A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

It was actually HOT today, so hot that I decided to plant some carrot seeds. This is about 35-40 days earlier than I would normally put them in but I have double packs of most of them anyway. It was soooo deeply satisfying getting that fork in the sandy carrot soil and working the beds. The entire day was spent in the gardens. It was heavenly being out there again.

I realized in planting the carrot beds that I have acquired a number of red varieties; Red Elephant, Atomic Red, Kyoto Red and Rouge Sange Violette (which may actually be bi-colored, not pure red, but I'm not sure). I'm particularly interested in the Yellowstone variety, I've been wanting to try it for years. And I so loved Chantenay Red and Kuroda last year that I'm really looking forward to those again. And there are 3 purples and 1 white to try too.

Feels great to have all the perennial debris cut down and raked up, as well as the lawn all done. Plenty of sand, paper bits, sticks and leaf debris making it all look quite shabby. Most of my neighbours still have fairly deep snow bank islands on the lawn, so I'm grateful that ours has melted and we could get to work.

The magic of the season begins!

 

[heirloomgal]

I savored my first meal of sunchokes this evening from freshly dug tubers. They were absolutely delicious, I felt almost dizzy with enjoyment. DD had some with me and just as we were finishing our plates she said she still can't believe how utterly addictive these nuggets are. I wondered if being a spring dug crop would make any difference in digesting them, as so far, DD & I have not had issues with fall dug tubers. But nothing, no blip on the screen.

Spent most of today with DD painting the jumbo bean trellis in the front yard. I'd rather have been planting carrots but it had to be done and I'd like it to cure well before anything climbs it, so the earlier the better. The orangey glow of the fresh wood has worn off and it's starting to look aged, and in only 2 years. So, we used an ancient drum of alkyd stain my dad gave us last year, it was nearly the perfect color. Maybe a wee bit more intensely pigmented than I might have picked, but I know the sun will fade it too so it's probably a good thing. The smell of it was pretty awful though, I was happy for the breeze. Still not quite finished, but close.

Still debating what I'll grow on it this year along with runner beans. I'm contemplating some little Asian melons like maybe Sakata Sweet or Kiku Chrysanthemum. I've always loved the look of melons hanging down from above.