… and these Thy gifts …

Two of my favorite writers — Rod Dreher and Michael Pollan — talk food. Must read!

Some helpful resources:

Slow Food USA
Local Harvest
Eat Wild

And information:

a YouTube Playlist: Torn From the Land: The story of the take over of American farmers’ land by financial manipulation of world grain, interest, prices. The end result was the acquisition of family farms by corporations for 5 cents on the dollar.

Plus, how timely is this? Archbishop Migliore: Investing in Sustainable Agriculture

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Playing with photo editing software

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preparing for spring!!

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Part 1 is here.

• Blue (Okame spinach hybrid) out 3/27/08!! - moved to cold frame, + 3 yogurt cups: solanum molangena (Greek Gods), Bot Int Eggplant (Chocolate Underground), sanguisorba minor (french vanilla)
• #201 Clear plastic soup tall - edamame Bot Int Tohya
• Blue Bonnet - shikaku mame/Winged Bean Kitazawa
• #203 Salad - Akahana fujimame - hyacinth bean Kitazawa
• #204 Baby Spinach - yard long bean Kitazawa
• #205 Green Mushroom - lemon/Thai basil Kitazawa
• #206 Cool Whip - Thai Holy Basil, and ack! mistake: Strawberry Temptation
• #207 Fage - Sapporo Hot Kitazawa
• #208 clear - Coriander - out 4/2/08
• #209 Fage - Snow Crown Cauliflower Fedco -
• #210 Tall clear - Brassica rapa - raab - sprouted 3/25/08!
• #211 small white yellow green - Prik Chi Faa
• #212 salad New England Pie Pumpkin Fedco

• 301 - stonyfield farm french vanilla - siam queen basil - out 4/2/08
• 302 - galeux d’eysines squash x spectrum shortening
• 303 - fairy tale eggplant - impatiens x
• 304 - green zebra tomato - verbena venosa
• 305 - clear plastic squat - marine heliotrope fedco x
• 306 - Pruden’s Purple - Chocolate Sweet Pepper
• 307 - Nancy’s Cottage Cheese - Rosita Eggplant
• 308 - Big Salad - Black Kabouli Garbanzo Bean - sprouts 3/25/08!
• 309 - Black Krim - Hatekana Mustard - sprouts 3/25/08!
• 310 - Costoluto Genovese - Ruby Red Rhubarb Chard - out 4/2/08
• 311 - Fage - Buttercup Squash x
• 312 - Blue Mushroom - Cajun Jewel Okra
• 313 - Stonyfield Large Vanilla - Sugar Baby Watermelon

Yena’s:

• 401 - white-green-yellow - Aster Truffaunt’s
• 402 - Blue Mushroom - Poppy Victoria Cross - out 4/2/08
• 403 - Earth Balance - Salpiglossis Kew Blue - out 4/2/08
• 404 - white-yellow-green - Lobelia Trailing Red Cascade - out 4/2/08
• 405 - Ricotta - Candytuft Purple Flash - out 4/2/08
• 406 - Brandywine - Petunia (old) x - out 4/2/08
• 407 - San Marzano - Zinnia (old) x

sowed 3/12/08:

• 501 - Blue Coco Pole Bean Org - Nancy’s yogurt plain - out 4/2/08
• 502 - Stonyfield yog plain larkspur 7 dwarfs - out 4/2/08
• 503 - big blue mushroom - armeria maritima bees hybrid mixed x - out 4/1/08

• 601 - impatiens tempo cancun mix - i can’t find it!
• 602 - bok choy - out 4/2/08!!!
• 603 - butternut squash
• 604 carmello - lumina
• 605 - garland chrysanthemum
• 606 - elecampane - johnny’s x
• 607 tiny tim tomatoes
• 608 x brandywine -+ purple broccoli - out 4/5/08

Part 1 is here.

Note: If you’re wondering about the number and container codes, it’s something that makes sense *to me*.

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Ongoing attempt to reduce the clutter around here…. getting rid of all my favorite gardening catalogs; yes, I have quite the pile.

