Saturday, March 8, 2008

Thinking of actually growing stuff

I am mainly going to use the Territorial Seed Company, which is based in Oregon. This appeals to me because a) the plants are local to the climate and therefore may do well in Portland and b) I can walk over to a small nursery that stocks the seeds. I also still have a few old seed packets lurking around, which I am going to try, and I have some strawberry plants from last year in pots. For the rest, I am going to use bought seedlings. All my tomato plants I've ever grown from seed turned out to be weedy and thin and straggly. It is very good to know your limits.

Here is my partial list of what I would like to grow:

  • Green beans - pole variety (having found out that it is probably too hot here for runner beans...). I still have 'Kentucky Wonder' and some unidentified beans from the seed exchange at Earth Day.
  • Peppers - hot and bell. I'm going to buy plants so will need to see what is available.
  • Tomatoes - preferably heirloom. I will buy plants. I may have some grape tomatoes on my porch, too.
  • Zucchini/summer squash/aka courgettes. I like the look of 'Romulus PM' or 'Sungreen' in the seed catalogue. I never liked the yellow ones enough to grow a whole lot of them.
  • Patty pan squash. The 'Flying Saucers' in the seed catalogue look wonderful. I've never grown them before but I may really enjoy eating them.
  • Winter squash. There is so much choice, especially if pumpkins are also considered. I have to say that I prefer squash in terms of taste. 'Marina di Chioggia' looks very weird but strangely I'm very attracted to it.
  • Collards. I love green leafy vegetables. I also like cabbage. I'll probably try 'Flash'.
  • Roquette/arugula. We can eat buckets of that stuff. Doesn't matter what variety.
I'm also considering cucumber, broccoli and corn. Maybe I should also plant some carrots for the guinea pigs. Hopefully my patch is as big as I think it is...

2 comments:

Auntie Em said...

I'm growing Patty Pan this year too - planted two in coir pots last week and they've shot up!

How did you overwinter your strawbs?

Em x

Green Butterfingers said...

I got a native-Northwest strawberry plant as a gift from a nursery last year. It sent out several runners so now I have 5 plants. Won't give me many fruits but they'll taste all the sweeter!

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