More seeds and blogs

Wow, something must be wrong with me, I'm posting another entry less then a week since my last. Maybe I'm getting the hang of this blog stuff.

As my title suggests, I placed another order for seeds from Baker Creek. Since I'm determined to learn seed saving and starting, I choose to deal with heirloom companies only, Baker fits the bill. This order consisted of:
Tall Telephone garden peas
Crookneck Early Golden summer squash
Zucchino Rampicante squash ----- THE FLAT, BEST zucchini I have ever eaten!!!!!!!!!
Blue Hubbard squash
Butternut Waltham squash
Vegetable Spaghetti squash

I only have a few more seed varities to order for 2010, so I'm in good shape there. I also have found a seed potato supplier I am anxious to try: The Maine Potato Lady https://www.mainepotatolady.com/productcart/pc/home.asp . They look to have a gardening philosophy close to my own, I like to support companies that stay away from GMO seeds and bad farming practices (more on that subject in a future post).

My final thought for this post is regarding another blog project I have started that may be more important to me then this one. It is Simple Faith and can be found at: http://simplepilgrim.wordpress.com/ . I have felt a burden to move back to a simpler faith and simpler lifestyle. This blog is my record at documenting how my walk is changing. Take a look if you're interested and let me know your thoughts.

First seed order placed!

What a great time of year! The holiday spirit is in the air, the smell of fresh pine and cookies baking. The tree is trimmed, presents are being wrapped, shopping is done (thankfully!). That, however, is not the most exciting thing for me, rather, this is the time of year that the new seed catalogs start hitting the mailbox!!

The catalog we've most anticipated is the Baker Creek Heirloom seed catalog. I have an earlier blog that's all about this great company. I highly recommend them as a source for heirloom seeds. They are also anti-genetically modified seeds of any kind.

My company gave each of it's employees a $50 dollar gift card for Christmas and mine went right to Baker Creek! We just place the first order with them, it included:

Hutterite Soup beans
Berlicum 2 carrots
Edmondson pickling cukes
Early Russian pickling cukes
Ground cherry
Amish Deer Tongue lettuce
Blonde Du Cazard lettuce
Lollo Rosso lettuce
Arugula
Wrinkled Crinkled Cress
Sugar Snap peas
German Giant radish
Champion A Collet Rouge rutabaga
Striata D'Italia zucchini
Five Color Silverbeet swiss chard
Moon and Stars watermelon

We've got a lot more to order. From Baker Creek we have to order Hubbard squash, spinach, turnips, the fantastic Rampicanti zucchini, Butternut squash, Acorn squash, regular peas, and perhaps a few other odds and ends. We also need to find a good company for seed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and perhaps onion sets.

Boyert's greenhouse will supply us with our live plants, my goal is to do all my own seed starting for 2011. Boyert's is a great family, owned business at the end of our road. We've done lots of business with them over the years.

This year's garden is shaping up to be the biggest and best ever! We are concentrating on storage foods, whether we freeze, can, or dry. We are keeping our eye on the goal of self-sufficiency.

We will still use our local produce auction for corn, beets, and a few other items. It's a fun, local auction with lots of Amish growers in attendance. Their web-site is a great resource for crop yields in the area; Homerville Produce Auction. I encourage anyone in this part of Ohio to give it a try some summer evening.

I'm going to wrap this up for today, Shell and I are enjoying a fire. She's quilting and I intend to get into my book I'm currently reading.

Winter is a comin'

Not much to report in the garden. We're just hunkerin' down for a long winter. Shelley did process our Red Kuri squash yesterday. That was a very pleasant surprise. We grew the squash on a whim, I'm always on hunt for new garden ideas.

The squash is from Japan and grows very well here in Zone 7. The vines produce a nice crop of reddish/orange fruit. Shell processed the Kuri as she would pumpkin, although the internet has tons of recipes for this delicious variety. The flavor was fantastic, easily my new favorite, with a slight nutty flavor. The coolest part is that the skin is edible as well as the flesh, packing this squash full of vitamin goodness.

I started seed saving this year and am excited to add Red Kuri to the pile of packets we have saved. In addition to the Kuri, I have Rattlesnake pole beans, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, Amish Pie pumpkin, New England Sugar Pie pumpkin, Amish Paste tomato, Petit Des Gris Rennes melon, and Tiffin Mennonite tomatoes saved.

Sorry forthe short post. Over the next few posts, I intend share the plan for this spring's garden.