Fall 2014 Garden Round Up

Lettuce "Red Rosie" transplanted November 9.   
- Red Rosie has an upright habit. The leaves are red more than half way down and then fade to green, creating a unique 'half and half' look. Resistant to downy mildew races 1-16, 19, 21, and 23. 
- Begin harvest November 30.  
- Experience: A bit bitter for my taste (especially the ribs), very doable if the ribs are removed...or unless you're my husband who claims that the more bitter a lettuce, the better it is for you.  By early February, this lettuce started to bolt.  The older leaves are less bitter than the newer ones.  
- Pulled out of the garden 3/14

Close Up

Side view

Kale "Scarlet" transplanted November 9.
- Remarkably attractive dark green kale with red veined, frilly, tightly curled leaves. We have found Scarlet to be a vigorous performer with good cold tolerance. Begin harvesting leaves when young, and allow plant to grow well into the early winter. 24-36" tall by 24" wide, 60 days from transplant.
- Harvested and removed from garden on 3/21/15
- Experience: It's kale.  We ate it with sweet potatoes and it was good.

Close Up

Side view

Taken Feb 18 - the leaves are definitely darker than before.

Cabbage "Early Flat Dutch" transplanted November 2.
- 85 days. [Pre-1875, possibly pre-1855 variety]
- Does well in southern and coastal areas because of its heat resistance. Excellent variety for sauerkraut and the best variety for storage. Heads are large and flat, weighing 6 to 10 lbs., averaging 11 in. diameter with medium core and few outside leaves.
- Experience: Still in the garden as of April 12, 2015 - it's now about baseball sized, so I'll probably be pulling it soon.
- Pulled out of the garden on May 7 - it was oblong and looked ready to bloom.  It went bad before we could eat it.

Still but a wee thing in Mid-February

Lettuce "Parris Island" transplanted November 2.
- 70 days. A tasty romaine-type. Uniform heads are pale cream-green inside, and the outside is dark green. Developed around 1949; named after Parris Island, off the East coast.
- Begin harvest November 30.  Pretty good general lettuce.  By mid-Feb, this lettuce has started to bolt and is now bitter.
- Experience:  I always thought the leaves were too stringy to really make a good salad lettuce.
- Pulled out of the garden 3/14

Close Up - it's already bolting (January 23)

Side view - looks leggy because I harvest from the bottom of the plant up.

Lettuce "Dark Lolla Rosa" transplanted November 2.  
- One of the most deeply curled loose-leaf lettuces. Beautiful magenta leaves with light green bases, mild flavor, cut and come again, sow spring or fall.
- Plant eaten by opossums November 8.

Brussels Sprouts "" transplanted November 2.
- The Brussels sprout is a cultivar in the Gemmifera group of cabbages, grown for its edible buds. The leafy green vegetables are typically 2.5–4 cm in diameter and look like miniature cabbages.
- Plant died sometime in January.

Cauliflower "Veronica Romanesco" transplanted November 2.
- 85 days. Veronica is the finest variety we have seen, with very symmetrical, absolutely lovely lime-green heads topped by tightly beaded, pointed domes. Excellent raw or cooked, it boasts a milder, sweeter flavor than white Cauliflower, to say nothing of its appetizing visual appeal!
- Harvested on 2/22/15.
- Experience: Eaten with Ranch dressing on 2/23/15 and it was very good.
- Plant removed from garden 3/14 - it did not look like it was going to sprout side shoots though supposedly cauliflower can have side shoots (but it's not as common as broccoli).

FRACTALS!  I probably should have blanched this one to prevent the pink tinge, but whatever.

Mustard Greens "Osaka Purple" transplanted November 2.  
- The large rounded purple leaves of this Japanese mustard are beautiful, pungent and sharp. Try placing a filet of steamed fish on top of a bed of these leaves as a substitute for wasabi. It is best planted as a cool weather crop, and can also be used as a companion plant to repel aphids. 
- Begin harvest November 30. 
- Experience: More bitter than the Red Giant - also has more aphids than the Red Giant. 
- Plant stump removed from garden 3/14.

