What a beautiful weekend it has been. I sure hate to see it end. We have enjoyed temperatures in the 40-s and 50's and ample sunshine--pretty nice for Indiana in February. Of course the nice weather made me think about gardening and how it really is time to finish up my seed ordering. Soon it will be time to get some of the plants started under lights. I decided to place my next order from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This will be my first order from this company that specializes in rare and heirloom seeds. Their catalog is fascinating to read. They have a large variety of seeds of every category. Each offering includes a good description of the plant's traits, growing habits, and taste, and a brief history of its origins. Reading the descriptions makes you want to grow nearly everything they offer. I primarily was shopping for heirloom tomatoes, and I finally settled on three varieties. First is Dutchman which is a very old pink skinned tomato that is said to produce fruit up to 3 lbs or more and to be very sweet. Next I chose Rose which is also an old variety that produces large fruit. The catalog claims that many prefer its flavor over Brandywine, which is arguably one of the most favored of all tomato varieties. Finally, I ordered Plum Lemon. This seed originally came from Moscow and the plant produces 3" fruits that look amazingly like lemons but are quite sweet. There were dozens more I would have liked to ordered to try out, but I'm trying very hard not to get as carried away as I have in the past, preferring to strive for quality over quantity. Next on the list were melons. I chose Minnesota Midget and Thai Golden Round. Both are small varieties I have never tried. Finally, I selected Detroit Dark Red beets, Lungo Bianco Zucchini, and Pink Beauty radishes. If you are interested in old varieties or simply unique varieties of seed, you really need to check out Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds of Mansfield, Missouri. I ordered on-line. Their web address is www.rareseeds.com and their web site is quite easy to navigate. Another selling point of this company is that shipping is only $3.00, no matter how many seeds you order.

On to another subject, I am happy to report that our kitten's check-up at the vet went very well. He tested negative for feline leukemia (hurrah!) and by all accounts is a healthy little fellow about 3-4 months old. He grows friendlier every day and is starting to feel like a member of our family. I really didn't plan on getting another cat, but it always happens that cats adopt people, not the other way around. I think kitty is here to stay. Even our dog, Toby, and the other two cats seem to have accepted him as a member of the family. Hopefully soon we will have settled upon a suitable name for him!