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About the Author

Jenn

Just a forest-girl, discovering new possibilities on the farm of her dreams. A wife, a mom, an author, a pretty darn good friend.

Seedlings This Year

It’s that time. I’m getting excited. The greenhouse is at 34C right now.

TOMATOES

cheroke purple An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre- 1890 variety; beautiful, deep, dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very-large-sized fruit.

amish pasteGiant, blocky, Roma type tomatoes have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning.

martino’s roma:  Determinate. The paste-type fruit is dry-fleshed and very meaty with few seeds. Great for sauces, salsas and pastes.

black cherry: Beautiful black cherries look like large grapes; sweet but not too sweet.

chardonnay: sweet, yellow, cherry-sized; prolific

chocolate pearpear-shaped in a gorgeous brown-purple. Sweet and perfect.

yellow pearVery sweet, 1½” yellow, pear-shaped fruits have a mild flavor, and are great for fresh eating or for making tomato preserves.

blue beauty: Fruit is modest beefsteak-type slicer, weighing up to 8 ounces, and the flavor is as good as its outstanding antioxidant content! Gorgeous, deep blue-black shoulders make this unique among slicing types; fruit holds well on the vine. Sunburn and crack resistance are a welcome bonus.

moneymaker: red, not too sweet, early fruit, golf-ball sized fruit.

bonny best: Medium-sized fruit is round, red, meaty and loaded with flavor. A good producer that makes a fine slicer too. Becoming hard to find due to modern, flavorless hybrids.

purple bumblebee: Slightly elongated little cherries with the most outrageous striping in lime green and bronzy-purple! Crack-resistant fruit is produced all season long on plants that are unfazed by temperature extremes. The flavor is complex but sweet.

blue cream berry: super-sweet cherry, prolific, delicate but complex flavour; another favourite

yellow brandywine: delicious large fruit, large potato-leaf plants, better tasting than pink brandwine; an heirloom speciality

beefsteak: massive fruit, 1-2 lbs, deep red flesh, old-fashioned flavour, meat and firm

sunrise bumblebee: one ounce of sweetness, luminous swirls of reds and oranges, part of the artisan series

mortgage lifter: 85 days. Large, smooth, 1-lb pink fruit has a delicious, rich, sweet taste. This variety has become very popular in recent years and was developed by M.C. Byles of Logan, West Virginia. After crossing varieties for 6 years and selecting the best, he introduced this beauty that he named Mortgage Lifter in the 1940s, after he sold plants for $1 each and paid off the $6000 mortgage on his house.

white tomesol: An amazing heirloom that is bursting with fragrance and natural goodness that’s hard to beat. One of the best tomatoes we have tasted, being both sweet and rich. The cream colored fruit is beautiful, smooth and weighs about 8 ounces each. The vines set heavy yields of this rare treasure. It’s sure to become a favorite of gourmet growers.

PEPPERS – HOT

black hungarian jalapenoUnique, black-colored fruit that are the shape of a Jalapeno. They are mildly hot and have a delicious flavor. The tall plants have beautiful purple flowers that make this variety very ornamental.

poblano3- to 6-inch heart-shaped fruits are usually of gentle heat, at around 2000 scovilles. Used green, after roasting and peeling, it is the classic pepper for chili rellenos. Dried, the fruits turn a rich dark red-brown and may be ground into an authentic red chili powder. Plants reach 2 feet or so and require a long season.

sante fe grandeSpicy, 4” peppers, glowing gold in color and quite warm; makes pretty pickles and salsa. Ornamental plants give heavy yields over the entire summer, making this a perfect choice for home or market gardens. Introduced in 1965.

thai: (bird’s eye chili) Grow to a foot high, spicy taste, perfect for adding to thai/asian cuisine, can be dried and used in all cooking.

PEPPERS – SWEET

king of the north Early, good-sized peppers of a heavy yielding habit. The variety thrives in the cooler summer weather so prevalent in New England and yields crisp bells, green ripening to red, right up until frost.

corbaciA unique and wonderful sweet pepper. Very long 10-inch fruit are curved and twisted, very slender, like a Turkish scimitar. This rare heirloom from Turkey has a very rich flavor, perfect for pickling or frying.

red mini bellTiny, red bell peppers are only about 1-1/2” tall and wide; they have thick red flesh that is very sweet. 2’-tall plants produce loads of these little winners, and early, too. Great for stuffing.

lipstick A delicious pepper with 4” long tapered, pimiento type fruits that are super sweet. This fine pepper is early and ripens well in the North. A flavorful favorite with thick, red flesh.

banana wax: sleek, tapered fruit, reaching 6-7″, ripens to red-orange, good for salads, being stuffed or pickled.

california: The standard green bell pepper. A nice size with very good yield; a popular old-time variety.

purple bell: high yields; 4″, deep onyx colour, compact plant

zulu: This impressively ‘eggplant black’ colored bell pepper is crisp with thin flesh. It has an amazing piquant aftertaste of spicy zip minus the nip of a hot pepper, and this sweet pepper is sure to please even the toughest critic! Zulu pepper would be a great addition to salsa and salads. A beautiful pepper from Poland.

MELONS:

golden jenny: Short vines just go wild producing these succulent, sweet 2 lb. golden-fleshed beauties.

early silver lineBeautiful, oval-shaped yellow fruit weight 1-2 lbs with silver stripes and white flesh.

SQUASH:

butternutAn old favorite. Good yields with excellent-tasting, rich, orange-colored flesh.

spaghetti:  This is American strain of this popular Japanese squash, with stringy flesh that is used like spaghetti. Introduced to America before 1920.

lemon zucchini: shape, size and colour of a lemon, huge yields, best resistance to insects

CUCUMBERS:

boston picklingAn old heirloom dating back to 1880. Vigorous vines give large yields of smooth green fruit. It is excellent for pickles; very crisp and good quality. A very popular variety at the turn of the 20th century.

tendergreen burplessBurpless slicing type, free from bitterness, that has been popular for over 80 years! Fruits are medium-dark green, 7-12 inches in length, and quite plump and smooth compared to Japanese long slicing types. Excels as a slicer, because each fruit yields so many slices of uniform diameter, but the tender skin makes great pickles as well. 

beit alpha: delicious, sweet, does not need peeling, burpless, high yields, tender

green apple: heirloom from Australia, size of a lemon, mild, sweet, juicy, fun to grow.

muncher: no pollinators required; 6-8″ long; strong vine; can be pickled or eaten right out of the garden.

early fortune: this is a super dependable garden cucumber that is sweet and almost never bitter. Slicing-type fruit grows 7 to 8 inches long, 2 inches in diameter.

BROCCOLI

walthamStandard type, produces 4-8” green heads that are nicely flavored. Compact plants also produce some side shoots. Introduced in 1954.

