My seed choices

Recently I talked about trying to decide what seeds to order from home-state company Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and that's when my neighbor let me take whatever seeds I wanted from his school's collection. Although I found a few that I wanted to try, there was still one thing I wanted to buy from Baker Creek...

...so naturally I ordered six different types of seeds. I can't control myself when it's seed buying time! Curious about what I'll be growing this year?

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For no particular reason, I'll start with the tomatoes. There are literally thousands of different tomato varieties, so I try to choose new ones every year. One of my all-time favorites for flavor was 'Black Krim', which I grew four or five years ago, but didn't continue growing it because of poor production. It produced some delicious fruits, but only a few of them.

Maybe I'll give it another try sometime, but I decided to try a few more "black" or "purple" varieties this year, starting with 'Paul Robeson':

It's supposed to have great flavor with good yields, so we'll see how it goes.

Similarly, this pear-shaped variety, 'Japanese Black Trifele':

My tomato choices are somewhat arbitrary each year, but I want to ensure I'm growing something that nobody else I know grows. If we all grow 'Roma' and 'Better Boy', what about the 3,998 other varieties?

I was going to stick to two tomato varieties this year, but the free seed gift was 'Gypsy' tomato:

I guess they realized that I was sticking to dark varieties, and chose this for me. It's described in their catalog this way: "this is one of the deepest, purplest, maroon tomatoes we have ever grown. It has a gorgeous color and good taste. Perfect, medium-sized globe fruit make this one of the nicest dark varieties."

Funny, but I think this was one of the varieties that made my short list. Nice surprise! I'm not sure how much you have to spend to qualify for a free seek packet, but I only spent about $15 before shipping.

Continuing the red theme, I realized recently that I needed more beet seeds, and wanted to try something different:

I almost always buy my beet seeds from the big-box stores, so get to choose from two or maybe three different beet varieties. This one is not one I've seen in the stores: 'Shiraz Tall Top' and is supposed to be great for greens -- one of my favorite things about growing beets. Of course I love the roots too.

For something more "exotic" I ordered Chinese Red Noodle Beans:

Aren't they beautiful? I can't wait to see these in the garden!

Speaking of beautiful...

That's 'Tigger' melon. From the catalog: "The fruit are vibrant yellow with brilliant fire-red, zigzag stripes (a few fruit may be solid yellow), simply beautiful! They are also the most fragrant melons we have tried, with a rich, sweet, intoxicating aroma that will fill a room. The white flesh gets sweeter in dry climates, mild tasting. Small in size, the fruits weigh up to 1 lb. The vigorous plants yield heavily, even in dry conditions. "

Those were sort of an impulse buy, being in the same section as the one thing I definitely wanted to grow this year:

'Minnesota Midget' melons, which I've read are great for container growing. I'll have these growing on my deck this year, so we'll see how that goes.

I love getting new seed varieties!  How long until I can start planting?

Are you trying anything new in your garden this year?

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