Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Burpee Spinach "Giant 157 Hybrid" Seeds are the bomb!

I love that Burpee has put an ad on my page! Let me tell you why! I grow most of my veggies from seed and I ordered seeds from several different sources at different times. I grew some spinach for the first time when I first began my garden 3 years ago and it was some of the most amazing spinach I had ever had! I grew to be huge, the leaves were at least 12" stem to tip. The leaves were thick. And when you steam it, it comes out strong, yet tender, and creamy. I even leave some of the woody looking stems on, because they are not tough. The problem? I threw the seed packet away that first year after I planted all the seeds. I had no idea what they were. I went to my favorite nursery and looked at seeds. I told them what I was looking for and he was discouraging...telling me "Hybrid" seeds were not normally consistent, so even if I found them, the spinach may not be the same. So I scoured every seed provider plus some, looking for these seeds again! I could not remember, so I ordered at least 12 varieties of seeds until finally one day...I ordered Burpee "Giant 157 Hybrid" seeds and VIOLA! That was it! There they were. So now, I have my favorite spinach growing again and it is as yummy as I remember! Thank you, Burpee!
Burpee Giant 157 Hybrid

Saturday, March 10, 2012

I have no idea what I am doing wrong, but I cannot get lettuce seeds to even sprout! I have planted twice, and not one sprout. Maybe there is a bug or the birds are eating the seeds, but I have never had the problem where not one of the 100% of the seeds I sowed did not sprout! I planted 6 varieties. This is getting really frustrating because lettuces should be easy and some of the things I grow are more difficult...I should be able to grow lettuce! Argghhhh...

I know I have caterpillars. I saw an odd mass scooting across the ground yesterday, it was a black and orange looking beetle carrying a small (1" long) caterpillar. This is going to mean trouble for my tomatoes! I have found  that any kind of cayenne pepper, chili powder, red pepper will keep the caterpillars from eating the leaves on my peas, but the tomatoes will be a bigger challenge. I will be working on a cayenne/red pepper "soup" that I can spray with a squirt bottle to try to deter them...and maybe spend the night in the garden so when I HEAR them chomping, I can find them and destroy them...