Friday, January 4, 2013

More Seeds 2013

Thanks to Kimberly @ An At Home Daughter for the link to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, I have decided to go ahead and order from Heritage Harvest Seed. 

Yeah, that might sound odd, but... Here's the thing.  I'm specifically looking for sugar beets.  When I type sugar beets into Baker Creek's search bar, it brings up Albino Beets- sweet beets that can be used for sugar beets.  And even though Heritage Harvest Seeds doesn't say that on their website- they sell the same Albino Beets!  I also found sugar beets at Salt Spring Seeds, and they are a little cheaper there.

So why does Heritage Harvest Seed win?  It's the climate.  Salt Spring Seeds is in B.C.- which really might as well be in California as far as matching my weather is concerned.  Baker Creek is in the U.S.  Heritage Harvest, in Manitoba, knows what a short growing season and a long, hard Canadian winter are all about.  Their seed should acclimate to my environment much easier.  So here's what I ordered:

Amaranth- Burgundy- prolific amounts of white seed that are high in protein and can be sprouted, ground into flour or cooked whole

Beans- Mennonite K Triple A- H- dry- 80 days
         - Vanderpol Six Weeks- H- snap or dry- 60 days

Beets- Albino (Sugar Beets)- H

Carrots- Paris Market- H

Citron- Red Seeded- H- melon used to make preserves.  Recipe

Corn- Gaspe Flint- H- sweet corn- 45-60 days
        -Mandan Bride- H- flour- 90 days
        -Orchard Baby- H- sweet corn- 60 days
        -Tom Thumb Popcorn- H- popcorn- 60 days

Cucumber- Boston Pickling- H- 50-55 days
                - Early Green Cluster- H- 60 days

Mangel- Golden- H

Muskmelon- Far North- 65-70 days
                 - Gnadenfeld- H- 60-65 days
(Because some things you just have to see to believe!)

Radish- Watermelon- H

Squash- Mandan Banquet- H-
            - Algonquin Pumpkin- H- 90 days

Watermelon- Cream of Saskatchewan- H- 80-85 days- white flesh- extremely sweet- good candidate for wine
                  - Small Shining Light- H- 85 days- Another one I have to see to believe! 

Tomatoes- Bison- H- 60 days- determinate ft
               - Kalinka- H- 50 days- determinate
               - Russian Saskatchewan- H- 60 days ft- determinate
               - Sasha's Altai- H- 65 days ft- determinate- tolerates cool night temperatures
               - Sioux- H- 70 days- indeterminate- bright red
 I couldn't help myself- I just went to take a peak to see if there were any earlier varieties listed, then I got carried away with what I found.  I deleted 6 varieties off my original list, choosing just these five...  And announcing to Husband and the Bigs that I'll need a greenhouse built in the squash field.  I want to try the new varieties without cross pollinating the seed I have started now.

Oregano- 

Salad Burnet-

Sunflower- Arikara- H- multi-headed, 10' high

Purple Millet- H- bird feed

I think that's everything I could possibly need or want, with the possible exception of lettuce.  I think I still have seed from last year, but if not, I can pick some up pretty much anywhere.  I like the boring, tasteless iceberg lettuce.  I know I have lots of romaine seed, as it bolted early in the greenhouse.  No more shopping at least until I find and sort seed!





7 comments:

  1. I wish I had a crew to whom to announce I needed projects done!

    Your posts lately have made me want to go eat vegetables, lots of them.

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  2. I had found Baker Creek seeds last year, Just kinda stumbled upon them. Started putting my order together on the website and saw they had 2 locations here in the US. I thought " Phsssbt! on the East coast, I bet". HA! One of those locations was 30 MILES FROM ME! How cool is that? Got to save on shipping, visit a really neat old bank (seed bank) and got to drool on hundreds of goodies (just like a kid in a candy shop). Left with lots of cool seeds. How they grow? Haven't a clue...my dog ate them ALL!

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    Replies
    1. Oh! Bad dog! I hope you have better luck this year!

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  3. Wendy, '
    On my blog you said you had not noticed any problems. I cannot see a list of your followers. Can you?

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  4. I love Siberia tomatoes. Yes, they were cultivated in Siberia. Dosen't get more harsh than that. They are a short thick stemmed plant which doesn't mind our high winds. Started early inside, you can be eating tomatoes by the first of July. They have smaller tomatoes but nice yield. The seeds say 40 days and I order from Irish Eyes in Washington. They have quite a few seeds for the cold and I've used them for years, back when they were in Montana. We are zone 3-4 depending on the year and have lots of wind and dramatic fluxuations in temperatures. I am also into working on a self-stustaining lifestyle. You might take a peak at my blog, easylivingthehardway.blogspot.com. I live in Wyoming.

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  5. Would you by chance consider selling some Gaspe corn seed? I have been unable to locate any for sale and would like to try it. Thanks,

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