GARDEN FEVER, PART ONE

 Did I mention I love reading seed catalogs? And this winter, I started getting them in December! Burpee, Gurney, Park, Territorial & now Seeds of Change. Interestingly, heirloom seeds are really making a comeback. I have always planted at least a couple of heirloom tomato varieties. In past years I've grown Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Persimmon, Amana Orange, Gert's Gold and a few others I can't remember. All have had better flavor than the hybrid varieties. The downside to heirlooms is that they are not bred for disease resistance. Burpee has a hybrid Brandywine/Big Boy combination that I used one year...the idea was that you'd get the fabulous taste of the Brandywine with the disease resistance and the abundance of the Big Boy. Not so much, in my opinion. 

 Tempting & mouthwatering photos of herbs & tomatoes get me every time! 

This year (as in past years) I've vowed to simplify my efforts by reducing the number of varieties I plant. It never works! I always seem to end up with more plants than places to put them, so things get too crowded. And the truth is that I don't want to open a veggie stand up at the road so I just have to figure out how to get a grip this year. My strategy will be to order from just one source (Territorial Seed) and limit my trips to the Grange Coop. I do have a $100 Grange gift card that Chris & Susan gave me for my birthday that I've saved for my spring buying pleasure...