I've made the major decisions about what to grow this year and am posting the list here. I also have seeds from last year (and the year before that) to plant this year, including Pigott Family Heirloom crowder peas, Dakota Black popcorn, Wuhib paste tomato, SloBolt lettuce, and MANY more.
This is a lot of seeds, and the garden space isn't exactly huge. However, the seeds - and transplants grown from the seeds - won't all go into the garden at the same time; some of these are for spring, some for fall, and some for summer.
From Fedco Seeds, in Maine:
Little Leaf H-19 cucumber
Rocky Ford green flesh melon
Raven zucchini
Cherokee Purple tomato
Scarlet Nantes carrot
French Breakfast radish
Evergreen Hardy White scallions
Jimmy Nardello pepper
Black Czech pepper
Rutgers tomato
Golden Detroit beet
Total $14.00 (no S/H charges since I ordered with a friend; together, we got above the no S/H minimum)
From The Cook’s Garden, in Pennsylvania, but owned by the CEO of Burpee:
Sugar Nut hybrid melon (2 packets)
Costoluto Genovese tomato
Cilantro
Total $13.35 (plus $5.95 S/H)
From Sandhill Preservation Center, in Iowa:
Blue Marbut pole beans
Ukranian Beauty eggplant
Red Russian kale
Vegetable mallow
Aunt Molly’s ground cherry
Pollock Rocky Ford melon (orange flesh variety)
Detroit Dark Red beet
Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce
Winter radishes mix
Straight Nine cucumber
Yellow Out Red In tomato
Sweet Genovese basil
Total 20.25 (no S/H)
From Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, in Virginia:
Oxheart carrots
Hanover Salad kale
Forest Green parsley
Capitan lettuce
Cajun Jewel okra
Napolean Sweet pepper
Ice Bred White turnip
Total $17.24 (plus 3.50 S/H)
The grand total cost for seeds (so far) is $64.84. With S/H charges included, it's $74.29. When onion sets become available, I will be buying a bundle of those. Last year, one bundle cost $1.50, and I am expecting this year's bundle to be a similar price.
If I were more strapped for cash, I would have ordered from just Fedco and/or Sandhill preservation. They have more varieties for lower prices than other sources I've seen, and they have no S/H charge on orders above a minimum ($30 for Fedco, $10 for Sandhill Preservation). If my seed-ordering friend and I could find a few more people to order with us, we could get a "volume discount" from Fedco (10% off orders above $100).
wow what a good selection you have down there, love to see people keeping the heirlooms going, peace
ReplyDeleteRuralrose,
ReplyDeleteI do grow a lot of heirlooms! I know a guy who is strictly a hybrids man; he thinks that is his best option for a sure crop. I have found, though, that if I choose the RIGHT heirlooms, they do as well as, or better than, the hybrids in my yard. The trick is being patient enough to trial numerous heirloom varieties in my yard, in multiple years.
One of the beauties of blogs is that they can share their successes (and failures), so I don't have to try so many varieties on my own. I can read how the choices of other gardeners in my region worked out. For this, I am truly thankful.