Heirloom Seeds

I just bought a ludicrously large cache of seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, a company recently profiled in the NY Times for their seed bank and selection of fantastic and strange heirlooms. (Also, it's run by a ridiculously cute young couple.)

Sig and I were thinking of getting some arugula, and maybe a nice kale or two. But the names of the plants and their descriptions were so fantastic that we couldn't stop. We bought Giant of Naples cauliflowers and Black from Tula tomatoes, Crane Melons and Emerald Gems, Alabama Red Okra and Crystal Apple Cucumber (white and the shape of a large egg).

Here is a sample description for the Cherokee Purple Tomato -

80 days. An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890 variety; beautiful deep dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very large sized fruit. Try this one for real old-time tomato flavor. My favorite dark tomato!

They should arrive in 4-7 days. We can. not. wait.

Zucchini a go-go

Sig and I have been completely obsessed with our community garden plot. We quite literally moved 6 tons of dirt to replace the clay with decent soil, built enormous sunk-in boxes, planted, tended, and now we're harvesting and processing. A photo record -

The garden a few months ago, all boxes in, not everything sprouted. Please note the tin-headed scarecrow.
Accidental zucchini the size of my thigh.
Fridge full of enormous zucchini.
Kitten with zucchini and pickles.

Zucchini bread. And, below, freezer with 12 quarts of frozen zucchini. As you can see, zucchini has been our main crop thus far, by volume at least.