Catalogs

Pity the companies whose catalogs land in my mailbox the same day Renee’s Garden’s arrives; they will be lucky to get a quick glance.

What makes Renee’s Garden’s so outstanding? Well, first of all, it is pleasing to the eye. It is also well-organized. And . . ., I guess it does not hurt that a seed packet is bound to accompany it. Great marketing tactic!

From last year, one of the garden flower seeds I liked best was Cerinthe ‘Pride of Gibraltar’. Not having heard of Cerinthe before (remember, I am still a relatively new gardener . . .), I had no idea what to expect. Well, this plant made itself at home in my garden and persevered as others wilted in our hot summer of 2010.

In the vegetable category, the lettuces were my masterpieces and made welcome appearances at my table – both in Spring and in Autumn.

So, what am I ordering this year? More lettuces, of course, also an arugula, and a white lavender I have not tried before. There is an Alyssum mix I’ve got to have: ‘Summer Romance’, and I am confident that the Zinnia ‘Bling Bling’ will be an asset to my garden this year – keeping my fingers crossed that the humidity keeps itself in check! And, I am going to test Renee’s Garden’s ‘Easy to Grow Container Herb Garden’. Many of my neighbors complain of having been born without a green thumb and I hope my trial of this combination of cilantro, basil, chives, dill and parsley will set them straight; I can’t wait to take my containers to them as a welcome to our local garden club.

For My Northern Friends . . .

. . . in England and Upstate New York.

Just after we ended our conversation about gardeners and Social Media, Silvia and Karen, I went outside to cut some lettuce and pull tomatoes off the vine for this evening's salad. Aaah - the joys of fresh produce in late October!

The lettuce is a mix of 'Garden Babies' and 'Monet's Garden Mesclun', both from Renee's Garden. The tomatoes are 'Red Currant', off a give-away plant from the State Botanical Garden in Athens.

The lettuce is just about finished, but there are still hundreds of little green tomatoes on the vine; I don't think they'll ripen before the first frost. This is the tomato to try again next year!

Oh, I did dress it before I ate it! Added salt, pepper, half an avocado and a few croutons and then two teaspoons of a dressing made of a mix of 2 T. EVOO, 1 T. balsamic vinegar and 1 t. Dijon mustard - yummy!

Growing Lettuce in October

My spring crop of lettuce did not work out; the weather became too hot, too soon. But I had some left-over seeds, so decided to try again now that fall has brought us cooler temperatures.

Next week's salads are growing nicely.