Close Up

Cauliflower "Graffiti" transplanted November 2.
- 80 days from setting out transplants. Easily the darkest and "truest" of the purple cauliflowers. This widely adapted, vigorous variety sets large heads of deep purple that keep their color even after cooking (reaching a shade of mauve). These heavy, well-packed heads intensify their shade of violet with exposure to sun, and need less wrapper protection than most others. They make a splendid fall crop, but are also suitable for spring. Highly resistant to downy mildew, they can withstand rainy and humid climates far easier than older varieties. And they just look spectacular!
- Experience: 3/14 - the head isn't much bigger than what it was in February - I blame the late freeze we had.
- Harvested 3/29 - harvested the head (was maybe navel orange sized) and ate in Mac and Cheese.

Mid February - a head is just starting to form

Brussels Sprouts "Nautic" transplanted November 2.  
- Nautic's sprouts are medium-sized and have excellent taste. Plant is bigger than Diablo and has a higher yield potential, especially in areas with a cool fall. Excellent cold tolerance. For late fall harvest. 
- Experience: The plant has finally gotten taller, but the brussels are maybe fingernail sized as of 4/12/15 
- Pulled out of the garden on May 7, 2015. I harvested a handful of sprouts, but they went bad before we could eat them.

I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be tall and not the silly squat plant that it is...

Broccoli "Marathon" transplanted November 2.  
- This late variety is highly tolerant to cold. Grown successfully in the Northeast for late summer and fall crops, and over the winter in Florida and California.  
- Harvested main head on 2/16/15.  Used in mac n' cheese and it was very good. As of 3/14, this plant has some very good side shoots going which will be harvested shortly.  
- Harvested side shoots and removed from garden on 3/25/15

Head starting to form as of January 23.

 

Side view

Lettuce "Merlot" transplanted November 2.
- 55 days. (Also known as “Galactic.”) Reputed to be absolutely the darkest red lettuce in existence, which should make it tops for anthocyanin (anti-oxidant) content as well! Leaf lettuce with wavy to frilly leaf margins and very crisp, waxy leaves! Excellent bolt resistance, and good cold tolerance for a late fall to winter crop. Recommended as a cutting type for baby greens production or cut-and-come-again harvesting. We feel, along with our friend William Woys Weaver, that this variety is destined to become a classic, and it certainly deserves it!
- Begin harvest November 30.
- Experience: My favorite of the lettuces this year. By mid-Feb, this lettuce has started to bolt - the least bitter of the lettuces at this point.
- Plant removed from the garden 3/14

Lettuce "Flashy Trout" transplanted November 2.
- 55 days. This beautiful variety steals all the attention in the salad garden. In Europe, this Austrian heirloom is called Forellenschluss romaine and is one of the most prized of all varieties. A dark green leaved romaine splashed with wine-red speckles. Imagine dipping a paintbrush in red paint and giving it a hard shake onto your romaine lettuce. You've got the picture. Your taste buds will like it too, for its rich buttery flavor.
- Begin harvest November 30.
- Experience: The older leaves are bitter.  The last salad we had only used the older leaves, so I'll need to try some of the baby leaves to see if it's not bitter.  By mid-Feb, this lettuce has bolted and the leaves are all bitter.
- Plant removed from the garden 3/14

Close up

Side view.  Again, it looks funny because I harvest from the bottom of the plant.

Cauliflower "Snow Crown" transplanted November 2.
- 50-60 days. Snow Crown is always mild and sweet. Its hybrid vigor and rapid growth make it one of the easiest to grow of all early cauliflower varieties. It forms fully domed curds in heads 7-8 inches across, weighing 1-2 pounds. This variety maintains its prime eating quality for up to 10 days in the garden. May manifest a delicate pink blush when maturing in the hotter parts of summer.
- Harvested on 2/16/15 - it was what is known as "loose" by the time I pulled it - I should have probably cut it off on like the 12th.  I used it in mac n' cheese and it was very good.
- Plant removed from ground 3/14 - it did not look like it was even thinking of forming side shoots.

Garlic "White" planted October 12 (west bed).
- Large, plump soft-neck bulbs have papery skins and plenty of creamy white cloves bursting with excellent spicy-hot flavor. Easy to grow, very productive, adaptable to any climate.
- Experience: Pulled most of the garlic on May 17 because it started flopping over.

