Category Archives: VEGETABLE REVIEWS

2022 Tomato Review

For those of you who don’t listen to my radio show on KSFR 101.1 which airs the last day of each month at 10 am, I talk about what problems are in the garden, what we can do, how to deal with certain pests, what we can grow and review crops I grow, etc. Generally, lots of veggie growing tips. This Saturday, Nov 26, I am reviewing my top crops for 2022-all of them. So if you can’t listen this Saturday or want a copy to keep as reference, I am posting my favorite tomatoes for 2022. There are few new ones and some that are on my top 20 list of tomatoes year after year.

I grew 29 tomato plants this year and it was probably the worse year tomato wise (but other crops did well). I think because it was a cool rainy, cloudy season and once the tomatoes set their blossoms into fruit, they like warm, sunny days which we didn’t have many in 2022. However, my cherry tomatoes saved the day and were very prolific but the slicers didn’t grow fast or ripen very fast either. I had a lot of green ones at the end of the season, which I ripened inside. I believe that’s because of the cool weather. Some of my standard slicer that I grow year after year didn’t do so well but I still include them because they have been great till this year. I don’t necessarily stop growing one tomato because of one bad year especially if it has done well in the past.  But it is interesting to note that my peppers did well and they like hot weather too, so go figure.

____________________

2022 TOMATO REVIEW

SOME OF MY FAVORITE SLICER TOMATOES THAT DID WELL THIS YEAR:
Paul Robeson-named after the famous opera singer-has superb rich flavor. Get seeds online or at Agua Fria Nursery.
Cherokee Purple-Wonderful flavor. Get at Seed Savers Exchange.
Cherokee Carbon-a hybrid with all the great flavor of Purple Cherokee without the cracks. Get online or at Agua Fria Nursery.
Lucky Cross-A wonderful large bi-color tomato of yellow with a red blush inside- very sweet. Get at Victory Seeds.
Virginia Sweet-Another outstanding large yellow with red blush tomato-can get it online.
Goliath-A medium size red hybrid tomato with old fashion flavor. Almost perfect with few blemishes. Get online. Good eating or I make sauce.
Large Boar Boar-a mahogany color with green stripes-great flavor. Get at Wild Boar Farms.
Black Sea Man-looks and tastes like Black Krim tomatoes only more productive. Really like them. Get them at Seed Savers Exchange.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE CHERRY TOMATOES THAT DID WELL THIS YEAR:
Black Cherry-A fantastic purple cherry tomato. Get seeds online or plants at nurseries. Agua Fria Nursery.
Ruthje-Red cherry tomato-I grew this last year and it is a super sweet tomato. Get from Restoration Seeds online.
Moby-a dwarf cherry tomato-A large yellow cherry tomato on a small plant with great flavor You can get Moby at Victory Seeds. Only gets about 3-4 feet high so great for pots.
Sungold Cherry-a real favorite-super sweet. Get seeds or plants at nurseries like Agua Fria Nursery.

You notice I mention Agua Fria Nursery here as they have the biggest selection of Heirloom tomato plants in Santa Fe in the spring. Here is my pdf which includes all my crops AND live links for you: 11-2022 VEGETABLE REVIEW


			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Black Krim Tomato-an interesting history


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		





Black Krim Tomato_Courtesy of Wiki_By Johnh – https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32303234


One of the best things about growing heirloom tomatoes is sometimes their history. I found the history of some tomatoes is fascinating and when I was at the Farmers Market, I was the first to include the description and history of the tomatoes I sold. People really enjoyed reading about what they were eating and where it was from.


One such tomato is the Black Krim, a favorite for many people. It has a very interesting history as it originated in Ukraine. Black Krim is the Ukrainian word for Crimea. I didn’t know any of this. I knew it was from Russia but not specifically from Ukraine and to be exact, Crimea, which Russia took back in 2014 after invading it before this year’s invasion of Ukraine. I found out this information from Terrior Seeds. To read more on the Black Krim from Terrior Seeds, go here. How relevant to today’s world.
			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Vegetable Varieties Review for 2019 garden


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
Here’s my report for the 2019 garden season in case of any of you want to grow them!


SUCCESSFUL VARIETIES


LETTUCES-Normally I plant cold season lettuces in early spring so they don’t bolt but in summer. This past season I also planted Summer Crisp (Batavian) varieties. They did well in OUR summer. They didn’t bolt or get bitter and had lettuce all summer and fall too. I love all lettuces but now have found varieties that grow in heat. Check out Johnny’s Seeds.


