edible garden
TOMORROW’S EDIBLES
Plan ahead with seed selection this winter.
WRITTEN BY BARBARA TWITCHELL
SEED PACKAGE ILLUSTRATIONS COURTESY OF BOTANICAL INTERESTS
It’s a curiosity. The lower the temperature plummets, the higher the seed catalog stack grows. And that’s not such a bad thing. When it’s impossible to work the soil, we can at least work our imaginations.
Winter is a great time to pore over the how-to books, copious catalogs, and endless websites, searching and researching to find just the right seeds for the best garden ever. Winter, after all, is wish-list time.
There are excellent reasons to sow your dream garden with seeds used by our ancestors. Heirloom varieties are generally more flavorful, since hybrids often are bred for disease resistance and high yield rather than taste. There also is a much wider variety. For example, Seed Savers Exchange, which only sells heirlooms, offers nearly 80 tomato varieties.
Being open pollinators, heirlooms are capable of producing seeds that will replicate the parent plant. Gardeners that grow and save heirloom seeds actually do a great service by saving plants that might otherwise become extinct, preserving biogenetic diversity in our food chain.
Perhaps one of the best reasons to opt for heirloom seeds is that they are genetically pure. There is much concern today over the still-unknown long-term effects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on consumer health.
Getting Started
So where to begin your winter journey of exploration and planning?
Dave’s Garden website is an outstanding resource, offering information, instruction, and forums. One of its best features is Garden Watchdog, a free directory of more than 7,000 mail-order gardening companies, rated by fellow gardeners based upon personal experience.
There are many excellent seed companies that offer extensive catalogs of untreated, non-GMO, heirloom and organic seeds. Baker Creek, Botanical Interests, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Renee’s Garden, Seeds from Italy (Franchi), and Seed Savers Exchange are good places to start.
Many of these also are stocked by local nurseries, including Garden Shop Nursery in Reno, Old Stone House Gift and Garden in Sparks, and Rail City Garden Center in Sparks. Their staffs are extremely knowledgeable and willing to guide you through the myriad of seed choices — well worth the visit!
So now that you have the time and the resources, here are a few little gems you might want to add to your wish list:
Melon Zatta is as visually interesting as it is delicious. The slang term for this Italian import is brutto ma buono, meaning “ugly but good.” This craggy, four-pound, ribbed melon has green and yellow mottled skin (that’s the ugly part) but sweet, bright orange flesh with a heavenly aroma and unbeatable flavor (which is, obviously, the good part!).
Red Russian Kale (Brassica napus) is considered one of the hardiest but most tender of all kales, boasting a mild, sweet flavor. From Siberia, this vigorous plant is particularly cold resistant, able to survive temperatures down to -10. All this and beauty, too. With purple-veined, blue-green leaves, this one is pretty enough to be an edible backdrop in your flowerbed. A two-for-one bonus!
Zucchini (zucchino) Tondo Chiaro Di Nizza is quite a mouthful, in every sense of the word. OK, I used the Z word, but you know you can’t possibly have a garden without zucchini. At least this will give you the chance to put a fresh face on an old standby. This spherical squash is thin-skinned and tender when picked at tennis-ball size, and is perfect for stuffing, grilling, or frying.
San Marzano Tomatoes have long been prized for making the best pasta sauce in the world. The fruit is meatier and sweeter than Romas, with a stronger and less acidic flavor. This plant is a prolific producer that will keep you in sauce for months.
Happy planning!
Reno-based freelance writer Barbara Twitchell has already begun stocking up on seeds and will probably have to expand her garden this spring to accommodate all the new things she is hoping to plant. Good thing she lives on an acre!
RESOURCES
Garden Shop Nursery
Reno, 775-825-3527
http://www.Gardenshopnursery.com
Old Stone House Gift and Garden
Sparks, 775-358-1700
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Stone-House-Gift-and-Garden/201298643234348?fref=ts
Rail City Garden Center
Sparks, 775-355-1551