Store-bought garlic just can't compare! Large, plump softneck bulbs have papery skins and plenty of creamy-white cloves bursting with excellent, spicy-hot flavor. Easy to grow, very productive, adaptable to any climate. Cultivate and store as you would onions. - See more at: http://www.gurneys.com/product/california_white_garlic#sthash.00H6vCVB.dpuf

Store-bought garlic just can't compare! Large, plump softneck bulbs have papery skins and plenty of creamy-white cloves bursting with excellent, spicy-hot flavor. Easy to grow, very productive, adaptable to any climate. Cultivate and store as you would onions. - See more at: http://www.gurneys.com/product/california_white_garlic#sthash.00H6vCVB.dpuf

Garlic "Inchelium" planted October 12 (east bed).
- Mid-season. Inchelium Red is a national taste-test winner in the softneck division. This mild flavored garlic is great baked and blended with mashed potatoes. This large, top-quality softneck was discovered on the Colville Indian Reservation in northern Washington. Stores very well for 6-9 months.
- Experience: Still in the garden as of April 12, 2015 - the plants are very large this year (apparently fish emulsion every 4 weeks or so is a good thing), but have not started showing signs of needing to be pulled.
- Pulled most of the garlic on May 17 because it started flopping over.

Cauliflower "Chef's Blend" sown August 30.  Sprouted September 6.  Transplanted October 30.
- 75-120 days. This colorful mix of three varieties gives you a long harvest period from 75 to 120 days. ‘Snowball Y’, an heirloom variety from 1947, has tight white heads on dwarf plants. ‘Green Macerata’ is a delicious green Italian heirloom. ‘Purple of Sicily’ is also an Italian heirloom with bright purple heads and mild flavor. Healthful minerals give it the purple color, which turns green when cooked. We recommend a late summer planting with fall harvest for best results.
- Experience: The Snowball one pictured below was removed from the garden 3/14 - the head that had formed became rotten because of the late freeze and copious amount of rain we got. 3/29 - harvested the other head (must have been Snowball as well since it was white).  Head was pretty small, but already falling apart. Ate in Mac and Cheese.
- Removed both plants by 3/29

Must be the Snowball variety.

Swiss Chard "Silver Rib" sown August 30.  Sprouted September 6. Transplanted October 30.
- Selected by discerning Italian cooks for its clean mellow flavor, these handsome vigorous plants have wide, silvery mid-ribs and crinkly, broad, deep green leaves.
- Experience: I grow chard because I have seeds for it.  I don't use it for anything (though I probably ought to).  As of April 12, 2015, the plants are still in the garden.
- As of May 25, the plants are still in the garden.  I still haven't harvested any of the leaves to use in anything.

Still pretty little in mid-February

Mustard Greens "Red Giant" sown August 30. Sprouted September 6. Transplanted October 30.
- 40 days (mature) or 20 days (baby greens). Red Giant is a brilliant maroon with deep green midribs, so showy you may just have to plant two crops. These leaves are slightly textured for a better bite and good holding power. The flavor is zesty and full, with a good bite that you just can't find in store-bought mustard greens. And because you pick this mustard leaf by leaf for eating (instead of uprooting the entire plant, as you do for head lettuce), you can enjoy the fine display of color for many weeks! Frost just improves the flavor and color.
- Begin harvest November 30.
- Experience:  I like the flavor better than the Osaka Purple.  Shawn likes to use a leaf on his sandwiches. 4/10 - Most of the leaves are gone - I'm using it as a trap plant for the snails and roly polys at this point.
- Plant was gone around May 1.

in Mid December

In mid February

Season Roundup - Fall 2012

Strawberry Plants:
Meh...very meh - I've seen flowers on one of the two plants, but no fruit.  I may have to give up on strawberries...or maybe they're like peas - I have to plant an entire bed of them in order to get any appreciable amount.
Experience:  Meh.  I don't know why I try to grow strawberries every year...I'd actually have to DO something in the garden in the fall if I really wanted to get some strawberries (the garlic and onions are so easy to care for, I just really should forget the plants that are fussy).

Swiss Chard:
Didn't do anything until February.  It may be the fertilizer, it may be the [very warm for this time of year] weather.
Experience:  Hit a growth spurt - not sure if it was fertilizer or the fact that we started having some cold snaps, but the plant did grow gangbusters for a while.  I've only cut off leaves once - and that was to make the feta chicken pasta with the chard instead of spinach.

