JSS Advantage -- December 2010

Johnny's introduces over 200 new products for the 2011 season. Some have been in the works for years, being developed in our breeding program; some provide the grower with additional organic alternatives; some are new discoveries that make your job easier.

Bred by Johnny's

The breeding program at Johnny's research farm is led by our founder Rob Johnston. Johnny's-bred varieties are the result of traditional plant breeding techniques based on careful observation, selection, and patience. We do not breed genetically-engineered seeds.

This year the team is most proud of our tomato, 'Defiant PhR' which was bred for both disease resistance and taste. This mid-size slicer has high resistance to late blight and intermediate resistance to early blight combined with great taste. The 6-8 oz., globe-shaped fruit are smooth and medium-firm with good texture. Deep red internal and external color. High-yielding, medium-sized plants are widely adaptable. Defiant was traditionally bred to inherit the Ph-2 and Ph-3 major genes for late blight (Phytophthora) resistance. Our thanks to North Carolina State University for their cooperation. Determinate. 70 days to maturity.

Another new Johnny's-bred tomato is 'Five Star Grape'. It has excellent, sweet flavor and firm, meaty texture with few seeds and little juice. A healthy, indeterminate that bears high yields of bright red, 15-20 gm, crack-resistant grape tomatoes; 62 days to maturity.

Pumpkins continue to be among our top breeding interests, and this year we are introducing two new varieties:

'Rival PMR' is a round, medium-sized jack-o'-lantern type with intermediate resistance to powdery mildew (IR-PMR). Medium length vines produce deep orange pumpkins weighing an average 15-20 lb. Early maturity compared with other medium-sized PMR pumpkins. Similar to Racer Plus PMR but somewhat larger. Avg. yield: 2 fruits/plant; 90 days to maturity.

'Polar Bear' retains its color after maturity in the field, at market, and in decorative displays. Long, vigorous vines produce fruit typically weighing 30-65 lbs. Avg. yield: 1 fruit/plant; 100 days to maturity.

We have increased our organic offerings in JSS bred varieties and organically produced:

 'Yankee Bell', organic, which we developed especially for Northern growers. The green-to-red peppers are blocky, with three to four lobes. Plants are strongly branched with good cover. Plants make fewer peppers in the initial crown set, resulting in a higher percentage of smooth, thick-walled fruit that holds well into the sweet red stage; 60 days to green, 80 to red ripe.

'Blue Ballet' winter squash is also now available as organic seed. This scaled-down version of Blue Hubbard squash has a broad range of appeal due to it's convenient size and has the same sweet, bright orange flesh; 95 days to maturity.

Over 325 Organic Products

Johnny's is committed to providing organic seeds and products to meet your needs.  This year, we have added 81 new products that are approved for use on certified-organic farms. Look for the OG symbol after the product name throughout the catalog and website. For seeds, OG means the seeds were harvested from organically-grown plants, according to National Organic Program (NOP) standards. For supplies, OG means the products are approved for use in organic crop production.

Among new organic seed offerings:

'Corvair' smooth-leaf spinach is a good crop for early spring. This is our most attractive organic variety, very dark green, with uniform oval leaves. Plus, it's slow to bolt.

'Rhazes' is a little gem-type red romaine lettuce. It's perfect grown as a mini-head and keeps its dark red color into summer. Combine it with the new organic variety 'Bambi', a green little gem-type, for a presentation as pretty as a bouquet.


'Zohar', an organic sunflower, is a tall, single-stem variety with golden orange petals and a black disk.

Johnny's now offers easy-to-grow, organic onion plants. Get a jump on weeds and an earlier harvest with these high-quality plants; available in seven different varieties.

Many of our most popular varieties are available for the first time as organic seed, they include:

• 'Winter Density' romaine
• 'Buttercrunch' lettuce
• 'Royal Burgundy' beans
• 'Waltham Butternut' squash
• 'Blue Hubbard' squash
• 'Imperial Star' artichokes
• 'Giant of Italy' parsley

Check our new organic listing; some of your favorites may now be available.

Among new organic product offerings:

'Azaguard®' is a broad spectrum insecticidal control effective on over 300 insect species. It can be used effectively in the greenhouse or field, and may be applied with sprayers or foggers. OMRI approved.


'GreenCure®' and 'MilStop®' are potassium bicarbonate foliar fungicides proven to cure and prevent powdery mildew, downy mildew, late blight, and others. Both are OMRI approved.


New, to make your job easier

We believe that season extension as a growing practice will continue to be an integral part of our customers' success. We have developed and sought products that will help you grow more efficiently over a longer season. This year, we've added shade cloth for summer production as well as row cover and greenhouse film for spring and fall use.

Following up on last year's successful launch of the Quick Hoops™ Low Tunnel Bender, we are introducing a Quick Hoops™ High Tunnel Bender. This new bender allows you to make smooth, even hoops out of locally available 1 3/8" chain link fence top rail. This bender is especially useful for making a walk-in structure known as a "caterpillar tunnel." Named for its segmented appearance, a caterpillar tunnel consists of metal hoops pushed into the soil and covered with greenhouse poly that is held on by ropes. While the bender can be used for other types of tunnels, we have found that many growers are looking for a low-cost way of getting started with season extension and the caterpillar tunnel offers it. We have built several of these at Johnny's research farm at a cost of about $1,200 for a 12' x 100' tunnel.

Caterpillar tunnels are useful for getting an extra-early start on the season; as soon as you pull the poly over the hoops, the soil thaws and dries out, allowing you to get a jump-start on the season. Caterpillars can be covered with shade cloth for summer production of lettuce, cut flowers, and fall crops. And they can be used again in fall for season extension. Caterpillars are not recommended for winter production; instead, you can leave the hoops in the ground and pull the poly over to one side and lash it tight so that snow can't accumulate on the structure.

We have all the accessories you need to build your own caterpillar, including greenhouse poly, shade cloth, clamps, and cross-connectors. Other supplies you can buy locally at a hardware store include the chain link top rail, fence posts, bolts, nuts, anchors, and lacing rope.

To learn more about caterpillar tunnels, we recommend these resources:

• Johnny's Instruction Manual for the 9018 Quick Hoops™ High Tunnel Bender. This 24-page publication can be downloaded in .pdf format.
• A Growing for Market article explaining the difference between caterpillars and more expensive high tunnels.
• The free manual, "High Tunnels: Using Low Cost Technology to Increase Yields, Improve Quality, and Extend the Growing Season."

