Hello! I have a question, do you trade for SASE or just other seeds? You are the first person I have came across that has heirloom seeds. I have been doing research about heirlooms and would like to grow a small garden of them. Please let me know! Thank you Ruth

You can get a variety of 'cross species' crosses in the Brassica and some of the more interesting types are a direct result of one of the various '3 way' interspecific crosses possible. I've attached a link to a chart that shows them. B. Juncea (Mustard Greens) are a result of a cross of B. Nigra (black mustard) with B. Rapa (turnips, field mustard, turnip mustard). B. Napus (rhutabaga, rapeseed)a cross of B. Rapa with B. Olerica (cabagges, kales, broccoli, etc. as above. B. Carinata (Abyssinian Mustard) a cross of B. Olerica and B. Nigra. Who knows what other crosses they have had. The Brassicas are a bit "loose" with their genes... ;-) So while I'd guess what you have is a wild "turnip mustard" it could just as easily be a strange cross... You had turnips (B. Rapa) and a collard (B. Olerica) so if they crossed you could easily have gotten a new variety of Rhutabaga. I'd trial it and see if it was any good. Pretty much all the candidates are edible in one way or another... Here is a link that might be useful:

Sherry, Well, I think you can plant them and have limited success. Onions have to be in the ground and achieve a certain amount of growth before bulbing is induced. Since bulbing is induced by a combination of daylength and temperature, it is going to happen when the daylength-temperature combo is achieved, whether the onions have been in the ground for one week, one month, or whatever. So, that is why we have to plant onions so very early--to get maximum growth before initiation of the bulbing process begins. Most onions needs to be in the ground a minimum of 90 to 100 days before bulb initiation starts in order to size up fully, and some need 100 to 120 days. Short day-length onions will begin to bulb up once the daylength (hours of sunlight) reaches about 10-12 hours in combination with the right temperature. Intermediate day-length onions need 12-14 hours days to bulb up. Long day-length onions will begin to bulb up once the daylength is 14-16 hours and the temperature is right, which is why the long daylength onions are not grown in our part of the county. (Our daylength here maxes out around 14 hours.) So, if the onions go into the ground late, they will grow and they still will bulb up once bulb initiation occurs. They'll just be smaller when bulb initiation occurs, thus, they will be smaller at maturity than onions that were planted earlier. One reason that short day-length and intermediate day-length onions planted in the southern third of the country get bigger than those EXACT same varieties grown in the upper 2/3s of the country is that our weather allows us to plant the onions up to 5 months prior to bulb initiation, and the northern states' colder weather does not allow them to plant until approx. 75 days before bulb initiation. So, if you plant late this year, you'll get onions that are "northern-sized" instead of "southern-sized", but you'll still get onions! If you don't mind knowing you'll get smaller onions, go ahead and go for it. It would be a good learning experience if you've never grown onions before. Some commonly-sold short day-length onions are TX 1015Y (aka Texas Sweet or Texas Supersweet), Yellow Granex, White Bermuda, Southern Belle Red and Contessa. Some commonly-sold intermediate day-length onions are Candy, Stockton Sweet Red and Superstar. Some commonly sold long day-length onions (and these should NOT be sold in our region) include Borrettana Cippolini, Red Torpedo Tropea, Ailsa Craig (there's also a tomato by this name), Copra, Big Daddy, Red Burgermaster, Red Zeppelin, Walla Walla, Yellow Sweet Spanish and Ringmaster. I've already planted my main crop of onions, but I do continue planting onions in various spots around the garden as companion plants, and I will, probably through mid-to-late April. Of course, I don't care if those companion-planted onions bulb up or not. Sometimes I leave the companion plant onions in the ground until the following year, and let them bloom in the spring. Their tiny flowers attract a TON of tiny pollinators and beneficial insects, and are quite attractive as well. Dawn

I learned to make pasties from my mother in law, who was born and raised in Houghton, MI. She always used beef suet and butter in the crust with the flour, salt and water. They called pasties with rutabegas Finlander pasties. The ones I make call for cubed top sirloin, potatoes, onions and topped with salt, pepper and butter. I haven't made them since DH had coronary bypass surgery....and it is difficult to find good beef suet in our area. DH's family always used a lot of catsup on theirs but I like hot Mexican salsa or pickled jalapenos on mine.