R.H.Shumway, Burpee, The Rare Seed Catalog, Totally Tomatoes ...

Megan stepped out on the front porch this morning and almost did the splits, something she hasn't done voluntarily in 45 years. We had a dusting of snow last night, on top of a thin layer of ice.
The powers that be said, STAY HOME! And court was cancelled.
So, we had to recalibrate our brains. All the plans Megan had made for today, and all the plans Dwain had made went out the door. You can feel frustrated when you're all dressed up and no place to go.

So, then we got out our stack of 2016 seed catalogs -- that have been arriving in our mailbox since Thanksgiving -- and started dreaming.

It's kind of amazing to see the possibilities of vegetables and fruits -- the kind we never see in a grocery store -- but can grow here. For instance, Fairytale Pumpkin or Moon and Stars Watermelon.
It's amazing what you can learn from seed catalogs - histories, planting tips, books for sale, recipes, kitchen and gardening tools, critter control, how to plant by the signs, pickling mixes, and on and on.

First, we took an inventory of seeds left over from 2015. We found 3 types of cucumbers, parsley, different types of lettuce, two types of kale, zucchini squash, and a dozen others.

Then we have heirloom seed that Megan saved from last year's harvest. She saved seeds from 3 kinds of heirloom tomatoes - Cherokee Purple, Chocolate Stripe and Oxheart. We'll plant those seeds in little pots under a grow light in early March.

The top paper towel holds a variety of jalapeno pepper seeds. The next paper towel has yellow bell pepper seeds. They were lovely in the garden and tasted so good. Then we have seeds for a couple of herbs.

Time for a bird break on this wintry evening. We are equal opportunity birders. This is a female cardinal. Megan liked the picture of this puffed out girl.

The problem with ordering from a dozen seed catalogs is shipping cost. So today, we concentrated on The Rare Seed Catalog 2016 from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
Here are some of the new plants you'll find in our garden this year.

We've never planted this bean before, but it comes with good reviews. If we don't like the beans, apparently, hummingbirds love the flowers. This only comes with 15 seeds, but that should be enough for our plans. We have a grape arbor that we hope its vines cover. We've never been fortunate to grow grapes on it, but maybe this will cover it in vines, give us some shade, attract hummingbirds and hopefully give us a few tasty beans. How can we lose? Don't ask.

We're always excited about something different, and we're going to do better with our tomatoes this year. Evidently, we weren't the only gardeners who struggled with tomatoes. Don't you love that color? How will it look canned?

Margie and Lynn Keener were picking fresh broccoli until this recent freeze, and for all we know, they're still picking broccoli. We'll plant some in the spring and more in the fall. Wouldn't fresh broccoli be great at Christmas? There's so much you can do with broccoli. Look at the reviews.

Size matters with melons, and we're just hoping this can rival the flavor of melons we bought at a roadside fruit stand in Rocky Ford, Colorado.  Dwain still has the T-shirt. And we ate that melon at a picnic table while driving up Pike's Peak. Oh, and color also matters with melons for Dwain. He doesn't want to eat a green cantaloupe. It's a psychological thing.

Time for a squirrel break. We felt like this squirrel today, rubbing our hands together and blowing warm air onto our fingers to stay warm. It was so cold.

The name sold us - Arctic King Lettuce. It will grow in cold conditions, and we're not known for babying our plants. They better be hardy.

Megan wants a tunnel of pole beans across our garden this summer. She may set up camp in the tunnel, that we'll build with an arched wire cattle panel, or two. She also likes purple beans, because they turn green when cooked. Actually, she wishes they would stay purple.

Time for another bird picture.

Are you lookin' at me? Are you lookin' at ME? Well, okay then. It's about time you were lookin' at me.

Glass Gem corn. Isn't this the prettiest? We have to at least try to grow it -- more for decoration and to say that we can, than anything else. In a review someone said that they made a pitiful attempt at popcorn with this stuff. Hey, at least we know what not to try.

This is Mr. Purple Finch. He's not quite as stunning at Mr. Cardinal, but still, isn't he something?

It is amazing to watch how the birds take turns at the feeders; they go grab a sunflower or thistle seed, and then fly back to the Star Magnolia tree so that another bird may have a trip to the food buffet.

Who knew that people with sensitive skin could be allergic to Four-O'Clock seed or flowers?

We learned that fun fact today (see above). Evidently all parts of the plant are toxic.  That means that we should not put the flowers into our soups or salads. Wonder what occurred that made Baker Seed include that statement? We ordered them anyway.

A few years ago, we drove to Mansfield, Missouri, home of Baker Creek Seed Company and home of Little House on the Prairie author, Laura Ingalls Wilder; where she penned the Little House Books. Both give tours. Totally worth it! You should go.
Megan and Dwain