Carla's Guide to Seed Packet Lingo

It's the time of year to start thinking about what seeds to plant for your spring and summer gardens. Seed packets of everything from sunflowers to squash are covered in instructional lingo for planting that can leave the novice gardener wondering what on earth, or rather where on earth, to plant their produce.

Luckily, Carla Emery is here to help. In the Encyclopedia of Country Living, she lists common seed packet and catalog phrases that will help your plants flourish. With her helpful explanations, you will have a bounty of flowers, fruits, and vegetables to share with your friends.

Common Seed Packet/Catalog Phrases

Certified seed: Seed that, like a registered animal, has a predictable heredity. You can save your own seed from a certified parent or any nonhybrid variety.

Days-to-maturity: A figure that represents the average number of days from planting to first harvest. It’s usually given as a number in parentheses, usually between 28 and 140. Order plants that have a days-to-maturity number that is at least a few less than your usual frost-free period.

Grows in shade: Grows in filtered sunlight, like what comes through tree branches — not absolute shade.

Likes full sun: Won’t grow well in an area where there’s shade even part of the day.

Perennial: A plant that will live for years (for example, asparagus, artichokes, and rhubarb).

Resistant: Able to naturally withstand insect or disease attack better than a nonresistant plant.

Self-seeder: A plant that may become a weedy pest.

Tolerant: Able to put up with a certain amount of disease or pest damage. A “tolerant” plant isn’t as hardy as a “resistant” one. The catalog will indicate what diseases the plant is tolerant of or resistant to by initial. For example, the Beefmaster tomato resists “VFN”: verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, and nematodes.

Treated seed: Seed that contains a deadly chemical to prevent soil fungi diseases. Do not eat treated seed or feed it to animals. Treated seed might be yellow, pink, or white. Treating the seed prevents diseases called “damping off” and “soil rot.” These are most likely to strike in cool, wet soil early in the spring, but organic seed houses and growers get along without them.

Zone: Find out which USDA zone (1–10) you live in. The catalog often tells you what zone a variety is best suited for, and that’s important information.

A Taste of the Big Easy

Joyous, decadent, and outrageously fun are just a few words that describe one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. On our cross-country road trip last year, my dad scheduled a stop in what is also one of his most beloved spots in the South. With a decidedly French flavor, a Starbucks-grade prevalence of oyster bars, and the soulful sound of jazz music floating down the streets, I was in heaven.

For me, what truly distinguishes New Orleans is its food. From my first experience with grits at Brennan's to the Creole-inspired dishes at the Court of Two Sisters, my dad took me on a culinary adventure that I'll never forget. A stop on this journey was Café du Monde. Living up to its name, the café mills with visitors from all over the world who have come for its famous coffee and beignets. Resembling powdery, white pillows, beignets dusted with sugar and dunked in the café's special blend of chicory coffee are not to be missed when visiting New Orleans. It's hard to tell who is the favorite in this partnership: the sweet beignets or the rich, satisfying coffee.

To savor the taste of New Orleans at home, brew a pot of Carla Emery's chicory coffee and dip in your favorite pastry for an afternoon, or in true Big Easy fashion, midnight snack.

Chicory Coffee To brew chicory coffee, first boil a pot of water. Then drop in a spoonful of ground chicory, stir, let steep a few minutes, and there you are. Chicory is stronger than coffee, so use less. Serve plain or with honey and cream. You can make more chicory coffee out of the same grounds.

For dipping:

Honey-Applesauce Cookies Cream together 11⁄2 c. honey and 1 c. shortening. Add 2 beaten eggs and beat mixture until smooth. Add 2 t. soda to 2 c. applesauce. Sift in 2 t. cinnamon, 1 t. nutmeg, 1 t. salt, and 31⁄2 c. flour. Stir in 2 c. quick-cooking oats (or rolled wheat), 2 c. raisins, and 1 c. walnuts. Drop on cookie sheet with a spoon. Bake at 325˚F for 10 minutes.

Save Your Leftovers For These Delicious Recipes

If you're anything like my fiancé and me, grocery shopping for two can pose a problem. Certain items, like soy milk, oatmeal, and the ever-tempting potato chips that we probably shouldn't buy, are eaten up right away. Other foods like bread and lunch meat, and even my favorite fruit, bananas, fall by the wayside, going bad before our two person eating brigade can finish them.

While there's not much you can do with leftover lunch meat, there are ways to salvage foods that are on the cusp of going bad. For stale bread and mushy, overripe bananas, the possibilities are endless! Carla Emery offers several recipes to rescue your bananas and bread before they spoil. The two creations below sound particularly delectable. Enjoy!

Banana Bread Cream 1⁄2 c. butter and 3⁄4 c. honey in a bowl. Stir in 2 eggs, 1⁄2 t. salt, and 1 t. vanilla. Sift 1 t. soda with 2 c. flour. Add to creamed mix. Add 3 mashed bananas and 1⁄2 c. chopped nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 300˚F for 1 hour, or until done.

Bread Pudding Soak 1 1⁄2 c. chunked, dried bread in 2c. milk (if your bread is fresh, toast it in the oven before making this). Add 1 T. sugar, 1 T. melted butter, 2 lightly beaten eggs, and 1 t. vanilla. Put into a buttered ovenproof dish. Set dish in a pan of hot water. Bake at 325˚F about 30 minutes. Test by inserting knife. If the knife comes out clean, your pudding is done.

Serve hot or cold with rich cream, berries, or a pudding sauce.