Oh yes, I’m in a gardening mood! My tomatoes have been planted out today, finally, and I’m planting my eggplants and peppers tomorrow, and hopefully the herbs too if I have enough time. I’m starting out late, but better late than never, right?
My favorite mode of gardening is Wintersowing (FAQs written by Trudi Davidoff, who popularized winter sowing can be found here.) However, last winter was one of our busiest, and I neglected my seed sowing until late February and March. Finally got some seeds started, but then we took a vacation in April and by …read more

These are frozen yard long beans, from my father’s garden. He sent them home with me last time we visited, and the minute we got home I put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Half of the beans were part of our dinner that night — cooked adobo style, something like this recipe from Pinoy Cook, but with only a fraction of the meat — I guess closer to this one from Karen. The other half was topped, tailed, and broken into 3-inch pieces by the kids. Blanched for 2 minutes in …read more

Park Seed is one of Gardenweb members’ favorite seed sources, and I’ve been a happy customer for the past 2 years as well. They’ve got a nice selection of seeds for veggies and herbs, including Asian varieties like Thai basil (Siam Queen), cilantro, Thai peppers, and Chinese cabbage. Make sure you take a look at their Web Specials!

Hey, it’s almost spring! Are you thinking like I am about an Asian veggie and herb garden? We just moved to a new home so I’m eager to get started! Today I purchased two seed packets — edamame and red perilla — from Botanical Interests. I love this company because they’ve got really good seeds (high % of germination) and the artwork on the seed packets are unbelievable. They also provide a great deal of information on starting the seeds, growing tips, etc.
My personal seed exchange list can be found here. It …read more