Partaking in Seedy Behavior (Lauren)

It's finally warming up here in Iowa! The past week has been above zero and a couple of days have gotten above freezing. You know what that means! SPRING IS COMING! That means Austin and I looked through the Seed Savers' catalog and chose some plants that we wanted to try this season.

We chose 18 different crops to go with the ones we already have from last season and our aquaponic adventures. We chose:

• Forellenschluss (Speckled trout back) lettuce
• Tango lettuce
• Martino's Roma tomatoes
• Green Grape tomatoes
• Dwarf Blue Curled kale
• Aurora (hot) peppers
• Tequila Sunrise (sweet/peppery) peppers
• Purple tomatillos
• Eden's Gem melons
• Sakata's Sweet melons 
• Ireland Creek Annie (bush) beans
• Turkey Craw (pole) beans
• Mexican Sour Gherkin cucumbers
• Blue Jade corn
• Strawberry spinach
• Paris Market carrots
• Cincinnati Market radishes
• Mizuna Asian greens

PLUS! We got a bonus of Moon & Stars (Van Doren) watermelon. (It was a 'thank you' from the Seed Savers).

For any of you who want to see what our choices were HERE is a link to the Seed Savers Exchange catalog.

While I'm excited for all of these crops, I am most excited for the strawberry spinach, Sakata's Sweet melons, Ireland Creek Annie beans, and Mexican Sour Gherkin cucumbers. Austin's favorites are: Eden's Gem melon, Blue Jade corn, and Turkey Craw beans. While neither of us are very fond of tomatoes, and I'm not huge on melons, we wanted to try some new things. Also, tomatoes have the added value of being made into sauces, salsas, and pastes (all of which I like).

The Green Grape tomatoes were described as "additively spicy/sweet" and were therefore something that Austin wanted to try (and I'll try them too but I'm not huge on spice).
The Purple tomatillos are supposed to be less sticky and smaller than their green cousins; not to mention prettier in salsas and other meals. They seemed like a good choice based on their visual appeal and potential in certain dishes (namely salsa).
Lastly from the tomato-esce family, the Martino's Roma tomatoes. These were described as being fleshy with few seeds and great for many types of processing (canning, turning into paste or sauce, salsa, etc). We chose them so that we could try our hand at many of these processes. Hopefully all goes well and we'll like these vegetables when they're home grown.

Now I'm going to tell you all about why I'm excited for the spinach, melon, beans, and cucumbers.
I'm looking forward to the spinach for two main reasons: I like spinach leave and these ones look delicious (triangular, "toothed" spinach) AND this spinach plant grows mulberry like berries that are edible and can be used for dyes! It's also a rarer plant that is becoming scarce; by growing it we hope to keep its lineage alive and well for future generations.
The Sakata's Sweet melon is one that looks more akin to an apple. It does not need to be skinned or peeled as far as I can tell and it's described as "softball-sized fruits" with "flesh that is fun to eat, very sweet and crisp". I look forward to being able to go to the garden and just scoop up a melon and eat it fresh off of the vine. It would be a refreshing snack and reward while working in the garden this year.
The Ireland Creek Annie beans! Last year, the burgundy beans were my favorite vegetable in the garden. I was pleasantly surprised by their flavor and yield. So, it's no surprise that this year I wanted another bush bean to try out. An added plus to the Ireland Creek Annie beans is what happens when you cook them. When these beans are cooked on their own, they produce their own sort of 'gravy'; I think that would make them wonderful for soups and chili. I want to see how they fair this spring and I want to see how well they work in a variety of dishes that Austin and I enjoy.
Last, but certainly not least, the Mexican Sour Gherkin cucumbers. I think these are by far the oddest in the bunch that I want to try. I didn't like cucumbers as a child but I've slowly begun to accept them if they are sliced thinly. But, from what I can tell, these cucumbers are a different breed entirely. They resemble 1-2" tiny watermelons and "taste as if they are already pickled". An added bonus (for me, a rather unskilled gardener) is that they fall off the vine when ripe, a built in 'ripeness indicator' as I call it. They are said to be sweet with a surprising sourness. They are another vegetable that I am excited to pick fresh from the vine and eat while doing some garden work.

While I can't tell you why they're Austin's favorites, I can tell you a little about the Eden's Gem melon, Blue Jade corn, and Turkey Craw bean.
Firstly, The Eden's Gem melon looks very much like a softball sized cantaloupe with a honeydew-like flesh. It is described as having a "complex spicy flavor" (no wonder Austin wanted to try it, right?). It is also relatively quick growing for a melon, which is nice.
Next, the Blue Jade corn. This is one of the few types of corn that can actually be grown in a container. It only gets to about 3 feet high and bears 3-6 steel-blue ears that turn jade blue (hence the name) when cooked. It is a sweet corn with ears that are about half the size of average sweet corn ears.
Lastly, the Turkey Craw beans. These brown seeds with tan flecks can be eaten as either snap beans or used dry. They are a pole bean (which will be a new experience for us) and we are going to try to grow it along side a corn plant in the "Three Sister's" method (an old Native American way of growing corn, squash, and pole beans). They grow string-less (which is a plus) 6" seed pods. Also, they are an heirloom seed from the Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee areas.

Seeing as how this post has run on a little longer than I intentionally planned (and is probably pretty boring for you non-gardeners who should totally try gardening), I will end it here. Thank you all for reading and expect some more updates once spring gets into full swing.

Stay warm and keep on growing to try new things! HA!
-Lauren