Mustard Greens:
A variety of purple greens.  Came to me all flea beetle infested and I've had to fight them since.  They haven't done anything, but at least started looking healthier in February.
Experience:  Didn't really grow much, but did do a little better in March/April.  Did good enough that we were able to pull off the leaves and use them on our sandwiches.  I wasn't a fan of the "generic bitter green" flavor it imparted, but Shawn LOVED it.  As in he deemed the sandwiches good and requested that I grow mustard greens again in the future.


Snap Peas:
Didn't plant until January 26.  Doing well.
Experience:  Finally were able to harvest some peas in April. Again, not enough to actually prepare anything with them, but enough to stand out in the garden picking and eating peas.


Carrots:
Didn't plant until January 26.  Never came up.
Experience:  Didn't come up - or there may be ONE carrot.


Quinoa:
Didn't plant until January 26.  Never came up.
Experience:  Noticed in late April that there was ONE plant that came up - it's hiding behind the parsley and peas.


Garlic - all varieties I have already planted:
Didn't plant until December.  I really just planted ones that had already started sprouting.  So of course they're all growing...though not very big and beefy yet.
Experience:  Garlic is garlic, yo.  It doesn't really seem to be growing much, but then the garlic rarely does grow much.


Onions:
Onions starts I grew from seed were transplanted to the garden on January 26.  As per usual, some of the starts are doing great while others are not.
Experience:  Most have managed to pull through, but those closest to the chives are most definitely stunted.  I noticed some of the tops have started to fall over already so I'll be harvesting them soon.

Dill:
Purchased a dill plant as a replacement for the fennel plant that didn't make it through the winter - it was just always covered in aphids.  The dill is doing well, and even has a caterpillar on it (and some ladybug eggs).  Unfortunately, it looks like it is also covered in aphids now because it's starting to get warm.  I should clip some leaves and make the dill dinner rolls then resign myself to the fact that it is for the caterpillars.


Holdovers from last year:
Lemon Balm:  Still in a mat-like state, but they were never damaged by the weather (not that we really had any cold weather).
Experience:  Starting to grow back into a mound form.  The one on the west side of the bed has migrated over the years.

Garlic Chives:  Died back to the roots which is surprising considering we didn't have all that cold of weather this winter.  The large plant has come back with a vengeance.

Summer Thyme:  Never died back.  Will need to be cut back to prevent legginess.
Experience:  Didn't cut back like I said I would because it started blooming.  And then the bees came and it was glorious.

Oregano:  Did wonderfully - lush and green.  I'll have to start clipping it soon.

Parsley:  As per usual - just seeded all over.
Experience:  The garden and the front yard are CRAZY with the parsley.  This year almost all of the plants are in the planting beds which is good, but the bad part is that they're all taking over the beds.  They just started blooming and the bees and ladybugs are going beserk.  Obviously we won't be removing them for a while...

Lavender:  Never died back.  Started putting out new growth in late February.

In case it isn't patently obvious, I really need to start a "just the herbs" bed.  It would clear out large amounts of my regular garden bed and then maybe I can go back to having a normal garden (that is - tomatoes in the garden).

[NOTE:  Originally published on March 5, 2013.  Updated on May 4, 2013]

Season Roundup Spring 2012

Yes yes, I realize I 'didn't do a garden' this spring.  Mostly because I was afraid of a continuing drought.  But I have a problem - I can't say no.  To free plants, a good deal, or an experiment.  So, I had the following in my non-garden garden:

Oriental Eggplant:  Free from Renee Studebaker.
Notes:  Only 2 eggplants, 1 was eaten by bugs before I got to it.
Experience:  Meh.  Nothing has come close to that Cloud 9 eggplant from a few years ago.

Unknown Tomato:  Free from the East Austin Garden Faire
Notes:  I think it may be a black krim - the tomatoes look and taste similar.  I grew it in the grow box I made.  I was most surprised that even though the tomatoes had constant access to water, they still split.  a lot.  I don't remember how many tomatoes we got - more than the normal 5 I get from the conventional way of growing a black krim.
Experience:  pretty good - too bad I'm not positive on what type of tomato it is...I would normally save seed, but I'm not happy with how easily the type splits.

