Picture Perfect Cooking

Today is March 1st, y’all!  That means that spring and gardening are right around the corner.  Can I get a woo-hoo?!?!?  I really can’t complain about our winter weather this year since it has been so nice and mild, but I am itching to get my hands in the dirt and see some green things grow.  Since I had some of my regular veggie seeds left over from last year, I decided to experiment with some heirloom varieties which I ordered from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Have you ever seen one of their catalogs?  I could sit and read it like a book over and over again.  The photos, the descriptions…it’s just too much! 

C & I are a bunch of lettuce/cucumber/carrot loving people so I always make sure to have a big supply of seeds for those.  There were so many lettuces at Baker Creek that I would love to try, but I finally settled on two types: Gentilina, which produce "lovely bright green leafy heads" and Brune d’Hiver which is a French heirloom butterhead type.  Hmmm, butterhead, that just sounds so good.  Since I found a great carrot variety last year and it seems to be an heirloom, I am sticking with it.  "It" is Danvers 126 Half Long and the flavor is just so carroty.  The cucumber "Marketmore 76" had a wonderful description and good reviews so that was added to my shopping cart as well.  I also want to experiment with making my own tomato sauce and juice since I use so much of it in cooking so Amish Paste tomato seed also was included in my order.  The description is what led me to choose it over some other paste tomato varieties: "Giant, blocky, Roma type tomatoes have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning.  It has world-class flavor and comes from an Amish community in Wisconsin."  I can’t wait to try this! 

For fun, I also purchased two types of sunflower seeds, Mammoth Grey Striped and Tiger Eye mix.  The plan is to plant these in the fence row behind our house and let the birds feast on them.  Since watermelon is a favorite summer treat around here, I also got some Malali watermelon seeds which is a small fruited variety that weighs in around 10 pounds and boasts a light-red flesh that is refreshing and "sugary sweet".  I will definitely be purchasing from Baker Creek again and they also threw in a free gift of "Parisienne" carrot seeds.  Yay, I love free gifts!

Each year I try to add to our "orchard", which so far consists of two apple trees and two pear trees, along with about 50 Tribute strawberry plants.  This year I decided to add another 25 strawberry plants, also Tribute, and two grape vines.  I ordered these from Miller Nurseries and I highly recommend this company.  Their prices are great and the quality of their plants is even better.  They have a three grapevine deal called "Most Wanted Grape Collection" for only $23.15 which is a bargain in my book.  The collection consists of one of each of the following vines: Interlaken, Canadice, (I am planting these two), and Reliance (which my grandmother wanted). 

This doesn’t include the sweet pepper plants that I will buy this spring or anything that might strike my fancy along the way. Maybe some herbs too?  Now, if I can just get another raised bed built before planting time! 

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