Plan, Shop, and Grow with Johnny's; select from over 1,800 products

Use our comprehensive catalog which is filled with a wealth of growing information.
• Order from the catalog, using the order form provided, and mail or fax it to us.

Our dynamic website is packed with products, growing information and resources, and available when you need it – even if it's 3 a.m.
• Visit www.johnnyseeds.com, where you can browse and purchase our entire line of products. Visit regularly to find new products and sale items. You'll also find how-to videos, free manuals and tech sheets, back issues of the JSS Advantage newsletter, seed and planning calculators, and other helpful features.

Call us and speak with our knowledgeable customer service team.
• Phone us toll-free at 1-877-564-6697.
• For commercial quantities and prices not listed in the catalog or on our website, contact your regional sales rep. If you don't know your sales rep, you can find his or her contact information by calling the number above, or by visiting our "Meet your rep" page.

Stop by our retail store, located at 955 Benton Ave, Winslow, ME, for personalized service.
• Call 1-207-861-3999 or email retailstore@johnnyseeds.com for information about hours and in-store specials.

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and this blog allow you to explore topics that are of interest to you through online networking. With several people participating in the same discussion at the same time, you gain instant feedback from experts in the field, as well as people just like you.

Connect with the Community of Growers with Johnny's.

Johnny's events calendar - December 2010

Take our seedling survey for chance at a $25 Johnny's coupon

Do you buy seedlings. Are you interested in ordering seedlings from Johnny's?

Answer 5 questions in our online survey and you'll be entered in a contest to win a $25 Johnny's coupon.

Click here to take survey

What's new at the Farm? Back from vacation

The calendar says December, but if this is winter, we'll take it. It's currently 44 degrees and cloudy and it's looking like a rain event for today and tomorrow. The leaves and the birds are gone but many crops are still green so it's more like fall than the early throes of winter. Outside my office window finds late season spinach still green and edible along with all the colors of fall lettuce and fall greens. The field of pumpkins looks much like it did in September, but I know they're pretty much frozen solid.

The last column I wrote was in mid November, just before I went on vacation. I had listed a lot of things I had hoped to accomplish, but I didn't seem to accomplish all of the tasks I had hoped. I also wrote about multi-colored rats; I did manage to dispose of three of them; all half grown and brown and white. I'm reluctant to poison them, but must resort to some type of control before they settle in for the winter. By the smell of my workshop, I'd say there's a few that didn't make it outside before they died.

Thanksgiving week is an odd week to take off. Johnny's pays us for Thursday and Friday so we only have to take three days of vacation time to get nine days in a row off. Late November isn't prime vacation time; the weather was cold and much of the time the wind was blowing. November is the month between the woodstove and the boiler -- too cold or too hot -- that's the choice for the month. Jeff and I went to Greenville and surrounding areas on the 24th looking for partridge and rabbits, but found nothing except cold and snow and ice! What a difference a couple of hours north makes.

The end of November signals the end of hunting season, at least for deer. Hunting season is winding down and ice fishing hasn't started yet. I spent much time putting things away for winter and making mental notes of things to do for next spring. I may have this finally figured out. I'll make a list this winter, order the supplies I need and plan on getting my projects done before May comes around. This year May found me at work most of the time and little time to do anything else, at least until planting was done in June.

For next spring I'll try to have everything done before the weather warms up.  We do the same thing here on the farm; we attempt to have all the equipment ready to go, all the supplies will be ordered and stocked for the upcoming season, and any projects we want to do, we'll complete before May rolls around. There is no such thing as a fool-proof farming season, so we'll take all the precautions we can to ensure a smooth start to the growing season.

Now we're busy making our winter lists, prioritizing them as we realize that when you start working on a fleet of equipment the winter isn't really as long as it used to be. The best way to get time to pass is to be busy and I don't see things slowing down much for quite some time. It never really slows down much anyways, it just changes a bit.
Until next week, Brian.

Photos: Johnny's 2011 Calendar

Watch slideshow of images from the Johnny's 2011 Calendar.





The Johnny's 2011 Calendar makes the perfect gift.
Known Locally – Grown Locally; a sampling of Maine farms. Organize your growing schedule and be informed of important industry events! Entitled ‘Farms of Maine', Johnny's 2011 calendar has 14 months of local market farm imagery with brief descriptions of the vivid photos displayed. Also included is a listing of local agricultural shows we will be attending, a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map with in-depth explanation, and some very helpful reference charts for seeding rates and yield data for direct-seeded and transplanted crops.
Latest Flash Player needed to view above slideshow.

Johnny's retail store will be open day after Thanksgiving

The Johnny's Catalog Store will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, November 26, the day after Thanksgiving. For shoppers who like to get an early start on holiday gift purchases, we'll have a few prizes and special offers available at the store on Friday.

• The first 25 customers to visit the store on Friday, November 26, will receive a free gift worth up to $25.
• Free standard shipping on a purchases made in the store on Friday, November 26.
• A drawing for up to an additional 40 percent off your highest priced item.

If you're in the area, stop by for a visit. The store is located at 955 Benton Ave. in Winslow, Maine. Click here for directions.

A few photos of the store display, dressed up in holiday colors.

A customer asks Cathy, Johnny's Store Manager, about a kitchen composter.

Inside of store with balsam decorations.

A little holiday cheer. Poinsettia looks divine.

Holiday seed rack display.

While the store will be open on Friday, the rest of Johnny's business operations, including the call center, are closed both Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will resume normal business hours on Monday, November 29.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of here at Johnny's Selected Seeds!

Coming soon: Johnny's 2011 catalog with 200 new products!

This is one of the most exciting times of the year here at Johnny's.

The big news? We've just printed the 2011 catalog. You should be receiving your catalog within the next 6 weeks, or so. This year's edition contains more than 200 new products, including 75 new organic seed varieties and 6 new Johnny's-bred varieties.

A few highlights:

Defiant PhR tomato: from the Johnny's breeding program; a mid-sized slicer with full resistance to late blight and intermediate resistance to early blight.

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What's new at the Farm? Winter beckons

The middle of November already! Where has the time gone? I guess we were so busy harvesting and trying to get everything done before the weather got cold, by the time we sat back and looked around the leaves were gone along with the birds and winter is quickly approaching. Although it's been a great fall, warm and pleasant, we'll be plunged into cold and wind before we're ready as usual. Time is upon us to get what we need to get done before the cold weather moves in. The darkness comes so early now it's near impossible to get anything done after work and everything gets put off to the weekends.

