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Vegan Garden Log Page 1 ( 2000)
2000 Mar 23
Yes, some of the seeds I plant are seeds I saved myself from plants I grew the year before.
Here's the seed order I called in this afternoon, to Johnny's Selected Seeds of Albion Maine. If you order by phone, they let you know, when you give them the order, if something is out of stock. Also they ship telephone orders the same day, if you call weekdays before noon. So I prefer to order from this company by phone, rather than through their on-line catalog, or by mail.
For some of their seeds you have a
choice of "packet or "mini-packets," as well as larger sized.
PkgSz means Package Size
qty means quantity
pkt means packet
oz means ounce
1/2 lb means 1/2 pound
23-Mar-2000 Order to: Johnny's Selected Seeds Item pg cat# PkgSz qty ea amt 1 Envy, succulent soybean, early 11 105 1/2 lb 1 5.55 5.55 2 Tongue of Fire, succulent bean 10 62 pkt 1 2.25 2.25 3 JBT 1002 White Beet 12 2001 oz 1 5.00 5.00 4 Athena melon (muskmelon cataloupe) 43 457 pkt 1 3.75 3.75 5 Maestro sweet pea 49 548U pkt 1 2.25 2.25 6 Maxigolt sweet pea 49 2138 1/2 lb 1 3.65 3.65 7 Delicata squash (I change my mind) 67 675U pkt 1 0.00 0.00 8 Hakurei salad turnip 75 706 pkt 1 3.45 3.45 9 Festival small, early watermelon 75 2170 pkt 1 2.30 2.30 10 Gilfeather giant turnip (US rutabaga, UK Swede) 60 631 pkt 1 3.00 3.00 Ordering info pg 2, order form pg 76 total merchandise 31.20 total with discount 31.20 shipping 4.80 total 36.00 tax 0.00 total with tax 36.00
Within the last few days I've also picked up little seed packets at hardware stores, supermarkets, garden stores, and drugstores, costing from about $.80 to about $2.00 each. I got 2 little packets of Ambrosia hybrid muskmelon. These worked out wonderful last year. They were extraordinarily sweet and flavorfull, although a few of them had a slightly "off" flavor. I got 3 little packets of Hales Best Jumbo cantaloupe. These worked out very nicely last year. They were not quite as amazingly sweet as Ambrosia, but they were nicely sweet, they were earlier than Ambrosia, more productive, and the sweetness and flavor from melon to melon was more uniform than Ambrosia.
I got a little packet of Crimson Sweet watermelon. These worked out very well last year. They produced medium sized melons, about 15 to 25 pounds, as the package information said they would. The melons had a pretty good texture, and were excellently sweet and flavorful. The were not quite as productive as I would have liked. And they just barely made it within the growing season. The package says 85 days. The smaller "Festival" melons I ordered from Johnnys are supposed to be 75 days. I think I might prefer a smaller melon too. They'll fit in my fridge without me having to cut them up.
I also got 2 little packets of Super Sugar Snap peas. These are trellis climbers. I've grown them before, with good success.
Plus I got a package of little marvel and Burpeeana Early peas to try. These are bush varieties. Burpeeana is labeled 63 days, compared to the 66 for Sugar Snaps. The Maestro peas I've ordered from Johnny's Selected are 57 days. Bush peas are *easy* to grow and they are something real substantial to eat, with protein and calories, that is ready to eat very early in the growing season. Because peas are big seeds, each little packet doesn't really plant too many square feet of pea plants. Also you can eat them raw. I've noticed that sweet pea varieties don't always have good viablitity if used after their harvest year, though dry pea varieties tend to maintain their viability. So I try not to use sweet pea seeds that I bough the year before or earlier. You can see I am a pea nut.
I also bought a little packet of Honeydew melon, a 4-6 pound melon with 85 days maturity. I'm not sure if I'm going to plant these.
Melons take up a lot of room.
I have some succulent soybean (edamame) seeds, "Butterbean," left over from last year that I am pretty sure will be still adequately viable. They are a later variety than Envy, and bigger and more productive, but I did not like their taste as much. Last year, by time I got to my seed order from Johnny's, they were out of Envy, and I had to take Butterbean only.
I still need to order some more lettuce and endive and other seeds. I have some left over from last year
Lettuce seeds do not have such good viability either so I think I will not take chances using last years seeds, and order some more of my favorite variety. Endive has good viability. I have to estimate how many I have left from last year. Perhaps I can save a dollar or 2, if don't have to order any more. Let's see: carrot seeds maintain a high rate of germinatinn for 3 years; then the rate falls off quickly. I have to check the dates on my carrot seeds.
I think I must have spent about $10 so far on seeds in little packets I bought locally.
There are 2 more seed companies I will have to place orders with, Harris Seeds and Abundant Life Seed Foundation.
Plus I need welded wire or twisted wire fencing, about 120 feet of it.