Black Pearl Pepper: Free from Renee Studebaker
Notes:  Took a while to really take off.  Now the plant is about 3' tall.  I haven't eaten any of the peppers yet.
Experience:  Pretty good.  I'd definitely think about planting this plant again - though I gotta admit that I'm more taken with the black jalapenos.

Renee's Black Jalapeno (green):  Free from a black jalapeno plant that Renee had - it was apparently a reverted Black Pearl Pepper.
Notes:  I planted 4 seeds, and all four came up.  Two of the plants ended up being a "green" plant (that is, they had all green leaves), while the other two were "purple" (having leaves that look like they've been dipped in purple).  The flowers on the plants are a white with a purple tinge.  Of the green plants, one went crazy producing black jalapenos, while the other really didn't.
Experience:  Awesome.  I've already saved some seed, hopefully it will come back true to form.

Renee's Black Jalapeno (purple):  Free from a black jalapeno plant that Renee had - it was apparently a reverted Black Pearl pepper.
Notes:  I planted 4 seeds, and all four came up.  Two of the plants ended up being "green", while the other two were "purple."  Of the plants, both of the purple ones grew quickly but didn't flower until late summer.  The flowers on this plant, by contrast are purple.  One of them is finally starting to produce peppers.
Experience:  Awesome.  I will be saving seed and hopefully it will come back true to form.  [UPDATE: I saved peppers from the plant, but I don't really remember which ones came from which plant...dammit, I knew I should have labeled them as soon as I pulled them off the plant...I'm pretty sure the red peppers came from the purple plant, but I'm not positive.]

Garlic Chives:  Free from Bonnie.
Notes:  I only planted this in the garden because I didn't know where else to put it, plus the cats tend not to eat plants in the garden, but they'll munch on plants elsewhere in the yard.  The plant really just looks like a giant clump of grass (not unlike liriope) until it blooms when it gets awesome white pom-poms.
Experience this year:  Not bad...not great - I never used them really (not surprising), and they're taking up precious space in the garden.  It's actually the Garlic Chives in combination with the Lemon Balm that have convinced me I need to make an herb specific bed.  Also, it looks like they'll need to be divided in the spring...so who wants some garlic chives?

Lemon Balm: 
Notes:  I originally got these two plants as part of an experiment to see if they repelled the squash vine borer (I didn't notice a difference).  I now use them for mosquito repellent when I'm outside and the mosquitoes are bugging me (ha! bugging!).  My in laws like to use the plant in salads.  We don't do that since Shawn isn't a fan of lemon flavored anything.
Experience this year:  I may have to pull out the plants - they're looking really spent...The salt marsh caterpillars did a number on them this fall - so now they're much more like a mat-type ground cover instead of a bushy herb.

Habanero:
Notes:  A hold over from last year - Yes, I managed to keep it through the winter (not a difficult thing though with the last winter we had).  Of course, it was pretty hilarious when I realized that the plant was the habanero - for some reason I thought it was the Thai pepper plant (we're still working our way through the 149 peppers from that plant, by the way).  Put the plant in the compost bin on 11/4.
Experience this year:  Not bad - I don't remember how many we've gotten from the plant...5 maybe?  I've saved seed, so maybe I'll get more next year.

Naga Jolokia:
Notes:  A hold over from last year - yes I managed to keep it through the winter.  I have cut it back to try to keep it through the winter again.
Experience this year:  Managed to get 3 peppers from the plant.  I've saved seed, so I may try growing from seed if the plant looks iffy during the winter.

Thai Basil:
Notes:  I don't remember spreading seed this year...
Experience this year:  Remember how I mentioned before that this stuff reseeds aggressively?  Yeah...since the drought killed off the grass, the basil started growing in the yard... Nice when Shawn mowed because it smelled like basil.  in mid-October, Shawn insisted the plants needed to be removed so I pulled them all out and turned them into basil cubes. I've gotten to the point where I think normal basil tastes funny though...so that's probably not good.

Sweet Basil:  $1 at East Side Succulents
Notes:  I got this because it was on sale.
Experience this year:  I used it a few times, but most importantly, when I pulled out the plant on November 4th, I used the leaves to get some herb infused vinegar going.  Also...I really need to get back into using regular basil instead of Thai basil.

