IGC Show August 17-19, Navy Pier, Chicago

How’s this for irony? For the past twelve years I’ve worked in the live event and trade show industry. Last week for my week off… I ended up going to a trade show.

What may be even more ironic is that we’re knee deep in harvest at The Yarden and The Peterson Garden Project and I’m already thinking about next year’s growing season. Thus the field trip to Navy Pier to see what’s going on in the Independent Garden Center world.

You know our motto at The Yarden… “to teach everyone we meet to grow their own food… seriously!” So it comes as no surprise that we were able to help almost 400 gardeners and volunteers get inspired to grow their own food at The Peterson Garden Project this year. But hey, that’s not enough to solve the challenges we’re facing with our food supply today. During WW2, Chicagoans put in 1,500 community gardens and almost 250,000 (yes, you read that right) home gardens in just two years. Makes our efforts on the corner of Peterson and Campbell seem measly by comparison. But hey, we’re just getting started so hold on to your hats and glasses, the 2011 season is going to rock.

But, as usual, I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Independent Garden Center Show at Navy Pier was all about the home grown food revolution. Many of the seminars were edible based and featured all-stars of the food/garden world such as Josh Viertel – President of Slow Food USA, Diane Ott Wheatley – founder (and super hero) of Seed Saver’s Exchange, and Chicagoland’s own Vicky Nowicki – Gardener’s Supply Garden Crusader 2009, life-long garden/food educator and the brains behind libertygardens.com. With seminar titles such as “Top Vegetable Trends 2011″, “Marketing Food 101″, “Cashing in on Heirloom Vegetables” and “The Fastest Growing Gardening Trend – Food!” attendees, buyers and IGC owners got the message loud and clear: people want to grow their own food.

Seed purveyors were out in force. I got my geek on when I met Jere Gettle of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (I wanted to ask for a picture but realized that even my garden groupie-ness can only go so far.) Seed Savers Exchange and Seeds of Change were on hand. The company that perhaps excited me most of all was off in a “temporary” area (which means in trade show parlance they sold out of the main floor exhibit space – a high class problem for show organizers) Irish Eyes Garden Seeds. Irish Eyes carries a great selection of potatoes and garlic and provides useful growing instructions. We’ve purchased our potatoes from them for the last four years and have been incredibly happy with them. Plus they’re from the the Pacific NW (my homeland) so I may be a bit partial.

Numerous companies were selling ready made kits for easy installation of raised beds. 4′x4′ was the popular size in the modular kits. Some were more attractive than others. The prize winner for innovative, attractive, practical and recycled goes to the Food Map container. Made of recycled plastic milk jugs, this is a garden solution that even the most urbane can love. As evidenced by this article by the too-cool-for-school folks at Apartment Therapy.

Woolly Pocket came in a close, and stylish, second with their innovative and earth-friendly wall systems and soft raised beds. They also have a non-profit that recently competed in the Pepsi Refresh Project for their work in schools. [My friend and core-team volunteer Xan isn't sure how a non-profit that gets grant funding to buy their own product really works. But she admits it is brilliant.]

New to the IGC world were the ladies from the Seed Keeper Company. With their (wait for it…) Seed Keeper Kit. This is yet another example of necessity truly being the mother of invention. These ladies started creating this practical tool in one of their garages and have grown, in less than a year, to having numerous wholesale clients as well as a web-based direct-to-consumer business. While a bit cutesy, the kit really is pretty handy with glassine envelopes, seed markers, tabs to keep things organized, etc. I told them when they come up with the super-obsessed size to let me know. They cheerfully replied that people buy multiples: one for tomatoes, one for herbs, etc… I did quickly calculate the cost of buying ten or so for my, admittedly, grossly over-large seed collection. Maybe next year…

Vertical gardening was getting a lot of press at the show as well. Feeney Garden Products really rocked the trellis category with their beautiful and intelligent products. Good looking, configurable, long-lasting and easy to install (everything you need is included) these trellises would be a great combo with the Food Map container for vertical food gardening in a small space. Plus they were really nice people.

