Time to begin anew

The Early Cascade tomato seeds I bought last week at Allen Sterling and Lothrop are awaiting planting this weekend, right on schedule, the first weekend in February. They will be ready to set out for hardening off by the end of April, and will go in the ground in early May. Early Cascade (pictured at left) is a marvelous eating tomato--small, perfectly round, staying on the vine without cracking for a long time, and the flavor is acid, rich, full and tomatoey--second only to Brandywine in my opinion. Best of all, it absolutely thrives in a coastal climate, producing fruit even in cold, wet summers.
The links at the right under "Seeds and Gardening Supplies" have been updated to include the best of Maine and national seed and perennial and shrub resources. Tonight I attended a talk at Southern Maine Community College by Bill Cullina of the

New England Wildflower Society

. Cullina, reflecting the general consensus of horticulturists all over the northeast, is strongly advocating planting native plants wherever possible in the ornamental and food garden. He has demonstrated in the NEWFS greenhouses that seeds from local plants simply outperform those from plants just a couple of hours north or south, due to the adaptations by plants to their own local climate conditions.