CABBAGE

brunswickA large drumhead cabbage, very cold hardy. A fall/winter type cabbage, stores very well.

red expressNewly released open-pollinated red cabbage, the first in many years! Specifically bred for Canada and northern tier of USA. Compact plants, extra early production of solid, split-resistant oval heads to only 2-3 pounds.

violacea di veronaA vintage heirloom cabbage that originated in the region of Verona in Northern Italy, with stunning, lightly savoyed violet and green leaves that get more vibrant as the cool fall and winter weather set in. Medium sized round heads mature 120 days from seeding. With violet colored wrapper leaves and yellow-green inside leaves, they are an ideal choice for a fall/winter harvest. It is frost hardy, and in warmer areas can be harvested until New Year.

CAULIFLOWER

amazing It is a classic American favorite and can be harvested either at the “baby head” size or when fully mature at 10”. Brilliant white, self-blanching heads are covered by large abundant wrapper leaves that protect them from sun, heat and cold; easy to grow in the North or South. It keeps well in the field and heavy bearing, so pick as needed and prepare for a large harvest.

purple: 70 Days. Beautiful, brilliant purple heads weigh 2-3 lbs and are a fine, sweet flavor. The heads cook to bright green. Insect-resistant, it is also easier to grow than many white varieties, and it is rich in minerals. 

HERBS:

blue hyssop, borage, catnip, cilantro, curly parsley, italian parsley, lavender, chamomile, genovese basil, blue basil, cinnamon basil, thai basil, lettuce basil, siam basil, purple basil, dill, lemongrass and mint.

FLOWERS:

New thing this year. Going to try multi-coloured petunias, bright orange calendula, and blue salvia for annuals. Perennials will be blue centaurea, multi-coloured digitalis, lupins, multi-coloured aquilegia and monarda.

All plants are non-gmo, heirloom, organic. All come in in 4″ pot or larger. Plants are $3.50 each.

2022 – PLANT LIST

Tomatoes:

-orange icicle: Sweet, rich and flavorful with strong citrus overtones. Sweet, orange, icicle-like fruits that are like an extra long paste tomato. This variety also makes a lovely orange ketchup and a superb salsa. Seeds from the Ukraine.

-cheroke purple:  An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre- 1890 variety; beautiful, deep, dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very-large-sized fruit.

-amish paste: Giant, blocky, Roma type tomatoes have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning.

-martino’s roma:  Determinate. The paste-type fruit is dry-fleshed and very meaty with few seeds. Great for sauces, salsas and pastes.

-blue beauty: Fruits are modest beefsteak-type slicers, weighing up to 8 ounces. Gorgeous, deep blue-black with red.

-black cherry: Beautiful black cherries look like large grapes; sweet but not too sweet.

chocolate pear: pear-shaped in a gorgeous brown-purple. Sweet and perfect.

-yellow pear: Very sweet, 1½” yellow, pear-shaped fruits have a mild flavor, and are great for fresh eating or for making tomato preserves.

-blue beauty: Fruit is modest beefsteak-type slicer, weighing up to 8 ounces, and the flavor is as good as its outstanding antioxidant content! Gorgeous, deep blue-black shoulders make this unique among slicing types; fruit holds well on the vine. Sunburn and crack resistance are a welcome bonus.

-bonny best: Medium-sized fruit is round, red, meaty and loaded with flavor. A good producer that makes a fine slicer too. Becoming hard to find due to modern, flavorless hybrids.

-purple bumblebee: Slightly elongated little cherries with the most outrageous striping in lime green and bronzy-purple! Crack-resistant fruit is produced all season long on plants that are unfazed by temperature extremes. The flavor is complex but sweet.

-blue cream berry: super-sweet cherry, prolific, delicate but complex flavour; another favourite

-yellow brandywine: delicious large fruit, large potato-leaf plants, better tasting than pink brandwine; an heirloom speciality

-beefsteak: massive fruit, 1-2 lbs, deep red flesh, old-fashioned flavour, meat and firm

-sunrise bumblebee: one ounce of sweetness, luminous swirls of reds and oranges, part of the artisan series

-mortgage lifter: 85 days. Large, smooth, 1-lb pink fruit has a delicious, rich, sweet taste. This variety has become very popular in recent years and was developed by M.C. Byles of Logan, West Virginia. After crossing varieties for 6 years and selecting the best, he introduced this beauty that he named Mortgage Lifter in the 1940s, after he sold plants for $1 each and paid off the $6000 mortgage on his house.

-white tomesol: An amazing heirloom that is bursting with fragrance and natural goodness that’s hard to beat. One of the best tomatoes we have tasted, being both sweet and rich. The cream colored fruit is beautiful, smooth and weighs about 8 ounces each. The vines set heavy yields of this rare treasure. It’s sure to become a favorite of gourmet growers.

Tomatillos: Deep green fruit; a standard, richly-flavored type. Huge yields.

Peppers:

-black hungarian jalapeno: Unique, black-colored fruit that are the shape of a Jalapeno. They are mildly hot and have a delicious flavor. The tall plants have beautiful purple flowers that make this variety very ornamental.

-poblano: 3- to 6-inch heart-shaped fruits are usually of gentle heat, at around 2000 scovilles. Used green, after roasting and peeling, it is the classic pepper for chili rellenos. Dried, the fruits turn a rich dark red-brown and may be ground into an authentic red chili powder. Plants reach 2 feet or so and require a long season.

-sante fe grande: Spicy, 4” peppers, glowing gold in color and quite warm; makes pretty pickles and salsa. Ornamental plants give heavy yields over the entire summer, making this a perfect choice for home or market gardens. Introduced in 1965.

-tabasco: This famous heirloom was introduced into Louisiana in 1848 and became the main ingredient in Tabasco Pepper Sauce. This pepper is very hot and has a delicious flavor. The plants grow up to 4’ tall and are covered with small, thin peppers.

-thai: (bird’s eye chili) Grow to a foot high, spicy taste, perfect for adding to thai/asian cuisine, can be dried and used in all cooking.

Not Spicy:

-king of the north:  Early, good-sized peppers of a heavy yielding habit. The variety thrives in the cooler summer weather so prevalent in New England and yields crisp bells, green ripening to red, right up until frost.

-corbaci: A unique and wonderful sweet pepper. Very long 10-inch fruit are curved and twisted, very slender, like a Turkish scimitar. This rare heirloom from Turkey has a very rich flavor, perfect for pickling or frying.

-red mini bell: Tiny, red bell peppers are only about 1-1/2” tall and wide; they have thick red flesh that is very sweet. 2’-tall plants produce loads of these little winners, and early, too. Great for stuffing.

-banana wax: sleek, tapered fruit, reaching 6-7″, ripens to red-orange, good for salads, being stuffed or pickled.

-california: The standard green bell pepper. A nice size with very good yield; a popular old-time variety.

-zulu: This impressively ‘eggplant black’ colored bell pepper is crisp with thin flesh. It has an amazing piquant aftertaste of spicy zip minus the nip of a hot pepper, and this sweet pepper is sure to please even the toughest critic! Zulu pepper would be a great addition to salsa and salads. A beautiful pepper from Poland.

