Catalog & Supply Time

If you ordered any seeds or other garden supplies in the past few years, then you know what to expect when you open the mailbox in late December. Catalogs- lots of them, full of the latest and greatest varieties, tools, gizmos, gloves, books, etc.

There are several catalogs that head straight to the recycling bin. There are a few that I know I will need handy eventually, so I put them into the SAVE pile, but they don't really call my name at this time of year. Then there are a few that I scan like a detective hunting for clues. Topping the list of the catalog most scanned, read, and eagerly anticipated is the catalog of Johnny's Selected Seeds.

First question: what's new? I find myself gravitating towards the tools section. Has Eliot Coleman created a drill-powered mini-copter that allows you to hover over beds of greens in the hoophouse? Perhaps in 2011. But the big push on quick hoops seems right for the times. Cheap, effective, and serious profit potential.

Second question: what's changed? Now I'm looking at prices. I go straight to lettuce mix for that one. Almost no change. Smart move! Now to Zinnias- prices have risen sharply for the Benary's mix, probably in part due to the events in the flower seed world that Growing for Market has covered in 2009. Either way, I wish that Johnny's would just stick with weights of seed (1/4 oz., 1 lb, etc.) or quantites of seed (50 seeds, 1000 seeds etc.), but not tinker around with these units for different varieties, or from year to year. Everything else about the catalog is excellent, but I'd rather that Johnny's just be more open about price changes than trying to muffle them with changes to units and sizes of packets that prevent an easy comparison.

Third question: in what direction is the company headed? I'm interested in what new areas the particular seed/tool company seems to be expanding. Johnny's appears to be renewing focus on the commercial grower, and expanding in the tools/equipment aspect of the company. That says two things to me- one, that small-scale farming is booming in a time of economic stagnation, and two, that Johnny's is concentrating on strengthening its position as the 'go-to' seed & supply company on the East Coast for the small veggie farm. That may seem like the obvious move, but my observations of several companies in the past few years lead me to conclude that many small companies make the mistake of trying to be all things to all people. Johnny's has avoided this pitfall, by concentrating on becoming all things to a particular group of people (market gardeners and small veggie farmers), a group which is clearly surging into 2010.

The Seeds of Change catalog really surprised me by removing the tool section entirely! This says to me that after dabbling with all kinds of different stuff, they may be concentrating again on the backyard gardener. I get the sense that the company is a little bit scattered in terms of focus, and perhaps might be returning home to a focus on heirloom seeds.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange has the most compelling catalog of the year, in large part due to the catalog cover, which is creative and enticing. Little gnomes with caps that mirror hot peppers. Very well done. Everything about this company says that it is heading in a positive direction. Like Johnny's, Southern Exposure is clearly concentrating on strengthening its home base, but in this case the home base is heirloom seeds and the backyard gardener. Quantities of many seeds are certainly sufficient for the market farm, but Southern Exposure has smartly continued focus on the victory gardener and establishing itself as the go-to seed company for organic gardeners of the mid-Atlantic. I am impressed by how Southern Exposure has crafted and communicated such a clear and consistent identity over the years, and how each year seems to feature solid and measurable improvements...all this I gain from the catalog!

But a picture is worth a thousand words. In summary, the catalogs of 2010 communicate to me that this is a year of 'energizing-the-base'. Smart companies are identifying the things they do well and improving them. The small farmers and backyard gardeners these companies serve are doing the same thing. 2010 motto (expanded from an old funk song)- "Whatever you do, do it good, and what's good, make it better."

What Kind of Lettuce Will You Plant?

Did you stop by the Local Food Project booth at the Green Festival October 10 and 11 and pick up a free lettuce seedling? Then check out the pictures below to figure out what variety you have! Keep visiting Sixteen Foot Ladder in the coming weeks to see how the same lettuce varieties are faring in our hoophouse.

Yugoslavian Red Butterhead

Deer Tongue

Forellenschluss

Capitan

Rouge D'Hiver

Harvest Update

Tomatoes are here! The Local Food Project crew harvested the first of our Sun Gold cherry tomatoes last week. The wait was worth it! These sweet-tart little jewels just taste like summer. Other summer crops in our recent harvests include Cocozelle zucchini, Adam pickling cucumbers, Mangan eggplant, and Corno di Toro peppers. Our broccoli plants are still producing nice heads and we have plentiful onions and leeks. View more photos from the LFP’s harvest days.

Harvest Update

As we harvest out the last of our spring lettuces, other crops are ready to take their place! From onions and leeks (nearly 8,000 in all—wow!), to baby potatoes (French Fingerling and Russian Banana), Gonzales cabbages and Gypsy broccoli, the Local Food Project garden is full of good things to eat. Airlie Center’s chefs always seem eager to see what’s coming next! And they’re waiting patiently as we prepare for our first tomatoes in just a few weeks. View more photos.

We Want Candy…and 1st Edition and Leeks!

It’s onion planting time at the Local Food Project garden and we’re excited about getting this crop in the ground. We planted Candy, a delicious yellow onion we couldn’t get enough of last year, alongside Red Candy Apple, a new red variety from Dixondale Farms. In another section (five 3x33 foot beds), we’ll plant 1st Edition and Red Torpedo Tropea, then put in a section of leeks. We’re also experimenting with two different planting styles. The first is our regular four-row, one onion every six inches layout. The second has only two rows spaced wider apart and bunches of four onions every foot. The same number of onions go into each 33 foot bed so we’ll see how they do and compare the yields from each.

Lunchtime for Tomato Starts

At the end of March the Local Food Project crew started our summer tomato crop in flats. We sowed seeds for our favorite cherry tomato (Sun Gold), a strain of Roma selected especially for Virginia, a volunteer heirloom we saved seeds from last year, plus several purple/black tomatoes to compare which varieties we like best—Black from Tula, Cherokee Purple, Nyagous, and Purple Russian. Now (about four weeks later) we’re transferring the tiny seedlings to larger flats, giving them a fresh dose of nutrients and more space to spread their roots—a tasty lunch after breakfast in the smaller flats. Soon they’ll help themselves to dinner in the soil of our garden.

Planting Potatoes for Earth Day

The Local Food Project celebrated Earth Day by inviting Airlie Center staff to come visit the garden, enjoy the sultry warmth of the hoophouse, and join us for potato planting. Inside the hoophouse, we talked about the fast-growing Arugula we’re harvesting from the north bed and the soon to be transplanted Sun Gold cherry tomatoes that will thrive in the coming heat. Out in the field, a crew of energetic volunteers from Airlie’s housekeeping department planted an entire section (five 33-foot beds) of Russian Banana fingerling potatoes in only 20 minutes! We really enjoyed visiting with all of our Airlie colleagues and look forward to welcoming them back when the garden is in full bloom.