Posted on by Cara

Garden Review 2021: Warm-Weather Vegetables

This past year I grew a variety of warm-weather vegetables as well. My favorites are the winter squash and watermelons.

Cucumber, Baby Persian–My second year growing these, and still no luck 😦 I’ll keep trying. These are my favorite cukes to snack on during the summer.
Cucumber, Silver Slicer–I grew this variety mainly due to Jess from Roots and Refuge. It grew well, but the skin was thinker than I’d like and it was slightly bitter. (To be fair, I’m highly sensitive to bitter foods.)
Cucumber, Snow’s Fancy Pickling–Grew pretty well. The variety originated in my hometown, which is why I decided to try it. It’s a basic pickling cucumber, and grew pretty well.
Melon, Delice de la Table–I only harvested one of these, and it was right after a big rain and the melon had split. Very tasty lobed cantaloupe variety with a matte orange rind. I’ll grow again this year.
Melon, Kajari–Another variety I grew mainly due to Jess’s ravings about how good it was. Like my other melon, though I only harvested one, right after it split. It tasted like a basic small honeydew melon, imho, though the rind is a pretty orange with green stripes. Will not be growing this year.
Watermelon, Mini Love–I picked this one up on Amazon and tried it because I had not have a lot of luck with larger watermelons, and I’m the only one who likes watermelons in my house in any event. I planted it late in the season and only harvested one fruit, but that fruit was amazing–perfectly sweet, firm flesh, not too many seeds, and just the right size for one person. Upon doing more research I found it was a Johnny’s Seeds F1 variety, and an All American Select winter. It’s also one of Johnny’s most expense varieties. I fully understand why. I will definitely be growing this one again next year.

Summer would not be the same without the nightshade family. I really went overboard in this category as I’m trying to find the varieties that are worth the acid reflux that they usually bring.

Eggplant, Listada de Gandia–This was my first year trying eggplants. This eggplant produced cute, 4″ long purple and white striped eggplants. Very pretty, but as I found out, most eggplants are covered in thick spikes. Probably will not be growing eggplants again this year as I rarely cook with them.
Pepper, Alma Paprika (sweet)–This variety was productive, but unfortunately not as spicy as I had hoped.
Pepper, Aurora (hot, decorative)–This was a decorative pepper that produced yellow, orange, red, and purple 2″ long peppers on a small plant. It made for a nice decorative plant until the peppers started to get overripe, at which point they turned from purple to a grayish-violet color that was pretty gross looking.
Pepper, Bangles Blend–This variety is meant to be a stuffing pepper. It was very prolific but the peppers were small which very thick flesh and a hard skin–no one who I gave them to liked them.
Pepper, Biquinho Yellow (hot)–Cute, small novelty pepper. Moderately hot, slightly lemony taste. This variety took the longest to mature by far–at least five months. Once the plants were up and running, though, they were very productive.
Pepper, Black Pearl (decorative)–The longest growing decorative pepper I’ve grown yet; took four months before it set some fruit. Very cute pepper plant–black-purple leave sand little black berries. I’d actually recommend this one as a nice medium-height decorative plant for a garden.
Pepper, Fish (hot)–Grew relatively fast but took forever to bear fruit. Did not become very prolific until the very end of the season. The varigation was on the leaves and peppers, but it was very slight.
Pepper, Pasilla Bajio Chile Chilaca (mild/hot)–Received this one from Botanical Interests as part of my “black plants” buying spree. I’m pretty sure the seeds they sent were not this variety at all; they look more like Shishito peppers. The peppers never turned black and were smaller that they should have been. That said, I really loved the flavor–mild and sweet with the perfect level of heat for my tastes of heat. Great for stir-frys for the flavor only, as the peppers themselves are not more that 4″ long and think skinned. This variety also grew very fast and started putting out fruit early and often.
Tomatillo, Grande Rio Verde–All of my tomatillos grew a lot faster and a lot taller than the seed packets stated. This one, in particular, grew really tall. Both of them ended up toppling over several times b/c I had them in grow pots that were too small. Because of this they both got some kind of bumpy growth on the stems and started to wilt, and neither produced fruit. Will try again this year.
Tomatillo, Purple–Same as above.
Tomato, Barry’s Crazy Cherry–These took a while to start fruiting, but once they did it was relentless. The pale yellow fruit was moderately sweet and had a hard, spiky end.
Tomato, Carbon–Moderatley productive. Tasted less complex than a Paul Robeson.
Tomato, Paul Robeson–Moderately productive. Due to our really dry summer, many of the tomatoes had catfacing. Still, the ones I harvested tasted amazing fresh, especially sprinkled with salt. A must-grow for this season.
Tomato, Sun Gold Pole Cherry–A very profilic and tasty orange-yellow cherry tomato. Very sweet, think skinned. Everyone seemed to like them.  
Tomato, Thornburn’s Terracotta–This one was moderately productive, with an interestingly matte red/orange color. t was not very tasty, however.
Tomato, White Tomesol–This was a free seed packed I received from Baker Creek. It was by far the most prolific tomato I grew that wasn’t a cherry tomato. The medium-sized tomatoes turn a slight slickly yellow when ripe. The taste reminded me of a watered-down Paul Robeson. 