Aurora Pepper: $1 at East Side Succulents
Notes:  I got this because it was on sale and the pepper goes through 4 different colors before being fully ripe.
Experience:  Tis but a tiny plant.  I've dug it up to try to keep it through the winter.

Aji Pepper:  $1 at East Side Succulents
Notes:  I got this hoping it was close to the yellow hot pepper from a few years ago.  Unfortunately, it ripens to a red color.  It is supposed to be spicy.
Experience:  The poor plant was covered for most of the summer by the gomphrena, but it's still keeping on keeping on.  I pulled 2 peppers off of it on 11/4.  I've dug it up to try to keep it through the winter.

Tequila Sunrise Pepper:  $1 at East Side Succulents
Notes:  I got it because it looked like a carrot on a pepper plant.  After planting, I pulled the pepper off and ate it.  It is a sweet pepper variety.
Experience:  The plant never really grew any.  It had a new pepper on it, but a bug got to it on 11/1.  I've dug it up to try to keep it through the winter.

So...Uh...yeah...this is quite the list of plants considering I 'didn't have a garden' this year...

Growing Season Spring 2011: Season Roundup

Icebox Watermelons: Rainbow Sherbet. Renee's Garden.
Description: Grow three varieties of early maturing "icebox" watermelons with delicious pastel yellow, orange, or pink flesh. These extra fancy beauties weigh in at only 4-7 pounds with thing, green-striped rinds and dense, crisp flesh. Their party colors and refreshing sweet, sherbet-like taste make them wonderful everyday treats or gorgeous summer desserts. Pick melons when the tendril closest to the fruit turns brown, and the light pathc on the bottom o fthe melon changes from cream to tan. Days to Maturity: approx 75. Year Opened: 2009. Number Planted: remainder of packet (about 6) on 3/20. Sprouted 3/27. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Experience in the Past: In the past, the damn varmints have always gotten the watermelons - either because they actually bit into the watermelon, or because the watermelon split due to too much water.
Experience this year: 3 total - one eaten by Timmy the possum, 2 eaten by me. And while I've had better from the store, I've also had much worse. I saved seeds from the bigger one so I'll try planting them again in the future. Unfortunately, all three were of the regular pink variety (the packet contained yellow and orange fleshed watermelons in addition to the pink)

Pumpkin: Casper - White. Page's Seeds.
Description: Casper, a white skinned ornamental pumpkin with thick orange flesh o fexcellent eating quality. Grows 8"-12" in diameter, 10-16 lbs. Casper's skin has less bluing than many other whites. the handle is tan with a corky texture. Days to Maturity: 100. Year Opened: 2011 (packed for 2009). Number Planted: 4 (entire packet). Seeds stored at room temperature.
Notes: Kept forgetting I had these seeds until I found them again this morning (3/20). Sprouted (1) on 4/1. Go 25% success rate!
Experience this year: Dead, Dead, Dead.  Complete failure.

True Thai Chiles: Orange Fogo and Red Dragon. Renee's Garden.
Description: We import these brilliantly colored, authentic Thai chiles direct from the source! Vigorous Fogo ripens bright orange with delicious medium hot/sweet pungency, perfect minced in sauces and salads. Red Demon's fiery little fruits point up like flames, with that nutty, incendiary pungency just right for stirfries. Use fresh or air dry for tantalizing Asian-style dishes. Days to Maturity: Approx 85. Year Opened: 2008. Number Planted: 4 Red Demon, 6 Orange Fogo (planted 1/5/11, sprouted 1/18/11). Seeds stored at room temperature in 2008, stored in the fridge since 2009.
Experience in the past: The plants never really produced peppers.  The Red Demon is the only one we've ever gotten peppers from.  NOTE:  Gave away all but 1 Red Demon this year.
Experience this year:  Holy Schamoly, Batman!  A grand total of 149 peppers from ONE plant.

