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reginak_gw

getting ready for winter

reginak
19 years ago

I'm a happy camper: today Dr. Carolyn's 100 Heirloom Tomatoes book arrived, along with Lee Reich's Unusual Fruits and his Pruning Book, and a couple of books about pre-contact Native American agriculture, AND the Seed Savers Exchange catalog AND the Tomato Growers Supply catalog. It was a pretty chilly day today, so thoughts of winter (garden PLANNING season) have been going through my head....

I can afford to be happy, despite the fast-approaching end of the 2004 growing season, since I didn't actually grow anything in 2004 -- I only moved from apartment to house 2 months ago. I suppose I could have grown some things starting in August, but, well, I didn't. So there. I'm looking forward to killing off some grass over the winter so I'll have beds to work with next Spring! My favorite market farmer says he will keep showing up till Christmas. Wow!

Comments (2)

  • carolyn137
    19 years ago

    AND the Seed Savers Exchange catalog AND the Tomato Growers Supply catalog.

    And then in a few months you'll have to request the new 200 5 catalogs for both of those places to see the new stuff being offered.

    I know the public SSE seed catalog is being worked on right now b/c I'll be reviewing the tomato section in the next couple of days as soon as I receive the hard copy . And the TGS 2005 catalog usually comes out in mid to late Nov/early Dec.

    And of course their new 2005 websites will also be up near the same time the new catalogs are mailed.

    Will you be specializing in any particular heirloom vegetables or fruits?

    New houses and new gardens are just plain exciting. And will look forward to seeing you in the various specialty forums such as tomatoes, vegetables, etc, where specifics are discussed.

    Carolyn

  • reginak
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    My main focus will be fruit, so the center of the (1/2-acre) yard will be mostly given over to trees and the larger shrubs. Veggies will take up most of the borders (gradually, over a few years), mixed in with some flowers and smaller fruiting shrubs or vines.

    I'm excited about apples, there are some nursery-orchards with literally hundreds of varieties to choose from. I will definitely try maybe 6 or a dozen tomatoes, a few different corn, some eggplant, beans, squash, melons, lettuces and other greens. I'd like parallel arbors on each side of the house where the front yard meets the back: grapes on one, kiwi on the other.

    I'm especially tickled about native foods, especially not-so-well-known ones, like pawpaws and juneberries, and I like the idea of being a part of preserving all the wild diversity of unpatented foodstuffs. It'll be little by little, though, as time permits between full-time work and grad school. But I can dream out the whole lush, thriving, bountiful thing already!

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