Some seeds ordered

I'm happy to have ordered some seeds from Henry Field's yesterday, the catalog came with a coupon and i liked the seeds they had so i decided to order some stuff. Anyone ever order from Henry Field's? I never ordered from them before, but wanted to give them a try.

Here's what i ordered:

Blue Lake Beans, last year for green beans i tried a variety called Fortex which was pretty good. The blue lake beans produce beans from the bottom of the plant to the top which is preety good, this variety also has heavy yield and a certain kind of full-bodied flavor.

California Blackeye #5, these black eyed peas grow to be dwarf plants that are disease-resistant and rich, slightly sweet flavor and meaty texture.

Harrier Beets, this is a new hybrid in beets. They claim they have the best flavor of any beet and said even people who don't like beets asked for seconds of this variety.

Envy Hybrid Carrots, grows to 12-in. length with sweet flavor and improved yield. Even produces long carrots in clay soil. The thing that appealed to me with this carrot is that even if it grows to be a jumbo carrot it still has the sweetness and flavor. Its the quality that sets this carrot apart from others.

Farmer's Extra Early Cauliflower, produces in 40 days thats pretty early for a cauliflower. Heat resistant and slow to bolt.

National Pickling Cucumber, very high yielding vines produce early. This variety holds its quality longer than most varieties.

Nubia Eggplant, Unique coloration and high yield with delicious mild flavor.

Onion sets Yellow & White, i wasnt sure if i wanted red onions too, i bet they would go great in salads maybe i'll try red too.

Purple Top White Globe Turnip, weigh up to 2 pounds each. Never grew turnips before but i have made soup with them i suppose the turnip greens would be great sauteed like broccoli raab would.

Laurentian Rutabaga, This is another root crop I never grew before, these grow to 4 to 6 in. round roots.

Marconi Rosso Pepper, Good green flavor becomes super sweet when pepper turns red. Good for fry, grill, or use in salad.

German Giant Radish, Record setting size growing to the size of a baseball. Has great mild flavor, never gets hot or woody.

Vital Green Spinach, they claim its the biggest, strongest, most vigorous spinach you can grow.
Slower to blot than any other variety. Keeps its rich flavor for an extended period.

Roma Tomato, Disease Resistant and great yield. I'm growing these tomatoes for making sauce. Last year i had San Marzanos, going to give the romas a try this year maybe i'll grow them with a few san marzano to compare.

Sweet 'n Early Melon, these would be perfect for short season areas. Super sweet and juicy. Produces 6 to 8 melons per plant and resists powdery mildew.

Well that's some of what i'm expecting to plant.

I've ordered from Henry Fields and had good results.

I've grown the Marconi Rosso peppers but they never had time to turn red. Don't let that deter you - you may have more weeks in your growing season and probably have warmer nights. And, I didn't find any real difference between them and the regular Marconi when they are green and that was just fine .

Sweet 'n' Early melons sound like they would be a good choice for my garden!

Steve

Wow, that sounds like a great bunch of seeds! I'm going to try Roma tomatoes this year too, I tried making tomato sauce from what I had last year, and it was ok, but not what I was looking for. Made great picante sauce, though!

Just a word about the Sweet-N-Early melons . . . we planted those last year (hubby and I both enjoy melons!) and we didn't get nearly the amount it says. We planted them in full sun, the vines grew like gangbusters, we had flowers all over the place, but we grew a total of 4 melons from 11 plants.

And they were about the size of baseballs, mostly closer to tennis balls.

I have no idea what happened! The melons were very tasty, had good flavor and firm flesh, but they really didn't live up to their description. I can only surmise that here in zone 4, there just weren't enough summer days (and that the days weren't warm enough) for good melon production. I know some farmers here CAN get melons, but we couldn't.


Whitewater

wonderful time of year the seed season! you are going to have a nice variety

Yes seed season is fun for sure! Getting all those cute little packs in the mail!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Whitewater said:

Wow, that sounds like a great bunch of seeds! I'm going to try Roma tomatoes this year too, I tried making tomato sauce from what I had last year, and it was ok, but not what I was looking for. Made great picante sauce, though!

Just a word about the Sweet-N-Early melons . . . we planted those last year (hubby and I both enjoy melons!) and we didn't get nearly the amount it says. We planted them in full sun, the vines grew like gangbusters, we had flowers all over the place, but we grew a total of 4 melons from 11 plants.

And they were about the size of baseballs, mostly closer to tennis balls.