The field work here is wrapping up with the plastic being pulled out of the fields. That'll be our next to last activity in the field for the 2010 growing season. Our last task will be chisel plowing along the contours of the field to prevent winter erosion. It's too late to plant any cover crops now so we'll rough up the surface to catch the water and prevent erosion. It's wet right now and an inch of rain is in the forecast, but once that dries up we'll get out there one more time.

The winter rye we planted the week of October 17th is up and growing but slowly. Mid October is pushing the "best planting window" and growth is marginal through the late fall. Winter rye will technically grow down to 32 degrees but it's very slow. The brassicas we planted are doing much better; they really enjoy the cooler weather and frequent rains of fall in Maine. The warm fall weather has helped our cover crops grow but, alas, all good things must come to an end.

Fall activities, besides wrapping up the field work, include banking of the older buildings, recovering greenhouse No. 3 and storing everything we can under cover or out of the way of the snow plowing crew. All the tractors get a thorough going over and the a good pressure washing. Then, after drying, they'll go into storage until next season. Same with the equipment.

Now is a good time to look for holes around buildings where critters will try to get in before winter. Newer buildings aren't as prone to critters as the older ones and the greenhouses. An unused or "closed for the winter" greenhouse is an excellent spot for a rat to spend the winter. One of the best ways to keep them from settling in is to deny them a food source; not easy if you have animals or like to feed the birds. Here we clean the greenhouses prior to closing them down for the winter and at home I keep feed and seed in steel garbage cans. Still they get in, and more than once I've switched the lights on to see them scurry around.

A rat is a very smart creature; smart like a coyote. As much as they have been trapped and poisoned they thrive. They live in and under buildings, in compost piles and thrive on our throw away materials. I've seen them under our bird feeders, scavenging seed and chasing away the squirrels, I've seen them in my workshop keeping warm next to the hot water pipes and I've seen many of them in the greenhouses during the winter and early spring. Wanting to get into my birdseed bin they chewed a hole in the plastic cover, and I would have never known, but one popped out when I went to fill it up.

A couple of years ago we started seeing colored rats; multicolored rats, mostly brown and white but sometimes black and white or just black or white. My neighbor has been seeing them too, so it's not just me. I'd speculate someone released some domestic ones nearby and they bred with the wild ones but that's only speculation. They don't seem to be as wary nor as wild as the regular rats. It does add some variety to just trapping old fashioned brown rats. Yes, things can get pretty slow at times. Catch one rat and the others learn real quick that a trap means death, and they'll avoid it. Like I said; they're smart.

I'm off next week so there won't be my usual column. Time to get some stuff done before winter sets in. I think what little bit of garden I had this year needs to be cleaned up; I guess I can mulch the blueberries now. The Brussels sprouts will be ripe for harvesting and everything else can get pulled up. I didn't get a cover crop planted so will leave the weeds there to protect the soil. There's a little more work to do on the woodpile and that'll be done. And there's lots of chicken manure to take out of the buildings and apply to the garden, well anyways, I think I can find enough projects to keep me busy.

See you in December, Brian

Photos: Farming in Saudi Arabia

Kate Frey, a Johnny's customer, sent us these photos of a farm near the city of Diriyah in Saudi Arabia. The farm fields being converted from flood irrigated beds to drip irrigation.

New beds replacing the flood irrigation previously used. This saves water and time weeding.

View looking west, when finished there will be one hundred beds 10-12 meters long. All on drip tape.

Middle upper area, as you see the plants are all coming along.

Experimental bed with cabbage and broccoli plant on a no till ground cover.

Looking East with broccoli and beneficial flower mix along the road.

Flower bed.

Drip tape helps garden thrive.

What's new at the Farm? Harvest near completion

The mild fall weather continues and many crops look surprisingly good considering the date. Ample rain has fallen over the past month so we shouldn't have any concerns about lack of groundwater going into next season. Not now, anyway. The view from my office window is of fall lettuce, fall spinach, fall greens and the fall carrot trial. Carrots were dug late last week and look great! There will be lots of fine meals with them as a guest.

The seed processing is done; at least the outside part. Kelly is busy running our array of seed cleaning machines. Several people on the farm crew are working on the bean tables in the wet and cold parts of the week. A bean table consists of a hopper that dispenses seeds onto a conveyor which are then examined and the damaged and broken seeds, along with any pulp and stems, are removed by hand. A labor intensive job for sure, but we end up with the cleanest seed possible.

The only crop we have left to harvest is Sweet Annie. This is one of the easiest crops from which to gather seed. We start it as seedlings in the greenhouse in April, transplant them out to the field in May on plastic and forget about them until the end of November. Once the stems are ready to harvest, we'll cut them off and spread them out on row covers in the greenhouse. After a couple of weeks of drying, we can thresh them. After seed cleaning, they'll head off to the Winslow facility for storage and packaging. Then the harvest for seed will be officially over.

And then we can start looking forward to next year. Well, no, actually we are planning next year's crops and locations now. We predict what we're going to need to meet sales for the next couple of years then decide who is going to grow what and where. No easy task here.

Our Production Coordinator, Mike Brown, is instrumental in finding growers to grow our crops and I work closely with him in placing productions locally and here on Johnny's farm. Growing crops for seed is different than growing for market as seed requires a longer season and , more often than not, growing aids to insure we get mature seed.

Growing aids include plastic mulch and floating row covers. These are instrumental in insuring we harvest high quality seed. Plastic mulch heats the soil and helps control the weeds. Floating row covers heat and protect the plants and keep the insects at bay. They work in conjunction giving the transplants every opportunity to succeed in their quest to produce viable offspring. All our squash, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, and some tomatoes get this treatment. All the peppers and most of the tomatoes get plastic mulch, and our brassicas and corn get row covers.

Row covers work great in keeping pests at bay. They discourage vertebrate pests like the crows from the corn; woodchucks out of the brassicas; and turkeys from eating the cucumbers. Row covers work equally well in the battle against invertebrate pests like flea beetles, potato beetles, and striped cucumber beetles. They also work well for catching seed from seed pods that would otherwise fall onto the ground and be lost; like in the case of the Sweet Annie above.

