Turkeysong Seed and Vegetable Varieties

THIS BLOG IS RETIRED, I’VE MOVED TO SKILLCULT.COM   

ALL THE OLD TURKEYSONG POSTS ARE THERE AND MORE, CHECK IT OUT!

This is sort of a vegetable review area, as well as a repository of information that people who get seeds from me can access as needed.  I will be editing it and adding pictures and varieties over time.

I give away a lot of seeds, and will be giving a whole lot away in the next couple of months at the Ukiah farmer’s market and the Boonville scion exchange.  If you save seed, you’ll find that you almost always have way more than you can use.  That’s awesome, because then you can give away seeds too.  If more of us save seeds in our communities, then each of us has to spend less time trying to save seeds of everything ourselves.  Saving seed in a community can also lead to maintaining a larger genetic pool, because can we trade for seed of varieties that we already save at home just to get some new genes or traits in the mix.  Also, I’m fairly convinced (intuitively more than anything else) that gifting is part of any sustainable economy.  When I say economy, dollar signs probably start flashing in your head, but I mean economy more in the old school sense of the totality of activities, interactions and resources that make up a person or family’s living, and of course the overlap that has with other people and families in a broader community.

Below are all varieties that I grow personally here, and which have found a place in the the garden by way of various virtues.  I’ve grown weary, and wary, of trialing large numbers of vegetables and now only do it one vegetable at a time, on the rare year that I do it at all.  Mostly I find that it ends up being a waste of money and bed space.  I think it’s very important to find good varieties and that a lot of folks should expend more effort on the pursuit, but is can get expensive and complicated.  It’s easy to run up a good sized bill if I allow myself to be seduced by every seed catalogue and rosy description.  That rose of a beet is rarely any better than Detroit Dark Red since it has already snuffed out a half dozen or more varieties before it.  It is nice to have varieties that are consistent and reliable and then every once in a while I can seek to improve something I’m not happy with, or try a variety that a friend recommends.  I’ve gone through a lot of trouble to find these guys and, while your mileage may vary, they are a good place to start if just starting out, or might be worth trying in a small plot against whatever it is that you normally grow.  Let me know what has worked for you in the comments.

More about saving seeds and these super cool turkeysong original origami seed pockets soon!