Cucumber:

-chicago pickling: heirloom from 1888, thin skins, 7″, prolific and disease resistant

-boston pickling: An old heirloom dating back to 1880. Vigorous vines give large yields of smooth green fruit. It is excellent for pickles; very crisp and good quality. A very popular variety at the turn of the 20th century.

-tendergreen burpless: Burpless slicing type, free from bitterness, that has been popular for over 80 years! Fruits are medium-dark green, 7-12 inches in length, and quite plump and smooth compared to Japanese long slicing types. Excels as a slicer, because each fruit yields so many slices of uniform diameter, but the tender skin makes great pickles as well. 

-beit alpha: delicious, sweet, does not need peeling, burpless, high yields, tender

-richmond green apple: heirloom from Australia, size of a lemon, mild, sweet, juicy, fun to grow.

-muncher: no pollinators required; 6-8″ long; strong vine; can be pickled or eaten right out of the garden.

-early fortune: this is a super dependable garden cucumber that is sweet and almost never bitter. Slicing-type fruit grows 7 to 8 inches long, 2 inches in diameter.

Broccoli:

-waltham: Standard type, produces 4-8” green heads that are nicely flavored. Compact plants also produce some side shoots. Introduced in 1954.

Cabbage:

-glory of Enkhuizen :Introduced in 1899 by Sluis & Groot in Enkhuizen, Holland. Has medium-large, hard round heads. An early, excellent-keeping variety that is a good producer and good for kraut.

-brunswick: A large drumhead cabbage, very cold hardy. A fall/winter type cabbage, stores very well.

-red express: Newly released open-pollinated red cabbage, the first in many years! Specifically bred for Canada and northern tier of USA. Compact plants, extra early production of solid, split-resistant oval heads to only 2-3 pounds.

-violacea di verona: A vintage heirloom cabbage that originated in the region of Verona in Northern Italy, with stunning, lightly savoyed violet and green leaves that get more vibrant as the cool fall and winter weather set in. Medium sized round heads mature 120 days from seeding. With violet colored wrapper leaves and yellow-green inside leaves, they are an ideal choice for a fall/winter harvest. It is frost hardy, and in warmer areas can be harvested until New Year.

Cauliflower:

-amazing:  It is a classic American favorite and can be harvested either at the “baby head” size or when fully mature at 10”. Brilliant white, self-blanching heads are covered by large abundant wrapper leaves that protect them from sun, heat and cold; easy to grow in the North or South. It keeps well in the field and heavy bearing, so pick as needed and prepare for a large harvest.

-purple: 70 Days. Beautiful, brilliant purple heads weigh 2-3 lbs and are a fine, sweet flavor. The heads cook to bright green. Insect-resistant, it is also easier to grow than many white varieties, and it is rich in minerals. 

Melon: 

-royal golden watermelon: the rind of this heirloom turns brilliant golden-yellow when ripe! The distinctive color makes it a snap to know when to harvest and is so beautiful in your garden. The tasty pinkish-red flesh is super -sweet, crisp and refreshing; fruit weighing 8-25 lbs.

-golden jenny: Short vines just go wild producing these succulent, sweet 2 lb. beauties.

-early silver line: Beautiful, oval-shaped yellow fruit weight 1-2 lbs with silver stripes and white flesh.

Squash:

-jack-be-little pumpkin: This tiny, cute pumpkin weighs just 8 ounces; flat and ribbed. These are highly popular and a top-selling fall crop. The flesh is good to eat, and the skin is bright orange.

-butternut: An old favorite. Good yields with excellent-tasting, rich, orange-colored flesh.

-spaghetti:  This is American strain of this popular Japanese squash, with stringy flesh that is used like spaghetti. Introduced to America before 1920.

-lemon zucchini: shape, size and colour of a lemon, huge yields, best resistance to insects

-early straight neck zucchini: AAS Winner from 1938, uniform lemon-yellow, club-shaped fruit; firm flesh is of excellent quality, tasty.

-new england sugar pie pumpkin: 100 days. The noted small sugar pumpkin of New England. The orange fruit weighs 4-5 lbs and has fine, sweet flesh that is superb for pies.

Herbs:

basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, thai sweet basil, blue spice basil, lettuce basil, parsley, oregano, peppermint, spearmint

Planting Your Vegetables

Welcome to 2021. It’ll be a good one.

I have a strong suspicion that we’ll be in lockdown until the winter…so I’d recommend taking advantage of planting a vegetable garden this year. Not only will it keep your brain and body busy, it’ll give you the utmost satisfaction that you helped something grow, and you got to eat it. Right then.

Tomatoes:

-orange icicle: Sweet, rich and flavorful with strong citrus overtones. Sweet, orange, icicle-like fruits that are like an extra long paste tomato. This variety also makes a lovely orange ketchup and a superb salsa. Seeds from the Ukraine.

-cheroke purple:  An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre- 1890 variety; beautiful, deep, dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very-large-sized fruit.

-amish paste: Giant, blocky, Roma type tomatoes have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning.

-martino’s roma:  Determinate. The paste-type fruit is dry-fleshed and very meaty with few seeds. Great for sauces, salsas and pastes.

-blue beauty: Fruits are modest beefsteak-type slicers, weighing up to 8 ounces. Gorgeous, deep blue-black with red.

-black vernissage: 2 oz ‘black’ tomato, perfect for salads and snacking.

-black cherry: Beautiful black cherries look like large grapes; sweet but not too sweet.

chocolate pear: pear-shaped in a gorgeous brown-purple. Sweet and perfect.

-yellow pear: Very sweet, 1½” yellow, pear-shaped fruits have a mild flavor, and are great for fresh eating or for making tomato preserves.

-chardonnay: 1 1/2″ yellow blush, grows extremely well, very sweet and my favourite baby tomato

-blue cream berry: super-sweet cherry, prolific, delicate but complex flavour; another favourite

-yellow brandywine: delicious large fruit, large potato-leaf plants, better tasting than pink brandwine; an heirloom speciality

-beefsteak: massive fruit, 1-2 lbs, deep red flesh, old-fashioned flavour, meat and firm

-sunrise bumblebee: one ounce of sweetness, luminous swirls of reds and oranges, part of the artisan series

-white tomesol: An amazing heirloom that is bursting with fragrance and natural goodness that’s hard to beat. One of the best tomatoes we have tasted, being both sweet and rich. The cream colored fruit is beautiful, smooth and weighs about 8 ounces each. The vines set heavy yields of this rare treasure. It’s sure to become a favorite of gourmet growers.

Tomatillos: Deep green fruit; a standard, richly-flavored type. Huge yields.

Peppers:

-black hungarian jalapeno: Unique, black-colored fruit that are the shape of a Jalapeno. They are mildly hot and have a delicious flavor. The tall plants have beautiful purple flowers that make this variety very ornamental.