Floating rows covers, after their initial use can be used for other projects after their insect exclusion tasks have been completed and are no longer as insect proof as they once were. They have many uses other than protecting the crop. They can store things like garlic – hanging from nails to keep dry. And they can be used solely for adding heat to overwintering crops where insect exclusion isn't a priority. I'm sure you can find uses for used and holey row covers that I haven't thought of – and at least some of those "yard ghosts" before Halloween.

Until next week, Brian.

Photos: Frozen food section

Jack Frost visited Johnny's Research Farm last week. His icy breath brings out the flavor in many cold-weather vegetables. The flavors of Kale, Carrots, and Spinach, to name a few, are often enhanced by a little nip of frost. And these frosty photos are pretty cool too, especially if you view them in full-screen mode.

See Flickr slideshow below.

New Hampshire farmer wins Johnny's Gift Coupon prize

Elaine Haynes, of the Haynes Homestead Farm in Colebrook, N.H., was the winner of a $100 Johnny's gift coupon. Haynes drew the winning ticket in a raffle held at the New Hampshire Vegetable and Berry Growers' Seminar held October 27 in Whitefield, N.H.

What's new at the Farm? Oh deer, Jerusalem Artichokes

The harvest season continues to wind down. This week finds us processing the last two squashes and digging the artichokes. Jerusalem artichoke that is -- commonly referred to here as JAs.

The finishing of the harvest happens as the weather turns decidedly colder and working outside some days now isn't overly pleasant. As I write this, the Farm Crew is digging artichokes and it's 42 degrees with a brisk northwest wind.

Jerusalem Artichoke: A favorite menu item for deer.

We've been raising Jerusalem Artichokes here since before I started. Most years we have adequate supply. This year is no exception.  We used to dig and ship them in the spring -- one of our first tasks in the field in the early spring. I remember one year when it was snowing and we were digging them in the mud – fun, fun. We also didn't replant them; we simply left them in one particular field and added some compost to them every spring.

We found out that this didn't always work as some years the deer beat us to the patch and we came up short. We did discover that while the deer can follow the stems down to the tubers, they can't smell newly planted ones. So we started fall planting them, and voila, we had good tubers again. We also plant them in different fields and maintain them like corn – rows 36 inches apart, and tubers a foot or so apart and cultivate them as such.  Growing them this way gives us excellent yields and makes it easy to cultivate.  Aggressive weed control in the early season really pays off with them. They can be harrowed before they come up or when they are very small and that'll kill the first flush of weeds.  JAs are very hardy and they won't be hurt by aggressive cultivating techniques.

We planted around 1,500 bed feet, which is 3,000 row feet, of JAs last fall. We plant them this time of year for a couple reasons: No. 1 -- deer, and No. 2 -- timing.

Timing first. Because we have more time available now than in March/April, anything we can do now is something we don't have to worry about next spring.

And the deer?  Deer love artichokes. We'll leave many artichokes in the field, where the deer will dig them up through the fall and into the winter to get at those tasty tubers. They'll eat all we leave; some years being hundreds if not thousands of pounds; most years anyways. At least they don't go to waste. Some years, for some unknown reason they don't touch them, but that's not something we can count on.

What we don't dig up for sales will be left in the ground. We'll use the same field two years in a row then we'll move them to another field. This way the first year you'll get a really good harvest and the second year they'll size down a bit but by the third year they'll become overcrowded and tuber size will be reduced.

In 2009 we planted them at one of our isolated fields but this year they're coming back to the farm. I expect the deer will eat all that we leave in the field so we'll want to replant here anyways. If the deer don't eat them all, we'll wait until they're a foot to a foot and a half tall, then plow them under. This way they have used up all their reserved energy and can't regrow; otherwise they can become a nuisance. We've had them in many different fields over the years and don't have any issues with them becoming weeds here.

Until next week, here's to cool temps!
Brian

Johnny's events calendar - November 2010

Happy Halloween from Johnny's

Here's a treat (no trick): A few photos and a video from our pumpkin breeding program. It's not too early to think about next season's Jack-o-Lantern crop! We have a great selection of seed for growing mid to large-size pumpkins.

Video: Walk around pumpkin patch

What's new at the Farm? A warm fall

What a difference a year makes!
A year ago at this time it was cold and wet. I had just returned from a week’s vacation in northern Maine where the highs and lows were in the 20s and 30s. Wednesday’s high was 67. Last year we had had repeated frosts and were irrigating the peppers for frost protection. This year we have had one killing frost and haven’t irrigated at all.

We are ahead of last year for several reasons. The two biggest ones are a more dedicated crew and beautiful fall weather. This week last year we were thinking about taking down the tomato trellises and this year they are down, put away and the ground has been seeded down. Last year we were finishing up processing squash and cukes. This year we are as well, except we had five cucurbits in 2009 and 17 this year.

The farm is starting to look a lot like fall.

We’ve been working on seed saving from the pepper workshop; there are hundreds of plants to save the fruit and extract the seeds from.  This is a full time job right now for four to eight people. A couple of days of rain and we’ll at least catch up a bit.

The last cucumber gets harvested this week and we’ll process three or four squashes. We’ll wrap up processing next week and all will be left is miles of plastic to pull up from the fields and some fall projects we like to do before winter. The sluice area is going to get a thorough cleaning, all the equipment needs to be steam cleaned and most of it gets stored for the winter. The irrigation pipes, valves and pumps can be brought in and winterized, and any parts or pieces we need can be listed so I can order them during the winter.

Other fall projects include: taking inventory of greenhouse supplies and listing wants and needs. We'll need new flats, potting mixes, fertilizers, pesticides and pots. We'll take stock of watering supplies, which includes hoses, nozzles, watering cans, turn-off valves, water timers and filters. We need to determine which greenhouses will get new plastic next year. I think number three is due. We’ll also try to get some planting plans ironed out for next spring and the labor to cover these plans.

There are a few fall crops left to harvest. Fall carrots come to mind along with some lettuce and greens. There’s still fall spinach right outside my window -- a green contrast to an otherwise dead and dying flower trials field. A few other root crops remain, but that’s about it. The poly tunnels are all but bare except for a few flowers. We’ll plant some overwintering crops in them shortly.

Until next week, enjoy the temps.
Brian

Johnny's expands to Fairfield

Johnny's Selected Seeds is opening a new office across the Kennebec River in Fairfield, Maine. The move is almost complete. Exciting news!