WINTER SQUASH-Butternut winter squash (any variety) doesn’t attract squash vine borers SVB (their stems are solid) OR squash bugs. So for that reason alone, I will plant more butternut squash as my winter squash. I’ve grown Italian Violini butternut, Tahiti butternut, and Waltham butternut through the years and all did well with no bugs (at least in my garden). How great is that?!


SUMMER SQUASH–Friuilana zucchini also doesn’t attract squash bugs although I’m not sure about squash vine borers so I keep it covered with row cover before the flowers come and then uncover them and by then the SVB is gone.


GREEN BEANS-This past season I grew Emerite pole french filet green beans. They are one of my favorites. The Emerite beans did well and taste great.


DRY BEANS-I grew a few varieties of dry beans that I got from Italy but you can find many of them from Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans online.

Rossa di Lucca-(a dark pink bush bean with stripes) that did fantastic (I got them from our local Santa Fe Farmers Market at Zulu’s Petals Farm)


PEPPERS–Jimmy Narello peppers are our favorite sweet Italian pepper and Shishito peppers and both did well.


CUCUMBERS-My all time favorite EATING cucumber is Poona Kheera, hands down, and I grow PICKLING cucumbers-Parisian for cornichons, Boothby Blonde for Bread n Butter. All did well.


CARROTS-I grew Atomic Red and Cosmic Purple this year- nice, sweet, colorful carrots


BEETS-Chioga and Cylindra beets did fantastic this year.


CABBAGE-I’ve grown Kalibos cabbage the last two years and it is fantastic, producing huge conical shaped heads of red cabbage that are sweeter than most cabbages.


TOMATOES-Eight tomato varieties did really well and 17 did not fare so well. So they ones that did well this year were: Black Cherry, Cherokee Carbon, Cherokee Purple, Large Barred Boar, Original Goliath, Paul Robeson, and Grosse Verte Rose, Sungold.


 


UNSUCCESSFUL VARIETIES this year


DRY BEANS-I grew a few varieties of dry beans that I got from Italy but you can find many from Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans online.

Borlotti bean didn’t do well but has in the past. Will grow again.


Zolphino beans-started out great but a gopher got them all. Zolphino beans are hard to find in the states (I got mine in Italy) but can be found at Uprising Seeds this year. Will grow again.


Tomatoes-17 tomato plants did not do well-poor production. This very well might have been my fault with not enough water as some varieties that didn’t do well this past season have done great in years past. So I’m not counting most of these out this year.


Cour di Bue-puny vines, poor production although the Italians swear by them. Will not grow again


Dark Queen-new to me but did not do well. Will try again.


Captain Lucky-died of unknown cause. Will try this year again


Brandywines-No tomatoes-not enough growing time-too short a season here. I give up.


BKX-died of CTV (curly top virus) Bit by Beet Leafhopper. Will try again.


Santorini-Greek tomato-too small and not sweet enough-will not grow again.


 


MIXED BAG (some success and some not)


SWEET POTATOES

Georgia Jet sweet potatoes- Have a short season (90 days to harvest) and the harvest was fantastic BUT I let them go through one hard freeze and many of them rotted I believe because of that. Will grow this year but will harvest before the first frost, not even waiting for a hard freeze)


TOMATOES-

Ananas Noir-normally does well but not this past season. Will grow again.


Virginia Sweet-normally does well but not this past season. Will grow again.


Big Zac-normally does well but not this past season. Will grow again.


Lucky Cross– This is my all-time favorite tomato that normally does well but not this past season. Will grow again.

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Tomato and Vegetable Winners in 2017 garden


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 Sungold tomatoes 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  


Here are my favorite vegetables that I grew for 2017. Mind you I’m super picky and I’m sure there are many other varieties out there waiting to be tried that are great. That’s what keeps it interesting for me. Also I give you where I bought the seeds or transplants. You may be able to buy these elsewhere but this is where I purchased them from.


