Seeds of turnip (Brassica rapa)
Early december I visited Irkutsk in eastern Siberia. As you may expect, I have brought some seeds back home. I was happily surprised to find an easy accessible and an rich variety of garden seeds in the shops. The turnip seeds I purchased are the former famous ‘Petrovskaja’ and the variety ‘Djetskaja Metja’ (childrens dream), looking to me like ‘Goldball’.
Seeds of pepper (Capsicum annuum)
I hope it’s the earliest varieties I brought home. I’m excited to learn if they are early enough to grow in open ground in my garden. Could it be that just one or two of the peppers or eggplants will be earlier than I seen in other varieties?
Two of the peppers are “housepeppers”, used in Siberia to grow on the window sill. One of those are a F1 hybrid, needing a dehybridizing to be stabilised, if I’m to grow it on in future generations.
Seeds of eggplant (Solanum melongena)
In the shop I didn’t find time to spell my way through all the kyrillic letters. Therefore I had a great laugh, as I later read “Blek Bjuti” on an eggplant seed batch, as I realised it is the wellknown “Black Beauty”. Luckily I also have a white variety, “Vkus Gribov”, translating in to “Taste of Mushroom”. With this name it can hardly be anything but an original russian variety, or at least from one of the neighboring slavic countries.
In the toad's garden 
January 19, 2009 at 15:10
Neat! I’m looking forward to hearing the reports on all of these, especially the home peppers.
My home pepper isn’t doing so well now. I think it’s not quite getting enough light. It’s got some bugs, which aren’t a serious problem, but I have to keep washing them off which the plant doesn’t always seem to like.
The plant also seemed a little shocked when I moved it indoors. It’ll probably be happier if I just leave it indoors in a pot.
The plant is still alive, but not producing peppers.
The idea of a pepper plant sitting on a windowsill during the winter and producing peppers is a neat one, and I’d like to keep looking to find one I like.
January 21, 2009 at 05:52
Thanks so much for posting these varieties! It’s so fun to see what is available in other places – what’s similar, and what’s different. LOL about “Black Beauty” variety – I’m sure I’d have been tripped up too. 🙂
The photos are beautiful – I hope you’ll share the resulting plants in photos when the time comes.
…also, I’ve been enjoying the toad in your masthead…I’m terribly fond of toads, and had one living in my garden plot last year, and am hoping he returns again this year.
January 25, 2009 at 00:01
Hi Patrick.
I wonder if it would be possible to have god red pepperfruits on the window sill in middle of winter. I my experience peppers are just as depending on light, as on water and balanced nutrition. I think of housepeppers as a way to get an early start and a late closing of the season. Housepeppers should do with less light than others, but with short days and rare snow to reflect the light???
Any experience is interesting!
Margo, I blush – Thanks for the nice words.
Toads are underrated animals. My old toad must have died, as a youngster has taken the territory – my garden – I expect it to live for many years in my garden, only leaving it shortly in spring for breeding in an old pond not far from here.
January 27, 2009 at 03:08
Wow, terrific post my friend! It is so great to see the diversity available a world away! What I wouldn’t give to go somewhere away from here and pick up some interesting seeds!
I too have a toad in my garden my friend! Well several really, all over the farm. They are everywhere, but there are two in particular that have the run off the place. They are huge. One male and one female and they move between the two greenhouses, the smallest garden, and beneath the security light at night where they eat the bugs that dwell there! They are beautiful creatures. Right now the larger of the two of them is hiding out in the smaller greenhouse which we are now using for a vermicomposting facility. He is hiding underneath an old magazine, in a hole where he hibernates, from time to time he wakes up and visits the worm bins looking for food. He is a terrific comrade!
January 27, 2009 at 22:07
I’m also looking forward to seeing how your pepper seeds do. It’s great seeing differently coloured turnips. By far the most dominant variety here is the white with lilac/purple top.
February 3, 2009 at 21:07
Toads in the garden is great!!
Around here, the pure white turnip is most common, but the purple topped is also available. Yellow varieties are also to be found without too much effort. But then there are much diversity to be found if one knows where to find it.
February 11, 2009 at 02:00
Funny about the “Taste of Mushroom”. The packages are certainly beautiful & colorful. I was wondering what you’ve been up to. Looking forward to spring?
February 11, 2009 at 21:41
Hi Meg.
I do look forward to spring, but also feel a bit guilty not posting for weeks now. I’m putting up a new ceiling in the livingroom, and doing the walls also, finding things to fix as I go along.