Read story in Morning Sentinel.

JSS Advantage -- November 2010

Winter's slower pace allows time for chores that just couldn't be done during the frenzy of the growing season. In this issue, we'll cover three projects that will help recharge your batteries and make your farm more efficient next year.

Post-season assessment

Autumn is a good time to sit down with your records and analyze your successes and failures, while the past season is fresh in your mind. Then, when the new seed catalogs begin to arrive, you'll be better prepared to analyze new varieties and crops in the context of what worked and what didn't on your farm.

So gather up your records, in whatever form you have kept them, and go through each crop from A to Z. A good place to start is with your seed orders, which you should have either on paper (such as packing slips) or in a spreadsheet.

If you haven't yet created a spreadsheet for your crop records, this is a good time to do it. Even the most basic data collection can benefit from the sorting capability of programs like Excel and Numbers.

Here are some of the fields you can set up in a spreadsheet, even without knowing how to use formulas (although some of these fields can be auto-calculated if you input the correct formula):

• Variety name
• Seed source
• Amount of seed purchased
• Amount of seed used
• Date of first harvest
• Date of last harvest
• Amount harvested
• Amount unmarketable
• Amount sold and unsold
• Revenue from sale of the crop

Your assessment also should include a field for notes, which can include personal preference and observations, such as "a real pain to pick" or "the sweetest I have ever tasted."

If your record keeping also includes labor and other input costs, you can go deeper into financial analysis of each crop. In his book, The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook,  vegetable farmer Richard Wiswall offers detailed advice on how to capture and use information about your costs of production.

One of the most helpful features a spreadsheet offers for your crop assessment is the checkbox. You can add columns with checkboxes for anything you want to know at a glance: For example, you could have a column that says "Reorder same amount"; another labeled "Try a different variety"; another that says "Grow more" and so on. Once you have checked the appropriate boxes for each crop, you can sort by each column to create a comprehensive picture of the crops that worked well and those that need some tweaking. You can also sort by multiple fields to create useful lists, such as all the seeds you want to reorder from Johnny's.

The beauty of keeping records in a spreadsheet program is that you can keep expanding it. As you add more data, you'll think of even more ways to use it to make your farm more profitable.

A better packing shed
For most crops, what happens after harvest is just as important, or even more so, than how they are grown. Postharvest handling, packing, cooling, and transportation have a big effect on the quality of your produce when it reaches the consumer. On the farm, good postharvest facilities can dramatically improve speed, efficiency, health, safety, and employee morale. We're not kidding; your packing shed really is important.

The term "packing shed" can encompass a wide range of facilities, from a wash tub and table in the shade of a tree to a dedicated building with an automated packing line. Whatever the size or shape, all have certain features in common:

Ergonomics: Workstation heights should suit the workers. According to the Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project at the University of Wisconsin, the most efficient work table height is halfway between wrist and elbow, measured when the arm is held down at the worker's side. For heavier items, it is slightly lower.

Work flow: The most efficient layout for the packing shed avoids extra steps and crossed paths. It also moves produce in the direction of the worker's leading hand (left to right for right-handed people). The Healthy Farmers project suggests these considerations when designing the work flow: Do all crops need to be washed? Do some need to be sprayed and others to be dunked? Could you run side-by-side task lines into a shared workstation where boxes are packed? Or circular work stations that intersect at the shared workstation. Could you use some sections of roller table?

Water: Wash water must be potable (safe to drink). The Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) standards for produce farms recommend dunking produce for one to two minutes in water chlorinated with 50-200 ppm chlorine in order to kill pathogens. So far, that's just a recommendation designed to improve food safety, but growers trying to get GAPs-certified may be required to use disinfectant in wash water. For more information about using chlorine in wash water, see this University of California-Davis publication.

Organic rules also address the issue of wash water, stating that the final rinse water must not have more than 4 ppm residual chlorine, measured downstream of the product wash. This rule seems to conflict with the GAPs recommendation. To clear up the confusion, USDA's National Organic Program office has just released a draft proposal that suggests higher levels of chlorine are acceptable, as long as a final rinse meets the 4 ppm standard. NOP is accepting comments on the proposal until Dec. 13; a final rule will be released later, so certified-organic growers are urged to ask their certification agency once the issue is resolved.

Read more about packing sheds in Growing for Market.
The Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project at the University of Wisconsin has numerous tip sheets that can help you create a more efficient postharvest workspace.

Your tool shed
The place where you store tools and supplies is probably the least glamorous part of your farm, but getting it organized can save time and money during the busy season.

Going for a tool and finding it missing is both frustrating and time wasting. If you have more than one person working on your farm, you need a clearly designated place for tools and a rule that every tool gets put away when its work is done.

One of the best systems for organizing tools is a wall covered with pegboards, either the common wood pegboard or newer metal pegboards. You will find a huge assortment of hardware to hold everything imaginable on your pegboard. Some people label the pegboard or even draw tool outlines so they can tell at a glance where a tool belongs.

Besides the obvious hooks for tools such as hoes and spades, you can add small baskets to hold the stuff you often need when working with those tools. For example, hang a knife on the pegboard and a bucket beneath it and you're more likely to scrape the soil off a tool before you hang it up. Or put a sharpening stone next to a hoe, so you won't forget to touch up the blade before you take it outside.

Plastic buckets are a free solution to the problem of where to store all the little pieces, such as connectors for drip irrigation, hose nozzles, greenhouse repair tape, screws, gloves, and so forth. Get a permanent nursery marker and write the contents of the bucket on the side so you don't have to waste time rooting around looking for things.

Big plastic totes with sealing lids to keep out rodents and insects are essential for protecting food-contact items such as plastic bags and twist-ties. They can also be used for pest control products and fertilizers that need to be protected from moisture. However, if you have young children around the farm, you should get a locking cabinet for pest controls and other toxic materials.

If your shed is a cluttered, unpleasant space, figure out what you can do to make it more inviting. Lighting is important. If you don't have good daylight in your structure, or if you work at night, you need ample lights. ATTRA has a recently updated publication on farm lighting that will help you choose the most energy-efficient fixtures for the job.

A heater, fan, radio, doormats: these are all items that will make you want to linger long enough to keep your tools and supplies clean and ready for the next job.

