Plant These Exotic Rare Seeds For Gardening Fun

Lots of people garden for lots of different reasons.

Some like to grow their own foods to save money on their grocery bills.

Some like to grow pretty flowers and shrubs to make their yard look nice. Some even garden because they like to compete at the State Fair every year.

But when you get right down to it, most people garden because it's just plain fun!

It's fun to dig in the dirt. It's fun to look at seed catalogs and dream about what you're going to plant. And it's fun watching each new little plant burst out of the ground, reaching for the sun.

You get a great sense of accomplishment when you grow something - whether it's food, flowers, bushes or trees.

But you feel even mightier when you grow something that nobody has ever seen before.

The world's largest peanut! Or a record-breaking pumpkin! Or how about the teeniest watermelon known to man?

Imagine the look on your neighbor's face when you finally win that Blue Ribbon at the State Fair this year. He'll be green with envy! And you'll just be beaming from ear to ear because you had so much fun!

Graphic from Zazzle: Heirloom Gardener Vintage Art Rectangular Stickers by thegardenpages

You won't find many rare or heirloom seeds at your local big box gardening center. They're too hard to produce and maintain. And the people who produce all those seeds you do see can't be bothered with the huge variety of seeds out there. They make more money if they concentrate on those little packet of petunias and let somebody else worry about all the fancier stuff.

So when your special seeds arrive you have to take a few precautions. If you're not going to plant them right away, then store them in a cool, dry place, away from sunlight. You don't want your seeds to get moldy before you get a chance to plant. Or worse yet, they might start germinating in the package.

Be sure to follow the planting directions on the seed packet. Some rare and heirloom seeds are very particular about weather and growing conditions and it would be a shame to have you lose out on that Blue Ribbon just because you over-watered.

And if you like your results, be sure to save a bloom or two, or a melon or ear of corn, so you can harvest the seeds and plant again next year!

Yes! These are actually miniature watermelons. Are these cool or what?!

Seriously. We planted a small patch of these last year and they're wonderful eaten right from the garden. They're crisp and juicy and just a refreshing as their full size cousin.

The flavor is kind of a cross between a cucumber and a watermelon so we thought, what the heck? Let's make a batch of Miniature Watermelon Pickles!

We used our favorite pickling recipe which included covering these little guys in brine and letting them soak for about 24 hours. Then we just put them in the jars and used a standard dill pickle recipe.

They turned out crispy on the outside and kind of soft on the inside - perfect for munching or adding to a salad.

And our friends were really surprised to get a jar of these adorable Miniature Watermelon Pickles for Christmas!

Look at the snake like shapes these grow in. You can decorate them with paint or by cutting into the outer part of the skin to make your snake patterns.