-tesuque chili:  Fruits ripen fairly early, with medium-sized, thin-walled fruits mainly used for drying; makes a fantastic and authentic red chili powder! Heat is variable but fruits are often very hot. Good yields on rather small, well-branched plants. The traditional chili pepper cultivated for generations at the historic northern New Mexico Pueblo of Tesuque.

-poblano: 3- to 6-inch heart-shaped fruits are usually of gentle heat, at around 2000 scovilles. Used green, after roasting and peeling, it is the classic pepper for chili rellenos. Dried, the fruits turn a rich dark red-brown and may be ground into an authentic red chili powder. Plants reach 2 feet or so and require a long season.

-sante fe grande: Spicy, 4” peppers, glowing gold in color and quite warm; makes pretty pickles and salsa. Ornamental plants give heavy yields over the entire summer, making this a perfect choice for home or market gardens. Introduced in 1965.

estaceno: A genuine Northern New Mexico chili. Pods are thin walled and hot; size varies, up to 10”. Use green in chili verde or salsa, or dry them to dark red for chili powder. Named for the Espanola Valley village of Estaca.

-tabasco: This famous heirloom was introduced into Louisiana in 1848 and became the main ingredient in Tabasco Pepper Sauce. This pepper is very hot and has a delicious flavor. The plants grow up to 4’ tall and are covered with small, thin peppers.

-paprika: A lovely drying pepper that comes from Matrafured, Hungary. It has been grown there since the 1800s when it was brought from Leutschau (Slovakia). The medium-hot paprikas have great flavor, are terrific for drying, and make a delicious spicy powder. 

Not Spicy:

-king of the north:  Early, good-sized peppers of a heavy yielding habit. The variety thrives in the cooler summer weather so prevalent in New England and yields crisp bells, green ripening to red, right up until frost.

corno di Toro Giallo: The traditional favorite in Italy. Long 8-inch tapered, bull-horn shaped golden-yellow peppers are sweet and spicy. They are great fresh or roasted. Large plants yield well. Among the best peppers you can grow and so delicious. Pure Italian seed.

-corbaci: A unique and wonderful sweet pepper. Very long 10-inch fruit are curved and twisted, very slender, like a Turkish scimitar. This rare heirloom from Turkey has a very rich flavor, perfect for pickling or frying.

-red mini bell: Tiny, red bell peppers are only about 1-1/2” tall and wide; they have thick red flesh that is very sweet. 2’-tall plants produce loads of these little winners, and early, too. Great for stuffing.

-lipstick:  A delicious pepper with 4” long tapered, pimiento type fruits that are super sweet. This fine pepper is early and ripens well in the North. A flavorful favorite with thick, red flesh.

-etiuda:  Blocky, thick-walled orange fruits are crisp, very sweet and juicy. These mandarin-orange bells can reach up to a half-pound in weight, and are lavishly produced on tall plants. Originally a Polish commercial variety.

-oda: Very strong, compact plants crank out tapered, pointed bells from early summer on. The fruits are the loveliest shade of plum purple, ripening to a lustrous red-brown. Crisp, juicy, thick-walled fruits are very sweet.

-banana wax: sleek, tapered fruit, reaching 6-7″, ripens to red-orange, good for salads, being stuffed or pickled.

-california: The standard green bell pepper. A nice size with very good yield; a popular old-time variety.

-zulu: This impressively ‘eggplant black’ colored bell pepper is crisp with thin flesh. It has an amazing piquant aftertaste of spicy zip minus the nip of a hot pepper, and this sweet pepper is sure to please even the toughest critic! Zulu pepper would be a great addition to salsa and salads. A beautiful pepper from Poland.

Cucumber:

-chicago pickling: heirloom from 1888, thin skins, 7″, prolific and disease resistant

-boston pickling: An old heirloom dating back to 1880. Vigorous vines give large yields of smooth green fruit. It is excellent for pickles; very crisp and good quality. A very popular variety at the turn of the 20th century.

-tendergreen burpless: Burpless slicing type, free from bitterness, that has been popular for over 80 years! Fruits are medium-dark green, 7-12 inches in length, and quite plump and smooth compared to Japanese long slicing types. Excels as a slicer, because each fruit yields so many slices of uniform diameter, but the tender skin makes great pickles as well. 

-beit alpha: delicious, sweet, does not need peeling, burpless, high yields, tender

-richmond green apple: heirloom from Australia, size of a lemon, mild, sweet, juicy, fun to grow.

Broccoli:

-waltham: Standard type, produces 4-8” green heads that are nicely flavored. Compact plants also produce some side shoots. Introduced in 1954.

Cabbage:

-glory of Enkhuizen :Introduced in 1899 by Sluis & Groot in Enkhuizen, Holland. Has medium-large, hard round heads. An early, excellent-keeping variety that is a good producer and good for kraut.

-brunswick: A large drumhead cabbage, very cold hardy. A fall/winter type cabbage, stores very well.

-red express: Newly released open-pollinated red cabbage, the first in many years! Specifically bred for Canada and northern tier of USA. Compact plants, extra early production of solid, split-resistant oval heads to only 2-3 pounds.

-violacea di verona: A vintage heirloom cabbage that originated in the region of Verona in Northern Italy, with stunning, lightly savoyed violet and green leaves that get more vibrant as the cool fall and winter weather set in. Medium sized round heads mature 120 days from seeding. With violet colored wrapper leaves and yellow-green inside leaves, they are an ideal choice for a fall/winter harvest. It is frost hardy, and in warmer areas can be harvested until New Year.

Cauliflower:

-purple: Beautiful, brilliant purple heads weigh 2-3 lbs and are of a fine, sweet flavor. The heads cook to bright green. Insect-resistant variety that is easier to grow than many white varieties; rich in minerals.

-amazing:  It is a classic American favorite and can be harvested either at the “baby head” size or when fully mature at 10”. Brilliant white, self-blanching heads are covered by large abundant wrapper leaves that protect them from sun, heat and cold; easy to grow in the North or South. It keeps well in the field and heavy bearing, so pick as needed and prepare for a large harvest.

Melon: 

-collective farm woman: This heirloom from the Ukraine was collected in 1993 by Seed Savers Exchange. Very popular on Island of Krim in the Black Sea. Melons ripen to a yellowish-gold and the white flesh has a very high sugar content, a favorite among heirloom gardeners and growers alike. Ripens early, even in Russia, and tolerates comparatively cool summers—known to do well in Canada.

-golden jenny: Short vines just go wild producing these succulent, sweet 2 lb. beauties.

-blacktail watermelon: One of the earliest watermelons we know of; superb for the North, but it also grows well in heat and drought. The flesh is red and deliciously sweet. Fruits have a dark rind and weigh 8-12 lbs each.

-early silver line: Beautiful, oval-shaped yellow fruit weight 1-2 lbs with silver stripes and white flesh.

Squash:

-jack-be-little pumpkin: This tiny, cute pumpkin weighs just 8 ounces; flat and ribbed. These are highly popular and a top-selling fall crop. The flesh is good to eat, and the skin is bright orange.