The first part are all companies I’ve shopped from before; Renee’s Garden I ordered from when it was still “Shepherd’s Garden Seeds” which was bought by White Flower Farm. Papa Geno’s I haven’t ordered from in years but there were 3 years in a row back in the ’90’s when I was ordering from them and I was always very happy with the service and plants. I’ve included links to Garden Watchdog Reviews, which I always check before ordering from a company unknown to me — though sometimes if the deals are too good to pass up I’ll go ahead and order even if they’ve received a bad review before, e.g., Gilbert’s and Sons from whom I ordered some really nice peonies back ‘in ‘04.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review
The Natural Gardening Company | Garden Watchdog Review — this company’s great to order from if you’ve tried to raise organic tomatoes and other plants from seed and failed, or you ran out of time, etc. — I ordered from them last year.
Kitazawa Seed Company | Garden Watchdog Review - the best source for Asian seeds
Pinetree Garden Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review
J.L. Hudson, Seedsman | Garden Watchdog Review - THE source for unusual, hard-to-find, rare seeds; you get quite an education just from the catalog.
Gardener’s Supply Company | Garden Watchdog Review — this is an okay company if you’ve got money to spend on their gardening landscaping supplies, etc. I look mainly for inspiration, though they did have a bargain on a cold frame I’d been wanting last fall, so I went ahead and got it. Thinking of getting their tomato, eggplant and flower supports this year.
Fedco Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review - if you’re looking for bargain organic seeds, this is the place. Love the old-time illustrations on the black and white (or I should say, black and grey) catalog. The seed packets aren’t pretty but they serve the purpose, hey.
Territorial Seed Company | Garden Watchdog Review - I believe this is the company from whom I ordered my asparagus crowns in ‘04. They did well except we left the house before we could harvest anything significant.
Brent and Becky’s Bulbs | Garden Watchdog Review - no complaints here, love this company.
Gourmet Seed International | Garden Watchdog Review - has good bargains from time to time.
Gardens Alive | Garden Watchdog Review - like this company for its coupons (hee) and its natural pest control, fertilizer stuff, etc.
Wood Prairie Farm | Garden Watchdog Review - I got salad mixes from and Egyptian walking onions from this one, and potatoes which I’m going to try this year.
Specialty Perennials | Garden Watchdog Review - another purveyor of hard-to-find seeds, love their flowers; I got the prettiest lupines in ‘04.
Seeds of Change | Garden Watchdog Review - the very first company I ordered organic seed from, back in ‘98-’02 (?) — some were still viable last year!
The Cook’s Garden | Garden Watchdog Review - good source for herbs and other veggie seeds. Love that their catalog is illustrated by Mary Azarian, one of our favorite artists — she illustrated Snowflake Bentley.
ValueSeeds | Garden Watchdog Review - the bargains!
Swallowtail Garden Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review - pretty seed packets, again, some unusual seeds.
Botanical Interests | Garden Watchdog Review - how one would be able to resist these lovely seed packet artworks, I have no idea.
Renee’s Garden | Garden Watchdog Review
Papa Geno’s Herb Farm | Garden Watchdog Review
American Meadows | Garden Watchdog Review
The Butchart Gardens | Garden Watchdog Review — some of the hard-to-find seeds that Jefferson was growing at Monticello, I found here.
Raintree Nursery | Garden Watchdog Review — ordered raspberry and blueberry canes from them in ‘04. They did okay but I don’t know how they are now at our previous home.

Haven’t bought from these, but I like to browse their catalogs for inspiration, and reference for future orders:

White Flower Farm | Garden Watchdog Review
D. Landreth Seed Company |Garden Watchdog Review
Musser Forests |Garden Watchdog Review
Dripworks | Garden Watchdog Review
Seed Savers Exchange | Garden Watchdog Review
High Country Gardens | Garden Watchdog Review
Horizon Herbs | Garden Watchdog Review
Forest Farm | Garden Watchdog Review
Mischel’s Greenhouses | Garden Watchdog Review
Wildseed Farms | Garden Watchdog Review
Kinsman Company | Garden Watchdog Review

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started 28 January 2008 and succeeding days:

Row 1

1. valeriana officinalis - valerian
2. satureja montana - winter savory
3. salvia officinalis - broadleaf sage
4. rosmarinus
5. pisum sativum - snow pea
6. perennial oregano
7. marrubium vulgare - horehound
8. spearmint
9. levisticum officinale - lovage
10. cress fine curled
11. inula helenium - elecampane
12. hyssopus officinalis
13. arugula - germinated week of 2/11/08, some died, okay again 3/25/08
14. carum carvi - caraway

Row 2

1. purple top white globe turnip
2. flowering chinese leek
3. bellis perennis
4. aubretia - sprouts 3/25/08!!
5. stachys byzantina
6. antirrhinum majus Night and Day
7. agastache rugosa honey bee white - mexican mint - 24″ to 32″ tall
8. tradescantia andersoniana
9. anchusa azurea
10. pansy black - sprouts 3/25/08!!
11. herb thyme old english
12. phormium
13. geranium Black Magic
14. polyanthus Gold Lace
15. lychnis Molten Lava - sprouts 3/25/08!!!

