This has not been a foodie week. Big projects at work plus a paper due meant many hours in front of the computer -- not blogging. I won't embarrass myself by discussing last night's dinner in detail, but it's amazing what edible things one finds in desk drawers at 8pm.
Fortunately for my food-oriented sanity, I found a few moments to combine my favorite distractions: food and shopping. Behold, the seed catalogue. For only $2.75, companies with old-fashioned names like Burpee, Gurney and Johnny offer happiness by the packet. Bored with bagged carrots and blah beets? Take a look at some heirloom varieties: bright-colored and leafy promises of summer.
I absolutely love this Chioggia beet:
A dead houseplant or four could have killed the gardener in me, but the dirty appeal of outdoor vegetable-growing is different. A long conversation with my mom regarding pole beans, leaf lettuces, and other varieties of easy-to-grow vegetables spurred my interest for spring.
While I haven't ordered yet, I think I'm going with Seed Savers Exchange. This non-profit co-op offers most of the standard varieties found on commercial sites, plus an array of heirlooms in some categories, particularly tomatoes and lettuce. Below, the Hillbilly Potato Leaf and Nebraska Wedding -- called "The ultimate love apple."
The heirloom trend has great benefits to gardeners and cooks. But with variety comes the need for moderation. My mom gave me a copy of Square Foot Gardening, which emphasizes starting small -- as in, 4x4" of vegetables, and only a few seeds of each. (If anyone wants my other 245 tomato seeds, email.)
A bushel of greens, beans, and root vegetables would certainly improve this week's crackers-and-beer diet. So maybe next weekend, work done and spring forming brightly on the horizon, I'll move past Weekend Weed-Puller and take another step toward Real Gardener.
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