I could go on. The 230 year old Clarington Forge company was there selling garden tools from the only garden-tool forge remaining in England (there used to be hundreds). I’m normally a made-in-the-USA person but we all love the English for their gardening prowess, history and passion. A good handmade tool can last a lifetime and is a real treasure for a hardcore gardener. [To learn more about historic garden tools, check this out.]

That arbiter of a beautiful garden lifestyle, P. Allen Smith, was in attendance with his crew showcasing his new product line and inspiring everyone with his kindness and love of the garden (plus handing out free pizza!)

If I haven’t bored you to tears yet, I also ran into Mike Nowak… the perennial (pun intended for the funny man himself) defender of independent garden centers for all they offer in terms of education and dedication to their regions and the special growing conditions in each of them. He might like this book I learned about by speaker Stacy Mitchell “Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Business.” And perhaps this is a good time to mention that Espoma, who have been providing organic gardening solutions since 1923, was also at the show. Their products are really great and we use them in The Yarden.

Finally, just to prove I’m not all work and no play, I did manage to notice some of the non-food related products at the show… fountains, fancy watering cans, more lawn care products than I care to think about. And LOTS of statuary… took this picture for my husband, Peter: co-Yardener, techno genius, awesome hubby and, yes, Meerkat fanatic… I suggested buying ten of these and putting by the south fence of The Yarden so we’d have our own little corner of the Kalahari Desert in Chicago. He paused just a bit too long so I quickly changed the subject.

So feet hurting, brain full I left the IGC Show hopeful that garden centers will be ready to supply the demand for the home grown revolution in 2011. In 2009, almost eight million people started gardening specifically to grow food. I’m curious about the numbers for 2010 and hopeful that IGCs, The Yarden and The Peterson Garden Project can do their part to help the number of successful urban gardens in Chicago skyrocket for 2011.

One of our volunteers found a newspaper article from May 21, 1942 that talked about the original garden dedication. It didn’t reveal too many mysteries other than that a flag was raised, a prayer said and that the Senn High School band played.

But it provided plenty of inspiration!

In the spirit of my WW2 Block Captain predecessors, I suggested to our amazing core team of volunteers that maybe we do our own garden dedication on July 3 so we could go all out “ALL AMERICAN” in keeping with our patriotic WW2 approach… Always up for a great celebration to promote the garden they jumped on it and we’re now on for an afternoon of celebration! After almost 70 years a garden is once again blooming on the corner of Peterson and Campbell in Chicago’s 40th Ward.

In addition to the excitement around the dedication, we’re also announcing the mural by artist Karl Fresa and our partnership with Flashpoint Academy to make a documentary based on the amazing story of Chicago WW2 Victory gardens and how the city is, once again, leading the nation in urban gardening.

When I started researching this topic last winter I had no idea that there would be such an explosion of interest and am humbled and amazed on a daily basis how neighbors, (new) friends, strangers, passers by, businesses and others are so passionate about being part of a community and growing their own food. It is truly amazing. The support from Alderman O’Connor and his team continues to amaze. And we are thankful on a daily basis to Asian Human Services for allowing us to use the property…

So on this July 3, we’ll be celebrating a big chunk of history and a little sliver of food independence…

P.S. I heard today in a lunch with NeighborSpace that we may be the largest edible garden in the City of Chicago! At the very least, we’re the largest on the North Side. Don’t quote me, they’re still doing the tally!

I’m very excited! Wednesday at 7pm I’m doing my “Chicago Victory Gardens: Yesterday and Tomorrow” lecture for the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society.

When I started lecturing on WW2 Chicago Victory Gardens this spring the “tomorrow” part was a general overview of how to start a community garden a la’ Victory Garden today as they did in the 1940’s. Now that we’ve almost got The Peterson Garden Project installed, the lecture has a whole new twist!

