As real gardening time approaches and we stop planning and dreaming to actually begin planting we have to know what we are going to do with our gardens. The big thing on my mind lately has been the vegetable garden. I miss the tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers that came out of our garden fresh everyday. I want to grow more vegetables in the garden than I did last year which means a little more planning. Questions like “what varieties should I choose?” and “how much should I plant?” come to mind very easily. So today I put together a list of all the types of vegetables I would like to grow this year. For some of them I already have the seeds I need to plant but for others I am still in the selection process. Here’s where I would like some input. What are your favorite varieties of the vegetables below? What was successful? What tasted the best? Your input might steer me toward a variety I may not have considered before or it might just make me hungry, but I’m willing to take that chance!
| Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cantaloupe Chard |
Sugar Snap Peas Corn Cucumbers Lettuce Onions Peppers |
Pumpkins Radishes Spinach Squash Tomatoes Watermelon |
We’re a month or so behind y’all Dave, but you’ve got me thinkin spring!
I have a couple of suggestions for ya; sweet corn – ‘Bodacious,’ and heirloom tomato – ‘Hillbilly’ or ‘Green Zebra.’ If you like sweet corn, and who doesn’t, Bodacious is bodaciously sweet! And those two heirloom tomato varieties are delicious also. Neither are as sweet as other varieties, but I don’t always like a sweet tomato for sandwich makin. If you want a sugary sweet cherry tomato variety, ‘Sun Gold’ is tops.
Good morning Dave!
Peas…last year I grew four varieties of peas and this year I will plant a ton of one variety and try another. Maestro peas (Park Seeds) were wonderful and high yield. I plan to plant 10x more this year, they froze well and ate even better. This year I will try Green Arrow. Last year I also tried the Blondie variety and the very dense growth habit made it difficult to harvest. Hope this helps.
Heather
Your choices seem like great ones, Dave. I’m going to try to plant a mostly “edible garden” on the balcony this summer, aside from a container or two of flowers for colour, of course. 🙂 Good luck with your plantings — isn’t it exciting to be thinking about it again?
TC,
How could anything called Bodacious not be good! I’ll keep an eye out for Hillbilly and Green Zebra. A good tomato for a BLT sounds like just the thing.
Heather,
Sounds like a good suggestion with the peas. I didn’t plant peas last year as I was a little late for them. I will rectify the situation this year!
Nancy,
Sure is exciting! What kinds of container Vegetables are you planning on planting? I think you can do almost anything you want in a container, with the possible exception of corn!
I can only help with the tomatoes, I like the Bradley for their taste the best.
Hi Dave, yes yes yes, time to think about the veggies and get more bang for our work! I can only suggest the eight ball squash. I love the size and shape and the taste was great. I am trying all new tomatoes and cukes this year, so can’t vouch for them yet. Come on spring!
Frances
Wow! Nice list you got there. I’m thinking of planting some tomatoes myself.
Well, Chilli is the only veggie I’ve ever grown so I can’t give you feedback on it, but I’m interested to see what others have to say. Good luck with ’em.
I had great luck with three different tomatoes last year, all grown from seeds from Landreth Seed. The San Marzano was awesome, as were the German Red Strawberry Tomato and the Dr. Carolyn Yellow Cherry Tomato. I also used the “Tomatoes Alive” fertilizer mix from PlantsAlive, which I think had a lot to do with our success!
Tina,
I’m always looking for a good tomato!
Frances,
What are you trying this year? I haven’t tried the 8 ball, just the regular crook neck summer squash. Do you suppose they have a white version called cue ball?
Natural Candles,
Definitely! Do you have a kind in mind?
Chandra,
Thanks!
Tim,
I’ll check those out! I didn’t use use anything other than compost last year for our tomatoes and boy did they grow out of control. We had more than I could pick at times.
Looks like a good lineup. I’m trying stevia this year – an herb which is a natural zero calorie sweetener many times sweeter than sugar. If it works out I might make some herbal tea mixes with it. Naturally sweetened blackberry mint sound good?
I wish I had more room for vegetables but I would have to get rid of other plant space and I’m not willing to do that at the moment. I am thinking about possibly having a small vegetable garden at my mother’s house but I’m not sure if I’d have time to take care of it.
Dave,
Ever try patty pan squash, we are trying Flying Saucer this year. The best cukes I’ve had were Lemon Cucumbers. My favorite tomato is Cherokee Purple, that are the best eating summer tomato. Good Luck
Randy
I grow Better Boy tomatoes and Crimson Sweet Watermelons always. I prefer Silver Queen corn. That’s all my favorites and i bet no matter what you pick it will do well in your garden.
I’ve had good luck with Ferry Morse Heirloom Croockneck Squash. If you pick them at just the right time – they are so buttery and sweet. Although I always have to battle the powdery mildew.
I’m looking for a good pepper and eggplant that will grow in my cool climate. Any ideas?
I’ve been looking at ones tested by Organic Gardening mag:
OG Tested Garden Fav
yasi