Time To Start The Seedlings

Tomorrow, we'll make the annual trip to Earl May so Danny can select a few packets of seeds. The day I found out I was expecting, I had been at Earl May buying seeds, so we've sort of kept the tradition by going there (to the same store) each year. I don't buy the bulk of my gardening supplies there as it is too expensive, but they do often have unusual varieties of vegetables and herbs.

After we hit the Earl May, it is off to the farm store to visit the newly arrived chicks and ducklings. I would love to keep ducks (duck eggs are wonderful) but without somewhere to bring them in at night, they wouldn't stand a chance against the owls. Oooh, don't get me started on the dang owls and the incessant "hoo, hoo, hoo-hoo" all night outside my bedroom window. I was up every half hour last night due to the bloody things.

I really don't have the energy to garden on the scale I'd like, so I try to plant only what I know we will enjoy. One year, I planted dwarf white eggplant-they were lovely, but grew like crazy and lets face it, there's only so much we can eat, and most people don't want any. That's why I don't plant courgettes-you always end up with too many and no one likes them (which is why people bake them in bread-to disguise the fact that they are disgusting).

It seems that for our family, bell peppers and tomatoes make the most sense. Early in the season I can do peas and scallions. I also go a bit overboard planting basil because I love it. My thought is that too many peppers or tomatoes are easily canned whereas too much broccoli rabbe is simply too much. I promised Danny we could plant nasturtiums as he's intrigued by edible flowers (don't worry, I gave him the lecture about how eating random flowers (mushrooms, berries, etc.) can kill you). I like nasturtiums because the leaves are edible as well (they are somewhat peppery tasting).

Luckily for Danny, we have squash bugs here and I can't plant them (found that out the hard way). I don't hate squash with the same intensity my son does, but I'm the sort of person that grows them for the blossoms-or at least I did before the squash bugs showed up.

Last year, after the tornado we still had a few tomato plants that were determined to produce fruit, which was amazing considering the hail damage. I figure if they can do well under those circumstances, we should do even better this year.

Anyone planning to grow something unusual?