This morning the bags and jars came down for the count: that annual survey of seeds saved, packets of seeds never used, and some elderly specimens of uncertain viability. Always an exciting moment to survey the wealth and dream, can we pull off actually planting all four gourds on the land? Try and figure out how to expand an already packed herb garden? What would I do with the Anise Hyssop? Or, how do I solve the question of leeks, every year the same thing, they get planted but never amount to anything? Perhaps because I treat them like the kid of some ne’re-do-well parents, don’t expect anything so don’t get anything?

Ah, the pain of too many questions. The head spins with trying to decide on one good melon to grow. Charentais is our preferred melon for the table. But they are temperamental, indecisive little buggers with a very short window of maturity. The smell of one achieving that peak deliciousness is like a dinner bell rung inviting all of the available poultry and wildlife to dine. Last year I reached through the vines to clutch a hollowed out shell of a melon only to find a hen had just finished dining on same. So, Turkey melon it will be, prolific and tasty, enough for the chickens and enough for us. But then there are those Prescott Fond Blancs….

Beans are fairly easy to decide on the type: a lima, a pole and a crowder for the garden. But now which varieties to grow? And so it goes with most vegetables in the following list. Maintaining a small seed collection inevitably feels me with guilt. Each year I watch the dates on some vegetables edge their way into oblivion. There really is only so much garden room or space. And there are practical limitations on growing similar varieties within pollination distances of each other if you want to save true seed for the next year.

If you live within the immediate area (Tennessee Valley) and want to try some of these seeds let me know. My skill at starting herbs is negligible. So if you want to turn your hand to starting some of those and are willing to gift me a few for transplants, have at it.

Green manures: Sudan grass, buckwheat.

Gourds: birdhouse, loofah, Mayo Bule, African water bottle.

Squash: Golden Hubbard (winter), yellow crookneck (summer), Musque du Provence (winter), Sugar Pie (winter), Patty pan (summer), North Georgia candy roaster (winter), Yellow Zucchini (Russian summer).

Okra: Clemson, Louisiana Purple.

Greens, Lettuce: Seven top (turnips), kale, Bloomsdale (spinach), Georgia giant (collards), Black seeded Simpson (lettuce).

Corn: Hickory, Bodacious sweet, Moseby’s sweet, Kandy Korn, White broom (sorghum), Honeydrip (sorghum).

Watermelons: Charleston Grey, Orangelo.

Beans: Louisiana Purple (pole), Mississippi (crowder), Texas Zipper Creams (crowder), Sieva (lima), Christmas (lima), Cuban black (bush), Case Knife (pole), October bean (pole), Tennessee Cutshorts (pole), Rattlesnake (pole), North Carolina (lima).

Melons: Turkey, Prescott Fond Blanc, Charentais, Petit Gris de Rennes.

Cucumbers: Boothby Blonde, Siberian (Gherkin style).

Peppers: Poblano, Hatch.

Herbs and Flowers: Grandma’s Eink’s dill, Mammoth dill, Sweet basil, Summer savory, Fennel, Lavender, Anise Hyssop, Cutting Celery, Feverfew, Cumin, Purple coneflower, Outhouse hollyhocks, Monkshood, Lovage, Dahlia.

Miscellaneous: Ester Cook (leeks), Giant Musselburg (leeks), Turga (parsnips), Long Island Improved (Brussel Sprouts), Detroit Red (beets), Black winter radish, Rutabaga (old Russian heirloom), Geisha Turnip (salad turnip), Mystery pack of tomato seeds (package in Russian).

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Rereading this weekend: The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry by Janet Vorwald Dohner, a wonderful book from the Yale University agrarian series.