Super Bore Or Super Bell?

Best Super Bowl Ad EVER!

With all due apologies to the fresh corn industry, I must admit, I thought the Bud Lite Corn Syrup commercial was the funniest thing I've seen on TV in quite some time. Don't get me wrong! I love me some corn. I personally believe corn grown in the Sloughhouse area of Sacramento County is, in fact, the best corn in the world. I wish no harm upon our fine corn farmers!

But that Bud Lite Corn Syrup ad that ran during last Sunday's Super Bore was absolutely hilarious. I am still busting up over the line of: "would you please smoke outside?" However, Bud Lite's pun and knock against all thing corn syrup will not stop me from purchasing Sloughhouse corn. Additionally, you will not find any Bud Lite in the Bird refrigerator. However, if you look hard enough, you just might find a bottle of the High Life. But, enough of that already. I've strayed much too far.

Cat Bowling Pins?

My friends, rather than watch the NFL bestow yet another title on Tom Brady last Sunday (BORING), my mind was positively fixated on the image that appears to your very left. Can you guess what those cups might represent? Bowling pins for the naughty Cat that is Lenny? That is a good guess, but NO. And although Lenny has already cast a rather envious glance at the cups placed on that bedroom window, I hope that cat knows better.

I hope.

Those cups placed against yonder windowsill represent the start of my summer 2019 vegetable garden. Would they represent the 13 varieties of heirloom tomatoes I will be growing this summer? Good guess, but also wrong. It's still a bit too early for that activity, though some have already started. No, the seeds placed in those cups all contain the same variety: The California Wonder Bell Pepper.

Peppers!

First introduced in 1928, the California Wonder is now a sweet staple in nearly every backyard garden. These are these big and blocky peppers that can be found in nearly every dish, ranging from salads, stir fry meals, fajitas or just brushed with olive oil and placed on a grill. You can also find them in home-canned items such as tomato sauces and SALSA. Roasted or fresh, the California Wonder represents one word: SUMMER.

Garden grown Bell Peppers are nearly as popular as home-grown tomatoes. According to the Masters of Horticulture Blog, "Bell peppers are the most commonly grown pepper in the United States.  According to the National Nursery survey, 46-percent of gardeners grow them every year.  Second, according to the same survey, bell peppers are the third most popular vegetable grown in American gardens.  Third, the bell pepper is the most consumed pepper in America.  According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Americans eat 9.8 pounds of them per year.  And finally, bell peppers are the only peppers in the genus that do not produce capsaicin.  Capsaicin is the compound that makes most members of the genus Capsicum hot."

Perfect for Seed Starting Efforts

The reaction from most of my pepper growing friends is going to be pretty typical, I think. People like Jake Seed and Dave Jesse are thinking along the lines of: "PFFFT! ROOKIE!" And you know what? They're right. To them? My pepper planting efforts are rather late.

You see, while the vast majority of us are thinking about  the Peppermint Wishes and Candy Cane Dreams of the Christmas Season, the pepper guys are thinking about peppers so hot they would melt Santa's tongue. There's a reason why Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer gives these homes a wide berth. These guys are serious. January 1st doesn't just signal the start of the new year. It means it's time to plant pepper seeds of all shapes and sizes for the upcoming summer gardening season.

Planting Seeds

Why start pepper seeds so early and why am I late? There's a good answer for that. Pepper seeds tend to grow much slowly than tomato seeds, which essentially sprout and grow like weeds until they are transplanted. As KFBK NewsTalk 1530 Gardening Show Host Farmer Fred Hoffman put it so eloquently to me once: "PEPPERS NEED HEAT!" Unfortunately, there's little heat to be found during the Northern California months of December, January and February. So, pepper growers get very inventive to creating the kind of heat they need to give seedlings the boost that they need.

I recall that one of these growers, and I won't mention names (Dave Jesse), placed his seeds in sealed starter cups and placed them under a woodstove. Where his cat promptly found them. Great fun ensued.

What's the payoff for my seed starting efforts? 13 large and healthy California Wonder Bell Pepper starter plants. Do I intend to plant all 13 in my summer garden? Are you nuts? Gardeners do not live on bell peppers alone. This means I will have plenty to share, or trade, once the transplant season begins (provided it stops raining at some point).

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

Hopefully, the seedlings I have planted against my bedroom windowsill will sprout and start to grow (albeit slowly) in another day or two. Also, hopefully, the giant shade trees that dot this Citrus Heights neighborhood don't blot out the needed sunshine.

Finally, hopefully, here's hoping a certain Maine Coon cat can ignore the urge to start swatting what's been carefully placed on a windowsill that he can easily reach.

