Seed catalogs are arriving daily. What seeds are you guys going to spend too much money on??? Any favorite new varieties to try?

Pinetree has a new variety of purple pole bean this year. I can honestly say that the purple beans I have grown have been the most productive beans for me. Also when blanched the color green they become is almost jewel like. When I first saw them I thought they were just a novelty, but their vigor and color both in the garden and out are fabulous. Also their flavor is just heavenly. In addition I have yet to eat one that was very stringy. Pinetree's new offering is called, "Purple Trionfo Violetto". Also I have been thinking about doing these beans with a cold pickling method along with wax and green varieties. Has anyone tried this? By the way I am a pole bean freak!!! I cannot see any reason why I should hurt my back to pick beans when I can stand up!

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), December 06, 2001

Answers

Here are some links to some pictures of the new purple beans and also The new yellow Romano bean, "Yellow Romano Burro D'Ingegnoli".

http://www.superseeds.com/images/1604purple.JPG

http://www.superseeds.com/images/1605yellowromano_p2.JPG

Little Bit farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), December 06, 2001.

I don't believe it!!! I just got off the Pinetree site - the purple beans were on the top of my order. Great minds think alike. I was just sitting here thinking - it's only December and I am already in a seed catalog daze. At least I know I am not the only one.

-- Linda Al-Sangar (alsangal@brentwood-tn.org), December 06, 2001.

Yes I am in a seed catalog daze too and I've only recieved one new catalog!! Did you check out the New yellow Romano underneath. Gotta have that on too. I downloaded those pictures onto my computer and into my webshots screensaver. The resolution is a little low, but even so i love webshots way of customizing my computer.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), December 06, 2001.

Hello LBF, I did not like Pinetree. The amount of seeds in each package was so few, compared to the price I paid.

I get a lot of seeds from Ebay! They are usually open pollenated and heirloom! Price is usually right as I set a limit on the bit at how much I will pay.

I will be putting gourd and mammoth sunflower seeds on Ebay in the near future. If any of you want to buy some of them contact me personally. I usually sell about 20-25 seeds for $2.00 and I ship them free!

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), December 06, 2001.

Ernest, I have a sneaking suspicion that you are not Pinetree's target marget...but I am. They intentionally have small seed packets for people who will only be planting a small number of seeds and don't want to spend money on seeds they'll throw out! I don't have an enormous garden and I do love variety, so I plant a few of everything. When I acually want a fair amount of a type of seed, I order elsewhere (like Johnny's).

At Pinetree they have a plant in the continental vegetables called tyfon - Holland greens. They are great! On a tiny plot (4 ft. by 2 ft) they produced copious amounts of delicious greens all summer and they also have a turnip root that can be harvested in the fall. I will give them a little more room this year so they can spread out a bit more...they were pretty packed in that small area! I even had enough to share with the goats! They liked them too. My favorite salad this summer consisted of tyfon greens, mustard greens, sorrel, salad burnet, grated carrot, and feta which was marinated in olive oil, basil and garlic. Then I made an oil and vinegar salad dressing with the olive oil from the feta jar. YUM!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), December 09, 2001.

Just got my Pinetree seed order and of course the purple pole beans are sold out. Little Bit - I know you got the last bean!

-- Linda Al-Sangar (alsangal@brentwood-tn.org), December 18, 2001.

I just got the purple pole beans from Pinetree - I guess they got some more in stock. Spring? Spring? Where are you?

-- Linda (alsangal@brentwood-tn.org), February 10, 2002.