I’m not a huge summer squash fan, so I didn’t try to grow many. That said, I haven’t had much luck with them–either from seed or seedling. No buckets full of zuchinni–I feel like a failed Midwesterner 😦 Maybe this year.

Summer Squash, Fordhook Zucchini–Not much luck. Small plants.
Summer Squash, Yellow Scallop–Plants were good sized–bushy, and produced pretty well. I didn’t start this one until late summer so it did not have a long harvest season.

Winter squash, however, are definitely my favorites. I always try to grow more that my city lot can handle. Usually I’m pretty successful, but this past year was not a great squash year overall. Here are the varieties I tried this past year:

Pumpkin, Musquee de Provence (c. moschata)–My favorite pumpkin by far. It looks exactly like an antique Cinderella pumpkin–in fact , in many seed catalogues label this the “Cinderella pumpkin”. It is absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately it’s a full-sized pumpkin (15-20lbs average) grown on a long, vigorous vine, and I have a moderately-big city yard to grow in. The first year I grew it I let it take over my back fence and grow into the alley behind us, and I harvested one big pumpkin (and several smaller ones). This past year, however, I tried to limit the vines to one main vine and put it in a less sunny area, my blossoms never seemed to get fertilized and I did not get any pumpkins.
Pumpkin, Casparita (c. pepo, F1 hybrid)–This is an adorable small white pumpkin–it’s abotu as wide as a Jack-be Little pumpkin and twice as tall. They ended up being smaller than I had hoped, but they are still very cute–and given that it has a bush habit, I can grow it in a grow bag anywhere with no issues with space. Definitely growing this again next year.
Pumpkin, Jack Be Little (c. pepo)–This is that tiny little orange decorative pumpkin that you see in every store come fall. The vines for this one turned out to be longer and more vigorous than many full-sized squashes I grew. It was cute but not worth the space it took in my yard, especially when you can buy it anywhere.
Winter Squash, Blue Hubbard (c. maxmia)–This is our favorite winter squash–firm, dry orange flesh with no strings. This is a hard variety to get ahold of; the only place I can find it locally is at an apple orchard about 30 min away. My own plants grew pretty well at first, but then the squash vine borers took down 90%b of my winter squash plants. I did a second sowing in late July, which avoided the vine borers but did not give the fruit enough time to ripen. I ended up buying a few from the local apple orchard.
Winter Squash, Honeynut (hybrid, moschata/maxima)–This variety is one I got from Botanical Interests. It’s meant to be a baby butternut squash. I hoped that the vines would be shorter than the massive Waltham Butternut squash plants I grew last year. I had to re-sow these pants due to vine borers. I had plenty of time to do so but even so the squash did not get bigger than 4″ long, and remained mostly green. When we ate them, they were pretty stringy and the taste was eh. Not recommended.
Winter Squash, Butterscotch  (F1 Hybrid)–We got this variety from Johnny’s Seeds–I believe they bred it but I’m not sure. These squash had a medium sized vine and produced pale orange mini-butternut squashes which were 6″ or so long. I had to resow these due to the vine borers as well, and still got a decent harvest of them. They tasted fine.
Winter Squash, Jester F1 (Delicata) (c. pepo)–This ended up being my partner’s favorite squash this year. As with every other winter squash, the vine borers got to it. It has a nice bush habit, so it should fit in the garden fine next year. I ended up buying mine from the local orchard. This squash does not store well–ours were dried out by December. Until then they are very sweet and tender.
Winter Squash, Red Kuri (c. maxmia)–I had not luck growing this my first year, but I did have luck this past year. I did a second sowing in July, and I was able to harvest a few squash by October. These squash store pretty well–I cut into the last one this week as hte rind was starting to go, but the interior was as juicy as a newly harvested squash and showed no damage at all. Vines are medium length.
Winter Squash, Starry Night (Acorn) (c. pepo)–Again, the vine borers got it. I was able to harvest one from my second sowing. Bush habit.
Winter Squash, Thelma Sanders’ Sweet Potato (Acorn)–I planted these later in the summer and avoided the vine borers. The vines were very vigorous and grew medium length–I can see them goring longer given the chance, however. These vines were very prolific. I either harvested the squash too soon, or the flesh itself is very pale, but none of the squash I harvested stored very well or looked very appetizing when I cut into them. Probably not going to grow again.

