Yesterday I got to go to my favorite local garden center, Milaeger's. I almost wish it was a national chain so that you all could experience the goodness that comes from them, but at the same time, I haz a happy that it's mine. ALL. MINE! Muahahahaha...
It's a small family owned nursery with 2 locations both close to me. In the spring and early summer when they put out their plants, I get all giddy and stuff.
I went yesterday afternoon, because I couldn't make it to the local farmer's market in the morning. It was pouring, and my back was hurting too badly to make that trip. At least at Milaeger's I can lean on a cart.
Anyway, my budget was $20-30, and I was looking for some of the less common food plants that I like to grow, that I don't have seed for. For $29, this is what I picked up:
a Stevia plant. If you've ever chewed a leaf, you'd be surprised how sweet it is. Stevia is the herb from which Truvia comes from. It's an herb found in South America that has been used to sweeten things with no extra calories. I bought 2 last year, but due to having hand surgery last fall, I wasn't able to pick and dehydrate the leaves like I wanted to. I fully intend on doing that this year.
a chocolate mint plant. Why by mint when it's it's so invasive you ask? Well, chocolate mint smells wonderful. And I grow it in containers so that it doesn't invade the rest of my gardens. I honestly don't do much with it, except sniff it. It makes me happy.
a Pineapple Sage plant. It really does smell like pineapples. I bought one last year, and put it in a pot, but it didn't last very long. I'm determined to keep one this year. It said it's a perennial, but hardy only in zones 8-10, so I can't keep it out in the herb garden, but I'm hoping to keep it alive and bring it into the house come fall.
A yellow bell pepper and a purple bell pepper plant. My bell seedlings are taking forever to show some growth. And most of them didn't even sprout this year. I think seeds are too old. Besides, most of my bell peppers are green to red...and I luuurve the purple (or chocolate) bells. They have a unique taste. They yellows just taste great, and since red, orange and yellow peppers are so blinking expensive in the stores, I'm hoping to get a good crop of them so that I can freeze and dehydrate some.
Another patchouli plant. I bought one for my mom last year, and amazingly, it's still alive (we really abuse our indoor plants by forgetting to water them regularly). But it's sparse, and I wanted to add another one and help it bush out. I think it will benefit from a summer outside. If you like the smell of patchouli, get one of these plants, they actually smell great, and are not overpowering like patchouli oil is.
One banana pepper plant, because the 'nana seeds I started didn't propegate well. I'll have to pick up some more so that I can do my usual pickling of banana peppers. They are so good, we put them on almost everything. Especially pizza. I've even got my mother liking them. HA! :)
And lastly, I got a sugar snap pea, because I didn't start any earlier. I'm hoping it's not too warm, and I get a few snap peas. I love them long time.
We also got a 5lb bag of Yukon Gold seed potatoes. I can't wait to get those in the ground to start them a-growing. Yum! We did red potatoes last year, and still have some left over. They've sprouted, so we will probably plant some of those too.
I just don't know where we are gonna put all this stuff! Such a problem to have, right?
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