And sometimes, they just slip away . . .

[digitS']

When I was a kid, I didn't care for some veggies. I suppose that's still true - there are just a few, that hold no appeal for me . . .

Tomatoes were one that I didn't like when I was real young. Learning to like them probably had something to do with the interest Americans began to take in spaghetti and pizza. You know, I can still remember when the very 1st pizza place opened in the town where I lived and the first time I tasted a pizza . . .



Anyway, I learned to like tomatoes and unlike some folks who have made it to high office without a special regard for it, I like broccoli, too!

I started with an old-style variety (Calabrese) but found that I had trouble keeping up with all the little shoots. The lateness of production also was a problem. Probably, for 10 years, I grew Green Comet and thought it did real well - I was completely happy with Green Comet .

Green Comet seed was everywhere! And, then it wasn't . . .

So, I was forced to try Premium Crop. It didn't quite "work" probably because the season is usually very cool and cloudy during the spring and then changes to Hot & Dry in early July. We can go an entire summer month with no rain, at all. Premium Crop will produce a nice head then all those nice buds get entirely too "rambunctious" in flowering. I'd like to bring some of those into the kitchen for dinner!

Then I found the very-popular Packman! Just right! A little broccoli plant with a nice big head and quite a few tender side-shoots -- all for me!

Now, I have problems finding Packman seed!! Next year . . . the year after . . . this has happened before . . . sometimes, they just slip away.

Steve

 

[tinychicken]

Steve, Territorial carries Packman seed. They also have a variety called Southern Comet. Not sure how that compares to regular old Comet, though.

 

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

I feel your pain. It took me several hours of diligent searching before I found the nearly-legendary Saticoy Cantaloupe.....and then it is only plants, not seed packets. But these are what I grew up munching on all summer, in the midwest. They are my version of the perfect cantaloupe. Why there are no seeds available is a mystery to me.

 

[lesa]

Digits- have you tried to collect seed from your fav? My season is a little short, I had some pods develop, but they didn't have time to dry out before winter hit. I'm going to try and let a few heads go to seed earlier this year and see what happens. Good luck!

 

[digitS']

Nitty, we are all, every one of us, going to experience this at some time. If we stay in gardening long enough.

Well Lesa, I suppose that the most diligent seed savers will have their special cabbage and cornsalad seed crop and never have a failure. I failed to get radish seed from plants started in June of last year! DW pulled all of that variety started in April before I could get her stopped. But, there's some old seed from 'o8, left for this year. Despite being such a quick grower, the June sown plants had seed that was real light and probably not viable. That's another example how things can slip thru our fingers.

Thank you Joan, I was able to find a couple sources but had actually intended to pick up Packman at the garden center when I was there going thru their '10 packets yesterday. It wasn't until later that I realized that they didn't have in 'o9, either. Reminds me of that "little man who wasn't there" poem .

Green Comet was an All American Selections winner when it was released in '68. It probably took me several years to start growing it but this was a popular broccoli back "in the day." It isn't quite gone - I can still find the seed in a few places like the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. But, I ordered from a dozen seed companies last year and Southern Exposure hasn't found a place in the line-up yet.

You can sometimes find out a little on the origins of some vegetable varieties here at this North Carolina State University website - names and dates.

Cornell's Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners may guide us to sources for veggies that we are looking for. It is always worth checking but we probably shouldn't cling desperately to the past . . . uh, maybe. I can understand flower varieties/colors passing in and out of fashion but we're talking vittles here.

Steve

 

[freshfood]

When I was a kid, I didn't care for some veggies. I suppose that's still true - there are just a few, that hold no appeal for me . . .

Tomatoes were one that I didn't like when I was real young. Learning to like them probably had something to do with the interest Americans began to take in spaghetti and pizza. You know, I can still remember when the very 1st pizza place opened in the town where I lived and the first time I tasted a pizza . . .



Anyway, I learned to like tomatoes and unlike some folks who have made it to high office without a special regard for it, I like broccoli, too!

I started with an old-style variety (Calabrese) but found that I had trouble keeping up with all the little shoots. The lateness of production also was a problem. Probably, for 10 years, I grew Green Comet and thought it did real well - I was completely happy with Green Comet .

Green Comet seed was everywhere! And, then it wasn't . . .

So, I was forced to try Premium Crop. It didn't quite "work" probably because the season is usually very cool and cloudy during the spring and then changes to Hot & Dry in early July. We can go an entire summer month with no rain, at all. Premium Crop will produce a nice head then all those nice buds get entirely too "rambunctious" in flowering. I'd like to bring some of those into the kitchen for dinner!

Then I found the very-popular Packman! Just right! A little broccoli plant with a nice big head and quite a few tender side-shoots -- all for me!

Now, I have problems finding Packman seed!! Next year . . . the year after . . . this has happened before . . . sometimes, they just slip away.

Steve

I buy Packman from Johnny's Selected Seed. They're in Maine, I'm in upstate NY, and we've bought from them for many years. Packman is a super broccoli!

 

[digitS']

I did find Packman, Freshfood. The fact that it isn't as widely available as it once was, makes me suspicious. These kind of things just keep me on my toes, however. I gotta be hedging my bets by exploring new hybrid varieties. Either that or doing a lot of seed-saving.

Just been reading about heirloom tomatoes. About.com's garden blogger says, "If today's tomatoes don't taste the way you remember tomatoes tasting, you're growing the wrong tomatoes." Well, that doesn't quite work for me (see above ).

But, as I said, I've learned to like tomatoes. There are very few that I find "unpleasant" and nearly all are to my taste, these days. This year, I will have 10 new-to-me, open-pollinated tomatoes joining about 6 or 8 heirloom tomatoes I've grown before. Out of room for about 60 plants (hybrids & heirlooms), I'm a little in danger of overwhelming my tomato patch with new and untried varieties !

Steve

 

[theOEGBman]

I'm only 19, so pizzas have always been around for me!

BUT, I have noticed what you are dealing with. Growing up, we ALWAYS gre blue lake pole beans. We tried other varieties and they just didn't cut it. Now we have a really hard time finding blue lake POLE beans, you can find bush Beans all over. There are a few sites that carry them but we prefer to buy local. I'm just growing bush beans this year, I believe, unless I set up a teepee.

 

[boggybranch]

Just checked eBay....quite a few listings for Packman brocolli.