Rhonda, <br>What a great article! Thanks for passing it on. <br>I love the idea of growing the same vegetables that Thomas Jefferson did. <br><br>Susan <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 1:07 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:urbancropcircle-request@lists.sustainableballard.org">urbancropcircle-request@lists.sustainableballard.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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Today's Topics:<br>
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1. Dreaming of Seeds Already (<a href="mailto:rhonda@sustainableballard.org">rhonda@sustainableballard.org</a>)<br>
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Message: 1<br>
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 20:57:30 -0800<br>
From: <a href="mailto:rhonda@sustainableballard.org">rhonda@sustainableballard.org</a><br>
To: <a href="mailto:urbancropcircle@lists.sustainableballard.org">urbancropcircle@lists.sustainableballard.org</a><br>
Subject: [UrbanCropCircle] Dreaming of Seeds Already<br>
Message-ID:<br>
<<a href="mailto:9697db816060ab94e4285cc0ded56583.squirrel@www.webmail.sustainableballard.org">9697db816060ab94e4285cc0ded56583.squirrel@www.webmail.sustainableballard.org</a>><br>
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I know it's way too early to be coveting seeds for the next garden season,<br>
but this article from Seattle Tilth is to blame. Here are 3 heirloom<br>
seeds I'd love to order for next year .... and if we do a group order<br>
again we can save money. rhonda<br>
<br>
Grow a Historic Garden with Edible Heirlooms<br>
<br>
Seattle Tilth Editor Bill Thorness discusses the inspiration for his new<br>
book "Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden," that<br>
was released in October by Skipstone Press.<br>
<br>
By Bill Thorness, Editor<br>
<br>
Last summer, I stood in the center of my garden contemplating the origin<br>
of the species growing at my feet. I was surrounded by heirlooms, from the<br>
first yellow flowers of the Brandywine tomato to the Alderman peas<br>
towering overhead and the Chioggia beets digging their way into the soil.<br>
It was like a very diverse family reunion, with folks from the old country<br>
blending with immigrant elders and long-lost cousins.<br>
<br>
Since my first Seattle garden, I?ve been attracted to heirloom vegetables.<br>
I was inspired by the idea of an old variety being kept alive from year to<br>
year, as seed is passed from one generation to the next. Twenty years ago,<br>
Seattle Tilth had a close connection with then-Port Townsend based<br>
Abundant Life Seed Foundation, from whose catalog many unique varieties<br>
sprouted in my garden. That organization and Tilth educators inspired me.<br>
<br>
I?m still growing some of those varieties?producing the same plant with<br>
the same-sized fruit in the same number of days as they did for Thomas<br>
Jefferson, or Native Americans, or settlers, or perhaps even my ancestors.<br>
<br>
What kind of trellis did Jefferson erect to hold up his Alderman?also<br>
known as Tall Telephone?pea vines? Our third president and fervent<br>
horticulturalist held a pea contest every year with his neighbors to see<br>
who could cultivate the first ripe peas. There?s no record of him ever<br>
winning the contest, but he often held the celebratory dinner, at the<br>
center of which was a dish of peas. Jefferson had a vegetable garden one<br>
thousand feet long, and he introduced many varieties that are in today?s<br>
heirloom collections. He also famously called himself, at the age of 68,<br>
?still a beginning gardener.?<br>
<br>
The stories that come with these treasured seeds?a variety whose seeds<br>
were used as voting tokens by ancient peoples, a cultivar that was so<br>
popular it paid off the family mortgage?spur the imagination.<br>
<br>
Below are three cool-season heirloom veggies good for early spring<br>
sprouting, when soil has warmed to 45-50 degrees. Give them a try?perhaps<br>
you?ll be starting your own heirloom tradition.<br>
<br>
* Fordhook Giant chard: Grown in American gardens since 1750, it<br>
produces large, crinkled, dark green leaves with broad, white ribs and<br>
stems and juicy, celerylike stalks. Heavy production and great flavor.<br>
* Green Deer Tongue lettuce: The thick, spearhead-shaped leaves of<br>
this variety, which obviously reminded early growers of a deer?s<br>
tongue, form a spiraling rosette of succulent, olive-green leaves<br>
growing to eight inches. It has been a favorite of the Amish people,<br>
who introduced their own varieties.<br>
* Dwarf Grey Sugar pea: A snow pea growing on a bushy plant under<br>
three feet tall, this has been a standard home garden pea since<br>
Revolutionary times. It is one of the earliest producing peas,<br>
offering sweet, two- to three-inch pods in less than two months.<br>
<br>
<br>
Bill Thorness? new book, Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the<br>
Maritime Garden, was released in October from Seattle?s Skipstone Press.<br>
Get more information at <a href="http://www.edibleheirlooms.com" target="_blank">www.edibleheirlooms.com</a>. He will be signing books<br>
11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Santoro?s Books, 7405 Greenwood<br>
Ave. N. in Seattle.<br>
<br>
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End of UrbanCropCircle Digest, Vol 18, Issue 1<br>
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