So, 2021’s gardens was moderately successful, on the whole. I’m excited to see how 2022’s garden will turn out!
Posted on by Cara

Garden 2021 Review: Cold-Weather Vegetables

As with the flowers, this past year I grew a number of vegetables. Unlike with the flowers, I had grown several of these in the past and had been successful with them. Still, there were quite a few new varieties in the mix.

First up, brassicas. My first year growing veggies I grow almost exclusively brassicas, as we eat a lot of brassicas. I do NOT recommend that new gardeners try this. Back then, I didn’t know what cabbage worms were, nor did I realize that earwigs also attack brassicas. Now I do, but I have still not been successful and keeping any of them alive. 😦 This third year will hopefully be the winner–I have several small beds with clear plastic covers which will hopefully keep the bugs off.

Brassicas:
Bok Choy, Purple Lady--This is a cute little purple bok choy. Unfortunately, as with most of my brassicas, they were demolished by cabbage worms.
Broccoli, RUDOLPH (sprouting, December)–I started this one late in the year (September, I think), and by the time the first frost hit it was still too small. I may try it again next year.
Cabbage, Kalibos–Cute medium-sized purple cabbage; I grew it last year as well. Unfortunately, eaten by cabbage worms. May try again this year.
Cabbage, Napa One Kilo Slow Bolt–This is the first year growing this cabbage. I’ve always considered this kind of cabbage a Napa cabbage, but apparently it’s better known as a Chinese cabbage. This cabbage grows exceedingly fast–it was full size in two months. Unfortunately, it was decimated overnight by earwigs.
Cabbage, Nero di Toscana (Dinosaur Kale)–I’d seen this kale lauded by several youtube gardeners, so I thought I’d give it a try. It was the strongest growing of my kales, but even it succumbed to cabbage worms.
Cabbage, Violaceo di Verona–This was my first year growing this was well. It was one of my strongest cabbages, and the outer leaves were a lovely plum color which faded to green in the center. Even if you don’t successfully harvest a cabbage out of it, it’s still a great ornamental. Will definitely grow again this year.
Kale, Russian Red–This kale was pretty small, even after a few months. I hear it’s tasty but it never really thrived, so I never ended up trying it.
Radish, Miyashige White Daikon–This was such a tasty radish! Very cool and crisp, not spicy at all. I’ve definitely be growing this again next year.  
Rutabaga, American Purple Top–I had a few of these survive the cabbage worms, and cooked them up like I would potatoes or any other root veggie. The taste is a big different–a bit brassica-y and a bit fruity compared to potatoes. I’ll probably grow a few again this year, but I’m not obsessed with them.  

