Final seed purchase

I made one of my last purchases for the season yesterday and added a couple of items to the menu.

Belle Isle Cress and Broad leaf Persian Cress:  Two more crops to broaden the choice of greens in the fall.  Cresses have a peppery flavour, and are a great addition to soups and stews. 

Amaranth:  Known as Callaloo in the Caribbean, this is a heat-tolerant green that doesn't turn bitter or go to seed quickly in the heat of summer (unlike lettuce and spinach).  Harvested as a micro green or small leaf for salads.  Often used in soups as well.  Dark red leaves.  I'm excited to try it out, I have no idea what it tastes like.

Shungiku:  A leaf vegetable from the Chrysanthemum family.  Another leaf that can be used as a baby green or as a full leaf variety.  Can be used in soups, salads, or stir fries.  Popular in Japanese cooking.

Orange Spaghetti Squash:  I was looking for a second winter squash to go with the Delicata.  One of our customers last year suggested Spaghetti Squash.  When I came across the Orangetti in the seed catalogue, I couldn't resist.

Radishes:  By request, extra radishes.  I picked up a couple of specialty types.  D'avignon was already sold out, so I purchased the almost as good French Breakfast.  I also picked a variety that resists cracking, which seemed to be a bit of a problem last year with the German heirloom Raxe.  This ones called Purple Plum.  And a very short season (21 days to maturity) called Topsi - pictured - which is at its best when marble sized.

Two topics to include on the Curious Food page over the next couple of weeks. 

• The relationship between antioxidants and leaves
• Growing a wide variety of greens in this climate - alternatives to lettuce and spinach