Join us Wednesday… you’ll really be amazed at the story of how Chicago lead the nation in WW2 in urban food production… and how we’re doing it again!

June 16, 7:00pm
Devon Bank  6445 N. Western  Chicago, 60645.
Admission to Lecture: $5.00 per adult, $1.00 per child under 12
RP/WRHS members: free
All proceeds benefit RP/WRHS and The Peterson Garden Project.

My mother likes to say “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I have been intending, every day, to update you on the progress of our retro Victory Garden The Peterson Garden Project. However between my day job and early mornings/late nights at the garden the last few weeks are a blur.

Luckily this photo – plus an excerpt from an email I received from one of our amazing volunteers (thank you, Les!) last night – kind of says it all. (I’m out of town for work and missing all the fun!)

“Okay…coming in this evening was quite spectacular. People were already working in the garden and as time went on, people were bringing in plants, shovels, and their excited faces; ready to plant in their wonderful garden space! Definitely was a great feeling just watching these people. I didn’t even work on my plot because I didn’t want to take up any shovels or wheelbarrows, they seem so happy to work and I didn’t want to stop them!!! So fun and I’m so happy to be part of this. I just kept thinking as the next group kept coming, about the movie “Field of Dreams,” …”if you build it, they will come.” And they did and this wasn’t even half of the garden who came out. I’m sure this weekend will bring a drove of people, already caring for their plants or starting to fill their beds with soil or helping each other out, which I’ve seen neighbors doing already!!!”

That a very rewarding icing on a two-week cake that has consisted of lots of logistical “opportunities” with the delivery of supplies. Suffice it to say, we did about a month’s worth of work in two weeks – rain or shine. And, frustratingly, I have to say, more rain than shine.

We cleaned the site of trash and debris, shoveled/raked 250 cubic yards of wood chips and built our 140 raised beds in about four days (there was a huge sense of urgency after our lumber delivery was delayed for two weeks).

We kicked off the work on May 21 (it rained later in the day – of course) with an old-school ground breaking. And I had to throw a quick sing-a-long in there to maximize the morale boosting quota as my duties as Block Captain require… Pat O’ Connor, hero/alderman, the property owners, Asian Human Services, and about 30 gardeners and others turned out for the ceremony… it was a lot of fun…

Students from the Medill School of Journalism showed up and captured it for their website. You can check that out HERE.

There’s so much more to say about this fantastic project… my goal with these posts is to tie in what we’re doing now with what was done almost 68 years ago during the Victory Garden movement. Records don’t capture the emotions of those gardeners who used this land before us. Certainly the war may have made their motivations and perspectives much different than ours. But I can speak for our gardeners today… starting just over a month ago, April 26 to be exact, this project has allowed neighbors to become friends, complete strangers to become team mates and a nasty empty lot has become a garden… or, as one of our volunteers penned on that marker… perhaps a revolution?

National Archives

The Peterson Garden Project (and my self appointed Block Captain duties) have made me think really hard about how to get all the stuff I know about edible gardening out of my head and “down on paper” for the many novice gardeners growing with us this season.

90% of Chicago Victory Gardeners in WW2 had never gardened before so it was important to me to encourage novices to join our project. And, therefore, my responsibility to teach them the basics so they will succeed and be equipped to teach others in the future.

Since this is an exercise (for me at least) in recreating a Victory Garden using the original concepts, organization, ideas and materials that were used in WW2, the first step was to go back to the source.

And the first thing I found was a big SNAFU… All of the educational materials offered in WW2 by the Department of Agriculture, Office of Civilian Defense and local organizing groups focused on traditional row gardening.

This method won’t be effective in our raised bed garden. DOH.

The square foot gardening method was developed in the 1970’s. It’s the way I have gardened since the early 1990’s (my father taught me the row method as a child). It works well for raised beds because it provides a lot of produce in a very small space. It also cuts down on weeding since the plants are closely spaced. Less weeding + more food = good plan.

