3 February 2008
Seed Therapy
Posted by Richard under: Fruit & Vegetables; Smallholding .
The cold wet windy weather is beginning to grind me down. I have resorted to measuring the length of the grass in the paddocks in an attempt to convince myself that spring is just around the corner. (Apparently a grass length of 5 to 8cm is perfect for lactating ewes, our grass is lucky to make 3 cm at the moment).
The windchill factor today made it feel like minus 5 celsius, which made shifting hay bales around between barns and lugging water for the ewes a less than pleasant experience.
Once we got back in-doors, I started trawling through the seed suppliers catalogues and websites. This was my feeble attempt to force the seasons to start moving, but actually became quite theraputic (I have never been one for retail therapy…until now).
The choice was bewildering - just as I chose one variety, I would spot another, more interesting, plant. Last year was a bit rushed on the garden vegetable front - we moved in April which meant we were late starting most things off so resorted to bought in plants for many things.
In then end, I have saved a fairly substantial mix of seeds in ‘my basket’ on one particular website - a good mix of the standard varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, etc with a sprinkling of the more unusual - Cavolo de Nero, Romanesco, Globe Artichoke, rainbow carrots and beetroot. I figured that if we were going to grow vegetables, we may as well try to grow some stuff that you don’t see too much of in the shops.
The only problem now is that the list is twice as long and twice as pricey as I had planned on.
11 Comments so far...
Richard Says:
3 February 2008 at 8:55 pm.
Sam - I have now!
Jo Knight Says:
4 February 2008 at 1:35 pm.
Brilliant!
It’s our fifth Wedding Anniversary on March 1st; & I’ve been wracking my brains as to what to buy Tony (theme this year is wood). Just had a look at the Seeds of Italy website - I’m going to order him a white truffle tree - yummy!
Would like to diversify our business & buy the 50 trees….but we don’t have the money, alas.
uphilldowndale Says:
5 February 2008 at 12:33 pm.
Beware the dark day seductress AKA as a seed catalogue!
They make it all seem so easy, they sell you the dream
Jo Knight Says:
5 February 2008 at 8:05 pm.
Too bloomin’ right, Uphilldowndale -
no matter how good what we grew might have been last year, most of it was sucked up by slugs…..vile creatures. After spending over £100 on seeds last year I still dream of the
veggies which should have filled OUR tummies rather those of those slippery customers. What a waste of very hard-earned cash….!!
Richard Says:
5 February 2008 at 9:50 pm.
I know the feeling - we lost all but two cabbages to caterpillars and slugs. Gonna give the nematode worms a go this year to see if keeps the slugs down for a few weeks…should give the seedlings a chance.
sam Says:
6 February 2008 at 6:55 pm.
My seeds arrived today, so excited, Rolf thinks I have lost the plot!!
kate Says:
7 February 2008 at 11:23 am.
Sam surely Rolf knew you’d lost the plot some time ago !
What seeds did you get?
kate Says:
7 February 2008 at 11:26 am.
Jo - I saw those truffle trees and was seriously tempted, but have opted for Shitake plugs instead this year. Let us know how you get on with the tree, as would be very intrested.
sam Says:
7 February 2008 at 6:39 pm.
lots and lots but some of favorites are
rugossa fruilana - knobbly yellow courgette
rouge etamps - cinderella type big red ridged pumpkin
serpents di Sicilia - long squash I have seen hanging about 2 meters of trellis in Italy
bobis nano - long thin french been with tiny black seeds
a yellow polish radish
Yellow carrots
chilli and best of all
Burgundy potatoes, red all the way through!
kate Says:
8 February 2008 at 2:46 pm.
Have been on seeds of Italy now and am glad we hadn’t ordered yet, I thought it would be expensive, but alot of it’s cheaper than Marshalls etc and more unusual stuff. I Fancy some cauli romanesco, Black tuscan cabbage, Bulls horn peppers, Ox heart beef tomatoes, black radishes, some very ugly Venetian courgettes and some of those serpents di Sicilia, just cos I love the name.