Peas are sprouting!

A wonderful little hint of green is poping up through my soil. This year I decided on a heirloom variety of peas for a couple reasons. First of all our second son is named Lincoln, so when a very pregnant lady (I believe I was 7 months at the time) spotted the "Lincoln" Peas in the seed catalogue, how could I resist? Secondly propagating heirloom seeds is important to me.
A heirloom seed is a variety that has been passed down through the years, being naturally bred for the characteristics you want in that type of vegetable. Meaning where lots of hybrids will not breed true, or are unable to produce seed at all; a heirloom will breed true and will give you lots of seeds to save for next year.

Sometimes heirloom varieties are less productive then hybrids, or are more susceptible to diseases. However you'll frequently find heirloom varieties have a better taste.

There are heirloom varieties for every type of vegetables, and all species of domesticated animals too. One great place to find more about heirloom varieties is seed saver.org. Although they are now available through most seed catalogues.

SNOW!?!?

Well we had a little set-back in the garden this week. Monday is snowed and was miserable but by Wednesday we were back up to super-warm temperatures. I don't know what the weather-man is thinking this year!

That does mean my tomato seedlings are mostly toast but my strawberries, cauliflower, peas, beans, lettuce are all doing very well still. Then again - that's the difference between warm and cold weather crops!

Here is hoping the weather figures out what it wants to do soon!