Winter weather advisory, the radio guy just said. Time to pull out the seed catalogs and think about the garden.
I have a nice little starter clutch of wish books here: John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden Seeds, R.H. Shumway's, Johnny's Selected Seeds, and, my favorite, Seeds from Italy.
I'll probably give the radicchios and endives a miss -- they are usually too bitter for our taste. Though I am certainly intrigued by Escarole Bionda Cuore Pieno (Blond Full Heart) of which they say "You cannot have chicken soup without it."
Cucumbers are a must -- mainly the long skinny Chinese Suyos. I grew them on trellises last year and we feasted on cucumber and onion salads with a light dressing of sesame oil and rice vinegar. (My mouth is watering as I type this.)
But what's this? Mexican Sour Gherkin. Tiny little fruits (not particularly high yielding) that look like watermelons and taste like citrusy cukes. It's this sort of weird thing I'm often tempted to grow, just so I can taste it. At this time of year, my zeal usually exceeds my grasp on reality. . .
And speaking of reality, why do my bush beans never yield like this picture from Schumway's? (They use charming old timey engravings as illustrations .)
Oh, look at the unique Turkish Orange Eggplant -- which can be grown as an ornamental. Tempting . . . .
And purple eggplants and lavender and white and green and purple with white stripes . . And surely it's time I planted a Pawpaw -- I've never tasted one in my life. I did plant one maybe twenty years ago but it had been mislabeled and turned out to be a persimmon . . . which is nice but I still need a Pawpaw. Garden dreaming . . .
