I’m back, and by back I mean ready to terrorize you with stultifyingly long lists of seeds. This list is what I have left over from last year. I’ll be going through it to decide a) what to plant and b) what I still need to buy. If you’re local you probably just got your West Coast Seeds Catalogue too. Garden porn!
The list:
- Laurentian Rutabaga
- Cardinal Broccoli
- Lacinato kale
- Winter Kale Blend
- Winterkeeper Beets
- Oliver Brussel Sprouts
- Summer purple broccoli
- Coronado crown broccoli
- Javelin parsnips
- Parris Island Cos Romaine Lettuce
- Rouge de verone raddichio
- Winter savory (herb)
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Emily basil
- Zucchini
- Sugar snap peas
- Green hubbard improved squash
- Buttercup squash
- Bonny best tomatoes
- Sweetie tomatoes
- Super italian paste tomatoes
- Sweet heart grape tomatoes
- Asparagus
- Blacktail mountain watermelon
- Marketmore cucumbers
- Tasty green cucumbers
- Thyme
- Parsley
- Dill
- Big max pumpkin
- Canteloupe
What’s on there I’m considering not bothering with:
- Lacinato kale – I already have kale still kicking from last year – will it just keep going indefinitely? Should I start some fresh?
- Winter Kale Blend – ditto
- Winterkeeper Beets – these failed so miserably last year. Tiny, inconsequential, difficult to manage. Was it a bad beet year? Is there a better variety?
- Summer purple broccoli – barely grew then bolted out of nowhere – better variety?
- Coronado crown broccoli – barely grew then bolted out of nowhere – better variety?
- Chives – have some that I got transplanted when my chive seedlings were dug up by the cat. They should be perennial, no?
- Basil – teeny tiny so slow than BAM bolted and gross. Bad year? Try again? Start with seedlings instead?
- Emily basil – ditto
- Asparagus – died the death last year. Seems high maintenance. Considering buying a crown. Expensive? Try again?
- Blacktail mountain watermelon – I just don’t think it gets warm enough here, even though I grew them in the polytunnel I never got past a small blossom on a small plant. And that was in late September.
- Canteloupe – worried it will be the same as the watermelon – will I have better luck?
Things I ran out of or didn’t get last year:
- Carrots. These were the highlight of the garden for the kids. Purple Haze expecially. This year I’m going to do three times as much. A giant carrot swath! I mingled these with other plants to keep the yummy carroty smell hidden, and tried to only harvest in the rain.
- Potatoes. I picked these too early but man they were delicious. I’m going to plant 4 tire stacks instead of 2 this year.
- Lettuce. I need one more variety. Probably a mesclun mix, it’s so handy.
- snow peas
- string beans
- leeks (going to try again, failure last year).
Anything else I am missing?
yeah for seed porn!
kale – in theory it bolts the second year, so you want to plant more. though i’ve had a patch for 2 years now that we’re still eating. so, some plants just don’t read the manuals i guess.
beets – mine were super happy. still are, as we’re still eating them. i planted 2 kinds and didn’t mark them, so am not sure which ones gave the large juicy ones that i’m loving: merlin (west coast seeds) or lutz (salt spring seeds).
broccoli – i never wait for a large bunch like you find in stores. if you keep cutting off the little sprouts, it keeps producing. if it bolts (like while you’re away), you can just cut off the flowering bits and it will continue to grow edible bits.
chives – yup, they’re perennial. if you have a big enough patch, divide it, it seems to be happier that way, and you get more chives (or a lucky friend/ neighbour does).
basil – great companion plant with tomatoes. i planted them in each tomato pot and got several decent harvests.
no idea about melons. i have never had luck with them or zucchini, which i hear so many people having so many that their neighbours are sick of them…
Thanks you so much for all that info Christine!
I also just received my West Coast Seeds catalogue, so excited to start planning!
My advice:
-plant new kale- my 2nd yr kale was woody/touch and no good for kale chips (which the kids love)
-I had great beets, but harvested in late august.
-My broccoli failed miserably. I got 1 measly stalk, then a lot of green worms 😦
BUT, the kids really likes broccoli so I will try again. Advice on which to try??
-asparagus- buy crowns!! they are cheap and super low maintenance. If you can’t find any let me know and I can send you some from our seedy sunday in Feb. We can also chat about planting, maintenance too.
-melons==greenhouse or sunroom
-leeks- require patience but so worth it. Sadly I only have 2 more in my garden. plant seeds in feb/march (indoors) but they won’t be ready to harvest until late fall. Alternatively buy starters and you can eat them in August. I “do” both. I don’t know when to plant seeds in order to have them big enough to eat in August, hence the starters.
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Question: how do you still have carrots? Mine got wormy 😦
Also, why only harvest in the rain?
good luck, Jaclyn
Hi Jaclyn,
I’m not sure why your carrots got mealy, everything I’ve read says that root veggies do well stored in the ground under mulch. I cast my carrots with kale, broccoli and lettuce, so they’re not just all out on their own. Maybe that cover helped? You try to harvest in the rain so that carrot fly don’t smell them when you disturb the soil. I also used a lot of coffee grounds, and co-planted with mint to avoid them being detected. STEALTH CARROTS! They were my most successful harvest, along with the toms. I tried melons in my polytunnel, but I had it ope none end. I guess it didn’t get hot enough. Oh well!
We do need to meet up. PM me on FB!