In her latest Washington Post column Barbara Damrosch writes
It’s raining seed catalogues and the forecast is for the downpour to continue well into January.
She then starts in on her vegetable wishlist, what she would like to see the “elves” at the “North Pole Experiment Station” tinker with in her favorite vegetables to make them even better. I second the motion for a pepper that’s just a little bit hot. And I never would have dreamed of a root crop that you could store for the winter and then pot up to sprout broccoli on the windowsill, but it sounds like a plan. The new varieties on the front pages of the catalogues are all “improved,” but what should they really improve? What’s on your vegetable wishlist? For that matter, what’s your favorite seed (or plant) catalogue?
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There is something about a garden that brings out a fiercely possessive streak in the best of us. All our triumphs, to be really satisfying, must stem from our own individual efforts; and we look with a cold eye upon innovations for which we are not personally responsible. Even a suggestion, however tactfully introduced, is not always taken in good part. . . . We gardeners should not be blamed for this defensive attitude, which is based on the intense interest we take in our work. Without it, gardening would become an undertaking so laborious, so frustrating, so maddening, that there would soon be no gardens at all. As with all truly creative pursuits, the appeal is to the mind and to the heart, rather than to the pocket; and unless we can convince ourselves, beyond any doubt, that the credit is ours, and ours alone, we are like a singer listening to the applause for a song that someone else has sung.
Reginald Arkell
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i’m way up here in the sub artic altough it is getting warmer since 10 yrs or so our season even in a greenhouse starts about end of june till middle of sept,i’ve grown turnips’bell peppers,i have yet to grow tomatoes i know i can’t put them outside but is there some type that would bear fruit in such a short season,i’ve started inside seeds already,they must grow some in siberia ,if you have any suggestion it would be great i’ve about given up
I see Mariachi is an All American winner. Thanks for the recommendation, Bruce. Carol, you might want to try some season extending for those tomatoes!
My wish list…
Green beans that the rabbits won’t eat.
Corn that doesn’t fall victim to corn smut or ear worms.
Tomatoes that start to ripen in June instead of July!
In regards to a pepper that’s ‘hot but not blistering’, I would recommend the Mariachi. I grew them last year (I’m in Zone 5) and had an excellent yield, and they have a kick, but a very mild one. I bought the Mariachi peppers through Burpee.
Enjoy!
-Bruce
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