2017 Tomato Winners




***ALL-TIME FAVORITE TOMATO

Lucky Cross: MY FAVORITE TOMATO-Bigger tomato. Starts yellow then turns more pinkish yellow on the outside with red marbling inside. Sweet and luscious with few cracks. Ripens later in the season but before the end of the season. Part Brandywine and tastes like them. DELICIOUS!  Not to be confused with Little Lucky tomato. Seeds from Victory Seeds


 


RED

Goliath: A very abundant and nice size red tomato. No cracks and old-fashioned tomato flavor-excellent. Seeds from Totally Tomato seeds


Costoluto Genevese: Beautiful fluted tomato with old-fashioned tomato flavor from Italy. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds


Marmande Garnier Rouge: A medium to large dark-red slightly fluted tomato from France-excellent old-fashion tomato flavor. Seeds from Secret Seeds Cartel


Big Zac: Huge, red sweet tomato-takes all season to ripen but still one of my favorites-worth the wait. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


 


PASTE

Goldman’s Italian American: My favorite for a sauce tomato-Unique, beautiful and large tomatoes have a pear shape, being ribbed and pleated. These have an intense red color and fantastic flavor when ripe. Thick, red flesh is perfect for delicious tomato sauces. Ripens towards end of season. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds


 


PINK

NEW! Stump of the World: Big pink tomato with sweet flavor. Good at high altitudes. Seeds from Tomato Growers




 


PURPLE or BLACK


Purple Cherokee: Dusky purple with dark shoulders-Always a favorite-sweet, flavor. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


Paul Robeson: Dark brown with green shoulders-Always a favorite-sweet, earth flavor. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


 


BI-COLOR

Pink Berkeley Tie Dye: Dark pink with green stripes-great sweet flavor.

Seeds from Wild Boars Farms or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


Black and Brown Boar: Brownish-red tomato with green stripes-good, sweet, earthy flavor. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms


NEW! Summer of Love: Large and very meaty red/yellow bi-color beefsteak with purple anthocyanin splashes on the sun-kissed fruit-wonderful flavor. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms


NEW! Lover’s Lunch: A very beautiful and tasty striped red/yellow with bi-colored flesh.  This large, meaty, fruity and sweet tomato has stand-out flavor. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms


NEW! Lucid Gem: First they ripen yellow, than more of an orange when very ripe. Very attractive with black purple anthocynin splashes on shoulder that contrast with the yellow skin.  Flavor is very good- Sweet with fruity tones. Very meaty, very few Seeds – One of the best varieties for heat tolerance. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms


NEW! Solar Flare-XL: Bigger than the regular Solar Flare-very sweet red with faint yellow stripes. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms


 


CHERRY TOMATOES


Artisan Blush Tiger: I love this one-fruity flavor. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


Pink Bumblebee: Great sweet flavor. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


Black Cherry: One of my favorites that I grow EVERY year. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


Sungold: One of my few hybrids-Always a favorite-super sweet yellow cherry tomato. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


——————————————————————————————–


2017 vegetable winners


ARUGULA

Wasabi arugula: This arugula gives the same nose-tingling sensation as the wasabi condiment used in Japanese dishes. This variety is very quick to bolt but delicious. Grow in early spring before heat. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


BEANS-DRY

NEW! Borlotti ‘Lamon’ beans: Climbing beautiful cream, red splashed shell on outside with beans being a pale pink with red splotches inside if you let them dry. I like to harvest them when dry. According to the Venetians, Lamon’s are “THE” bean for ‘pasta fagiolo’. Seeds from Seeds of Italy




BEANS-GREEN

Émérite Filet Pole Bean: Émérite is a true Filet Bean from France, produced on graceful vines growing to 8′ tall. When picked early and often, the beans are tender and have outstanding flavor. Seeds from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds


BEETS

Craupadine: I’ve tried this one before-poor germination every year except for one year and the one year it did germinate, it tasted FANTASTIC-sweetish beet I’ve ever eaten. Will try to start seeds inside this year to see if I get better germination. Would really like to get this one again. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds


BOK CHOY

Violetta bok choy: A beautiful green with purple tipped leaves and tastes great sautéed. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


CABBAGE

Kalibos Red cabbage: This Eastern European heirloom cabbage has a pointed shape and intense red/purple leaves. Beautiful and sweet flavor. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange




CHARD

Argentata chard: Has green leaf with big white stalks that when cooked, melt in your mouth. Plus it is the most cold tolerant variety in my garden outlasting many other varieties of chard. Seeds from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds


CUCUMBERS

Poona Kheera: My all-time favorite eating cucumber. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds


EGGPLANT

Fairy Tale: my favorite-never bitter or tough skin. No need to peel this small eggplant. I just cut them in half  and saute or BBQ them. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


FENNEL

Florence Fennel: A bulb type fennel from Italy. Wonderful mild anise taste to add to Chippino or Boulabaise. I chop it and freeze it for use later. Seeds from Seeds of Italy or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


PEPPER

Jimmy Nardello: Super sweet, red pepper-good for sauteing or cook on BBQ. It is thin-walled. Good cooked or raw. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


