Annual COG Seed Swap
Although the COG seed swap is an annual event, last night is the first time I attended. Actually, it’s the first time I’ve attended a meeting of the local chapter of the Canadian Organic Gardeners, and I realize that I’ve been missing out on a fantastic resource.
As a member of COG, I have access to a library of books available for borrowing. Since I want to improve our compost this year, I grabbed Let it Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Composting by Stu Campbell and Start with the Soil by Grace Gershuny. I also picked up Giant Perennials, Star Performers for the Garden by Susan Berry because I would love it if my perennials were giant.
I became a member of the Steering Committee, taking on a role as Co- co-ordinator of the Bowmanville Ecology Garden. At the end of the meeting, everyone took a turn describing the seeds he or she had brought, and then everyone, including myself, rushed frantically around the room, pouncing on the seeds they wanted to take home.
My haul included:
A pretty eggplant variety…I forget what the seed company was, so I can’t look it up.
Dill
Hungarian Yellow Hot Pepper (Graham is excited about these.)
Jolly Jester Marigold. I Googled these to see what they’d look like. Check it out!
(Photo source: Planet Natural)
Melokhiya, a.k.a. Egyptian Spinach
Datura
Four o’clocks. These are from Peggy’s garden plot at the Ecology Garden and they were beautiful last summer.
Orange cosmos
Balloon flower
Sunflower
Perilla frutescens
(Photo Source: Seeds of Change)
Swan-neck gourd
Mixed gourds
White “Cinderella” pumpkin (lumina?)
Klari Baby Cheese Pepper
Midnight Black Turtle Beans
(Photo Source: Reimer Seeds)
Boothby’s Blonde Cucumber
And now, as could easily have been predicted, now that I have all these awesome new seeds I really want to get some going! There is a COG plant auction in May, and some plants are needed for the Scugog Garden Show in April, so I’ll likely start some in February.
The next seed swap is Seedy Saturday in Pickering on February 2.