Next, legumes. I love snacking on sugar snap peas during the spring and summer, but I’ve found them difficult to grow for some reason. Again, I’m hoping the third year will do the trick. Also, I’ve finally tried fava banes, and I love them!

Fava, Aquadulce— I didn’t care much for fava beans (broad beans) until I started watching British gardeners. who absolutely love them. I was able to sneak in a small crop
Snap Pea, Royal Snap II (purple)–I grabbed a huge bag of these fro Johnny’s because I trust Johnny’s to have good crops and I thought it would be cool to grow a purple bean. As it turned out, the plants didn’t grow very high or produce very well, and the favor was just eh.
Snap Pea, Magnolia Blossom Tendril–I grew these my first year and was not very impressed–small plants, few flowers, blah taste. This past year, however, they really thrived in the top tiers of my greenstalk. They had a ton of really delicate pink flowers and I even enjoyed the peas! I will be growing this again next year.

One of the big motivations for growing a garden is to have good quality lettuces on hand, I tried maybe 10 (?) varieties of lettuce this year, but with everything else I was growing, it was hard to keep on top of them and they often died. Here are the ones I remember harvesting and eating.

Lettuce, Little Gem–Very cute, small romaine. Not enough for a salad.
Lettuce, Parris Island Cos (Romaine)–Soft romaine lettuce, did not grow that large. Tasty.
Lettuce, Salanova® Green Sweet Crisp–I love the Salanova series, but I was not a fan of this one. Too thin and pointy.
Lettuce, Salanova Red Butter–Soft, medium-sized head of lettuce. Tasty.

I also love beets and Swiss Chard, so I tried several of these as well. I had grown all of them except for Bolthardy Beets.

Beet, Bolthardy–Highly recommended by one of my favorite Youtubers, Charles Dowding. I picked this up at the end of the season and I don’t recall having much success with it.
Beet, Bull’s Blood–This variety is mostly intended for microgreens as the foliage is dark red. I grew it to full-sized; it was okay.
Beet, Cylindra–I had the most luck with this best. Full-grown, about half of it stuck out from the soil and half was buried. The oblong shape made it easier to peel, which is a benefit.
Swiss Chard, Ruby Red/Fordhook Giant Mix–I had a lot of luck with Swiss Chard as well, –it survived the heat pretty well as long as I ket it watered. I had one plant grow to 3′ tall–just one tall, wrist-thick stem with swiss chard leaves sprouting out of the top. I have no idea it could grow that big! Even so the leaves tasted fine.

Asparagus and alliums:

Asparagus, Purple Passion–Planted a few two-year-old crowns, have not tried any yet.
Asparagus, Jersey Knight–Planted a few two-year-old crowns, harvested a few skinny ones but let most grow. Both sets of asparagus seem to be thriving.
Chives, Common–Slow grower. Once I pulled it up to make way for other plants I found that it had spent most of its energy growing a massive root system. Will probably plant again this year and keep as a perennial.
Leek, King Richard–Planted a ton of these this year as I use a lot of leeks in my cooking. Germination was so-so; harvested maybe 30 skinny leeks from a good 100 or so seeds. Will try again next year.

And finally, carrots! Another garden snack. Unfortunately this year, my carrot harvest was abysmal. I’m prepared for this year with a good 7000 seeds as the seeds are pretty cheap and it’s so hard to get them to germinate. I’ve also added some celery for good measure.

Carrot, Kyoto Red–Was successful with a few of these. The red carrots are not as sweet as the orange or yellow ones, I’ve found.
Carrot, Sugarsnax 54–One of my most successful carrots. They are very long and very sweet. I’ll be growing a bunch of these this year.
Carrot, Uzbek Golden–I’ve grown these two years in a row now, with moderate success both times. The ones I’ve harvested have been sweet.
Celery, Chinese White Cutting–No luck germinating or growing this variety.
Celery, Chinese Pink Cutting–They variety grew well but I planted it too late in the season to get a good harvest out of it. I’ll be growing it again this year. Should be easier to grow than the usual full-sized European celery.