SPINACH

Carmel: A fabulous early spring spinach with great flavor. The only spinach to survive winter with row cover. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


SQUASH-WINTER

Waltham Butternut: I grew it because I had heard it doesn’t get squash bugs and that was true for me-good flavor too. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


Rogosa Violina “Gioia” Butternut: An Italian version of Butternut. Grew much larger with excellent flavor and no squash bugs-YAY! Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds


SQUASH-SUMMER

Costata Romanesco zucchini: This is the most flavorful zucchini I’ve ever tasted-sweet nutty flavor. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe




WATERMELON

Moon and Stars: This has a beautiful dark green skin with yellow ‘stars’. Taste is super sweet and it ripened before the end of the season. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe


 

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
My favorite tomato for 2016!


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
lucky-cross1


I always plant several new varieties of tomatoes each year and the winner hands down for 2016 was:


LUCKY CROSS


lucky-cross-insideIt is a fantastic yellowish tomato with pink blush outside and inside as well. Sometimes they were more yellowish with pink overtones and sometimes more pinkish with some yellow overtones. No matter the color, it has an exceptional sweet flavor like a Brandywine. It never cracked or got diseases and was very prolific. It is a potato leaf variety. I haven’t been this excited about a tomato for a long time. It now beats my beloved Virginia Sweet tomatoes which are prone to cracks and diseases.


When I did some research on this tomato, the variety originally came from Craig LeHoullier (author of Epic Tomatoes). He stated it came from a Brandywine and an unknown bee-produced cross and had the luck to grow it out with these great attributes.  You can read the story of it from him here. No wonder I thought it tasted like a Brandywine! It is now a stable open-pollinated (OP) tomato and will grow out the same each generation. I saved some of the seeds from this beauty and will definitely grow it next season.

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Cherry tomato varieties review


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
cherry tomatoes group


There are many varieties of cherry tomatoes but this year I had 7 different varieties of small or cherry tomatoes. Six were heirloom or OP (open pollinated) varieties and one was a hybrid. Open pollinated varieties will be the next new heirlooms when they get to be 50+ years old. Six are shown above from left top row – Juane Flamme, Indigo Cherry Drop, Bottom row from left Artisan Blush Tiger, Artisan Purple Bumblebee, Artisan Pink Bumblebee and Sungold – not shown Black Cherry tomatoes (forgot to take picture!) I think it was way too many cherry tomatoes because of the time it took to harvest all of them every week (exhausting) but having said that, they were all very tasty. Three of the tomatoes pictured above were completely new to me. So let’s look at those above and review them.


tomato_juane flamme
Juane Flamme tomatoes


Juane Flamme – heirloom variety, mid-season tomato – originated by Norbert Perreira of Helliner, France. Extremely prolific. A favorite of my patrons at my Santa Fe Farmers market stand. Yellow turning tangerine color when ripe. Very sweet. Bigger than a cherry tomato but still small, about the size of a golf ball. The only problem I’ve had is in my garden, it was susceptible to Early Blight getting it 2 years in a row. Since I didn’t use any fungicides this year (but I did last year), I’m not sure that is fair although all my other tomatoes didn’t get Early Blight till the right at end of the season which I consider normal as they get more susceptible to diseases as they get old. Still if you like a very sweet tomato, you might try it and just be sure to use an organic fungicide early on to control it and you’ll be fine. You’ll need to get seeds unless we can talk the nurseries into growing them next year. Recommend it.


tomato_indigo cherry drops
Indigo Cherry Drops and Indigo Rose tomatoes mixed


Indigo Cherry Drop – OP (open pollinated) variety, early mid-season tomato-NEW to me this year. Excellent sweet flavor and incredibly large yields 1 inch cherry tomato. Part of the famous Indigo family where the shoulders are black and bottoms are red. Indigo Rose was the first tomato to come out and is a cross between a South American and Galapagos Island tomato. Any Indigo tomato-Indigo Rose (2-3 oz), Indigo Blue Beauty (4 oz) , Indigo Apple (4 oz), Indigo Blue Berries (too tiny to bother with) are the new darlings at the market and all the varieties have to do with the size of them as they all taste the same-excellent flavor hard to describe. Many of the Indigo varieties are available at the nurseries as starts in spring. Extremely prolific. I like them. Bigger Indigo varieties recommended but not the Cherry Drop-too small


tomato_artisan blush tiger
Artisan Blush Tiger tomatoes


Artisan Blush Tiger-OP (open pollinated) variety from Artisan Seeds, mid-season tomato. NEW to me this year. Unique julienne cherry tomato that is yellow with subtle pink stripes-very beautiful. Everyone loved this new variety. It has a fruity sweet, tropical flavor. Feathery foliage is different from regular or potato leaf types so don’t be alarmed – it’s normal. Did well and was disease resistant in my garden. You’ll need to get seeds unless we can talk the nurseries into growing them next year.  Recommend it.