-butternut: An old favorite. Good yields with excellent-tasting, rich, orange-colored flesh.

-spaghetti:  This is American strain of this popular Japanese squash, with stringy flesh that is used like spaghetti. Introduced to America before 1920.

-lemon zucchini: shape, size and colour of a lemon, huge yields, best resistance to insects

-early straight neck zucchini: AAS Winner from 1938, uniform lemon-yellow, club-shaped fruit; firm flesh is of excellent quality, tasty.

Herbs:

basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, thai sweet basil, blue spice basil, lettuce basil, parsley, oregano, peppermint, spearmint

Spring Plants for Sale

It’s been awhile, but the farm is growing. Here is this year’s offering of plants, please contact me if you’re interested. You’ll have to let me know very soon so that I can plant them for you. Note: I order all of my seeds from Baker Creek, so I have used their description of the plant.

Tomatoes:

-orange icicle: Sweet, rich and flavorful with strong citrus overtones. Sweet, orange, icicle-like fruits that are like an extra long paste tomato. This variety also makes a lovely orange ketchup and a superb salsa. Seeds from the Ukraine.

-cheroke purple:  An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre- 1890 variety; beautiful, deep, dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very-large-sized fruit.

-amish paste: Giant, blocky, Roma type tomatoes have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning.

-martino’s roma:  Determinate. The paste-type fruit is dry-fleshed and very meaty with few seeds. Great for sauces, salsas and pastes.

-blue beauty: Fruits are modest beefsteak-type slicers, weighing up to 8 ounces. Gorgeous, deep blue-black with red.

-black vernissage: 2 oz ‘black’ tomato, perfect for salads and snacking.

-black cherry: Beautiful black cherries look like large grapes; sweet but not too sweet.

chocolate pear: pear-shaped in a gorgeous brown-purple. Sweet and perfect.

-yellow pear: Very sweet, 1½” yellow, pear-shaped fruits have a mild flavor, and are great for fresh eating or for making tomato preserves.

Tomatillos: Deep green fruit; a standard, richly-flavored type. Huge yields.

Peppers:

-black hungarian jalapeno: Unique, black-colored fruit that are the shape of a Jalapeno. They are mildly hot and have a delicious flavor. The tall plants have beautiful purple flowers that make this variety very ornamental.

-tesuque chili:  Fruits ripen fairly early, with medium-sized, thin-walled fruits mainly used for drying; makes a fantastic and authentic red chili powder! Heat is variable but fruits are often very hot. Good yields on rather small, well-branched plants. The traditional chili pepper cultivated for generations at the historic northern New Mexico Pueblo of Tesuque.

-poblano: 3- to 6-inch heart-shaped fruits are usually of gentle heat, at around 2000 scovilles. Used green, after roasting and peeling, it is the classic pepper for chili rellenos. Dried, the fruits turn a rich dark red-brown and may be ground into an authentic red chili powder. Plants reach 2 feet or so and require a long season.

-sante fe grande: Spicy, 4” peppers, glowing gold in color and quite warm; makes pretty pickles and salsa. Ornamental plants give heavy yields over the entire summer, making this a perfect choice for home or market gardens. Introduced in 1965.

-estaceno: A genuine Northern New Mexico chili. Pods are thin walled and hot; size varies, up to 10”. Use green in chili verde or salsa, or dry them to dark red for chili powder. Named for the Espanola Valley village of Estaca.

-tabasco: This famous heirloom was introduced into Louisiana in 1848 and became the main ingredient in Tabasco Pepper Sauce. This pepper is very hot and has a delicious flavor. The plants grow up to 4’ tall and are covered with small, thin peppers.

-paprika: A lovely drying pepper that comes from Matrafured, Hungary. It has been grown there since the 1800s when it was brought from Leutschau (Slovakia). The medium-hot paprikas have great flavor, are terrific for drying, and make a delicious spicy powder. 

Not Spicy:

-king of the north:  Early, good-sized peppers of a heavy yielding habit. The variety thrives in the cooler summer weather so prevalent in New England and yields crisp bells, green ripening to red, right up until frost.

-corno di Toro Giallo: The traditional favorite in Italy. Long 8-inch tapered, bull-horn shaped golden-yellow peppers are sweet and spicy. They are great fresh or roasted. Large plants yield well. Among the best peppers you can grow and so delicious. Pure Italian seed.

-corbaci: A unique and wonderful sweet pepper. Very long 10-inch fruit are curved and twisted, very slender, like a Turkish scimitar. This rare heirloom from Turkey has a very rich flavor, perfect for pickling or frying.

-paradicsom alaku sarga szentes: One of the truly great Hungarian peppers. Yellow, flat, ribbed, pumpkin-shaped fruit have the tremendous flavor that peppers from Hungary are famous for. The flesh is very thick, crisp and juicy.

-red mini bell: Tiny, red bell peppers are only about 1-1/2” tall and wide; they have thick red flesh that is very sweet. 2’-tall plants produce loads of these little winners, and early, too. Great for stuffing.

-lipstick:  A delicious pepper with 4” long tapered, pimiento type fruits that are super sweet. This fine pepper is early and ripens well in the North. A flavorful favorite with thick, red flesh.

-etiuda:  Blocky, thick-walled orange fruits are crisp, very sweet and juicy. These mandarin-orange bells can reach up to a half-pound in weight, and are lavishly produced on tall plants. Originally a Polish commercial variety.

-oda: Very strong, compact plants crank out tapered, pointed bells from early summer on. The fruits are the loveliest shade of plum purple, ripening to a lustrous red-brown. Crisp, juicy, thick-walled fruits are very sweet.

Cucumber:

-boston pickling: An old heirloom dating back to 1880. Vigorous vines give large yields of smooth green fruit. It is excellent for pickles; very crisp and good quality. A very popular variety at the turn of the 20th century.

-tendergreen burpless: Burpless slicing type, free from bitterness, that has been popular for over 80 years! Fruits are medium-dark green, 7-12 inches in length, and quite plump and smooth compared to Japanese long slicing types. Excels as a slicer, because each fruit yields so many slices of uniform diameter, but the tender skin makes great pickles as well. 

-early fortune: A super dependable garden cucumber, sweet and almost never bitter. Slicing-type fruits grow 7 to 8 inches long, 2 inches in diameter.

Broccoli:

-waltham: Standard type, produces 4-8” green heads that are nicely flavored. Compact plants also produce some side shoots. Introduced in 1954.

Cabbage:

-glory of Enkhuizen :Introduced in 1899 by Sluis & Groot in Enkhuizen, Holland. Has medium-large, hard round heads. An early, excellent-keeping variety that is a good producer and good for kraut.

-brunswick: A large drumhead cabbage, very cold hardy. A fall/winter type cabbage, stores very well.

-red express: Newly released open-pollinated red cabbage, the first in many years! Specifically bred for Canada and northern tier of USA. Compact plants, extra early production of solid, split-resistant oval heads to only 2-3 pounds.