Hope springs eternal.

Heaven Comes in a Seed Packet

Seed Haul: Lockhart Seeds

Now that is a beautiful sight indeed isn't it? That little bundle of seed picture to your right comes from the "Best Little Seed House in California!" I am, of course, referring to Lockhart Seeds, located in the most romantic city in the world: Stockton, CA. Trust me on this: "Date Day" at Lockhart Seeds with the wife that is Venus is an event for the ages.

Sadly, we haven't had a chance to visit much. And the fine folks at Lockhart Seeds don't make it easy on us weekend warrior type garden punks (sorry, Katie). They're not open on weekends. They're closed on most major holidays as well, as we would rather unfortunately discover during a President's Day holiday two years ago. The doors were locked as tight as a drum.

The Most Romantic Spot in Stockton

If you happen to work full-time like the both of us -- there are only two options. One, duck out early at work. Two, take a vacation day. We opted for Choice #2. We figured that we could follow up a 49ers blowout victory in the Super Bowl with a celebratory trip to Lockhart Seeds the every next day!

Yeah, uh, unfortunately the 49ers didn't cooperate. But that's a story for another day. There's always next year.

As I've mentioned before in a previous post about Lockhart Seeds, this place hasn't changed much since the day it opened. This is as old as a storefront as you're going to find still standing anywhere in the San Joaquin Valley. It's a throwback to the day when major department stores were still located in old downtown buildings. Shopping malls? Never heard of em'!

Still in the same spot! Check!

From the heavy wood door that requires some effort to push open to wood floors that creak, you get the impression that generations of small farmers and gardeners have walked these aisles before you. And you just might be right. It's been quite some time since tomato seeds were sold in containers resembling V-8 juice cans. But you'll find them stashed in a corner here and there with gardening implements that are nearly as ancient. I've come to discover that Lockhart Seeds is half store and half museum.

If you're a nutcase gardener like me and the wife? You could spend hours in this place and never get tired. Store employees might get tired of you as you walk up each aisle again and again and again, but the Lockhart Seeds experience is one to be savored. This is truly one of Stockton's tiny treasures. Most seed stores in California up and vanished eons ago. But Lockhart Seeds not only survived the onslaught of the big box retailers, they've thrived in a niche market catering to nutcase gardeners and small farmers.

Lockhart Seed Bank

In a frantic pursuit for peppers? Fishing for some fennel? Hunting for Honey Dew melon? You get the idea. You're going to find it against this wall or in that row. A world of discovery awaits. Don't for a moment think, "you can't grow that here." Because, if they sell it at Lockhart Seeds? You can "grow that here."

Lockhart Seeds is also one of the few places that didn't rush headlong into the heirloom vegetable craze that's sweeping the country. It got its start with heirloom tomatoes, but has now branched out into heirloom melons, heirloom asparagus, heirloom radishes and, yes, even heirloom peach trees (See: Hale Peach). What Lockhart Seeds does offer is even more valuable: tried and true varieties that produce and produce well in our hot summer climates.

Franchi Sementi Spinacio (Spinach)

You'll also run into seed providers not often found anywhere in California, such as Franchi Sementi (Sementi is the Italian word for seeds). I've heard of this seed company, but never saw any of their offerings until I walked into the front door of Lockhart Seeds. Franchi is a rather big name in the seed business. Seems they've been around for a spell. How long you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked!

From the website: "In 1783 (the year the American Revolution ended) Giovanni Franchi started selling seeds around the market squares of Parma from his horse-drawn cart. The company is still in the same family 229 years later, with Giampiero Franchi at the helm and modern facilities in Bergamo, near Milan."

One of each please!

Remember! You asked!

Lockhart Seeds also offers another advantage not found in your local big box stores. Sometimes? It's more economical to "buy in bulk." Costco shoppers will understand this. Why purchase a small packet of cilantro seeds for $2.69 when a quarter-pound of the good stuff can be had for just thirty cents more?

It's safe to say that Venus and I departed Lockhart Seeds with enough vegetable seed to plant our spring and summer garden, plus the entire neighborhood's spring and summer gardens. Does 15 packets of green onion seed sound like a little too much?

Come to Papa...

Bill Bird loves his green onions more than anything else (other than a fat, vine-ripened tomato of course). So, to Bill Bird? 15 packets of green onion seed sounds just about right...

Lockhart Seeds is located on 3 North Wilson Way in Stockton. We always make sure to call ahead at (209) 446-4401 to make sure they're open. The company started building a website years ago, but never finished and I sometimes wonder if they ever will.