New vegetables I’ll grow again, and the ones I won’t

This year the gardening season was a good one. While continuing with my staples, I also tried some new vegetables. The joy of gardening is always in discovering something new. The groundhog(s) was my biggest ‘pest’ problem. He found a way to get into the garden by climbing over the fence. Next season, I will need to find a new way to deter him from that climb. Let’s look at the 2019 vegetables I’ll grow again and those I won’t.

First, what I’ll grow again.

ONIONS

I love sweet onions and a farmer encouraged me to grow onions by starting plants from seeds. Walla Walla Onions were the recommended variety. Wow, these onions were amazing and so sweet. I started the seedlings in early September and transplanted in early October. To protect the seedlings, I covered with row cover from October through April. This year, I started my seedlings at the end of July. This allowed time to harden off and transplant in early September. Planting early allows plenty of time for the roots to establish and for the plants to look healthy before cooler temperatures arrive. I continued the practice of covering with row cover and doubled the number of seedlings planted. I can’t wait for late spring to harvest.

GREEN LEAF LETTUCE

Bergam’s Green Lettuce was the standout. It was quick to germinate, grew fast, and tasted great. I started ~40 seedlings from pelleted seeds. Half of the seeds were planted in plastic seed starting trays and the other half were started in soil blocks. Both planting techniques worked equally well. Seeds were started at the end of February and transplanted at the end of March. Row cover was used to protect the plants from cold temperatures and pests through the end of April. I fertilized with a fish emulsion at transplant and side dressed once with nitrogen. The first harvest was the beginning of May. This variety continued producing through June.

SPINACH

For the first time, I planted New Zealand Spinach. While not a true spinach, it looks and tastes similar. however, the similarities end there. A whole bed of New Zealand Spinach emerged from a couple of seedlings and remained hardy all summer. I loved the fact that no pests or disease bothered the plants (even the groundhog didn’t eat). This variety also holds its consistency better than spinach when cooked. There are also a few additional differences. For one, the New Zealand spinach is not as cold tolerant. Another difference was the rate of growth. New Zealand spinach grew slower than true spinach but grew for a longer period of time. It’s a low growing plant that can spread several feet wide and thus will need plenty of garden space.

ARUGULA

I received a gift of seed balls and planted those seed balls in mid-August. The label indicated that the seed balls contained a few different leafy salad greens. A seed ball is a seed (or group of seeds) that are wrapped in clay and compost and then dried. Arugula was the most impressive plant to emerge from the seed ball. Arugula was easy to grow and had an amazing peppery flavor. While you can get that peppery flavor from supermarket arugula, nothing compares to the flavor from freshly picked arugula.

DILL

Every year I plant several herbs in my garden. This year was no different. Banquet Dill is the herb that stood out. Dill is one of those herbs that have a short season for harvesting the ferny blue, green leaves. However, I learned that there is so much more to dill than these leaves. Beautiful umbrella-like heads of yellow flowers grow on dill stems that can reach 5 feet tall. These flowers attract beneficial insects including the Swallowtail caterpillars which love dill. Not only did the dill add beauty to the garden but the flower heads looked great in a vase with other flowers. Finally, seeds are released when the flower head dries out and the seeds can then be planted the following season.

TOMATOES

This past season I grew five varieties of tomatoes. The Brandywine tomato was the standout with large pink fruits that were red and juicy on the inside. At times, the Brandywine took on unusual shapes and sometimes two tomatoes grew together. Because of the flavor, these unusual shapes can be overlooked. When making a sandwich, all you need is one slice of this tomato to cover a slice of bread. I grew Brandywine in both the ground and in a container. In both places, they grew well. Harvest time was ~60 days from the time of transplant. I highly recommend this variety.

Now, let’s look at what either did not grow well or that I won’t grow again.

EGGPLANT

I grew eggplant for this first time this season. The variety I choose was Long Italian Eggplant. This was a beautiful plant that had lovely violet flowers and long purple eggplant. Why is it on my list of what I won’t grow? I love to make eggplant parmesan. While possible, it’s labor-intensive to make eggplant parmesan with the long variety. I will continue to grow eggplant but will grow a rounder variety like Diamond Eggplant.

BELL PEPPERS

Each year I grow or attempt to grow bell peppers, and this year was no different. I grew a variety called California Wonder Sweet Pepper. Right from the start, these peppers were a challenge. Slow to germinate, slow to grow, slow to bear fruit and finally slow to turn color. None of my peppers turned yellow before I pulled them from the ground in mid-September. Next year I will pick a variety that is smaller, grows quicker and turns color faster. By the way, the groundhog also loved the peppers.

SWEETPEA FLOWERS

I was excited to try my hand at growing Sweetpea flowers. I researched how to grow, bought seeds and started seedlings. All went well. I created a teepee trellis with bamboo sticks and planted the seedlings around the sticks. All seemed to be going well and I was anxiously awaiting the flowers. Alas, those flowers never materialized. In hindsight, the problem was the trellis and the plants being planted too close together. I will attempt to grow sweetpeas next year but will change my trellising approach. In addition, I will include a string between the bamboo sticks and will not plant as densely.

There you have it, a summary of what new vegetables I’ll grow again, and the ones I won’t. If you are new to gardening and want to start your own vegetable garden check out my post titled Five Steps to Starting your Vegetable Garden.