My Imaginary Garden
Posted by C. Doomer on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Under: Food Storage
Although I will not have a garden of my own this year, and will again rely on the bounty of L's "seconds" (which are better than expensive "firsts" at the grocery store sometimes!), I can still plan and dream, especially when the Ontario Seed Company catalogue arrives.
Did you know that they recently received their Organic certification from the Canadian Seed Institute? And in their catalogue, they said "We do not knowingly buy or sell any crops that are GMO." They also carry a number of heirloom plants.
Before I tell you about my Imaginary Garden, I want to say that I will be contributing somewhat to L's garden this year. The last of my sweet potatoes was determined to sprout, so I stuck it in a pot of dirt in my bathroom. Well, it grew. And it grew. And it grew (until my ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around!) So today, before heading out to see L, I cut a bunch of slips and stuck them in a bag. If she tossed them, I figured it would be no different than me tossing them. Anyway, she was delighted and my slips will become real sweet potato plants! Every time we drive out there, Explosion says "We're almost at our farm!" L laughs and says, "Someday you'll have your own farm, but you can share mine for now."
Okay, so on to my Garden.
Mr D has asked me to pickle beets again, so I would select Bull's Blood, an heirloom variety that harvests in only 60 days and gives 2-3" red and white beets. Although I admit to being tempted by another heirloom variety - Chioggia are red and white striped and can be left in the ground longer than other types without going woody.
Explosion absolutely loves "trees" - known to the rest of us as broccoli, so tender Italian rapini would give tiny little florets for up to a month.
For cabbage, I would plant a few Copenhagen Market, an heirloom which harvests in 68 days and produces a compact white head, and the unusual looking Early Jersey Wakefield, which OSC describes as "an ancient English variety." The heads are conical.
The Danvers Half-Long are an heirloom carrot, harvesting in 65 days, that produces 6-8" long roots and is "great for canning and storing".
For pickling, I have to have some cauliflower. At our house, everyone fights over the "yellow trees" in the mixed pickles! So the heirloom Super Snowball "Self Blanching", harvest in 65 days, would be my choice.
And, although it takes 110 days, the heirloom Giant Prague Celeriac seems like an interesting addition!
Now, as much as I hate putting up pickles, I realize we use about 1 litre every week of sweet mixed alone! So if I had a garden, I'd plant Wisconsin SMR58 and Lemon Cucumber. Why the Lemon Cucumber? Because they're heirloom and look like lemons. I think that would be a fun pickle to make!
It's not summer without lettuce, so I'd plant the heirloom Paris White Cos, which harvests in 72 days. Fresh romaine is so wonderful!
Last year, I discovered the sweetness of leeks in Leek and Potato Soup and I want more! I would certainly plant some Large Musselburg - not an heirloom.
As for onions, I'd choose the heirloom Red Globe, mostly because I think the red skin is pretty! Well, they're also a good keeper. They are a slow-growing onion, taking a full 100 days. And Mr D would want some White Pickling Onions (not heirloom). While he doesn't mind onion chunks in the pickles, he told me that the tiny onions are best.
OSC has no heirloom peppers, but I would choose their Early Calwonder that harvests in 75 days and produces large, sweet, mild peppers. While I'm not fond of sweet peppers, they are evidently necessary for making good sweet mixed pickles - and the rest of my family loves them.
This year I discovered that fresh sweet peas from the garden are indescribably delicious and nothing at all like the taste I have always associated with peas. From childhood, everyone knew that I detested peas. But I love them fresh. So in my Imaginary Garden, I'd plant Tall Telephone peas - a 72-day heirloom that can be canned, frozen or eaten fresh. Although I'm tempted by the Little Marvel, another heirloom which only takes 63 days and of which OSC says "A good freezing variety - that is, if you don't eat them all straight from the garden."
And finally my Imaginary Garden, which has lots and lots of space, has some room for a few Small Sugar Pumpkins, which harvest in 110 days and produce those little 8-10" pumpkins.
So what is in your garden, real or imaginary?
Did you know that they recently received their Organic certification from the Canadian Seed Institute? And in their catalogue, they said "We do not knowingly buy or sell any crops that are GMO." They also carry a number of heirloom plants.
Before I tell you about my Imaginary Garden, I want to say that I will be contributing somewhat to L's garden this year. The last of my sweet potatoes was determined to sprout, so I stuck it in a pot of dirt in my bathroom. Well, it grew. And it grew. And it grew (until my ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around!) So today, before heading out to see L, I cut a bunch of slips and stuck them in a bag. If she tossed them, I figured it would be no different than me tossing them. Anyway, she was delighted and my slips will become real sweet potato plants! Every time we drive out there, Explosion says "We're almost at our farm!" L laughs and says, "Someday you'll have your own farm, but you can share mine for now."
Okay, so on to my Garden.
Mr D has asked me to pickle beets again, so I would select Bull's Blood, an heirloom variety that harvests in only 60 days and gives 2-3" red and white beets. Although I admit to being tempted by another heirloom variety - Chioggia are red and white striped and can be left in the ground longer than other types without going woody.
Explosion absolutely loves "trees" - known to the rest of us as broccoli, so tender Italian rapini would give tiny little florets for up to a month.
For cabbage, I would plant a few Copenhagen Market, an heirloom which harvests in 68 days and produces a compact white head, and the unusual looking Early Jersey Wakefield, which OSC describes as "an ancient English variety." The heads are conical.
The Danvers Half-Long are an heirloom carrot, harvesting in 65 days, that produces 6-8" long roots and is "great for canning and storing".
For pickling, I have to have some cauliflower. At our house, everyone fights over the "yellow trees" in the mixed pickles! So the heirloom Super Snowball "Self Blanching", harvest in 65 days, would be my choice.
And, although it takes 110 days, the heirloom Giant Prague Celeriac seems like an interesting addition!
Now, as much as I hate putting up pickles, I realize we use about 1 litre every week of sweet mixed alone! So if I had a garden, I'd plant Wisconsin SMR58 and Lemon Cucumber. Why the Lemon Cucumber? Because they're heirloom and look like lemons. I think that would be a fun pickle to make!
It's not summer without lettuce, so I'd plant the heirloom Paris White Cos, which harvests in 72 days. Fresh romaine is so wonderful!
Last year, I discovered the sweetness of leeks in Leek and Potato Soup and I want more! I would certainly plant some Large Musselburg - not an heirloom.
As for onions, I'd choose the heirloom Red Globe, mostly because I think the red skin is pretty! Well, they're also a good keeper. They are a slow-growing onion, taking a full 100 days. And Mr D would want some White Pickling Onions (not heirloom). While he doesn't mind onion chunks in the pickles, he told me that the tiny onions are best.
OSC has no heirloom peppers, but I would choose their Early Calwonder that harvests in 75 days and produces large, sweet, mild peppers. While I'm not fond of sweet peppers, they are evidently necessary for making good sweet mixed pickles - and the rest of my family loves them.
This year I discovered that fresh sweet peas from the garden are indescribably delicious and nothing at all like the taste I have always associated with peas. From childhood, everyone knew that I detested peas. But I love them fresh. So in my Imaginary Garden, I'd plant Tall Telephone peas - a 72-day heirloom that can be canned, frozen or eaten fresh. Although I'm tempted by the Little Marvel, another heirloom which only takes 63 days and of which OSC says "A good freezing variety - that is, if you don't eat them all straight from the garden."
And finally my Imaginary Garden, which has lots and lots of space, has some room for a few Small Sugar Pumpkins, which harvest in 110 days and produce those little 8-10" pumpkins.
So what is in your garden, real or imaginary?
In : Food Storage
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