[UrbanCropCircle] UrbanCropCircle Digest, Vol 18, Issue 1

[Susan Helf]

Rhonda,
What a great article! Thanks for passing it on.
I  love the idea of growing the same vegetables that Thomas Jefferson did.

Susan

On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 1:07 PM, <
urbancropcircle-request at lists.sustainableballard.org> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Dreaming of Seeds Already (rhonda at sustainableballard.org)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 20:57:30 -0800
> From: rhonda at sustainableballard.org
> To: urbancropcircle at lists.sustainableballard.org
> Subject: [UrbanCropCircle] Dreaming of Seeds Already
> Message-ID:
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> 9697db816060ab94e4285cc0ded56583.squirrel at www.webmail.sustainableballard.org
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> I know it's way too early to be coveting seeds for the next garden season,
> but this article from Seattle Tilth is to blame.  Here are 3 heirloom
> seeds I'd love to order for next year .... and if we do a group order
> again we can save money.  rhonda
>
>  Grow a Historic Garden with Edible Heirlooms
>
> Seattle Tilth Editor Bill Thorness discusses the inspiration for his new
> book "Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden," that
> was released in October by Skipstone Press.
>
> By Bill Thorness, Editor
>
> Last summer, I stood in the center of my garden contemplating the origin
> of the species growing at my feet. I was surrounded by heirlooms, from the
> first yellow flowers of the Brandywine tomato to the Alderman  peas
> towering overhead and the Chioggia beets digging their way into the soil.
> It was like a very diverse family reunion, with folks from the old country
> blending with immigrant elders and long-lost cousins.
>
> Since my first Seattle garden, I?ve been attracted to heirloom vegetables.
> I was inspired by the idea of an old variety being kept alive from year to
> year, as seed is passed from one generation to the next. Twenty years ago,
> Seattle Tilth had a close connection with then-Port Townsend based
> Abundant Life Seed Foundation, from whose catalog many unique varieties
> sprouted in my garden. That organization and Tilth educators inspired me.
>
> I?m still growing some of those varieties?producing the same plant with
> the same-sized fruit in the same number of days as they did for Thomas
> Jefferson, or Native Americans, or settlers, or perhaps even my ancestors.
>
> What kind of trellis did Jefferson erect to hold up his Alderman?also
> known as Tall Telephone?pea vines? Our third president and fervent
> horticulturalist held a pea contest every year with his neighbors to see
> who could cultivate the first ripe peas. There?s no record of him ever
> winning the contest, but he often held the celebratory dinner, at the
> center of which was a dish of peas. Jefferson had a vegetable garden one
> thousand feet long, and he introduced many varieties that are in today?s
> heirloom collections. He also famously called himself, at the age of 68,
> ?still a beginning gardener.?
>
> The stories that come with these treasured seeds?a variety whose seeds
> were used as voting tokens by ancient peoples, a cultivar that was so
> popular it paid off the family mortgage?spur the imagination.
>
> Below are three cool-season heirloom veggies good for early spring
> sprouting, when soil has warmed to 45-50 degrees. Give them a try?perhaps
> you?ll be starting your own heirloom tradition.
>
>    * Fordhook Giant chard: Grown in American gardens since 1750, it
> produces large, crinkled, dark green leaves with broad, white ribs and
> stems and juicy, celerylike stalks. Heavy production and great flavor.
>    * Green Deer Tongue lettuce: The thick, spearhead-shaped leaves of
> this variety, which obviously reminded early growers of a deer?s
> tongue, form a spiraling rosette of succulent, olive-green leaves
> growing to eight inches. It has been a favorite of the Amish people,
> who introduced their own varieties.
>    * Dwarf Grey Sugar pea: A snow pea growing on a bushy plant under
> three feet tall, this has been a standard home garden pea since
> Revolutionary times. It is one of the earliest producing peas,
> offering sweet, two- to three-inch pods in less than two months.
>
>
> Bill Thorness? new book, Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the
> Maritime Garden, was released in October from Seattle?s Skipstone Press.
> Get more information at www.edibleheirlooms.com. He will be signing books
> 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Santoro?s Books, 7405 Greenwood
> Ave. N. in Seattle.
>
>
>
>
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> End of UrbanCropCircle Digest, Vol 18, Issue 1
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