Look what came in the mail.

About a week ago Tucker got to attend a trade show for work where he received, among other things, an order form for 15 free seed packets from Renee’s Garden.  So we filled it out, faxed to their office, and They arrived with Saturday's mail.  I will admit that most of the choices (or maybe all of the choices) were for my vegetable garden.

  

We ordered:

• Gourmet Ruby Chard Scarlet Charlotte
• Southwestern Chili Trio
• Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes Isis Candy
• Sweetie Baby Romaine
• Gourmet Kohlrabi Crispy Colors Duo
• Ornamental Sunflowers Royal Flush
• Shelling Peas Sabre
• Green and Red Romaines Renee's Caesar Duo
• Crafters' Gourds Bottles, Dippers and Bowls
• Container Cucumber Bush Slicer
• Mexican Tomatillos Two Color Fiesta
• Baby Pumpkins Mini Jack
• Heirloom Nasturtiums Alaska Mix
• Tricolor Carrots Circus Circus
• Heirloom Tomatoes Rainbow's End

 Here's a few particulars of why a few different varieites were selected.

Tricolor Carrots Circus Circus

I'm excited to try these carrots in the new raised beds.  I've never had good luck with carrots in any of my vegetable gardens.  They never seem to grow and always seem to be bitter tasting. These carrots are supposed to be eight inches long and "reliably sweet".  If these don't work out, I'm planning on giving up on carrots.

Mexican Tomatillos Two Color Fiesta

When we lived in New York, I had the opportunity to work with a group of teenagers in a job training program.  Part of their job was to maintain two community garden plots.  One of the girls decided to grow tomatillos and did they ever grow.  The next spring a bunch of "volunteer" tomatillo plants made an appearance.  We kept a few and we did a better job of picking all of the fruits.  The third year no plants grew from cast off fruits and the kids didn't want to plant any.   I'm looking forward to trying these out myself because while I helped the kids grow stuff, I didn't get to eat anything. (Unless I was eating something to show them it tasted good). I need to find some recipes that use tomatillos, since we didn't eat them growing up.

Heirloom Tomatoes Rainbow's End

 This packet of heirloom tomatoes is actually a mix of three different varieties: Brandywine, Marvel Stripe, and Green Zebra.  I've had great luck with Brandywines in the past.  They are a big pink colored tomatoes that taste great.  The only real drawback is there thin skins.  I always had a hard time giving them away without having a variety of skin breaks.  Nobody seemed to mind, people love a home grown tomato.  I have never grown Marvel Stripe and have had a rough run of luck when it comes to Green Zebras, so I'm hoping they will both work out great this year.  I just need to stay on top  of the spider-mite problem that seems to plague me every summer.


 Most of the seeds I got will be sowed outside, but the tomatoes, peppers and a few other things will be started in the plant room in the next few weeks.  Then I just need to wait for the temperatures to warm up and for the rest of the soil in the new raised vegetable beds.