Seeds...

[hsifeng]

So garden sprites, what lovely heirloom seeds should we try out? I am interested in trying to find some types that might be historically "accurate" for us... *grin*

Edit 3/16/09:  Found my old list of "historic foods" from the RWA workshop I ran last year. Now, to figure out what modern varieties might "relate" to these historic ones...

 

Vegetable greens (Wortes): cabbage, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, chicory, endive, radicchio, spinach, sorrel, watercress, lamb's lettuce, dandelion, nettles, rocket, mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens.

Roots: rapes (turnips) - the staple, salsify, radish, celery root, pasturnakes (carrots and parsnips), skyrwates/skirrits (water parsnip), scallions, onions, garlic, leeks.

Beans and Peas: peas, split peas, white beans, fava beans (broad beans), lentils, chickpeas (garbanzos).

Stalks and Vegetable Fruits: asparagus, celery, fennel, mushrooms, marrows/gourds (mostly varieties we would call summer squash and zucchini), cucumber, eggplant, artichoke, olives.

Grains: wheat, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, rice, millet, spelt.

Fruit: apple, crabapple, pear, quince (very common), cherry, peach, apricot, nectarine, damson (plum) and prune, fig, date, pomegranate, orange, lemon, grapes, raisins, melon (such as honeydew and muskmelon/canteloupe), rhubarb, strawberry, currants (very common), gooseberry, bilberry, wild blackberries (but not cultivated), mulberries.

Nuts: almonds (a staple), filberts (hazelnuts), chestnuts, walnuts, acorns, sesame seeds, pistachios, pinenuts.

 

Anyone know what (if anything) they plant in the Kentwell gardens? I know that Monticello has a terrific historic garden, but that is at least partly because Thomas Jefferson's big thing was farming.

 

"Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever He had a chosen people, whose breasts He has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue."—Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1785

Found my old list of "historic foods" from the RWA workshop I ran last year. Now, to figure out what modern varieties might "relate" to these... Anyone know what (if anything) they plant in the Kentwell gardens? I know that Montechello has a terrific historic garden, but that is at least partly because Thomas Jefferson's big thing was farming.

Comments

[sstormwatch.livejournal.com]

No clue on heirlooms.

Got two strawberry plantlings for you. Also, any interest in 2-3 roma tomato plantlings? I got a 6pack of them from Lowes, but won't plant but 3-4 in my plot (we still have jars of them from last year to get through).

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

I will happily swap you plants for seeds, or promise you some cucumber seedlings once they come in – I planted eight “hills” worth, but could only fit five (max) in the garden space. As it is, we will have cucumbers coming out of our ears – which is why ½ of them will be for pickling! *grin*

[sstormwatch.livejournal.com]

I only need one or two cucumber plants this year. Last year showed me just how much we were swimming in them. I presume if you got pickling types, you planted seeds for the regular kind? Rob loves Armenian cukes, so 1-2 has to be those. I should just plant seeds myself, but I keep stalling for some reason... and we have seeds.

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

I planted two types of cucumber: Marketmore and Wisconsin Summer Pickling. I don't have any Armenian cukes...but I'd be willing to trade once my seeds sprout. I am going to be swimming in cukes...*chuckle*

Nice to know that they go well with gin...*wink*