Yesterday I asked people what varieties of vegetables they would recommend from their own experiences. My goal is to add a few new vegetables each year just to try something new. Some vegetables are tried and true and will always be in my garden but there are so many types of vegetables out there that I know I will never get to sample them all. That’s why I asked one of the best resources available to all gardeners, other gardeners!
Here’s what the gardeners said:
TC (The Write Gardener)
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.
Heather (Idaho Small Goat Garden)
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.
I like the Bradley for their taste the best.
I can only suggest the eight ball squash. I love the size and shape and the taste was great.
The San Marzano was awesome, as were the German Red Strawberry Tomato and the Dr. Carolyn Yellow Cherry Tomato.
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?
Randy (Randy and Meg’s Garden Paradise)
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.
Anna (Flowergarden Girl)
I grow Better Boy tomatoes and Crimson Sweet Watermelons always. I prefer Silver Queen corn.
These are all great suggestions but I noticed there were no melons. I love super sweet mush melons, cantelope, and watermelon, but don’t have a variety recommendation since I don’t grow them (I’ve tried, and failed).
Hi Dave, thanks for the link love. We are always on the lookout for good veggies, being new to that game. 🙂
Frances
So we shall anxiously await your choices? It is fun following your vegetable garden-all gardens actually now that I think of it. Thanks for the link.
Dave, you asked yesterday what I planned to grow on the balcony — definitely tomatoes (haven’t settled on what variety yet…any suggestions?), but I’m doing them upside down and hanging (space saver!), definitely a container of chard, some salad greens, perhaps some potatoes (planted in sacks). I won’t really have space for any root veggies. Maybe some beans? I have some latticework and they’re climbers. I’ll have to see how quickly I run out of space. It’s a challenge! You got some great suggestions yesterday.
They all sounded good. Banana peppers I have no problem growing. As for the rest not so good. I will say that my potatoes are up already. Will see how they do. They are in the ground. Most of my gardening is in pots.
TC,
We loved our cantaloupe last summer and I’ll definitely be planting more this year. We eat a lot of fruit at breakfast and went for about 6 weeks without having to buy any fruit, pretty nice!
Tina,
Yes, you shall anxiously await our choices! 😉 Well that’s up to you really. I’ll talk about them soon. 🙂
Nancy,
I’ve never done hanging tomatoes but it does sound like a great space saving idea. For beans I tried Nash beans last year. They are bush beans which will work well in pots without the need for a trellis.
Lola,
You’re making me jealous that you already have potatoes coming up!