tomato_artisan purple bumblebee
Artisan Purple Bumblebee tomatoes


Artisan Purple Bumblebee-OP (open pollinated) variety from Artisan Seeds, mid-season tomato. I actually grew these last year and liked them enough to grow again. They are dark purplish with green stripes. They have a superb sweet flavor. Very productive. You’ll need to get seeds unless we can talk the nurseries into growing them next year. Recommend it.


tomato_artisan pink bumblebee
Artisan Pink Bumblebee tomato


Artisan Pink Bumblebee-OP (open pollinated) variety from Artisan Seeds, mid-season tomato. NEW to me this year. I love this tomato as it has a very bright sweet flavor-a burst of flavor when you bite into it. Good disease resistance. You’ll need to get seeds unless we can talk the nurseries into growing them next year. Recommend it.


tomato_sungold
Sungold tomatoes


Sungold-hybrid variety. My only hybrid cherry tomato-early season. I’ve grown this for years as it is a supersweet tomato and when people ask for the sweetest tomato, I recommend this. Small yellow cherry tomato turns orange when ripe. Ripens early.  Extremely prolific. Available at the nurseries in spring. Recommend it.


Black Cherry tomato
Black Cherry tomatoes


Black Cherry Tomato – Heirloom tomato originally from Russia, mid-season tomato. I have grown this for years as it is a favorite of mine and the patrons at the Farmers market. Sweet, earthy complex flavors so common with dark purple or black tomatoes. Good size cherry tomato that is a dusky purple. Available at the nurseries in spring. Recommend it.


 

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Reflections on the gardening year


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
winter veg garden
Here is the veggie garden in winter-now asleep


Happy Solstice! Yea-the days get longer now-and here it is the end of the year. As I look at winter, the first two months of winter-November-December are done and only two more months of winter (January-February) to endure. Then its early spring and off to the races! But let’s slow things down a bit. December is a great month to reflect on the gardening season and look at what worked and what didn’t work in the garden during the past year and what I might do differently.


So what worked and what didn’t?


-I only lost 10% of my tomato crops vs. last year’s 50 % tomato crop loss to the dreaded beet leafhopper.  I covered almost all of my tomato plants with row cover from May 15th until the first week of July. The leafhopper leaves when the rainy season comes and this year they hung out till the beginning if July when it started raining. -The downside of this is I really don’t like NOT SEEING my plants hiding under the row cover-I like watching them grow, but that seems to be a tradeoff. Also I want to try to transplant my tomatoes outside earlier than May 15th to try to get tomatoes earlier.


IMG_3363


-Rotating my crops seem to help with diseases. I have everything on a three-year rotation, which is why I made an additional 1000 sq ft section last year, giving me a total of (3) 1000 ft sections.  I move the crops around so they only return to the same section every 3 years. The pumpkins use to have their own additional section in the horse corral but now that I have a horse (Koko), I will put them into the rotation in the main veggie garden since the corral has been reclaimed by Koko.


-Speaking of pumpkins, I need to find a way to keep critters from eating them although it was almost impossiblerabbit damage to keep the rabbits away early in the season when food was hard to find for them-even with 2 fences and row cover over the pumpkins, something ate my prized potential pumpkin plant, so I’ll be thinking on that one a lot more this winter. Plus I want to get the plants outside earlier too if I’m to have a chance to break the state record again…


-I covered my eggplants with row cover for a while this year thereby avoiding the first hail storm’s devastating damage. That first hail storm set back many of my vegetables due to the severe damage by about a month. The downside was aphids found the eggplants underneath the row cover and it was a battle to get rid of them. The aphids also went after the summer squash and peppers with all the rain we got. I controlled them with strong sprays of water on them and insecticidal soap. Also lady bugs appeared and came to the rescue eating many aphids (and I didn’t have to buy them). I think I need to remove the row cover earlier.