I have no idea what happened! The melons were very tasty, had good flavor and firm flesh, but they really didn't live up to their description. I can only surmise that here in zone 4, there just weren't enough summer days (and that the days weren't warm enough) for good melon production. I know some farmers here CAN get melons, but we couldn't.


Whitewater

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Last year was not a good year for melons or cucumbers here. Pumpkin and squash not great either. It was very cold and very wet. I am hoping for better this year.

Here are some other seeds, i ordered from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds .



Beans- Papa De Rola
Looks interesting, i never grew a portuguese kind of bean before.

Broccoli- Rapini
I love to grow rapini or broccoli raab just sauteed with olive oil and garlic maybe with some bread, its satisfying.

Cucumber- Japanese Long
Very crisp and mild, easy to digest, very productive and delicious. These cukes can grow as long as 18".
-Telegraph Improved
Flesh is very crisp, tender and mild. Superb flavor, An excellent English Heirloom variety introduced around 1897.

Eggplant
-Rosa Bianca
Grew this variety a few years ago, i liked the flavor of this variety plus it looks pretty in the garden.

Greens
-Arugula
-Corn Salad or Mache
Grew this last year, they have a nice nutty flavor with tender leaves. Tasted great in salads.
-Wild Rocket Argula
I grew the regular argula last year and i wanted to try the wild kind next season. They have a more pungent taste.

Lettuce
-Gentilina
Italian variety with bright green tender frizzled leaves.

European Melon
-Charentais
French heirloom variety, super sweet and very fragrant. I tried these one year until powdery mildew got to them, i'm trying these again.

Sweet Pepper
-Jimmy Nardello Italian
Very prolific variety, great for frying or fresh eating.

-Yellow Monster
I had to get some of these, peppers from this variety can grow 8" long by 4" wide, talk about impressing the neighbors . They are really sweet and meaty. I love to grow big giant size vegetables, its amazing how big certain vegetables can grow.

Pink Tomatoes
-Royal Hillbilly
Very large ponderous vines set out amazing amounts of georgous purplish pink, medium to large beefsteaks.

Purple Tomatoes
-Cherokee Purple
I've always wanted to try this variety. Never heard of a tomato variety before having a smoky flavor, sounds interesting. Beautiful, deep, dusky purple-brown color. Has real old-time tomato flavor.

Red Tomatoes
-Old Italian
Tasty, very large beefsteak-type.
-Pantano Romanesco
Flesh is very rich, flavorful, and juicy. Very rare and delicious.
I also love to grow varieties of vegetables that are unique, different, or rare. Thats one of the great things about growing from seed, these varieties aren't sold as plants.

-Rei Dos Temporoes
Means "King of the Earlies", Early type for its size and quality. Compact plants yield abundantly for a couple of months.


Striped Tomatoes
-Hillbilly or Flame
Bi-color heirloom, brillant yellow color with red marbling. Very large with a rich sweet flavor. Beautiful when sliced. An heirloom from West Virginia.

For the tomatoes, this is going to be my first year for growing purple and striped tomatoes. I always just grew the usual red tomatoes but it will add interest and trying something new.



You can easily get overwhelmed with ordering seeds, they all look so good. Its difficult sometimes to chose, but i know as long as i ordered heirlooms they should be great.

I wasn't sure though for the tomatoes, if a packet would be enough?
Anyone who has ordered from them do they give plenty of seeds per packet?


I chose some interesting and different types of tomatoes for next season's garden. I gotta say I'd rather grow heirloom tomatoes that have history behind them with that great old-time taste than hybrids. I'm not saying hybrids are bad but i prefer heirlooms, for sure.
Baker Creek seems like an excellent place to get seeds from, from the moment i received my first catalog from them i was hooked. The one thing i like about them is that they have lots of rare and unusual variety, some if not all, you can't get anywhere else.

I am a Baker Creek fan too.

I got Red Chinese Noodle Beans
Dragon tongue beans (grew those last year and they did great!)
Black Cherry tomatoes
Collective Farm Woman melon
Ground Cherries
and Red Wonder Wild Strawberry

wifezilla said:

I am a Baker Creek fan too.

I got Red Chinese Noodle Beans
Dragon tongue beans (grew those last year and they did great!)
Black Cherry tomatoes
Collective Farm Woman melon
Ground Cherries
and Red Wonder Wild Strawberry

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Thats sounds very interesting wifezilla!

Would anyone know how many seeds they give per packet of tomato seeds?

Thanks!

I just counted my Hillbilly and Roma tomatoe package, they each have about 40 seeds.

mary