Jan­u­ary and Feb­ru­ary are seed cat­a­log and seed start­ing months. We’re at high alti­tude with a weird grow­ing sea­son and issues with pests, so my pre­vi­ous years of gar­den­ing have not been as pro­duc­tive as I’d like, though still sat­is­fy­ing because face it, play­ing in dirt is fun.

So I sat down today and went through my seed pack­ages, some of which go back to 2006 (yikes), some of which I’ve saved from pre­vi­ous year’s crops in the hopes that they’ll be bet­ter adapted to our weird cli­mate. My favourite seed source is Free­dom Seeds, run by the Der­vaes fam­ily in Pasadena — non-GMO, non-Monsanto seeds that have GREAT ger­mi­na­tion rates and seem to do really well up here.

I thought I’d list my cur­rent hold­ings. Most of the listed flower seeds are old and will be tossed out into the yard with crossed fin­gers in the hopes that they might, you know, do some­thing. A lot of the veg­gies are fresh though, and if I can keep the rac­coons out of my pots and the voles away from my root crops, I might actu­ally get to eat some­thing I grow this year.

Of course, I think that every year.

TOMATOES
Tomato, Valen­cia
Tomato, Thes­sa­loniki (best vari­ety I’ve found for this dry alti­tude. Tasty)
Costaluto Gen­ovese
Tiny Tim

PEPPERS
Mulato Isleno Pep­pers
Cal Won­der Bell Pep­per (I can’t keep pep­pers alive, the chip­munks strip them to the stems. Last year had 2 tiny pep­pers that I har­vested the day after the first frost. They were a lit­tle soft — but that plant grew from a stem the chip­munks stripped that I didn’t have the heart to tear out, so there’s hope. The climate’s good for them anyway)

MELONS, SQUASH
Sugar & Pie Pump­kin
Sugar Baby Water­mel­ons
Charentais Can­teloupe

Black Zuc­chini

Poin­sett Cucum­bers

ROOT CROPS
Cherry Belle Radish

Lit­tle Fin­ger Car­rot
Chante­nay Car­rot
Thum­be­lina Car­rots
Baby Carrots

Red Bur­gundy Onion
Ciboule (peren­nial) Onion

PEAS & BEANS
Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar Daddy Snap Peas

Filet Tavera Beans
Aigu­ille Verte (tiny and sweet)
Can­nellini
Gar­banzo Beans (these do FABULOUSLY up here. But the chip­munks like them too)

BRASSICA
Romanesco Broc­coli (haven’t tried broc­coli yet)
(Kale, but I list it under greens ’cause that’s how I use it)

FLOWERS
Dan­de­lion Red Rib (grown for xorta/Greek braised wild greens)
Cam­pion (these do bril­liantly up here and seem to be native. They’re also native to Paros. They are cur­rently show­ing green on the hill above our dri­ve­way, so I’ll sow more of them up there)
Poppy
Lupin
Marigold
Nas­tur­tium
Bor­age
Forget-me-not
Sky­scraper Sun­flower (I can only dream. The chick­adees are all over these when I direct sow them, and they don’t do well started indoors)
Dwarf Sunflower

GREENS
Lacinato Kale
Rad­dic­chio
Syl­vetta Arugula
Arugula (Heir­loom)
Sum­mer Bibb Let­tuce
Lit­tle Gem Let­tuce
Rhubarb Chard
Sor­rel
Cut­ting Celery

HERBS
Dwarf Basil
Mam­moth Dill
Greek Oregano
Spearmint
Sum­mer Thyme
Sage
Parsley

CORN
Golden Ban­tam Corn