Seed Catalogue junkies unite!
2010 seed catalogues.
It is the time of year that when even a slightly warm breeze passed my face I get chills and want to have my fingers flipping through a seed catalogue. The possibilities of the new season lie seductively in the pages of the 2010 seed catalogue. Interesting plants., herbs. berry bushes, and of course veggies all laid neatly out on a page with story-like descriptions and promises of a bountiful harvest. It can be addictive.
Alas, this year I will be purchasing few seeds. I know it can be addictive because I bought WAY too many last year. So I need to use what I have with a select few additions. I have also decided to cut back on the types of veggies that are being grown this year. We are not going to market this year, period...at least not to sell food. This year is for us and extra for friends. I want to can, ferment, freeze, dry, and store my little heart out. So my search is for more stable and less flashy foods. Gone are the brightly coloured tomatoes in a variety of colours, and the oddly shaped squash. This year is for practicality, hardiness, taste, and if I can find a perennial in anything I will find a place for it.
Our poor wind chilled lettuce.
Season extension is going to be a large part of this year. So much so that I started last year with some lettuce. It was a complete experiment with some basic mini-greenhouses. Surprisingly It worked okay. No, nothing to eat, but the lettuce continued to grow. Last week it was taken out by -20 temperatures, but it lasted until the new year.
I will have to control myself at the Guelph Organic Conference. Last year I bought so many seeds. This year I will save my pennies for a
sheep shearer.
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Temperatures have been warm lately, warm enough to tempt some plants into growing. Unfortunately we have cold weather in the near future. The lilac tree buds have swollen and look almost ready to start bursting.
Last year's chard is sprouting new leaves to great surprise. Row cover is now over the rhubarb to keep it from frost damage.
Rhubarb is tough, but not that tough.
On another note, there is a new fear on the agricultural horizon. Ug99 sounds more like a WWII u-boat. It says nothing of the potential devastation it could cause. Ug99 (Puccinia graminis) is a stem rust of cereal crops. It was feared until it was thought to be eradicated during the Green Revolution in the 50's. Nature may have the last word though as the fungus has returned with a vengeance. It has now been found in Africa and the Middle East. India and China are both nervously waiting for the fungal spores to travel on the wind to the Punjab, the breadbasket of South East Asia. Wired has a great article about this danger. In the near future bread may be a luxury.
