No contest: At Meadow Glenn, the Seed Savers Exchange catalog of heirloom seeds wins the “most beautiful catalog” contest. Take a close look at the cover photo. Beautiful. And then look at the photo of one of the inside pages featuring tomatoes. Beautiful.
Seed Savers Exchange is a not-for-profit, member-supported organization with an 890-acre Heritage Farm near Decorah, Iowa, with display, trial, and preservation gardens. If you do buy seeds, a portion of the price of each packet sold helps underwrite the Exchange’s many educational activities. Warning: You may open this catalog to look for seeds but you may happily detour into sidebars describing the Exchange’s programs, such as its preservation herd of ancient White Park cattle, which originated 2,000 years ago in the British Isles.
Page 3 of the catalog contains an index of contents, from arugula, bean, and beet to transplants, turnip, and watermelon. Some of the larger sections are bean (6 pages), lettuce (4), pepper (6), squash (4), tomato (8), and flowers (9). About 200 of the 600 catalog varieties are certified organic.
One danger of reading the catalog descriptions is that you might become so intrigued by new information that you begin reading just for the fun of it. That happened one time when I got hooked by the description of Red Fig tomato: “Philadelphia heirloom documented to 1805…. Used as a substitute for figs years ago by gardeners who would pack away crates of dried tomatoes for winter use.”
Price of a sample seed order: Packet (100 seeds), Detroit Dark Red beet, $2.75. Packet (50), Italian Heirloom tomato, $2.75. Packet (250), Jolly Jester marigold. Shipping: $6.00. Total: $14.25.
Confession: I’m a member, but you needn’t be a member to buy seeds or transplants or to receive a catalog.
To go to the Seed Savers Exchange website, CLICK HERE. You can request a print catalog on the home page.
Vegetable seeds
We don’t go to many movies, but last week friends called and said they had enjoyed a film so much they were going a second time and wanted us to go with them. Ok, we agreed to go to Movie #1 for the year.
“The King’s Speech” is based on the true story of how the Duke of York, who became King George VI when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated, overcame a speech impediment so severe he couldn’t speak in public. The film shows how Lionel Logue, a self-trained speech therapist, prescribed unorthodox treatment that allowed the King to overcome his stammer and deliver a radio address that inspired his nation at the beginning of World War II.
The film isn’t “boring history.” It’s a highly acclaimed film that shows a noted historical figure overcoming a large, embarrassing problem. I could feel the embarrassment as the stammering Duke tried to address a sports event. I could smile—and even laugh at times—as the Duke and later King worked through his problem with his therapist. I think Ann Hornaday, Washington Post reviewer, got it right: “’The King’s Speech’ is a movie of buoyant spirit, affecting sensitivity and infectious cheer.”
Some may shy from a film with an R rating, which this one earned for “language.” In therapy sessions, Lionel angers Bertie (the King’s nickname) and encourages him to swear, which he does—without stammering. I don't use R-rated four-letter words in this blog, but most anyone with ears will have heard them at one time or another.
If you want to sample “The King’s Speech”—without the course language, of course—take a peek at the trailer at the film’s official website. CLICK HERE.
P.S. If you view “The King’s Speech,” go back to the official website when you get home, click the “About” tab at the top, and then at the bottom of that page click on “Hear the Actual Speech of King George VI,” which he delivered on September 3, 1939. I find it amazing how well the film captures history—and the sound of history. About 66,000 people already have listened to the recording on YouTube. Make it 66,001.
