By Barbara Damrosch, published Thursday, December 14, 2006 in The Washington Post

It's raining seed catalogues, and the forecast is for the downpour to continue well into January. They arrive in the mail bursting with potential, like seeds themselves. I look forward to a peaceful, post-holiday weekend in which sifting though descriptions of peas, beans and cauliflower seems like the most important thing I could possibly do with my day.

It's a little like Christmas all over again. Each year the seed-breeding elves have been hard at work coming up with new varieties that might be tastier or prettier than others I have grown, better able to meet the garden's climatic challenges, more forgiving of lapses in my expertise or work ethic. But I'd love to write a letter to Santa explaining exactly what improvements I'd like to see in this year's offerings.

One thing I'd be sure to put on my list is a mildly hot pepper. I like to cook with a pepper that has some zing to it, but not so much that I can add only a few timid choppings. To get enough pepper flavor I end up using lots of sweet peppers and a smidgen of hot. The closest thing I've found to the ideal is the ancho, but most advertised as mildly or medium hot are either hot, or not. No middle ground.

A red radish that held well in the ground would be welcome. Radishes must be sown often and harvested promptly before they get strong and pithy. You never have these worries with a carrot. Why can't a radish be like that?

I love cylindrical beets -- so right for slicing -- but how about one whose shoulders stay a smooth maroon rather than a rough brown even if pushed up out of the soil? And a golden beet that germinated better. A potato that formed all its tubers well below ground so it didn't need to be covered in more earth to prevent greening.

To read the full article at washingtonpost.co, please go here