Our early winter reading list looks something like this …

That’s right – seed catalogues!

Don’t mind me while I geek out, but seed catalogues are an awesome read! The amount of information in a good catalogue is astounding. Not only does it list a vast number of varieties of the different vegetables, but all the details & stats of each, along with growing requirements and recommendations, and often the story & history behind the vegetable (especially heirloom varieties). If all that information isn’t enough to pique our interest there’s always the names (check out the names on the seed packets below) and not least of all, pictures. A good seed catalogue is all about the pictures – big, colourful, seductive pictures of perfect produce to tempt the weak ambitious farmer into purchasing.

We succumbed to a few of these …

Purple peppers seem to be a thing this year!

Wasabi radishes sound like the best of both worlds, right?

And along with these green Shawo radishes, we’ll grow pink and purple ones – coloured on both the outside & inside. These are all radishes for the fall.

Every year we trial several new kinds of tomatoes …

… and hot peppers.

Asian vegetables are always a hit especially at our North York market so we will grow more of them again.

And we’ll keep on trying with some that we’ve had a measure of success with and want to improve on …

11 varieties of bitter melons this year and 3 kinds of hairy gourds.

We have no trouble growing nice radicchio – we just seem to get it in the ground too late. Better crop scheduling this year should fix that.

Edible flowers were a real hit last season, so we’ll expand on them this year.

Now , with most of the seed selection completed and much of the ordering too, we can move on to other winter reading.

I’ve got a few books waiting for me …