Hey Tom, my peas are up!
March 7 -- The first shoots of the peas poked through the soil this weekend -- Thomas Jefferson has nothing on me! In my research for the book, I found that he participated in a yearly contest with his neighbors on who could bring in the first ripe peas. There's no record of him ever winning the contest, but he often held the dinner party at his house, at the center of which was a dish of peas.
Blessings of a Maritime Spring
Feb. 27 -- Our early spring weather continues, and my soil thermometer tells me the temp in my raised bed is staying above 50 degrees F., so this weekend I'm planting peas, rainbow chard, tatsoi and black radishes. So many people are planting edible gardens here, and there's lots of interest in talking about heirloom vegetables. I just booked talks at Village Books in Bellingham (April 1) and at the new gourmet food store Savour in Ballard (May 27), an event that will include tastings.
Chatting in Manhattan
Feb. 11 -- My virtual book tour continued with an interview with savvy  editor Kate McDonough of The City Cook, New York City's "ultimate guide to home cooking for pathetically busy, space-compromised urban dwellers." Kate and I discussed what to grow if you only have a container, a small city garden or a community garden plot, and how local food activists can support the heirloom seed movement even if they're not gardeners.
Guest Appearance on KUOW Radio
Feb. 9 -- As a guest on Seattle's NPR station KUOW 94.9 FM during the weekly Greendays gardening hour, I discussed heirloom veggies with host Steve Scher, talked about some of my favorites (including purple-sprouting broccoli, above), and bantered with regulars Willi and Marty about the merits of some historic tomatoes. It was great fun. Listen to the archived show.
Stories for Oregon
In preparation for my talk at the Yard, Garden & Patio Show in Portland this Friday, I wrote a piece about the value of heirloom vegetables for Oregon Tilth. Read Tragic Beans and Radiator Tomatoes on their site. Thank you, Oregon Tilth friends!
Diggin Heirlooms
Feb. 2 -- Today I guest-blogged a post on Willi Galloway's DigginFood site. Willi is a friend and stellar gardener who also is the West Coast editor for Organic Gardening magazine and a panelist on KUOW's Green Days program on Weekday, Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Check out my post and be sure to stick around and browse the DigginFood archives - it's a treasure trove of great recipes, garden techniques and pictures.
One of my five choices was Lacinato kale, here pictured in the depths of last winter's freeze, being bothered not a bit by the frost. In fact, I think the cold made it sweeter. It's also called Dinosaur or Palm Tree kale (go to my blog entry to find out why).
Host a Seed Exchange
As you're getting ready to garden this year, why not exchange seeds and ideas with gardening friends? We do this every year, and it allows us to try more varieties, learn from each other, and get fresh seed each year.
- Tell everyone to bring their catalogs and seed boxes
- Assign one person to place an order from each catalog you're using
- Make it a potluck using last year's preserved produce
- Get back together a second time to split up the seeds
Seed sources
Many heirloom seed varieties are only available through specialty catalogs, although more are appearing in the seed racks at larger nurseries, and even as starter plants in 4-inch pots. But if you need to order online, here are my favorite suppliers:
About the Book 
Want to grow Thomas Jefferson’s favorite lettuce variety?
How about the potato given to the Makah people by seagoing Spanish explorers?
Maybe the tomato that helped a radiator repairman retire his mortgage?
Tennisball Black-Seeded Lettuce, Ozette Potato and Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter Tomato are just three of the hundred-plus varieties in my book Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden.
Explore the history and vitality of these well-loved old favorites, and what made them "keepers." The origin stories add to the delight of growing them, but the real payoff comes at the harvest, when the rich flavors will cause you to exclaim, “Now, that’s a tomato!”
Edible Heirlooms offers history, growing tips and variety descriptions for more than 100 varieties of 26 of the most common home garden vegetables. The book includes a color illustration of each plant type created by Susie Thorness. Also in the book:
-
History of the heirloom vegetable and seed-saving movement
-
Advice on year-round gardening and season-extending methods
-
Ways to share the experience: host a seed exchange, create a community garden
-
Tips on saving your own seed to grow again or pass on to the next generation
-
An extensive list of heirloom seed sources and seed-saving organizations
(Skipstone Press, October 2009, $18.95, U.S. ISBN 978-1-59485-142-1) Pick it up at your favorite independent bookstore!
Upcoming Appearances
- Eagle Harbor Book Co., Bainbridge Island, Thursday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. - Earth Day talk on the value of heirloom seeds.
Previous Media Appearances
Seattle Tilth article:
The December issue of Way to Grow, Seattle Tilth's newsletter, includes my article on why to grow heirlooms, and three suggestions for early spring planting, because a gardener loves to look past the winter and envision the green shoots of spring.... Grow a Historic Garden with Edible Heirlooms
The Splendid Table call-in:
I appeared on the delectable public radio program The Splendid Table on the week of Oct. 10. Hear my call-in conversation with Lynne Rossetto Kasper about testing heirloom garlic to put it to its highest and best use.
My Great Garlic Taste Test:
Using Lynne's splendid advice, we spent an evening taste-testing six garlic varieties that came out of this year's garden. I discovered which ones are better fresh, for use in a sautee, or for use roasted... My Great Garlic Taste Test: Splendid Table Advice Helps Identify Best Uses
Wordstock blog entry:
On Oct. 10 I appeared at the wonderful book festival Wordstock in Portland. Visit their site to read my recent blog entry that tells a bit about why I garden with heirlooms and wrote the book.
Seattle Metropolitan article:
It had been years since I last grew Brandywines, so last spring I decided to have another go with the late-season heritage tomatoes but by the middle of summer I thought I’d made a mistake... Tomatoes from Another Time: Heirloom Veggies Take Gardeners Back to their Roots
|
