Interested in Heirloom veggies

16 years ago

I moved again.. third move in three years. I'm busy planning my new garden. I am going organic and I am very interested in Heirloom vegetables.

Can you give advice for a newbie?

Betsy

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Comments (2)

remy_gw
16 years ago
Hi Betsy,
I suggest lots of reading! : ) The easy cheap way to start doing that is to order lots of seed catalogs to read over the winter. Here's a list of some good companies in no particular order:
Heirloom Seed, http://www.heirloomseeds.com
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, http://www.rareseeds.com
Sand Hill Preservation Center, http://www.sandhillpreservation.com
Gourmet Seed International, http://www.gourmetseed.com
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, http://www.southernexposure.com
Pinetree Garden Seeds, http://www.superseeds.com
Victory Seed Company, http://www.victoryseed.com
Tomato Growers Supply Company, http://www.tomatogrowers.com

That should get you going. : ) If you decide you are strongly interested in certain veggies, there are some great books to read, but really the catalogs are the best place to start. Many will tell you if the conditions certain varieties grow best in or other useful info.
And of course, once you whittle down varieties you are interested in, or need advice on growing a crop, the Vegetable Forum is a good place to ask questions.
Remy
Macmex
16 years ago
Hey Betsy,
I suspect you're going to have a grand time. Remy's advise is great. There are also quite a few books out there. Below is a link to Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth. There are other books out there. But if you should decide to grow your own seed you need something like this to help you with matters of isolation and hand pollination, etc. It's not so hard. But it sure helps to have a guide.

Be careful not to get so many seeds, on your first try, that you're hopelessly buried! You want to enjoy this. So, spend time salivating over all those seed companies' offerings. But I'd recommend you decide beforehand, how many of each vegetable you can try and then resist the temptation to purchase, say... 100 varieties of tomatoes!

George
Tahlequah, OK

PS. I started a thread on here, once, on hand pollination of squash. You could look it up for illustrated help on this technique.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed to Seed