Seedy Thoughts

Like most gardeners around these parts I've got my mind on seeds these days. I picked up some great seeds at Seedy Saturday in February and have also been the lucky beneficiary of a number of seeds sent by readers of this blog and garden friends like Renee. I don't have plans to do things too much differently from last year; I will certainly keep at least roughly with my square foot garden approach to veggies, as that worked well for me last year in terms of use of space and crop rotation. I am hoping to expand a few of my crops with the hope of doing more harvesting for preserving/storage. In particular I'm pretty interested in the idea of growing protein sources in my garden, an idea that my friend James really turned me onto during his year of 100 mile eating (his book, co-written with is partner is due out this month for those o you interested in their story). I have some pinto beans left from the seeds he gave me last year which I can replant this year. They were very successful last year though my crop was small, so this year I hope to expand it. I also picked up some gorgeous cranberry beans at Seedy Saturday and couldn't resist picking up some Ethopian Lentils to have a go at. I was told by the woman who had them that they aren't  particularly prolific plants in this climate but that they produce beautiful flowers and I really couldn't resist the lure of the possibility of growing lentils here in East Vancouver. Given how decorative the lentil bushes are, I will probably try nesting these in amongst my flower beds for maximum yeild opportunity leaving space for more bean production in the actual veggie garden. I'm going to need some new beds for all this bean cultivation, so I think I'll see if Martin wants to help me build some long narrow beds along one of the garage walls. The garage is in the back which is the south side of the house and the wall I'm thinking of faces west and gets a decent amount of sun so we might just be able to get a bumper crop. All this brings seed musing reminds me that I need to call and get a new load of dirt delivered for next weekend so I can get everything in order for planting. Pronto.

Comments

[kelly]

I love Vermont Cranberry seeds, they're my absolute favorite to dry and cook mid-winter with a little garlic, some olive oil and herbs in the water. Delicious, creamy beans.

[Emira]

I'm excited to have them to cook with. I've only cooked with cranberry beans once before and they aren't that easy to come by around here as dried beans for eating. I'm really excited about expanding my bean options beyond the regular pinto, kidney, navy etc. that one typically finds dried in these parts.

[Matron]

I am trying to identify a variety of bush bean which I "liberated" from Mount Vernon last fall. I have been told it is a Vermont Cranberry Bean. Could you have a look at my blog entry "saving seed" and see what you think, please?