-violacea di verona: A vintage heirloom cabbage that originated in the region of Verona in Northern Italy, with stunning, lightly savoyed violet and green leaves that get more vibrant as the cool fall and winter weather set in. Medium sized round heads mature 120 days from seeding. With violet colored wrapper leaves and yellow-green inside leaves, they are an ideal choice for a fall/winter harvest. It is frost hardy, and in warmer areas can be harvested until New Year.

Cauliflower:

-purple: Beautiful, brilliant purple heads weigh 2-3 lbs and are of a fine, sweet flavor. The heads cook to bright green. Insect-resistant variety that is easier to grow than many white varieties; rich in minerals.

-amazing:  It is a classic American favorite and can be harvested either at the “baby head” size or when fully mature at 10”. Brilliant white, self-blanching heads are covered by large abundant wrapper leaves that protect them from sun, heat and cold; easy to grow in the North or South. It keeps well in the field and heavy bearing, so pick as needed and prepare for a large harvest.

Melon: 

-collective farm woman: This heirloom from the Ukraine was collected in 1993 by Seed Savers Exchange. Very popular on Island of Krim in the Black Sea. Melons ripen to a yellowish-gold and the white flesh has a very high sugar content, a favorite among heirloom gardeners and growers alike. Ripens early, even in Russia, and tolerates comparatively cool summers—known to do well in Canada.

-golden jenny: Short vines just go wild producing these succulent, sweet 2 lb. beauties.

-blacktail watermelon: One of the earliest watermelons we know of; superb for the North, but it also grows well in heat and drought. The flesh is red and deliciously sweet. Fruits have a dark rind and weigh 8-12 lbs each.

-early silver line: Beautiful, oval-shaped yellow fruit weight 1-2 lbs with silver stripes and white flesh.

 

Squash:

-jack-be-little pumpkin: This tiny, cute pumpkin weighs just 8 ounces; flat and ribbed. These are highly popular and a top-selling fall crop. The flesh is good to eat, and the skin is bright orange.

-butternut: An old favorite. Good yields with excellent-tasting, rich, orange-colored flesh.

-spaghetti:  This is American strain of this popular Japanese squash, with stringy flesh that is used like spaghetti. Introduced to America before 1920.

-galeux d’eysines:  This flattened, round, 10-15 lb fruit has gorgeous, salmon/peach-colored skin covered with large warts! The deep orange flesh is flavorful, smooth and sweet, making it good for baking. It’s also popular among the French for making soup.

-cocozella napoli zucchini: Long, slender fruit, ribbed, pale greenish- yellow, striped with dark green; very firm and flavorful flesh. A unique Italian heirloom and tasty.

-straight neck: AAS Winner from 1938, uniform lemon-yellow, club-shaped fruit; firm flesh is of excellent quality, tasty.

-lemon zucchini: The shape, size and color of a lemon. Adorable zucchini.

Herbs:

basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, thai sweet basil, blue spice basil, lettuce basil…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Planting

If you live anywhere in Ontario, you’ll be experiencing this strange warm weather as I am.

Very odd.  I keep waiting for the chill to drop.

Regardless.

Time to order your vegetable starter plants! All seeds are heirloom, organic and are grown right here, at Pemberley Farm, organically. Orders should be placed by the end of March, as all plants need time to grow from their tiny seeds. And I don’t want to disappoint you.

 

 

Broccoli:

Waltham – 1954 – standard heads, green, easy to grow

Rapini – Italian, non-heading, grown for flavourful shoots and leaves in salads or fried

Cabbage:

Glory of Enkhuizen – 1899 – medium/large round heads, awesome for sauerkraut

Brunswick – 1924 – large drumhead, stores well, rare (note: mine were gigantic and yummy!)

Red Express – open-pollinated red cabbage, extra early production, perfect for Canada, solid, split-resistant head  (mine grew extremely well as I ignored them)

Cauliflower:

Purple of Sicily – beautiful, brilliant purple heads, sweet flavour, cook to bright green

Pusa Meghna – apparently super-early, tight white curds, heat and cold resistant (new one for me to try out)

Cucumber: 

Boston Pickling – 1880 – vigorous vine, great yields, excellent for pickles

Chicago Pickle – 1888 – thin skins, can reach to 7″ without ruining quality, prolific

Early Fortune – 1906 – sweet, slicing-type, never bitter, 8″ long, 2″ thick

Japanese Long – long, slim fruit, mild and easy to digest, few seeds

Mexican Sour Gherkin – small, cucumber-like fruit shaped like mini-watermelons, unique and fun (limited)

Melons:

Early Silver Line – Korean-type, oval-shaped, yellow fruit, white flesh, crisp and sweet (new)

Golden Jenny – short vines produce succulent, sweet 2lb melons

Collective Farm Woman – Ukraine, melons ripen to yellow-gold, white flesh with high sugar content

Squash: 

Galeux D’Eysines – beautiful heirloom squash, 10-15lbs, peach-coloured skin with large warts, can be baked or used in soups

Waltham Butternut – good yields, amazing flavour, you know you love it

Early Prolific Straight Neck Zucchini – AAS winner from 1938, lemon-yellow, club-shaped fruit, firm flesh

Cocozella Di Napoli Zucchini – unique Italian  Heirloom, long, green ribs

Jack Be Little – tiny, cute 8oz pumpkins, bright orange, sweet

Peppers – Hot

Craig’s Grande – big, fat, green jalapeno. (I love them. Third year growing)

Leutschauer Paprika – 1800, medium hot, drying pepper for making paprika

Purple Jalapeno – deep, gorgeous purple jalapeno (third year seeds)

Thai Pepper – hot heirloom from Thailand, easy to dry, bright red, pungent heat, prolific

Pasilla Bajio – mild-sweet-hot, starts dark green, turn deep brown-purple, used in Mexican mole sauces

Tabasco – 1848 in Louisiana, main ingredient of Tabasco sauce, can be grown in a pot

Estaceno Chile – genuine Northern New Mexico pepper, used in chili verde or salsa, can be dried to make chili powder

Peppers – Sweet

Canary Bell – superior sweet pepper, productive 2′ plants (2nd year)

Corbaci – long, slender, twisted, sweet. Rare heirloom from Turkey. Rich flavour. (2nd year)

Lipstick – thick red flesh, 4″ tapered end, pimento-type, super sweet (2nd year)

Albino Bullnose – blocky 4″ sweet pepper, begins soft cream, ripens to a reddish-orange, dwarf plant

Etiuda – thick walls, orange, sweet, large

Corno Di Toro – Italy, bull-horn shape, 8″ tapered, golden-green, sweet

Red Mini Bell – tiny, red peppers, 1″ wide, great for stuffing and super cute!

Habanada – a heatless habanero, fruity floral notes of a habanero without the heat

Oda – strong, compact plants, produce lilac purple fruit that ages to a soft brown.

