet, but there should be enough sunlight to pull off a crop of micro-greens.

When I think about it, it’s kind of amazing that I’ve managed to acquire this many seeds so early without having given barely a thought to what I will be doing in the garden this year. Perhaps this garden season will take inspiration from my trip to Cuba and just be about going with the flow.

What I Got:

  • ‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’ Tomato – This is a classic, super prolific and easy to grow wild variety. I’m fairly certain I’ve been growing these in my community garden plot where I inherited a crop of tomatoes that self-seed every year. This is most likely the plant I have permanently tattooed on my arm so I figured it was time to try and solve the mystery once and for all. I could have easily acquired these in trade if I’d had the patience to wait half a second, but…. I don’t. So I didn’t.
  • ‘Sparkler’ Radish – I’m always on the lookout for a good radish contender for container growing and figured this round ‘French Breakfast’ alike might just fit the bill. And since I’m a fan of that elegant two-tone variety it was hard to pass up a rounded version.
  • ‘Golden Detroit’ Beet – I generally don’t grow beets since we can get them cheaply enough at the farmer’s market but how could I pass up a variety with such a glam rock vibe about it? Come to think about it, these last two plants could fit into a disco theme seed collection. Anyways, this variety is golden with golden veining. It kind of reminds me of ‘Golden’ Swiss Chard, another beauty.
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Photos of My Rooftop Garden

As promised, a few photos of my rooftop garden in June.

In the foreground you can see lemon cucumber, tomatillos, and peppers.

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- A full view from underneath the gazebo – Facing north.

- Facing west

- Facing west (closer)Sweet and hot peppers in the foreground with purple tomatillos in the grey, oval-shaped container and a tomato in the larger grey container (right side). That’s ‘Siam Queen’ basil hanging out the front of the tomato container. To the left you can see another large grey container (white tray underneath) with a tomato plant and some red rubin basil. It’s hard to see in this pic but I’ve added a decorative trim of twigs that I bent into an oval shape. I did a similar thing to protect the peppers (foreground) from the raccoons that insisted on digging the seedling up every night. Worked like a charm.

Fire escape silver boxes – The box on the left has lavender and various succulents while the box on the right has miniature curry plant and portulaca. The plants underneath are various basils, nicotiana, tangerine gem marigold, and green sausage tomatoes. There’s a silver fir tree tomato hidden back there too. It already has one small tomato!

- An old washbin holds beets, chives and catmint. – This looked exceptionally great when the chives were blooming. I need to fill in that bit of space with something flowering.

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