The first year, I was so excited that everywhere I went, I looked at the seed packets and bought some. I haven't returned to any of those. I favor the heirloom varieties of many things because they weren't bred for shelf life or disease resistance. Seems like when they breed for certain qualities they lose others. The heirlooms were planted because people liked the flavor, or because they performed well in their region. And that's what I'm looking for.
So, the first year, I planted quinoa, because it seemed like a nice healthy thing to eat, and the seed packet I saw at Lucky's organic food store showed a lovely, multi-colored flower head. It was an artist's drawing, however, and not a photo. That should have been my first hint. Not to mention, Lucky's is a grocery, not a nursery. I did no research whatsoever. It was an impulse buy, and once purchased, I wasn't going to let it go to waste. (Or so I thought.) It became obvious when it came up that it's a member of the same family as the weed lamb's quarters. (Chenopodium quinoa vs. Chenopodium album)
It turns out, quinoa is somewhat prettier than lamb's quarters when it flowers - at least this multi-colored mix was. However, they were nothing like the colors on the nice drawing.
At any rate, there was no way I was going to harvest the teeny tiny little quinoa seeds from that shock of flowers. When the plants started browning, I pulled them out and tossed them.
I love edamame, but it's not cheap, so I thought I'd plant my own. Perhaps the fact that you can't find fresh edamame in this area might have warned off more reasonable gardeners, but I planted lots. I was smart, though - I planted three different varieties. The rabbits liked the leaves, but they didn't perform well. Shirofumi's germination rate was 25 of 35 seeds; Hakucho was even less with only 22 of 35 germinating, but Aoyu took the prize - only one emerged. Shirofumi was a very tasty bean, buttery and plump, while Hakucho was quite bland. I never got a pod one out of Aoyu, which I planted at the end of May, versus the beginning of May for the others, so I don't know how that might have turned out otherwise.
Still, I may try them again some time. Each year is different here weather-wise (which always creates a planning challenge). Maybe they'll do okay another time. At this point, it's also a space issue - I'd have to give up something else. Come to think of it, my yellow zucchini is always a pain in the tukas....
I planted radishes -- I don't know why. It was a bad spring - or good spring from the point of view of the organisms - for leaf spot pathogens. Nice and cool and wet. The radish tops were covered, as were the beets and spinach.
The second year (2015), I planted several varieties of beets (Boltardy, Golden, Red Ace, Cylindra, Detroit Red and Detroit Dark Red). The spring weather wasn't as hospitable to leaf spot, but Boltardy and Detroit Red both had unacceptable levels. I like to steam the leaves like spinach. The leaves are sturdier, and it's milder and sweeter than other greens. You can also eat it raw when the leaves are young and tender.
I don't really like radishes all that much - I had an idea that they were good to plant in your garden for some reason that I can no longer remember, so it didn't take anything more than the leaf spot to get them rejected for all time.
A friend talked me into planting daikon - a japanese radish. I didn't even manage to keep any records of it, but I vaguely remember thinking, "Good grief! Who'd want that?!" Perhaps the friend. Too bad. No room for stuff I don't like. But maybe I just didn't give it a chance. Maybe if you get a good crop and prepare it properly. It bolted early, and the flowers were kind of pretty.
In 2015, I tried several carrot varieties: Amarillo, Red Core Chantenay, Little Fingers, Nantes Scarlet, Shin Kuroda, and Snow White. The rejects for poor taste were: Amarillo, Chantenay, Little Fingers, and Snow White. Amarillo was fair, but why waste space on fair?
from top to bottom: Snow White, Shin Kuroda, Chantenay, Nantes, Little Fingers, Amarillo
Of the two lima bean varieties I planted, Burpee Improved Bush was a large bean, and not one of them emerged.
The friend who suggested I plant daikon radishes also suggested loveage ("for people who can't grow celery"). It is apparently a perennial, as it came up again this year blockbusters after having planted it in 2015. It has a kind of curry-like smell, and the taste is a little too intense for me. It tends to look great for a while and then get a leaf spot. I've cut it back this year a couple of times since it's near my celery, and I don't want that to get infected. I was thinking I'd dig it up since I don't use it, but maybe I should try some in soup and see how that works.
Without being able to tell you why, because I don't remember, I can tell you I planted rapini (rape) in 2015 and marked it off my list as soon as I tasted it. It had a bitter, ammonia-like taste, and I removed it about a month after its emergence. Maybe there was a problem and it doesn't normally taste like that. Unless someone comes forward with another experience, I will never know.
I've got a lot of different varieties of tomatoes to try before I'm done - there certainly are lots to choose from, even sticking with heirlooms. I'm trying to get down to about four favorites, and so far, I've got one that I know will make it: Golden Jubilee.
The first year, I planted purple varieties Black Icicle and Black Krim. I must admit, the Black Krim were delicious, but the purple tomatoes seem to have a lot of waste due to some serious cracking on the stem end. Had I done some more research before planting, I would have known that. Black Icicle is a Roma style tomato, and it's really pretty when it's green. However, even though the stem end doesn't crack, it stays green and hard when the bottom half ripens.