It appears that my approach to reuse planting-specific materials from WW2 is a moot one so other educational materials are required.

[All is not lost however! We will be suggesting some of the seeds grown in WW2 Victory Gardens. Those original materials will come in handy in that regard. But that's the topic of another post...]

Since The Peterson Garden Project is organic, and teaching a strictly organic method is different than other approaches, I was curious what our WW2 predecessors thought on that matter and if the materials could provide any guidance.

From my research, I have found very little reference to pesticides and other chemical treatments in Victory Gardens. (This propaganda poster was one of the few examples.) That doesn’t mean they weren’t used, I just haven’t found much evidence. On the flip side, there is a plethora of material on composting and on using animal manure and green crops so I’m going to make a leap and assume many of the original Victory Gardens were organic.

[Chemical fertilizers are a relatively new addition to the gardening scene if you look at the big historical picture... prior to the industrial age organic was the only way to garden. For a fascinating look at the history of fertilizer, click HERE.]

Being green is important so not having to make copies of materials people may not find useful is a good thing. Plus most of the communication for this project is happening electronically via email, online forums and our website so delivering printed materials would be time consuming as well.

Something online, something based on square foot, raised bed methods… where to find it?

Luckily – due to the timely collision of the technology boom and the edible gardening revival – I didn’t have to look far for a solution that seemed tailor made to our needs!

Gardener’s Supply – that great gardener/employee owned outfit in Vermont – has come up with the absolute best educational tool I can imagine. This BRILLIANT, easy to use application allows you to drag-and-drop the vegetables you want to grow into a custom sized grid. It automatically calculates the number of vegetable plants per the square foot method and it even generates an incredibly useful planting/informational guide based on your selection. (Thank you Gardener’s Supply for being so smart!)

We suggest this tool to our gardeners in their Welcome packet with instructions to consider what they want to eat and develop a planting grid. We’ll use their personal plans as a starting point when we get to planting later in the month. There’s plenty more to teach, don’t get me wrong, but this approach seems to solve many issues in a self-guided way. The other things we can teach hands-on as we go…

A great educational tool found… that leaves more time for me to consider another important aspect of my Block Captain duties: “morale boosting” activities… monthly potluck anyone? Surely that hasn’t changed much since WW2!

I need to learn a lesson in quiet contemplation from this garden goddess in my friend Andrew’s yard… between my work travel (70%+ of my time) and the CRAZE that is spring garden season it feels as if I’m always running around and never getting enough done. And the unpredictable Chicago weather doesn’t help either… it always wants to rain on the weekends when I want to dig.

If any of you are mothers out there you may detect that I’m winding up to something…

Yes, you’re right, I haven’t planted my Spitfires yet.

HOWEVER, to be precise, I haven’t planted them in MY garden yet. I did plant some in my friend Andrew’s garden on Sunday so let me tell you about that instead.

Andrew and Rolo are having their first garden ever and like many new gardeners there is a lot of excitement, and a bit of apprehension, with this new hobby. They’ve been very good about following my instructions for amending the soil, spacing the beds, putting the paths in, etc. They have also been very resourceful in reusing materials they’ve found. When my husband, Peter, and I toted over the seed stash and the garden tool caddy on Sunday they were ready to go.

They contemplated the stash and made some preliminary selections while I messed around with the spade to flatten out the growing area. After a brief discussion I realized I have a thing against growing carrots but that’s the subject for another post. And then, as we got to planting, I realized how many bad habits I have acquired as a gardener.

Andrew: Should we mark everything?

Me: Nah. You’ll know what it is when it grows. (We were planting three types of beans in turn in a long row against a trellis covered chain link fence.)

Andrew: Not even the first one? (A little disappointed.)

Me: OK. The first one of three.

