Some Cool Weather Vegetables Planted

Now that I have soil I can hardly wait to take advantage of all the room I now have for vegetables. I have planted some mescalin mix in the front flower bed as well as some Swiss chard and a few radishes. Some of the salad mix and spinach I planted last fall has come up with the mild spring weather and the rains. I have added more salad mix, radishes and spinach in the old bed.

Yesterday I planted one of the small beds in the front with sugar pumpkins and borage. I had hoped to get some chiogga beets and a few other things but I ran out of time. Today the temperature has dropped about 30 degrees and it has started raining again. It's to be in the 50's for the next few days so if it will dry out, I'll get busy planting a few more cool things. I'll wait for a week or two to plant the vegetables that prefer a warmer temperature.

Addendum to Planting List 2009

Seed Packets
Originally uploaded by Carolina Victory Gardener

The seeds I already listed were from the Victory Garden Collection. Here is the rest of my list of vegetables, flowers and herbs along with a few other possibilities.

Onion-Parade
Carrot-Yaya
Lettuce-Salad Bowl Mix
Radish-Cherry Belle
Spinach-Melody Hybrid
Swiss Chard-Bright Lights
Borage-Borago officinalis
Basil-Genovese
Basil-Purple
Basil-Sweet
Basil-Lemon/Lime Mix
Oregano-Mediterranean
Parsley-Krauser
Gomphrena-QIS Carmine
Nasturtium-Burpee's Border Mix
Calendula-Keblona Mix
Cosmos-Bright Lights Mix
Aster-Red Burst
Marigold-Boy O Boy mix
Marigold-Chameleon

I'd also like to add some potatoes, monarda, tansy and maybe a cantalope. I haven't decided on the particular varieties of these. Any suggestions?

2009 Planting List

I don't have to think quite as hard this year about what to plant. My gardening partner is very supportive. He gave me a "Victory Garden" seed collection for Christmas. This collection came with a good variety of vegetable seed, a couple of herbs and a packet of sunflower seeds all in a nice plastic pail. All of the seeds are heirloom and/or open pollinated so that I can save seeds from this year's harvest to plant for next year. I also have a bit of seed left from last year and I have purchased a few more packets. All in all, I am thinking that this will be a very ambitious year for gardening.

Here is the list of seeds from the seed collection:

Bean, Dry/Shelling Pole-Bingo
Bean, Green Bush-Venture
Brussels Sprout-Rubine
Beet-Early Wonder Tall Top
Broccoli-Thompson
Cabbage-Derby Day
Carrot-Danvers
Cauliflower-Goodman
Corn-Golden Bantam
Cucumber-Wautoma
Kale-Winter Red
Kohlrabi-Superschmelz
Leek-Giant Musselburg
Lettuce-Heirloom Blend
Onion-Borrettana Cipollini
Pea-Oregon Pioneer
Pepper, Sweet-Cal Wonder 300
Pepper, Hot-Early Jalapeno
Pumpkin-Small Sugar
Radish-Altaglobe
Turnip-Purple Top White Globe
Spinach-Bloomsdale Savoy
Swiss Chard-Rhubarb
Squash, Summer-Black Beauty
Squash, Winter-Bush Delecata
Tomato-Gill's All Purpose
Tomato-Saucey
Herb, Dill-Long Island Mammouth
Herb, Coriander-Santo
Flower, Sunflower-Mammoth Gray Stripe

Ample Food Supplies

I found an in interesting report in my mother's papers the other day. She worked with the Cooperative Extension at Clemson University back in the late 1950s. The report, which was from the Extension is titled Ample Food Supplies Available for Good Eating and is dated 1957. It goes into some detail saying that there will be adequate food for civilians, who would eat about as well as in the past year. It goes on to say that while vegetable eating is high for the times, they expected the trend to move toward processed vegetables. In 1957, people in South Carolina spent less for food than the average family in the Southeast, but didn't make up for that by growing more vegetables at home.

I wonder what the out look is for 2009? Our local newspaper speculated this week that we would pay more for vegetables this year due to the drought in California. Will South Carolinians grow more vegetables this year to make up for losses and to overcome the rising price of food in the grocery store? What do you think?