Product spotlight - November 2010

Cabbage and eggplant

Caraflex: Cool cone shape

Cabbage is one of those vegetables that appreciate in value in fall and winter. It's a customer favorite in many comfort foods such as soups and casseroles. And cold weather improves its flavor.

If you have cabbage as a fall crop right now, you can protect it with Quick Hoops™ and row cover to extend the season, or you can harvest it and store it for sales at winter markets. Ideal conditions are 32°F (0°C) with high humidity.

The best variety for long term storage is Storage No. 4.

In the South, you can grow it over the winter; in the North, you can start it in late winter and have sweet, delicious cabbage in early spring. Mini cabbages are growing in popularity among fresh market growers.

Gonzales is a round mini cabbage that will be ready for harvest at 4-6" in diameter when grown on close spacing (8-12" in the row and 12-18" between rows). Despite its small size, it has dense, uniform, sweetly spicy heads. 66 days to maturity.

Caraflex is a cone-shaped mini cabbage that is extremely uniform, with good wrapper leaves for insect and sun protection. The tender, rich leaves are great for fresh eating in slaws and salads. 68 days to maturity.

Farao is another great cabbage for winter production in the South or early spring in the North. Just 64 days to maturity, Farao has attractive deep green heads that are resistant to splitting. The cores are densely filled with thin, crisp, peppery sweet leaves.

As you look ahead to next year, consider the eggplant. This crop is available in a diversity of shapes, colors and sizes that makes it one of the most beautiful in a market display.

Rosa Bianca

At Johnny's, you can find long, slender Asian varieties in lavender, purple, and white, or specialty varieties such as the small, round, green-and-white fruits of Kermit. The Italian types are the most widely recognized in the U.S.; here are some favorites:

Beatrice is a bright violet color. It's a high yielder and only 62 days to maturity.

Clara is a striking white with green calyx. Fruits are 6-7" long by 4-5" wide. 65 days to maturity.

Rosa Bianca is an heirloom variety with white and violet streaks. Plump and ribbed, it is renowned for its mild, creamy taste. Rosa Bianca is best suited to areas with warm nights.

Also coming at the end of the month -- a fantastic new variety called Barbarella. It will pair beautifully with the aforementioned varieties.

Flowers: Mixes

Northern Lights Mix

Johnny's specialty flower mixes take the guesswork out of naturalistic landscape plantings. Flower varieties are carefully chosen for their performance in specific situations and blended with crushed corn cobs to aid distribution of the seeds.

Northern Lights Mix is a carefree wildflower mix for areas with short summers and harsh winters. It includes 14 perennials and reseeding annuals in a range of heights, colors, and flower types. Blooms from spring to fall.


Butterfly and Hummingbird Mix contains a dozen varieties of self-seeding annuals to provide nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds. This mix requires full sun for best bloom. Plants reach 3 1/2' and create a meadow effect.


Shady Woodland Mix contains about a dozen flower varieties adapted to lightly shaded areas such as woodland edges.

Tools: DOT Pots and CowPots

CowPots: Made of Cow Manure!

If you sell plants in spring, you know you have to differentiate your product from the flood of plants available at the big box stores. Here's a great way to elevate your plants to sustainable status: DOT Pots and CowPots. Both are fully biodegradable pots that your customers can put right into the ground with the plants in them. There's no plastic waste and no transplant shock. Gardeners will love the convenience and the successful results.

DOT Pots are OMRI-certified for organic transplants. They are created using only wood fiber and peat moss, bound together, without glues, using a patented technology. Johnny's offers a wide range of sizes for every application, and in quantities for both small and large growers.

CowPots were invented by two Connecticut dairy farmers using fully composted manure so they are almost completely odor free. Although they last for months in the greenhouse, they biodegrade quickly when planted and release nutrients into soil, resulting in better root growth and healthier plants.

Johnny's 2011 Calendar will adorn your wall with beautiful photography from customers' vegetable, herb, and flower farms. The 14-month calendar shows holidays and lunar phases, plus interesting agricultural events, tips and planting charts.

Gardening journalists mention Johnny's

Below are some links to some recent stories we thought you might enjoy.

The Atlantic Monthly magazine had a great story -- "The Vegetable Express: A Way to Sell Produce to Those in Need" -- about a Vermont farmer's innovative way to market and sell fresh vegetables. In a setup similar to your neighborhood ice cream truck vendor, Hilary Martin uses a 1988 delivery van as a roving vegetable stand to reach customers in Burlington, Vermont neighborhoods. We were pretty excited to learn Martin was wearing a Johnny's baseball cap during her deliveries.

From the Portland (Maine) Press Herald: "Maine Gardener: Want to extend next year’s gardening season? He’s got you covered" This article, published Oct. 24, discusses season extension and mentions some of our tips and products.

Barbara Damrosch, who writes the "A Cook's Garden" column for the Washington Post, had this Oct. 21 piece on fall crops: "Mind your peas and their cues".

Johnny's Farm Manager Brian Milliken was interviewed by the web portal iVillage for an article/photo slideshow on saving flower seed -- "10 Plant Seeds to Save Right Now".

Photos from Johnny's Fall Crop Walk and Field Trials

Here are a few photos from Johnny's Fall Crop Walk. We hosted our third and final crop walk of the 2010 growing season on October 20. We had 12 guests join us to take a look at several of our trials, including pumpkins, leeks, onions, root crops, spinach, Quick Hoops™ low tunnels, and gourds.



We hold crop walks 2 or 3 times per year at our Research Farm in Albion, Maine. Crop walks give guests the opportunity to tour our extensive trial fields, connect with other farmers and gardeners, and converse with Johnny's research staff. Check out our calendar for more Johnny's events and seasonal tips.

What's new at the Farm? 10/20/10

Harvesting continues yet another week, but at least we're done with the tomatoes. Picking tomatoes provides us with plenty of work from mid August through September, an otherwise slow time of year. Not that it's ever really slow around here, but some time periods aren't quite as busy as others. We're processing squash and pumpkins this week with two under our belt already. We'll do another squash and a small cucumber before this week is over.

We've yet to have a hard frost but have had several light frosts. We brought the squash in last week as shown below:

This is about half of what we brought in; the rest is in the warehouse. The squash looks much better in here than it would in the field.

