2012 Seeds!

I ordered seeds for my 2012 garden this morning! Hooray! I ordered from Johnny's Seeds because I hear great things about them, they have a great variety, and their catalog is super helpful for beginners like me. I spent a few weeks studying and making notes (and learning things, such as the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, which is a very important thing to know!) and coming up with the list of things I'd like to try and grow this year. I tried to think of things I find myself frequently buying at the supermarket, since it's a good bet I'll actually eat these! Even more exciting is the prospect of having things that aren't going to go bad the second I bring them in the house, like they do when purchased from the supermarket!

For the basic salad ingredients, I chose "Corinto" cucumbers, "Black Seeded Simpson" lettuce, and "Sun Gold" cherry tomatoes. I'm particularly excited about the lettuce because I did not know you could grow lettuce where you didn't need to pick the whole head, but could instead just take a few leaves. This is going to be great because there are just two of us, and when I eat lettuce, it's usually because I'm putting it on a sandwich, or shredding it for tacos. One doesn't need a giant head of lettuce for this!

I figured a slicing tomato was also a good choice, for use in sandwiches and such. Since I had such bad luck with tomatoes last year (mostly because I started them too late in the season, but I also think they're the slowest growing plant I've ever seen!) I made sure this year to try to pick one that was both early producing, as well as tolerant of the cold. (In fact, I aimed for this with all of my plants, because I'm in Massachusetts, after all!) I went with "Moskvich," which matures in 60 days and is indeed cold tolerant. I hope I have better luck with these!

And speaking of luck. . . Since the peas were the only thing that grew for me last year, I decided to give them a try again this year. I chose "Penelope" because it clearly stated "shelling" and so there was not the confusion I had last year, when I wasn't sure if I was supposed to shell the peas I grew, or eat them in their pod. (Seriously, I am that new to not only gardening, but also vegetable consumption in general!)

Another thing I buy a lot are green peppers, because I like them in quesadillas, or stuffed and baked. I chose the "King Arthur" variety. (Side note: I really enjoy the names of these varieties. . . Although, it can be hard to make myself look at the data and not pick on the name alone, LOL!)

My husband has recently become completely obsessed with super hot foods, so I thought I'd try to grow some hot peppers for him. I picked "Red Rocket" and "Hot Paper Lantern," which are a "medium" and a "very hot" pepper, respectively. I always think of the super hot southwest when I think of peppers, and so it feels like something that shouldn't be able to grown here in Massachusetts, but I'm giving it a shot anyhow!

Next up, I thought I'd try to grow pumpkins. I may be lost in the kitchen when it comes to making meals, but what I'm not bad at (and really enjoy!) is baking. One of my favorite recipes is this super tasty pumpkin spice cake, and I got this crazy idea in my head that it would be so fun to make my own pumpkin puree from pumpkins grown in my own garden for it (instead of using the pumpkin from a can). So I picked a small pumpkin that is good for pies, "Baby Bear." In chatting with family at Christmas time, I learned that pumpkins require bees to grow, or else I have to somehow pollinate them myself. As we have almost no bees in our yard, this could prove to be a bit of a challenge for me! (And explains why that year when we put our Halloween pumpkins out back in the yard waste pile, it grew a beautiful vine, complete with giant yellow star-shaped flowers - but never yielded any pumpkins!)

And finally, I thought I might like to have some strawberries. I have one of those little strawberry planters, so these will probably go on my back porch, as opposed to in the garden. Strawberries are one of those things I adore, but never buy in the supermarket because half the time, they're already moldy in the middle of the container, from before I even get them home! Plus, the strawberries in the supermarket are so huge that they kind of freak me out! How can that be natural at all? I'm longing for some normal, healthy-looking strawberries, preferably not coated in mold!

So, that's my 2012 line-up! Hopefully!