The second year, I did try another purple variety: Black Prince. It, too, was very tasty, but had the same waste issue as the others.
I grew my tomatoes staked to poles the first two years, but we get some serious wind up on the hill where we live, and with the heavy rains we also get, I spent too much time righting them all more than once each season. So this year, I'm using cages. Not as aesthetically pleasing, but at least I haven't had to re-stake any broken plants.
Red varieties I planted the first year were Beefsteak, Brandywine Red, Amish Paste, and Mortgage Lifter; striped, or multi-colored varities were: Mr. Stripey and Hillbilly; and the yellow ones were Golden Jubilee and Brandywine Yellow.
Due to an overabundance of new gardener excitement, I have to admit that I planted all my tomatoes too early that first year. They don't do anything if the weather is not warm enough, and it definitely was not. Also, there's a farm crop field within 100 feet of my garden, and they utilize chemicals very heavily in their production, including herbicides. Tomatoes are highly susceptible to herbicide damage, and just when my tomatoes were looking good, their leaves and stems started to twist and curl. Uh-oh, I thought - herbicides. So I pulled them up and threw them away. Later, after some research, I decided that the more likely culprit was the cool weather. (Herbicide did damage a little tulip tree seedling I planted on the edge of the wildflower garden, and it is still struggling.)
The next round I set out, I asked the farmer to let me know when they were spraying herbicide again. He did, and so I hurried out to cover my whole garden with plastic. (Waaaaay too much work.) The spray team did not arrive when they said they would, but the sun came out with a vengeance and cooked a great many of my plants - steamed them. Since then, I plant later and take my chances with the herbicides.
The Brandywines grew beautifully and produced zilch. If I'd done some more research (again! are you getting a message here?), I'd have known that would be a risk. The Amish Paste (Roma style) produced very well, but I've decided I don't make enough sauces to waste space on canning/sauce style tomatoes. Mr. Stripey was a favorite for taste (and got two other gardeners hooked on it), and I will probably try it again some time if I haven't found my four favorites, but I'm still looking. Hillbilly was similar, but maybe not as tasty. Mortgage Lifter was advertised as a great producer - thus the name - but mine did very poorly, and the tomatoes were on the small side. So, the only variety that made the cut for future planting was Golden Jubilee. It's one of the best tasting tomatoes I've ever had, but if you're stuck on the need for a tomato to be red, this one won't satisfy you. It's yellow, as the name implies.
I planted three squash varieties that first year: Golden zucchini, Tatume, and Lemon. The lemon squash didn't produce, but I'm pretty sure that's my fault for planting it too late and in a location that was too shady. The tatume was tasty, but we had a cold spell in the latter half of May that damaged it. At any rate, I'm not a huge squash fan, but I really liked the golden zucchini, so I ticked the other two off my list.
I planted four varieties of okra: Jing Orange, Midget Cowhorn, Emerald, and Clemson Spineless. I had put the seeds in the ground the first of May, and that cold spell combined with a wet ground must have done them in, because only one or two of each germinated. I had seed from Jing Orange remaining, so I replanted it at the end of May. Emerald wasn't in my first round of plantings. I purchased a packet of Emerald seeds at Walmart - or somewhere - because that's all they had that late in the season, and planted it at the end of July. Too late to produce anything, of course. I liked Jing Orange for the color in the garden, so I rejected the other varieties and went for the red.
The second year (2015) I tested Burgundy, Bowling Red and Red Velvet. Burgundy had poor germination, but the other two were fine.
I made a note not to get Burgundy again, but I didn't order beets from Baker Seeds this year, and so when I went down to the Morgan Seed Company, that was the only red they had. I planted it, and it's doing great.
Several varieties of peppers did very well - and lots of different herbs, none of which I had any problem with. I decided not to ever plant dill again, though, because I'm not a big dill fan, and I read it reseeds heavily. I have enough trouble with wild carrot as weeds. I don't need dill, too.
Somewhere I read you can't grow celery in your own garden. Why the heck not? But you never see celery starts, do you? And I never hear of anyone growing it here. I'm not even a celery fan, but when I saw seed offered on Baker Seeds' website, for some reason, I decided to try it. I'm so glad I did. Two varieties the first year: Utah Tall and Giant Red. Celery is a very slow growing plant, and I have to start them from seed in late winter to get anything with even small stems by fall frost. But they are worth it, because I cut them down, chop them up leaves and all, and freeze them to put in winter soups. The flavor of these plants is wonderful compared to celery you'll find in the grocery store. The stems are small and thin, and the plants are a dark, intense green. The flavor is intense to match the color. A little goes a long way, but boy, does it make a soup special. You won't be able to get stems for dipping or filling with peanut butter. Or at least I'm not.
Giant Red got crossed off my future plantings because the stems were very hollow and kind of bitter. Utah Tall stems are somewhat hollow, but more tender and have a better flavor. This year, I've planted a white celery (which is actually green, at least so far) in addition to the green, so I'll see how that compares.
So, that's it for the rejects to date. If you have any experience with any of these plants, I'd love to hear about it.
Next time: Favorites
P.S. I'm adding a page on my favorite tools, so watch for that in the menu bar.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Many thanks for your interest and your comments.