This went on a bit as we continued with the salad bed (mesclun mix and New Zealand spinach) and the root bed (arugula sandwiched between a beet assortment and French breakfast radishes). In terms of the markers we compromised somewhere between the beds looking like a porcupine and unmarked graves.

Peter and Rolo had since disappeared to talk about the stereo system and eat more leftover paella (will garden for food). Andrew trailed up to join them and that’s where the Spitfires came into action (I hope he’s not reading this.)

We’d already put two mounting types of nasturtium at the ends of the beds (I have mentioned before that I’m a nasturtium freak). And while I was looking at that chain link fence covered with Home Depot lattice I wanted nothing more than to cover it up so I figured the beans could use a little help. And how pretty the Spitfires would look between the purple, Italian and asparagus pole beans (maybe that’s why I never mark things – I have a photographic memory for plantings. Right.)

I was able to push aside all the lovely compost they had so tenderly applied and made a spot with the regular old garden variety dirt so the Spitfires would have lots of flowers.

And then I wandered upstairs for a piece of orange pound cake.

Instructions were left (between mouthfuls of cake) to not pull anything until I can inspect the week I get back and we put in the “hot” crops – tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons. We can argue more about markers then… and I can be giddy explaining the unmarked stealth Spitfires.

“I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for  the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee’s Garden for the seeds.”

I’ve tried to write this blog post for a week and there’s no real easy way to say why or how The Peterson Garden Project came together other than love. Love of history, love of gardening and love of community. And maybe a potentially lethal dose of curiosity…

Last winter I was traveling a lot for work and my husband suggested I find a topic to research during my quiet nights in hotel rooms. He eventually suggested Victory Gardens knowing what a vegetable gardening freak I am.

[I also secretly think the thought this would save him from endless planting diagrams and seed list discussions over the winter. But his plan backfired a bit... now I'm not only obsessed with our own garden but with gardens that don't even exist anymore.]

What I found when I started researching Chicago’s role in the WW2 Victory Garden movement was more powerful, important and timely than I could have imagined. I’ve chronicled many of those discoveries in this blog so I won’t go into it here.

The question that ultimately drove this quest was how Chicago got so much accomplished in the Victory Garden movement. Although the parks, city, businesses and government were behind the movement, in the end it came down to the efforts of block captains – dedicated neighborhood volunteers in charge of developing and organizing Victory Gardens.

After months of research, many lectures and a lot of blog posts that potentially lethal dose of curiosity got me to wondering if the model set out in WW2 for Chicago Victory Gardens would work today. Around the same time I realized that an empty lot on Peterson Ave. was once part of an original Victory Garden… this got the mental hamster wheel turning.

If the lot is available why couldn’t I “volunteer” to be block captain and use the guidelines set out in WW2 to work with my neighbors and local businsses to create a new Victory Garden?

So, following the WW2 playbook, my block captain duties began…

Step One: Secure Land

Just like many Victory Garden lots in the 1940s, ours was privately owned. First, I approached Alderman Pat O’Connor to see if he was into another community garden in the 40th ward – and boy was he! He said yes before I was done with my pitch. He and his team then worked with the property owners, Asian Human Services, to secure the land. In the end, all that was ultimately required is that participants sign a hold-harmless waiver to protect them from liability – seems fair.

Step Two: Prepare Site

In WW2 this lot was virgin land. As we’re finding it almost 70 years later we are gardening over the foundation of a building that no longer exists. There is some topsoil but not enough to garden so we’re going to use raised beds and square foot methods (for greater yield). We will use organic practices which will require bringing in organic compost and soil.

Step Three: Arrange for Plowing

This is a moot point for us but was a really big deal during WW2 as people used traditional gardening row methods vs. raised beds.

Step Four: Community Victory Garden Council

This is the part where it gets tricky because during WW2 the Office of Civilian Defense provided organization and education for the thousands of block captains marshaling the gardening troops in their neighborhoods. I don’t have that but I do have THE INTERNET which will help me provide organization and education for the gardeners in The Peterson Garden Project.

