Seeds Brighten a Dull Day
Just when I thought today couldn’t get any worse and that I might waste the day away wallowing in a pity party for one, seeds arrive in the mail. It’s amazing how such a small thing can cheer me up so fully.
I’m very determined to experiment with melon varieties this year. I ordered three more varieties from Seed Savers but will probably have to narrow my choices down to 2 or 3 varieties in total for want of space. I tend to order seeds with the kind of ambition best reserved for a sprawling country farm.
A stack of lettuce seeds, the fruit of my first attempt ordering via the complicated Seeds of Diversity system arrived from Vicki’s Veggies a CSA located about an hour or two away in Prince Edward County. As soon as the ground thaws I plan to get outside and sow some ‘Drunken Woman’ lettuce. It’s encouraging to know that at least some of my seed money was not diverted towards a disgruntled postal worker luncheon. Who knows what else will make it to my mailbox this week. I put through a lot of last-ditch seed orders recently.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I just got a package of seeds in the mail last night that was missing from an order I received last week. It was a pleasant surprise!
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I’m hoping to receive the round robin package this week…it’s the highlight of my spring every year! I may order from Seed Savers Exchange, which I joined recently, but we’ll see.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I’ve tried growing squash & melons in my garden in Central Indiana. All usually goes well until about 2 months in, when the squash vine borers eat the plant from the inside. So disappointing.
I’ve read that you can put pantyhose over the stems to keep the moths from laying eggs, but never tried it.
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Cara, when the borers show up and the damage is first apparent, I’ve had pretty good luck with digging around in the vine stem until I find the vile creature. You’ll seem to be doing irreparable harm to the vine but plants are sometimes tougher than we give them credit for.
Remove the borer, execute it and then tuck the damaged stem in with a nice comforting layer of dirt. I’ve done this many times and sometimes it doesn’t work but more often than not it does and the plant carries on as if nothing had ever happened. I always figure it’s worth a try. If you don’t do anything, the plant is a goner.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 am
I ordered a LOT of stuff from Seed Savers this year, including the melon Prescott Fond Blanc. This is only the second time I’ve grown melons, so I’m hoping for the best.
I was really taken with the SSE catalog and ordered way too much, including 3 different winter squashes. I may join this year, too, I really like what they’re trying to do.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:54 am
I like kg’s attitude… you might as well give it a shot because the plant is going to die otherwise. I’ve never heard of pantyhose specifically but my guess is that it is meant to do the same thing as a floating row cover.
KJ’s method is also what I do. You’d be surprised how long a plant can survive and produce fruit when it looks like the stem is barely intact.
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
How do you get the Melons to grow in a community garden plot. I tried them last year and only got melons just a bit bigger than golf balls. Just before they turned ripe the racoons ate them. I also tried peanuts and they turned out great i grew a short season variety and after the season was over it took about a month to dry them out before you could eat them. I though the racoons and squirels would get them but they did not bother them.
April 5th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I love it when seeds arrive! It makes me feel so hopeful…then, as my orders start to accumulate, I often wonder what I was thinking when I ordered so many…
April 5th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I’m looking forward to seeing how your melons do! I read about the delice de table melons being really rare, have you tasted them before? They sure look delicious!
April 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Meighan: I have not tasted them. I am very intrigued. It is going to be so hard to narrow my selection down based on the seeds I got this year. I just can’t grow all of them. Oh to have the space!
And of course the fact that they are considered to be “almost extinct” was a factor in choosing them. I am such a sucker for the rare and almost extinct.
Jean Ann: Yep that’s me too!
Donald: I’m doing some in the plot in some in containers on my roof where I can offer them more protection. You do have to protect them if you’ve got a lot of animals around. I lost every single pumpkin last year and by the time I got around to putting up a barrier it was too late.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:47 pm
I am a new (first time!) gardener and picked up your book today - noticed you had a website (though I see that it came first) - and was thrilled / amazed to see Vicky’s Veggies on this post - she’s only about five minutes away from where I live. Very, very cool.