Hit the Dirt; Mesclun Mix

Good morning. This is Sally the hit the dirt the National Guard Bureau has declared 1997 the year of the mesclun. Many catalogues are offering a variety of original mesclun mixes and a catalog that specializes in salad greens as the cooks garden in Londonderry Vermont. They have three Meskin mixes mystic cans up from the Piedmont region of Italy and nice was and problem solved from France. They also have four other mixes both Tang and mild for different uses. Among the cooks gardens new offerings this year a two red leaf lettuce Molo a loose leaf and freckles a small red flecked remain. They have an interesting green tomato Green Zebra with small flavorful fruits and Italian heirloom tomato. Costa Genov is it that is small fruited with solid meaty flesh and good flavor and is resistant to use area and birders so then well it's good for the source. Seas of change of Santa Fe New Mexico is a handsome catalog and it offers seeds that are grown organically open pollinated and many traditional

varieties among their interesting lettuce is the slow bolting Thai green with yellow green loose leaves Heat resistant variety. Jericho from Israel and a cold resistant variety of North Pole also have interest as a carrot Jura well. Which contains twice the amount of Vitamin A as other varieties. Red stork celery retains its color when cooked. Egyptians are keenly that mature as in 50 days and has good flavor and Vero of spinach. A French album from 1885 with largest avoid leaves. Garden City seed sells only untreated seeds many but not all of which are organically grown in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. The catalogue has Chris symbols for identifying organic and cold hardy seeds that are excellent growing instructions include companion planting seed saving and marketing tips. They have a new 55 day maturing corn Yukon chief developed by the University of Alaska. It is open pollinated grows to only three feet and has

exceptionally flavored 5 inch is good for the small garden. The nonprofit Abundant Life Seed foundation States as its purpose the preservation of genetic diversity. Emphasizing open pollinated seeds of species not commercially available. They have an international variety of tomatoes most of the heirloom and some endangered from such diverse sources as Greece Ukraine Mexico Norway and the Himalayas. There is the Chinese eggplant ping Tung. Bill jumps soupy a tall heirloom shelving P and a true Russian Black seeded sunflower all stuff. There is a good planting and seed saving guide a list of books in a box see the. There are three wonderful sources of vegetable seeds right here in Maine. Pine tree seeds Johnny's so that seeds and fag pine tree is wonderful for the small garden. Well they have packages of small amounts of seeds at a reasonable price. Most the seeds are untreated. Some open pollinated. There are sections on Continental

Oriental Latin American and Native American vegetables and many books tools and gadgets. One new entry under Continental vegetables is Thai farm hall and greens a cross between Chinese cabbage and turnips. The caption reads if you like to feed an army from an area the size of a coffee table this may be the vegetable for you containing no mustard oil it is mild and can be cut throughout the season. Johnnie's operates its own organic farm for seed production and buys some from other reliable sources. This year 40 new varieties of vegetables are listed including an heirloom went to squash Long Island cheese and a very sweet corn sweet acorn squash toffee. There are 30 new Herb's including spy that these and extract a sage that has a high essential oil content. The catalog is worth getting for the huge amount of cultural information of each plant. They're grabbing supplies and her growing equipment and supplies and supplies for putting up your harvest. The banker catalog is also highly informative. They do not carry seeds of plants that have been

genetically engineered and only have seeds that are untreated. They have a number of Maine grown to made over red varieties not necessarily certified organic but grown without the use of chemicals. Two of these are Garden peach slightly fuzzy with small fruit and very sweet and grandma Mary's with meaty fruits that are wonderful for sauce making plenty of organic growing supplies here too. No time here for all the catalogs These are some of the best for vegetable seeds. If you'd like more information on these suppliers please send us them self addressed envelope to me. Selek care of you all and or e-mail me. Sally K. at Downeast dot net. This is Sally for hit the dirt.