It is important to note that 90% of the gardeners in WW2 Victory Gardens had never gardened before… so we’re encouraging neighbors with no experience too… the benefit of that is next year, they’ll be able to help new gardeners themselves… it’s kind of a “give a man a fish, he eats for a day – teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime” thing…

Step Five: Maintain Enthusiasm

Almost 8 million people started gardening in 2009 for the express purpose of growing their own food. Who knows how many will do the same thing in 2010 but the expectation is a lot. So I’m hoping the enthusiasm thing will take care of itself. However, from my research, I know that parades, celebrations and festivities were utilized to keep morale up during the war. We’ll see how the project goes and if any parades or festivals are needed. We are doing a fundraiser on May 20 and a ground breaking ceremony on May 24 so perhaps that will count…

Step Six: Plan Harvest Festivals

This should probably be in the morale category… in 1943 there was a city-wide harvest festival at Soldier Field that thousands of Chicagoans participated in. There was also a drive for 1944 Victory Garden volunteers, of which they got thousands.

Maybe by the end of the summer when we’re celebrating the harvest of The Peterson Garden Project there will be more interested people, and maybe more city lots converted to retro Victory Gardens to celebrate.

So there you have it the idea (insanity?) behind this retro community Victory Garden. I’m curious to see what all of us participating in this project will have to contribute to the history of Victory Gardens in Chicago at the end of the summer!

WE WANT YOU! If you want to garden, volunteer or donate, find more information at www.petersongarden.org

National Archives

The year – 1943 – was a banner growing season for Chicago Victory Gardens. As the war was in its second year, Chicagoans rallied community-by-community to do all they could for the effort and to alleviate the shortages caused by the largest international conflict of all time.

As transportation resources were diverted to moving troops and munitions, shipping fresh produce to market fell low on the priority list. In addition, the glut of low-wage workers from the Great Depression were finding jobs in military-related industries so farms were short-staffed and unable to meet the food demands of the nation. To complicate matters, materials previously used for canning food were now needed for weapons.

Simply put: there was not a lot of food available to buy.

In response to this crisis, massive coordinated efforts across Chicago – by hundreds of thousands of average citizens – created four gardening seasons (1942-1945) the likes of which have not been seen since…

Here’s some of the surprising facts of the “army of gardeners” in 1943 who fed Chicago, kept up morale and did their part for Victory:

1. 90% of the people who grew Victory Gardens had never gardened before
2. 14,000 plots were gardened by children on Chicago Park District land
3. The largest Victory Garden in the country was in Chicago’s North Park neighborhood
4. 800 families farmed this gigantic garden
5. Victory Gardens produced 55,000 pounds of food during the summer of 1943
6. Chicago-based companies such as Marshall Fields and International Harvester  donated seeds and garden equipment
7. A city ordinance prevented theft from Victory Gardens with fines of $600-$2,400 in today’s currency
8. An estimated 172,000 Victory Gardens sprang up in Chicago in 1943
9. 908 acres of which were on private/city lots or park property
10. Communities held dozens of “harvest festivals” in the fall of 1943 including a city-wide festival at Soldier Field attended by thousands of Chicagoans

Fast forward to 2010… while not embroiled in the largest international conflict of all time, we do face food-related concerns and a new trend toward growing one’s own food is again sweeping the country:

1. In 2009, stories about food safety were the #1 topic in food-related media
2. Sales for home canning supplies have increased 30%
3. Almost 8 million people started gardening in 2009 for the express purpose of growing their own food

It is important to remember that today’s challenges aren’t that different from those almost 70 years ago – our food supply is in jeopardy. It doesn’t matter the cause – we are feeling similar concerns. And, like those Chicagoans who had never gardened before, we can raise our own food on our backyards and neighborhood plots.