Another picture of the farm is below:

This shows the pumpkin workshop in field 9 and the Brussels sprouts trial in the foreground. To the right of the Brussels sprouts is the parsley trial. The light green in the left and left center is a cover crop of oats and brassicas we planted where the melon and watermelon trials were. We try to get as many crops tilled in as soon as we're done with them to get some cover crop planted before cold weather sets in. Our last planting was of winter rye last week; we'll see if it does anything this fall. My preference is to seed cover crops by mid September so they get appreciable growth before winter.

The Brussels sprouts will be harvested later in the season after a hard frost or two. Frost generally sweetens the sprouts, otherwise they can be bitter. They can be left in the field very late in the season. I usually don't harvest mine until Thanksgiving weekend. Same goes for rutabagas. There is no comparison between fresh Brussels sprouts and rutabagas and those frozen boxed veggies in the supermarket.

The signs of the changing of the seasons continues. I saw my first large flocks of geese on Sunday whilst on one of my last fishing trips of the season; last because of the cool weather and the fish aren't cooperating. In a couple of months, we could be ice fishing so I'll do some projects around the house until then. Among the chores: get the wood in; clean up the flower beds; winterize the henhouses; and get the bird feeders out.

Until next week, enjoy the fall.
Brian

Visit Johnny's Trial Fields tomorrow evening: Twilight Walk October 20th, 3:00 to 5:30 p.m.

Please join us at Johnny's Research Farm in Albion for the opportunity to tour our extensive trial fields, connect with other farmers and gardeners, and converse with Johnny's research staff. We'll be discussing:

• New Quick Hoops™ Trial
• Root Crops, including Kohlrabi, Radish, Turnips, Fennel, Celeriac, Parsley, Parsnips, Chicory Root, Carrots, Scorzonera, Salsify, Burdock
• Fall Ornamentals
• Onions
• Winter Squash
• Regular and Sweet Potatoes
• Leeks

Please contact Peggy Huff at phuff@johnnyseeds.com with any questions.

The Research Farm is located at 184 Foss Hill Road in Albion. Click here for directions to Johnny's Research Farm.

Photos: Autumn harvest at Johnny's Farm

It's autumn harvest time here in Maine. That means there is plenty of work to be done at the farm. Read all about it in our Farm Manager Brian's weekly blog.

Here are some shots taken this week at Johnny's Research Farm.

2010 flower trials nearing their end in the front field.

Pumpkin field.

Pumpkin breeding program.

More pumpkins.

A bountiful squash harvest.

Fall foliage nears its peak in central Maine.

More autumn leaves. Not many places are prettier than New England this time of year.

Crates are full of squash for seed processing.

What's new at the Farm? First frost

This week finds us with the first frost of the season; not a hard frost but enough to know we've had one. Galinsoga is an excellent indicator of frost. It's highly susceptible and it's everywhere! Basil is another good indicator as is summer squash. Squash often gets the top leaves frosted and they then turn black while the rest of the plant gets to live a while longer. This year we've got summer squash just setting fruits in a poly tunnel so we'll see how they survive the frost. I doubt it got cold enough to damage them much.

We continue harvesting seed productions on the farm. Last week found us doing a cucumber seed production. This is what the farm crew faced early Thursday morning last week:

Cukes lie ready for Johnny's seed processing crew.

The picture doesn't do the field justice; it took the full farm crew from 7:30 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon to pick and process this cuke. And it took a full day for two people to sluice it. But it was worth it, we got nearly three times what we expected; an excellent yield considering how dry it was this summer.

This week we do another cucumber and we'll also finish the tomatoes. We'll hammer away at the few pepper increases we have and get as much fieldwork done as we can. There are still some fall trials to plant so we need to get ground ready for those as well. We'll also process at least two cucurbits and get our winter squash breeding fruits in. Sounds like a lot for this week and it's scheduled to rain on Friday.

The fall migration continues many of the birds we view all summer are gone. The ducks and geese are flocking and feeding; getting ready for their long fall flight. I've seen lots of small flocks of geese but no large ones; I suppose that will change with the cool weather we're experiencing now. We have a resident Blue Heron at the house; here's a picture of him last week standing on top of the greenhouse:

A Great Blue Heron enjoys the view from atop Brian's greenhouse, er make that woodshed/boat storage facility.

You can just pick him out on the right side of the greenhouse. I couldn't get any closer as he flew off when I tried. He's getting smarter and more wary of me. He only comes a couple of times a week and hangs out with our ducks and geese.

And speaking of greenhouses; this is something I always wanted and we finally bought one.

We've had this for at least ten years. We bought it used, tore it down and brought it home where we spent a month putting it back up and making modifications that we needed to. We grew seedlings for several years, grew trellis tomatoes and finally wound up growing hanging baskets filled with cucumbers and flowers for our own use. Most people, us included, don't realize the amount of labor it takes to operate a greenhouse plus work full time. After much thought of what we wanted to do with its primary purpose now is to house some of my firewood, my wood splitter, lawn furniture, and the lawnmower. I also put my boat in there for the winter,  my four wheeler and trailer, and assorted pool supplies. It makes a great storage building and is nice and warm in the winter.

Perhaps someday we'll go back into growing our own seedlings.

Until next week, Brian.

What's new at the Farm? 10/6/10

This week sees us nearly done picking tomatoes for seed. We've one more large picking and we will be done. Green Zebra is left and I estimate that will take us a full day to pick and process it. And then all we have left is cucumbers, squash and pumpkins to pick and process and a couple of tons of Jerusalem Artichokes to dig. And of course there's lots of fall farm cleanup to do.
Fall is a good time to start on next spring's workload.

Yes, I said next spring – harvest isn't done and I'm preparing for next spring in October. I bought 925 yards of composted manure last spring and had it delivered last month. We spread it in two applications over about 10 acres. Here's a picture of Becky using the Kubota and the manure spreader to apply it to our field:

Becky spreads a layer of composted manure.

We applied a liberal dose, got some rain and then applied the rest of it. This field is in need of large infusions of organic matter and this compost was just the ticket. The crop growing here is red clover we seeded last summer with a few sprigs of annual ryegrass that overwintered. Next spring we'll plow this down and plant some squash and pumpkins and perhaps some soybeans. Soybeans don't need any additional fertility other than the plow down clover. We've used parts of this field for several years now and I look forward to using more of it.

I have ordered and received our compost for next spring's application. Our compost comes from Little River Compost in Lisbon Falls, Maine. The Goddards make really good compost and their delivery schedule is the best so this is the second year out of what I perceive as many years that we get our compost from them. I get it in the fall of the previous year so there are no issues with posted roads when we want to spread our compost.

