A few weeks ago, my friend and colleague, Angela McRae gave me the opportunity to pick out some sample seeds from Renee's Garden Seeds. It is a company in California that sells garden seeds in beautifully decorated seed packages.
Angela asked if I would like to pick out seeds to try from a media kit she had received and I was delighted. I had purchased their seeds before with a good outcome but I had never visited their website. The Renee's seeds I purchased were from a retail store, Hastings in Atlanta.
I chose some seeds I had been looking for, like Munstead English lavender, golden beets and Romanesco Italian zucchini. I also ordered gourmet baby salad mix, Wasabi arugula and a package of beautiful heirloom tomatoes named Chianti Rose. I saw a number of seeds developed to grow in containers and from those I picked Astia, a container zucchini and Super Bush, a container tomato.
Their seeds are often packaged in mixtures and groupings. They have mixtures of seeds like the Italian Roasting Peppers I ordered which come in a mix of colors. There are a number of seeds packaged this way -- like eggplant and carrot trios and even a package of "jewel-toned" beets.
Renee's Garden Seeds carries a large selection of heirloom and organic seeds but also specialize in designer vegetable seeds for any culinary experience -- and that is just the vegetables.
The flowers come with seeds in a variety of colors and types -- all beautifully packaged. It is no wonder that they are also used by nonprofit groups for fundraising.
You should check out their website, www.reneesgarden.com. It is packed with helpful information about planting seeds and general gardening.
Another thing I really love are the seeds for themed gardens, like butterfly and hummingbird gardens and special seeds for container gardens and shade gardens. These ideas really gave my imagination a jump start. Also you must check out the Valentine collection, "Seeds of Love" that is now on sale.
To change the subject, what do you mean in the buttermilk pie recipe, "Place pie shells on center rack in preheated oven."
ReplyDeleteAre you preheating the pie plate? Or are you referring to a crust?
I am so sorry for the confusion. I have amended the instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Break eggs into bowl. Mix in eggs and the rest of the ingredients. Grease a glass pie plate with butter. Either fill greased pie plate with the pie mixture and place into the oven on a center rack, or to avoid spills, pull out the center rack of the preheated oven with an oven mitt and place pie plate on the rack. Then pour the pie mixture into the pie plate and carefully push the rack back into the oven. Be sure to do this carefully so as not to touch the hot oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Hope that is clear that I was giving an option for klutzy cooks like me. I have a tendency to spill the pie filling in the oven, on the door of the oven or on the floor. If you have a steady hand, ignore this. This pie doesn't need a shell. Thanks for helping me to be clearer in my instructions. If this doesn't make sense, please let me know. Thanks, Deberah
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ReplyDeleteGreat selection of seeds, Deberah. I used to work in an office right near Hastings (the Gardening store)and enjoyed visiting the store, after work. Years later, I started working at Hastings Entertainment in Newnan - it was confusing when folks would mix up 'the Gardening store' with 'the Entertainment store.'
ReplyDeleteI remember trying to convince one customer that the two stores were not related: One gentleman said, 'Ma'am, can I return my movies to your store in Buckhead?' (I said), 'Sorry Sir, we are Hastings Entertainment, the store in Buckhead is not related to us - it's a Gardening Store. We have 150 other Hastings stores, but they're in other states.'
I love both Hastings Stores! Thanks for the gardening advice and hope you have a nice weekend, Joanie
That is SO funny. I can only imagine that happening. Isn't is funny how people just assume if your store has the same name it is the same family business. My last name is Williams and it is so common. People think we are related to everyone else named Williams and we are just not related to very many Williames. It is so strange.
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