Row 3:

1. sisyrinchium bellum
2. viola odorata Queen Charlotte
3. herb parsley wild - sprouts 3/25/08!!!
4. four o’clock, from Bethany - sprouts 3/25/08!!
5. monarda - Red Shades - Fedco
6. muscari
7. ratibida columnaris - Mexican Hat
8. gloriosa daisy
9. wildflowers (American Meadows) - sprouts 3/25/08!!
10. wildflowers (Fothergills
11. mixed sunflowers - Yena
12. sunflower giant single - sprouts 3/25/08!!
13. bellis perennis
14. Wood Prairie Farm Fall and Winter Mix (salad)
15. scabiosa black and white

Row 4:

1. gypsophila Covent Garden
2. ipomoea morning glory small blue - sprouts
3. Papaver nudicale poppy iceland
4. penstemon strictus
5. scabiosa pink purple
6. salvia azurea
7. stokes aster blue
8. scabiosa columbaria nana - germinated 3/6/08
9. shasta daisy sprouts 3/25/08
10. gaillardia
11. candytuft - 2 kinds of seeds(?) — small and REALLY LARGE
12. sprouts 3/25/08
13. Forellenschluss lettuce sowed 3/6/08 - sprouts 3/25/08
14. Arnica - sowed 3/6/08
15. Lingue de Camarino Lettuce (sowed 3/6/08) - sprouts 3/25/08

Row 5, Sowed 3/6/08:

1. Lady’s Mantle (sowed 3/6/08) - #104
2. Lavender
3. Sweet Valentine Lettuce - sprouts 3/25/08
4. Rue
5. Lemon Balm #108
6. Borage
7. Wild Bergamot
8. Rose de Berne tomato
9. Aunt Lilian’s Yellow tomato
10. Golden Gopher Muskmelon (the beginning of trust )
11. Borettana Cipollini onion
12. Par-Cel Cutting Celery
13. Golden Purslane (first in Fage yogurt cup) #116
14. Chervil
15. Sweet Basil
16. Caraway and Early Jalapeno Hot Pepper

Part 2 here.

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Anne in Oz keeps her hubby healthy with these herby salads. I’ve seen many of these mentioned in Prescription for Nutritional Healing so I’m trying to grow some of them again this year, but I was unsure how exactly to use them fresh. Now I don’t have to wonder, as Anne shows how right here in her wonderful post!

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I finished up the last of my seeds of the ff:

Mentha spicata – Spearmint – Plantation 2006
Rosmarinus officinalis - Fothergills
Marrubium vulgare – Horehound – Fedco 2004
Bellis perennis – English Daisy True Wild Type – JL Hudson 2004
Mirabilis jalapa unknown color 2005
Brassica rapa – Purple Top White Globe Turnip – Seeds of Change 2002
Rudbeckia hirta Gloriosa daisy rustic colors from trade 2004
Wildflower Mix American Meadows 2007
Monarda didyma Panorama Red Shades Bee Balm Fedco 2004
Satureja montana – Winter savory – Fedco 2004
Inula helenium – Elecampane – Fedco 2004
Salvia officinalis – Broadleaf sage – Fedco 2004
Stachys byzantina 2004 self-gathered
Pisum sativum – Sugar Pod 2 Snow Pea – Seeds of Change 2004
Polyanthus Gold Lace – Mr. Fothergill’s 2007
Perennial oregano
Chrysanthemum maximum Alaska - Shasta Daisy – Butchart 2005
Scabiosa mix pink-purple-maroon from trade 2004
Scabiosa columbaria ‘Nana’ from Donn 2004
Penstemon strictus from trade 2005
Gaillardia Blanket Flower from trade 2004
Stokesia laevis – from Carolyn 2004

so they’re now off my exchange list, and going into my “waiting for” pile. Hopefully they’ll sprout this year so I can get more seeds.

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A note to myself to remember what I’ve got under the ground. I’ll be 40 come spring and I might forget!

Anemones coronoria De Caen
Princess Victoria tulips, planted for Yena (Yelena Victoria)
Double Flowering Narcissus Smokey Bear
Egyptian (perennial, walking) onions, from Southern Exposure
Crocus sativus

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