My Big Fat Seed Planting Party!

This weekend, as part of my busy agenda, I'm hosting a seed swapping/planting party for some friends and neighbors. I have way too many seeds even for my ambitious gardening goals and would like to share the wealth. I must have over 200 types of seeds in my collection. Most come from Heirloom Seeds, a few from Stokes a handful from Park Seeds and the rest from Gary Ibsen of The Tomato Festival in Carmel. Gary is an heirloom tomato god amongst men. Aside from the 20 or so varieties I have purchased from him in the past, he was kind enough to have sent me 18 hard if not impossible to find heirloom tomato seed packets from his collection just this week. We made a little barter, his seeds for my oil and balsamic vinegar. Gary's collection, all of which is grown organically, includes over 600 types of heirloom (non hybridized) tomatoes.

Pictured above is a small swatch, part of a much larger jungle of swiss chard which popped up over night in my winter vegetable garden. I love swiss chard for this reason and many others. It's a fantastic vegetable because it loves abuse, grows anywhere, tastes amazing and is uber good for the body. The yellow flowers are a broccoli plant going to seed. This relatively warm weather has sent many of my cold weather vegetables in to flower.