It's That Time Again!
Even though I have a plethora of seeds, both purchased and saved from my labors in the garden alike, every year I also order a bunch of garden seeds too.
Why? Well, for a few reasons. I like to try new cultivars, I enjoy supporting small businesses, and come on, there's nothing more fun than getting a box of seeds in the mail! It's like getting a missive from the Ghost of Garden Future!
That said, this year I really didn't need that many new seeds, but I thought it would be fun to write a post about a couple of new varieties that I am going to try and to announce my own personal garden goals for this season.
First things first, the goals:
1. Grow a massive competition pumpkin in order to achieve my dream of inaugurating the first ever pumpkin regatta on my hometown's lake.
This goal is ongoing. Way ongoing. Part of the problem is that I have a challenging growing season when it comes to mammoth pumpkin production. I also have a rather challenging schedule. But I refuse to let my desires for floating pumpkin glory to be shelved. My hope is that this year we won't have a daytime high of 49 degrees Fahrenheit on July first. That really put the hurt on my competition pumpkin's growth. My little beastie maxed out at a bit over 100lbs last year due it just being plain old cold.
However, I did improve my end of the the plant's care. My attention to feeding, watering, and tending of the vine was much more intensive, so if Nature cooperates just a bit more I might have a chance this year, especially since I nuked much of my overstretching schedule and am going to devote much more consistent time to the garden's needs.
2. To quit being successively harvest lazy.
Okay, so years ago I did market garden. I hauled my carcass, coolers, tables, a popup, and produce to the market each week and sold produce. I know how to grow a garden that yields each week from mid May through October. I just haven't done it for a while. Been focused on other things.
This year I plan to sow and cultivate my food space in such a way that it yields consistently over time like a proper subsistence garden should. No garden laziness allowed. Sigh.
3. Grow a separate seed garden.
I have a space in front of my house where I used to keep my house flock of chickens. Let's just say the soil there is this side of magnificent, as I cover cropped that realm after I cut back on the amount of chickens I kept on the place. I plan to sow a few crops there just for the purpose of seed collection. Plus, I like food plants better than grass, so this just seems like a fun thing to do.
And there you goal! LOL!
Now it's time to show off the new plant varieties that I am super excited to grow!
Tomato: VR Moscow
As most of you know, I live in North Idaho, which is not exactly tomato country. That said, I made it my mission over a decade ago to become proficient at producing tomatoes in my challenging microclimate. I grow and can a lot of tomatoes every year, and I am always on the lookout for a variety that can handle North Idaho. We get all the weather, cold nights, triple digit temperatures, wild swings in temperature, etc...
I buy a lot of my seeds from True Leaf Market (formerly Mountain Valley Seed Co.) out of Utah. All of their seeds are non GMO, and they have a nice variety and packet size selection to choose from. Also, if a plant will thrive in Utah, it will usually thrive here as our climates are similar, the main difference is my growing season is just a bit shorter.
When I spied the VR Moscow tomato in the tomato section of their online catalog, I wondered if the variety had been bred in Moscow, Idaho, and sure enough it had been. Moscow is about 100 miles south of me, so super SQUEE I had to try that tomato.
Collards: Vates
I've grown a lot of greens over the years, but as of yet, have never grown collards. A recent trip to Lo Lo's Chicken And Waffles is responsible for this purchase. I ate the most succulent, bliss-inducing collards at that joint in Phoenix. So great were those greens that I decided to grow my own in order to attempt to recreate that ambrosia that I enjoyed. We'll see how my collards growing goes...
And that is where I am going to leave this post, as I have some chores to do. Are any of you making gardening goals for this growing season or have new plant varieties that you are going to try? I would love to hear about it!
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's soon to be compost covered iPhone.