A Vegetable Wishlist

– Posted in: Catalog review, Vegetables
4 comments

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?

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

In its own way, frost may be one of the most beautiful things to happen in your garden all year . . . Don’t miss it. Like all true beauty, it is fleeting. It will grace your garden for but a short while this morning. . . . For this moment, embrace frost as the beautiful gift that it is.

~Philip Harnden in A Gardener’s Guide to Frost: Outwit the Weather and Extend the Spring and Fall Seasons

Comments on this entry are closed.

claude gadbois April 12, 2007, 2:02 pm

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

Kathy Purdy December 15, 2006, 9:27 pm

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!

Carol December 14, 2006, 9:55 pm

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!

Bruce December 14, 2006, 9:10 pm

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
Localvoltage.blogspot.com