The almost finished greenhouse was unbelievably hot last summer-110°F. Too hot to grow anything which was ok as it wasn’t ready anyways. So after I work to button it up this winter, I will have to find ways to cool it down next summer. Still, I have a greenhouse! I’ll take the challenges it will present.


swiss chard hail damage-I have to say I enjoyed all the rain we got after 4 years of an extreme drought. The fruit trees loved all the rain but 2 more hail storms almost wiped out the vegetable crops especially the chard and squash. It was amazing anything survived plus the one week of rain that we got-about 3 inches-watered down the flavor of the tomatoes for about 2 weeks but then they bounced back.


Most of the problems came from Mother Nature and there is not much one can do about her-she does what she wants and we need to adjust. We always think we have everything in control and then wham! She does a number on us!


-I will grow more tomato plants and other veggies to sell at the Farmer’s Market as many people seemed excited to try some of the different varieties I grow. To this effect, I think the greenhouse will be great asset this spring.


So now I will be going over all the catalogs that are coming in and start to plan the veggie garden for 2014.


Happy Holidays!


–

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Review of 2012 vegetables


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
fall harvest


2012 VEGGIE LIST


Here is my review of what I will and won’t grow again from last year’s vegetables that I tried and why. I will put tomatoes in another list since there are so many of them!


WILL GROW AGAIN

ARUGULA

-Apollo-nice leaf size and flavor


BEANS

-Rattlesnake bean/pole-remarkably flavored pole bean-grows very tall-great for trellises or arbor

-Tarbais bean/pole-dry bean-after much work FINDING IT last year in the states, you can now get this wonderful bean from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds this year. I will make a french dish called cassoulet with it.

-Fava Bean/bush-wonderful flavor and 2 crops last year. A little work shelling it twice but worth it. Also is a good cover crop replenishing the soil with nitrogen.

-Golden Scarlet Runner/pole-I grow runners for their flowers/foliage-the foliage on this one is a striking chartreuse color against the scarlet flowers-simply beautiful


BEETS

– Craupadine-BEST tasting (but ugly) beet around

-Cylindra-long cylinder shape, great taste, easy cutting into slices


BOK CHOY

-Extra Dwarf Pak Choy-wonderful flavor-I like to cut one in half, saute it in olive oil, and add tamari when you flip it


CARROTS

-Atomic Red-great color and flavor

-Cosmic Purple-one of my favorites


CHARD

-Bright Lights-adds great color tucked into the garden and good flavor

-Argentata-thick juicy stalks with huge leaves-very cold tolerant

-Ruby Red-one of the prettiest and tasty chards out there


CUCUMBERS

-Parisian Pickling-used for making cornichon pickles

-Boothsby Blonde-used for making bread and butter pickles

-Poona Kheera-best flavor for eating

-Armenian– fun to grow, good flavor, few seeds


EGGPLANT

-Fairy Tale-sweet, no bitter taste and tender (not tough) skin


LETTUCES

–Provencal Mix, Mesclun Mix, Buttercrunch, Yugoslavian Red, Santoro Lettuce


PEAS

-Dwarf Sugar Gray-great in salads or steamed, grows about 3 ft tall


PEPPER–want to try some different varieties from Europe this year as well

-Shishito (Japanese non-hot pepper)-one of my favorites

-Poblanos-mildly hot (I call it warm), great for chile rellanos or scrambled eggs, wonderful smoky flavor


POTATOES–first year grower and I’m hooked!

-French Fingerling-OMG, the best flavor!

-Peruvian Purple-I loved the flavor of these as well


SPINACH

-Bloomsdale and Tyee


SUMMER SQUASH

ZUCCHINI

-Costata Romanesco-best tasting zuke around


SUNFLOWERS-technically a flower but they are veggies for the birds!

-will grow another huge patch of different varieties-beautiful and the birds love them

-Russian Mammoth AND Titan– for us/birds to eat

-Black Oil-for the birds only


TOMATILLO-Green-good for tomatillo salsa-only need one plant as they are so prolific.


WON’T GROW AGAIN

BEAN-Emerite bean/pole bean- great flavor but didn’t grow high enough to cover my teepee and I will grow others this year.


CARROTS

-Paris Market-too small, bland flavor, not impressed


CALABICITAS SQUASH

-seed from local grower-turns out it was a native winter squash, not calabacitas squash.


CORN-again not this year (I’ll get it from our Farmers Market)


FENNEL/FINOCCHIO

-Di Firenze-might grow one or two but not 25 plants like last year!


PEPPER

-Jalapeno-I don’t use them enough to call for space in the garden. I’ll just buy the few I use throughout the year.


POTATOES

-Russian Banana-too crunchy and watery