my 2020 garden seeds are here – wanna know what i got?

If you are smack dab in the middle of winter right now (looking at you, my northern hemisphere friends), maybe you are in a bit of a relaxing lull. January is a slow month in regard to the garden. The biggest thing on the radar this month for me is finalizing the layout for the this year’s veggie garden. Are you spending these colder months choosing veggie seeds? I’m excited to try the new seeds I ordered. I really practiced great restraint this year; in fact, my order was only about half of what I’ve ordered in the most recent few years. If you are contemplating which new seeds to order, I’d like to share with you what I got and provide some description. If you’re on the fence about what to try this year, maybe this will be helpful.

I’ll start by saying a couple of things: (a) Sticking with heirloom varieties this year, although some of my existing seeds are hybrids and I will certainly plant those as well, and (b) I had such great success with the beans last year, that I overloaded my order this year with beans. It’s looking like beans will become one of the main things I grow.

So, here are the veggie seeds I purchased for 2020 (all of these are new-to-me varieties):

Tomatoes

• Classic Beefsteak tomato – billed as having massive fruit and great flavor, and who doesn’t want that in their tomatoes?
• San Marzano paste tomato – because I want to know if they live up to the hype and also, I plan to make megatons of pasta sauce for freezing and maybe canning if I actually take that plunge this year.

Cabbage

• Golden Acre cabbage – I’ve really been on the cabbage train lately, so going to try growing it again, after several unsuccessful attempts in the past. Making sure I’m fully prepared to do what needs to be done regarding protection from the dreaded cabbage moth.

Beans

• Kentucky Wonder green bean – “stringless, solid and meaty with great flavor.” Sounds like a winner!
• Jacob’s Cattle dry bean – said to hold their shape, excellent for cooking. I eat a lot of beans, a lot, lot, lot. Mushy beans are not something I’m into.
• Slippery Silks bean – this is a Honduran red bean with a creamy texture and quick cooking time.
• Mbombo green bean – couldn’t resist the gorgeous green color. According to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, from whom I got mine, “bright emerald green dry beans and are delicious in soups or eaten as a green bean. Drought and heat tolerant, the bean originated in Kenya where its name, Mbombo, is an African tribal association to the Creator God of the same name.” Nice backstory!
• Mitchell Family Cream Pea cowpea – I just couldn’t resist the name, although I’m pretty sure that Mitchell family is no relation to me.

Peppers

• King Crimson sweet pepper – billed as having early maturity; this is important for peppers when growing in this area, I’m coming to find out. Sometimes our growing season doesn’t seem long enough for sweet peppers to mature to their fullest potential.
• Lively yellow pepper – from High Mowing Organic Seeds, “Prolific and reliable, performing well in the open field across a variety of climates and ripening well even in our northern VT fields.”
• Mini bell pepper mix – they are just too darn cute. Also, they have a nice story. From Baker Creek: “This colorful mix of dainty bell peppers is an old Ohio family heirloom. This trio of mini red, yellow and chocolate bell peppers was introduced to the Seed Savers Exchange by member Lucina Cress. Lucina received the seeds from an elderly neighbor woman and began to grow them out. The 2-inch mini bell peppers became locally famous, as Lucina would sell hundreds of jars of cabbage-stuffed pickled peppers at her local church bazaar each year. We love these little peppers for snacking, stuffing or pickling. Plants produce an abundance of tiny colorful orbs, easy to grow and so rewarding.”

I tell ya, sometimes it’s those colorful histories and folklore that sell the seeds, right?

Hopefully, this was a bit helpful for you if you are in the process of ordering seeds. If you’ve already purchased your 2020 seeds, leave a comment and let me know what you got!

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