 

Tomatoes 

Martino’s Roma – perfect for your sauces, paste-type fruit, meaty with few seeds

Amish Paste – giant, blocky paste tomatoes, Amish community grown

Atomic Grape – elongated cherry-like clusters, lavender purple stripes, ripening to soft reds, cherry -size (limited)

Gypsy – medium-size, deep purple/maroon, great taste, good for soups

Black Cherry – large, dusky-brown grapes, rich flavour, sweet, perfect for popping (2nd year)

Gold Rush Currant – tiny tomatoes, golden-orange, 1/4″ diameter, snacking

Snow Fairy – dwarf tomato from Russia, produces early, small globes, perfect for pots, slightly tart

Accordion – large, pink, ruffled fruit, perfect for stuffing, sweet and mild

Minibel – determinate, bite-sized fruit, tiny and ornamental, sweet and pinky

Purple Bumblebee – slightly elongated little cherries, striped with purple and green, crack-resistant, complex and sweet flavour (2nd year)

Black Krim – Russia heirloom, deep dark red fruit, medium-size, very rich and sweet, a favourite

Yellow Pear – yellow, sweet 1 1/2″ fruit, pear-shaped, highly prolific, will crack if too wet, but so worth the planting.

Chocolate Pear – bronze-red pear-shaped fruit, slightly sweeter than yellow pear, highly prolific, rich flavour

Tomatillos – gorgeous, green, husk-covered fruit that tastes like a tomato and an apple. Used in salsa verde and the delicious tomatillo soup. You need to buy two for fruit. I highly recommend.

Herbs

Basil – lemon; lime; cinnamon; thai sweet; purple; blue spice

Cilantro

Parsley

 

I will update this again in a few days. Puppies need tending. If you would like any plants, you can reach me at:  loveandoregano@gmail.com

 

thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Cookies

I do not apologize for not having updated my website.

I’m a farmer, y’all.

I do not sleep until winter.

 

But I am taking the time to give you the recipe for these Christmas cookies because you are going to lose your mind.  All of my recipes are copied from someone, and then I modify. Because I love to modify. To plan and change until it all comes out perfectly, and then I never change it again.  These cookies are a mix of two recipes. One recipe is from Sugar Cookie Cutouts, and the icing is from my friend, Susan, who lives in Tennesse, y’all. She’s the bomb.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you,  ‘Lavender and Lemon Christmas Cookies’.  I have no idea what else to call them.

 

                  lavender and lemon bites of deliciousness

 

 

Ingredients:

-1 cup of butter, softened (I always use salted butter, even though they always say, don’t. What do they know?) Softened butter means you can dent it with your finger.

-1/2 cup of sugar (I like organic, fair-trade, raw sugar)

-1 egg (organic from the farm!)

-1 tbsp vanilla (um…feel free to just splash it in, not measuring it)

-3 cups all-purpose flour (I use hard white organic)

-1/2 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp salt (but isn’t there already salt in the butter? Yes. Your point?)

Directions:

Do not turn on your oven yet. It takes too long to roll them out and if you live where I do, hydro is freaking expensive. And I am not baking cookies after 7pm.

1-In a large bowl, with a mixer (although I have done this by hand) at low speed, beat softened butter and sugar until blended well. Then increase the speed to high, and beat it until light and creamy like a cloud.

2- At a low speed, now, add egg and then vanilla.  Then beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, and then baking soda. I will tell you now, that at some point, the whole thing will gum up in your mixer and you’ll have to mix the rest by  hand. And that’s ok.

3- If the kitchen is hot, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. My kitchen was freezing today, so I was fine.  On a lightly floured surface (or on a big chopping block in between parchment paper), roll out 1/4 of the dough to about 1/8″ thick. Or thicker. Depends how you like your cookies.

4- Use your heirloom/brand new cookie cutters and cut them out, putting them on a baking sheet/cooking sheet.

5- Now. IF you are just going to use maraschino cherries or sprinkles, then go ahead and put them on the cookies and then put them in the oven. BUT if you want icing, go ahead and turn on the oven to 350F and wait for the ding to say the oven is ready. Lick bits of cookie off your fingers and eat the fallen crumbs.

6- Bake in oven for 10 minutes. That’s it. Just 10.

7- Try not to eat them all while they cool

 

Crazy Crack Cake Icing

This icing is from the Crazy Crack Cake recipe that Susan gave me. I like a melted icing. It makes me happy. So I modified it.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup of butter (or one stick for you Americans)

-6 tbsp cream or milk (I use vanilla soymilk)

– 1 tsp vanilla (this is optional. I found it made my icing a strange tan colour, so I don’t use it)

-3 3/4 cup of icing sugar

Directions:

1- In a small saucepan, combine butter and milk. Heat until it melts and whisk away. Add in one cup of icing sugar and then whisk until smooth. Do this with additional cups until you get the right consistency. Like a good shampoo, not runny.

 

With a silicone brush (cause that’s what I found in the drawer), stir the icing, take it off the heat. Now this is the fun part. If you want lemon-flavouring, go ahead and add some. If you want mint-flavouring, almond, whatever, go ahead a add a few drops.

But with your brush, pick up remaining cookies that have cooled, and paint the entire cookie top. Put cookies down on a rack and finish painting cookie.

Sprinkle immediately with fresh/dried lavender buds.  And then add a the faintest wisp of lemon zest.

Isn’t it pretty?

Now put the whole tray in the fridge so the icing can harden. But eat one first. Because they are amazing.

In an hour, your cookies should be nice and hard. But you should try one to make sure. No? Ok, back in the fridge and check again in another hour.

 

You’re welcome.

 

 

Plants for Sale

Spring has been peeking around the corner, being the shy, coltish type, giving us glimpses of her sunshine beauty, fresh air and songbirds.  Then she tucks away for a quick nap, letting winter drop a foot of fresh, sticky snow.

snow

But planting waits for no one, and I have been very busy planting seeds.

snow4

I went a little too extreme, planting 17 varieties of tomatoes…which means I accidentally planted 932 tomatoes.

Oops.

I am listing all of the plants you can order, but be aware that although I may have many seedlings, I may not have the kind you want. So please let me know, because I might be sold out.  I am including herbs this year.

Tomatoes:

Amish paste – giant, blocky, Roma type for paste and canning

Pink Accordion – unique, large, pink fruit is ruffled like an accordion; tomato is semi-hollow, so it is excellent for stuffing; flavour is sweet and mild

Black Krim – rich, sweet; heirloom from Russia; dark red-purple, high in 

Snow Fairy – dwarf tomato from Russia; small globe-shaped fruit very early; tart; excellent for patio pots

Gypsy – (limited quantity) deepest, purplest, maroon; medium-sized fruit; perfect for soups

Yellow Pear – golden pear-shaped with mild flavour; plentiful; perfect for preserves or salads

Chocolate Pear – ‘black’ pear-shaped; high yields; rich flavour

Martino’s Roma – high yields of richly flavourful plum tomatoes; compact; 2-3 oz; few seeds

Black Cherry – large, dusky purple, rich flavour; high yields; delicious

A Grappoli D’Iverno – (limited) winter grape of old Italy; keeps on vine; little ‘Roma’s’; delicious

Bonny Best – (limited) medium-sized fruit; round, red, meaty; not your hybrid garbage; flavour!