Chicago’s Victory Garden efforts were so coordinated and successful that our plan was sent out by the US Government to other major urban areas as a blueprint for success.

Perhaps, once again, we can rally and provide an example for our country in urban food production… who’s in?

Response was enthusiastic about the posts on “The Lost Victory Garden Seed List of 1943.” Mike Nowak and I talked about it on his show in March which you can listen to HERE. And it has come up in Q&A sessions during my “Chicago Victory Gardens: Yesterday and Tomorrow” lectures again and again.

Researching, writing and talking about the “lost list” got me wondering about what those vegetables grown almost 70 years ago might have tasted like and how they might be different (better? worse? same?) than the varieties we grow today.

As a quick refresher, the list I found had 13 vegetable types it recommended with 31 varieties total. Of the 31 varieties, I found 21 available via online sources. That’s about 67% of the list. Not a bad number. However, the caveat is that they weren’t readily available. Most had only one seed company selling them. Two at the most. So while they did survive they certainly aren’t thriving…

To do my part to support seed diversity – and because I was curious as to what these vintage vegetables tasted like – I decided to an experiment in The Yarden this year and grow some of these old varieties. Since my seed list for 2010 is already quite large – you can check it out HERE – I couldn’t grow all 21 available varieties. But the decision process was easy – from the 14 seed companies that carried one or more of the “lost” veggies, Victory Seeds had the biggest selection so I just got whatever they had that was also on the list.

This is a very special seed company (plus they’re based in my home state of Oregon so that makes them extra cool). The flyer that came with my seeds said this:

“We consider you to be our gardening friend and partner in the work of protecting old seed varieties from becoming extinct By choosing to garden with these seeds, you are helping to continue their history. By choosing the Victory Seed Company as your supplier, you are directly supporting our seed preservation work. Seed sales allow us to search out rare and treatened varieties, multiply them out, and get them back into the hands of conscientious gardeners like you.”

My vintage veggie choices are as follows (with the descriptions from Victory Seeds):

• Onion “White Lisbon” – The smooth stalks have a very mild flavor. One of the most popular bunching varieties. Will not form bulbs in most areas.”
• Pea “Laxton Progress No. 9″ - Named after the famous 19th century plant breeder, Thomas Laxton. An improved variety of “Laxton’s Progress” and a leading home garden pea. Eighteen to twenty four inch plants, six to nine tasty, sweet, large peas per pod. Seeds are wrinkled.
• Pea “Little Marvel” – It was released by Sutton & Sons of Reading, England in 1900 and as first sold in te US by James J.H. Gregory in 1908. Sutton stated that te parentage was “Chelsea Gem” and “Suttons A-1″
• Radish “Early Scarlet Globe” – A very early variety with bright red skin and white flesh. This variety also does well in frames and greenhouses for forcing.”
• Swiss Chard “Lucullus” – This is the most popular variety. Named after the Roman general of the same name. Heavily crumpled with wide, broad white ribs about 10″ tall. Tolerates hot weather and grows until first frost. Heavy producing plant with good flavor.
• Spinach “New Zealand” – It is a very old heirloom said to have been brought to England by Captain Cook’s expedition. It has been grown in North America since Colonial times. NOTE: New Zealand spinach isn’t a true spinach. Learn more about this plant and see what it looks like click HERE.
• Tomato “Marglobe” – Its earthiness faors the adoption in canning regions of the Northern States where frosts and short seasons are common.
• Tomato “Rutgers” – Originally introduced in 1934. Good for slicing and cooking.

There you have it – history (hopefully) growing this season in The Yarden. I’m looking forward to seeing (and tasting) how things turn out.

And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I also got some non-1943 list items from Victory Seeds as well – a celeriac called “Giant Prague” and a currant-like tomato called Coyote (I’m crazy about the currant tomatoes…)

To order from Victory Seeds you can click HERE to view their catalog or send them an email at info@victoryseeds.com

(c) 2010 theyarden.com