My last and second seed order came in this morning. So i have my Provider green beans, their radish mix, Pruden's Purple tomato, Early Butternut winter squash, Ailsa Craig onion and Nutri Bud broccoli. The only problem is that two of what i wanted were unavailable- the Golden Zebra summer squash and the Southport Red Globe onion. They had to be substituted with 49er F1 summer squash and Red Burgundy onion.
I'm not sure how well this substitution is going to work since Southport is a long-day Northern onion and according to what i can find about Red Burgundy is that it is a short-day onion which is better for Southern areas. I still have some Southport seed from last year so i guess i'll have both to compare.
Golden Zebra sounded so good. Described as having a more appetizing flavor than regular summer squash, i was looking forward to it. But i looked up 49er F1 and it sounds good too, so i think i'll be fine.
So, i'm feeling pretty good about not having gone hog wild with seeds this year (compared to other years) and i have been studying seed saving- finding out what plants i can save seeds from year after year without degrading them with a small gene pool. I don't have even a half an acre- so some things won't work. But i'll be good for tomatoes and maybe even the provider beans. But i get to do more reading throughout the next few months before i need to know for sure.
Still snow on the ground out there and i expect it to be there for some time. I did take a few pictures of how the garden is melting off. The way its going makes a strong argument for my slightly raised bed system. The tops of most of the beds are appearing much more quickly while the walking rows are still full of snow. Since i am switching the direction of my rows this year i won't be able to take a lot of advantage of the beds as they sit, but some patches of warm soil will be tilled in with the colder stuff and it just might get things a slight bit warmer faster than if all the surface was at the same level.
I found a lone parsnip waking up before most everything else. I may save and replant this one to try and get some seed from it.
The Brussels sprouts look like they still might be alive in there.
I got the table upright and on the driveway/patio. Hubby won't like it but i'm going to start seeds on it in a later-than-it-should-be wintersowing session. I saved a lot of milk jugs for this. Later when things sprout, they will go in the mini greenhouse.
Rose Orach seedlings. I mistakenly thought they were the Midnight Red Amaranth, but a check of the lable corrected me.