One of the biggest things we can do to speed things along next spring is to thoroughly clean up all the fields, pull all the stakes and plastic and inventory all the supplies we have on hand to determine what we'll need during the next growing season. All the trellises needs to be taken down; the plants cut down, the wire wound up and the posts pulled out and stacked on pallets. The plastic needs to be pulled and the ground seeded down before the weather gets too cold. That's a lot of work when you think about the fact that we have three-plus acres of field tomatoes, and then there's two poly tunnels full of tomatoes, and mulch trials of tomatoes on plastic, and more tomatoes in pots and so on.

We've got miles of plastic to pull up and dispose of. And of course there's lots of little projects like picking up all the drip irrigation lines, mowing crops once they've been frosted and chisel plowing the fields that didn't get seeded with a cover crop. Late fall is an excellent time to clean up the flower beds, clean out, sweep and organize the greenhouses and get everything ready for planting next spring. Everything we do now in prep for next spring; well, we just won't have to do it next spring.

Until next week, Brian

Photos: Johnny's at Common Ground Country Fair

Here are a few photos from the Common Ground Country Fair. The annual Fair is hosted by MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association). This year's fair was held at the Unity, Maine fairgrounds on September 24-26.
Johnny's Selected Seeds had a sales tent and installed extensive demonstration gardens for customers to try our many tools, including a couple new ones -- the Paper Pot Transplanter and the Jang Seeder. We built a 12- x 40-foot caterpillar tunnel in which more than a dozen varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers were planted. We built a low tunnel from Quick Hoops™ and planted greens, carrots, and onions under row cover. We also planted a beautiful Kale bed, a sunflower garden and put together a nice fall harvest display of pumpkins, squash and gourds.

What's new at the Farm? 9/29/10

We continue harvesting seed productions at a feverish pace. Since my last article we have picked and processed eight tomatoes and a pumpkin. Today finds us picking yet another batch of tomatoes; hopefully three or four varieties. I'd like to be done the small increases by the end of the week and finish the last two or three big picking jobs by the end of next week. As soon as the tomatoes are done we start on small pepper increases and squash and pumpkins.


Last week I talked about the elevator I purchased to use in the seed processing line. Here's a photo of it in action:

Brian's newly purchased elevator sends pumpkins on their final journey, and into the Vine Harvester.

The big, orange machine is the Vine Harvester which I talk so much about during the harvest. It was patterned after a seed harvester, common out west years ago, and built here by a former farm employee. In this picture, the fruit drops into the hopper which grinds the fruit releasing the seed. The broken fruit is then deposited into a rotating drum with perforated holes. The seed goes through the holes into a catch draw and the pulp flows out the back.

A picture of the business end of the Vine Harvester:

The Vine Harvester machine makes quick work of our pumpkin harvest as it separates the seeds from the pulp.

The vine harvester is powered by a Farmall 200, which we use because it has a drawbar that adjusts height hydraulically. This is important to get the correct slope on the harvester. Too little slope and the pulp will get pulverized and go in with the seed; too little and good seed will be lost out the back.

Seed crops we use this machine on include pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and peppers -- basically any crop that is wet seeded. It speeds up the seed separation process considerably.

And lastly, as I was driving back from the sluice area last Friday I snapped this picture below:

Clover, sown between the cornrows, makes a great cover crop.

 This is the sweet corn trial that has gone by. It was undersown with Crimson clover around the fourth of July. We broadcast a couple of pounds of Crimson clover and then worked it in to the soil with rakes and hoes. Once the corn stalks get mowed the clover will really take off. It likes cool and damp weather, so it will thrive in the fall. It will provide a great matt of vegetation to hold and protect the topsoil. Regrowth next spring will depend largely on how the winter is so we may or may not have a lot of regrowth next spring.

Until next week, Brian

Product Spotlight - October 2010

Totem Forcing Chicory

Belgian endive, also known as witloof chicory, is a gourmet item found in high end restaurants and occasionally in upscale groceries.

The narrow heads of pale yellow leaves, called chicons, have a mild chicory flavor and pleasing crispness.

Belgian endive is not difficult to grow, but it does require extra attention and handling. The chicons are actually the sprouted roots of chicory plants that were grown in summer, then dug up and put in storage for the winter. The roots can be forced as needed from September to January.

The variety Totem should be direct seeded outside in early July. The chicory plants grow all summer until the roots are fully developed and about 1.5"-2" wide at the shoulder. Around October, the plants are dug and the leaves are cut off to about an inch or two from the root. The roots can be stored standing upright in buckets of sand in a root cellar or other cool area. Ideally, the roots should be held right at freezing. To force them, they should be brought into the warmth, watered, and covered with a black cloth or bucket to exclude all light, which is what keeps the leaves white and bitter-free. The chicon will be fully grown in about three weeks.

Flash and Champion Collards

Collards are one of the vegetables that get better as the weather gets colder. They are very hardy and can be grown in warm areas without protection, under row cover or in a hoophouse in cold winter areas. Individual leaves can be harvested throughout the fall and winter, and the same plants will produce new growth for early spring greens.

Flash has smooth, dark green leaves and is 55 days to maturity. Champion has long, wavy dark green leaves and is 60 days to maturity.


Pumpkins and gourds

From left: Knucklehead; Champion; Speckled Hound; Daisy; Lunch Lady.

 Fall decorating is growing in popularity every year and Johnny's has a huge variety of pumpkins and gourds to fit every need. Customers are looking for specialty pumpkins, jack-o'-lanterns, and gourds from September through Thanksgiving. A selection of orange, white, and multicolored pumpkins dresses up a porch after summer flowers are done. Small gourds make beautiful tabletop decorations. And some of the more exotic specimens are great for kids' crafts.

Here are some of the newest varieties for fall decor:

Champion is a big jack-o'-lantern, usually 30 lb. or more, deep orange and well ribbed, perfect for carving.

Knuckle Head is an orange pumpkin averaging 12-16 lb. with cool, creepy warts all over it.

Speckled Hound is a small, flattened pumpkin weighing 3-6 lb., with splotches of orange and green.

Daisy gourd is a colorful, small-fruited mix, perfect for little hands, with a pattern on the top of each gourd that looks like a flower.

Lunch Lady is a collection of giant gourds, 5 to 20 lb., in different colors and patterns and all covered with warts.