Saturdays in the Garden

At this point in the season – the focus is on seeds and rain.

I meant to get some of my seedlings in the ground this past week, but we've had nonstop rain all week and I am too much of a wimp to go play in cold wet mud. But the rain is a huge blessing. Central Texas has been in one of the worst droughts in living memory. While other parts of the country are dealing with record snowfalls and flooding rain, we have gone months without rain. My family who run a cattle ranch say the cows are literally starving because of that. Not only is there no grass for them to eat because it is so dry – there is no hay to be bought either. Everyone in this area is so desperate and the supplies are gone. Even with a week of rain its hard to know if they can recover. But I'm glad for a nice ground soaking to plant my seedlings into soon.

Which brings me to seeds. I've taken up the southfacing windows in our house with trays of seed starters. I'm not sure how well all these seeds will do, but I prefer to grow my plants from seed. For starters, it is far cheaper than buying starter plants, and you can more easily find heirloom varieties in seeds. I am a strong supporter of growing heirloom varieties of produce. These older, treasured varieties (hence the heirloom term) represent the vast array of creation. The supermarkets have grown us accustomed to a very small selection of food types. Generally we only know the types of say carrots or tomatoes that travel and refrigerate well, don't bruise easily, and look pristine (even if they are seriously lacking in the flavor department). But our ancestors grew so many different types of fruits and vegetables with complex flavor profiles, varying textures, and a rainbow of colors. We not only miss out on enjoying these tasty fruits of the earth, we are contributing to creating a potentially dangerous future for our food supply. Whenever a culture comes to rely too heavily on one particular variety of food (like the Irish with the potato), there are serious consequences when a disease or pest invades and decimates that particular strain of food. As our world comes to rely on fewer and fewer varieties of food, we are leading ourselves down a potentially hazardous path.

So I support the groups that attempt to preserve heirloom varieties. Not only to they allow us access to forgotten tastes, they help preserve natural variety. I get my seeds from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company which carries some 1275 varieties of natural, non-GMO, heirloom seeds. Just flipping through their catalog is an experience – I had no idea most of the foods in there even existed. And they carry seeds from around the world – including in recent years heirloom varieties sent from Iraq in a desperate attempt to preserve strains that have grown there for years. So we'll see how my garden grows – if my seedlings bear fruit. I hope so, because the stuff in these pictures looks yummy.