Blue Beauty – (limited) modest beefsteak-type; 8 oz; so much flavour; keeps well; gorgeous blue colour

Chile Verde – (limited) pointed pepper shape; mellow green skin; strong earthy flavour; green paste tomato

Minibel – bite-sized fruit; sweet; tiny plants perfect for patio; excellent for container gardening

Pink Ponderosa – can reach 2lbs; pink-red beefsteak; thick and delicious; canning

Peppers

Canary Yellow – sweet; bright yellow bell-shape

Corbaci – long, 10″ fruit are twisted, slender; heirloom from Turkey; rich flavour for pickling or frying; productive

Lipstick – 4″, tapered, sweet, thick flesh

Thai red – hot heirloom from Thailand; easy to dry; bright red; pungent heat

Purple jalapeno – deep purple turning to deep red; full jalapeno flavour; great for salsa

Melons

Walthum butternut – good yields; excellent taste; keep for a long time (mine are still good!)

Blacktail watermelon – early; grows well in heat and drought; 8-12lbs; bright red and sweet

Early Fortune cucumber – slicing-type; 7-8″; 2″ in diameter; crisp white flesh; pre-1907

Boston pickling – heirloom variety pre-1880, not a hybrid type; vigorous vine; large yields; crisp and excellent for pickles

Galeus D’Eysines Squash – flattened heirloom squash; 10-15lbs fruit covered in salmon-peach skin covered with large warts; orange flesh is perfect for soups or baking; gorgeous and crazy

Jack Be Little pumpkin – 8oz; flat and ribbed; good flesh; tiny but usable

Golden Jenny melon – 2lbs; early and productive; sweet

Lemon zucchini – shape, size and colour of a lemon; fits in your palm; excellent yields; firm; pretty and delicious

Other

Purple of Sicily cauliflower – brilliant purple head; 2-3lbs; sweet flavour; cooks to bright green

Catskill brussel sprouts – hardy, dwarf plants; uniform sprouts; 1941

Brunswick cabbage – large, drumhead, cold-hardy; fall/winter types; stores well

Glory of Enkhuizen  – pre-1900; medium-large, hard, round heads; excellent keeper; good for kraut and fresh

Red Express cabbage – open-pollinated; compact, extra-early; 2-3lbs; split-resistant oval heads

Early Purple Sprouting broccoli – purple broccoli sprouts in spring; frost hardy

Rapini broccoli – Italian non-heading grown for flavourful asparagus-like shoots and leaves; cook or in salads

Violet de Gournay radish – 10″, deep violet-purple skin with crisp white flesh; cooking, pickling, grated raw; easy to grow; delicious bite

Lettuces – feel free to inquire about a flat of mixed lettuce seedlings as well

Amsterdam prickly spinach – 1806; hardy; pointed leaves; excellent yield; gorgeous flavour

Arugula – easy to grow; grows well after cutting; good tangy flavour

Red romaine – red and green mottled leaves; easy yields; delicious

microgreens – variety of mustard leaves; red orach; red mizuna; tatsoi; corn salad

Herbs

thyme, emily basil, lemongrass, blue hyssop, borage, catnip, blue spice basil, cilantro, rue, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, tarragon, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, parsley, sage, chervil

Tomatillo

Green tomatillo – gorgeous husk-covered fruit; used in salsa verde and amazing in soup; raw tastes like a cross between a tomato and an apple

Contact me if you have any questions! loveandoregano@gmail.com

 

 

 

My Girl

She died on a Wednesday.
It had been planned for a week.
The grave would be dug that morning, as we had to rent a jackhammer to break the crust of the frozen earth. The digging would be soft after that. The area chosen behind the garden already had soft, rich, dark soil.
She loved the garden, probably as much as I did. Sneaking in among the purple peas, their fat pods too tempting to not pluck and devour. The tiny tomatoes in jewel tones of ruby red, glittering gold and dusky blue could not be hidden from her. I would scold her for eating them and then laugh as she would drop her head momentarily and then look peek up at me to see if I was watching.
I could never be angry for long. I simply loved her too much.

 

She was on painkillers. We were warned that they were a temporary fix and would only allow her a few days of joy, as the strong medicine would hurt her internally. We agreed that the doctor would come out to us. Less stress that way, and we wanted her last day to be filled with love and comfort.

But a winter storm came. The roads would be treacherous. We had to make a decision. Would we take her in or would we wait a few more days. Could we prolong her leaving us just a little while longer?
The idea of waiting made me feel better. But I could see her sickness. I could see her struggling and she wouldn’t sleep. She knew something. I think.
On her last night, we cooked up her favourite treats. We played fetch for as long as she would play. She stood completely still for half an hour while I brushed her over and over and over, repeating that I loved her.
I tucked her in on our bed, as I had the past 13 years, the purple blanket surrounding her like a cocoon. I scratched her head and willed her to die in her sleep so that I wouldn’t have to bear any guilt of choosing when she was to die. But I wasn’t given that satisfaction.
The next morning she ate, let me brush her a bit more and I clipped on her bright green collar and invited her onto the passenger seat of the van. I snuggled her purple blanket around her and sniffed her black fur one last time. I told her she was a very good girl. That she did her job well, protecting us, loving us and keeping away the chipmunks and deer. I thanked her for being my best friend. I told her not to be scared. I told her that she wouldn’t miss us at all.

And I closed the door.

I went inside and I didn’t look back. I collected her chewed up dog toys, her old bone, her fuzzy bed, still slightly warm from her bony black body. I put them all into a large garbage bag and dropped it into the basement.  I hung up her red sweater on a hook at the front door, where a bright green collar and pink leash would be added two hours later. I washed out her red water bowl and put it away. I took her blankets and washed them with bleach, vacuuming out the dryer afterwards as her fur always clogged the vents. I vacuumed the carpet in the kitchen where she always lay as I made meals.

I went outside and did some chores, the usual daily feeding of the chickens and egg collecting. As I returned to the front door I turned to call out for her to come in. But of course she wasn’t there.

In the afternoon I came down the stairs to let her outside, to go for our daily walk to the mailbox, but she wasn’t in the kitchen waiting for me, her tail thumping the floor.

At bedtime I locked up the house and went upstairs, and  I turned to call her to invite her on the bed. But of course, I’d be going to bed alone.

The house is so empty.

IMG_2014snow1snow3

Autumn….

Early Morning I can’t get enough of this view…IMG_5234 IMG_5227 IMG_5221 IMG_5187We also have chickens now…they aren’t terribly clever, and they shriek at me whenever I open the back door, but they are beginning to lay yummy eggs, so I can’t complain.