Habanero Chile: Red Savina. Renee's Garden.
Description: Bred exclusively by Frank Garcias at GNS Spices, incendiary Red Savina is the hottest habanero known, tipping the scale at 380,000 to 500,000 Scoville units which put it in the Guinness Book of World Records. Along with brilliant red color and intense heat, Red Savina's flesh has that special tantalizing fiery fruitiness that characterizes habanero chiles from the Yucatan. The Chinese lantern-shaped fruits grow on sturdy 3 to 3.5 foot plants that do best in long hot summer areas. Days to Maturity: Approx 90. Year Opened: 2009. Number Planted: 5, Took a while for them to sprout - I planted on 1/5 and by 1/18, only 1 had sprouted. Seeds always stored in the fridge
Notes: As I posted earlier, they all came up and then a squirrel went and dug in the box I was growing the seeds and ripped up all of the habanero seedlings (leaving the other ones alone, naturally). I tried to save 3 of them (2 were obviously goners). Of those, only 1 made it. I just transplanted it into a 4" pot yesterday (3/19). The remaining plant was killed off by varmints on 3/31. Planted 1 lone seed in the 4" pot on 4/1
Experience this year:  No peppers this year.  I've pulled the plant in for the winter to see if it will overwinter...

Specialty Eggplants: Italian Trio. Renee's Garden
Description: Our trio of delicious Italian eggplants combines teardrop-shaped, purple-black "Nadia," gorgeous, oval-shaped magenta "Beatrice" and heirloom rose and white, globe-shaped "Rosa Bianca." The strong plants with velvety leaves and lavender blossoms bear abundant crops of curvaceous glossy fruits with tender skins and succulent flesh that is never bitter or seedy. Enjoy in recipes from all Mediterranean cuisines. Days to Maturity: Approx 80. Year opened: 2009. Number Planted: 6. Two of each variety. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Notes: 5 of the plants sprouted by 1/18 (planted on 1/5). 2 made it to transplanting time (3/19). Both are the Beatrice variety (same variety that survived last year).
Experience this year:  Both plants survived, but only produced a total of 3 eggplants.  meh.  The Cloud 9 from last year ended up producing a lot more...

True Thai Basil: Queenette. Renee's Garden
Description: This tropical-looking ornamental basil has dense .5" leaves that grow in clusters around distinctive purple stems. Imported directly from our best Thai seed producer, Queenette's exotic flavor combines aromatic mild sweet spices with clove/mint basil flavor. It is a critical ingredient in Southeast Asian dishes and marvellous in stirfries, chutneys and marinades. An eye-catching herb to interplant with flowers for "edible landscaping." Plant Queenette basil to enjoy growing and cooking with authentic Thai ingredients. Days to Maturity: NA. Year opened: 2009. Number Planted: A crap-load. Seeds always stored in the fridge
Notes: 19 Thai basils as of 1/19 (planted 1/5). I don't know how many I have left because they're all in one flowerpot at work. I just "planted" all the seeds I saved from last year's plants (3/19). Obviously, when I say "planted" I mean "throw the seeds to the wind in a couple areas where basil may grow in the back yard." As an added bonus, I still have 2 full jars of dried basil and about one quart of frozen basil cubes from last year. As the combo basil has Thai Basil in it, I've decided that I'm not going to plant any of the Thai Basil in the normal garden bed.
Experience this year:  The Thai basil does pretty well in Austin.  It will reseed itself aggressively, though...good thing frost kills it off...

Long Red Cayenne Pepper: Free from the Allandale plant sale in 2010. Heirloom Seeds Company. packed for 2009, opened in 2011. Seeds stored in the fridge since I obtained them in 2010.
Description: No description on seed packet.
Notes: I planted 3 seeds, all three did germinate. just transplanted into a 6-pack on 3/19. Transplanted into 4" pots on 3/26. gave two to Janna and Pam. Kept 1 for myself.  7/21/11: the plant is half the size of the Red Demon pepper which is in the same pot.
Experience this year:  A grand total of 14 peppers were pulled off this plant.

Black Krim Tomato: Planted 9 (planted 1/5, sprouted by 1/18), 3 are still alive, but tiny (Botanical Interests Organic, opened 2011). Bought 1 at the Sunshine Community Garden sale and planted on 3/19. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: Large brown-red fruit with rich sweet flavor. Sets well in heat. Heirloom from Crimea. (from the Sunshine Gardens info sheet) Dark-brown, red fruit, large (10-12 oz), Russian. Heavy Producer, prone to cracking. Likes hot weather. Rich complex flavor, sweet-tasting fruit. Indeterminate. 75-90 days. Status: Heirloom
Notes: Growing these from seed isn't going so well...perhaps I'll have better luck in the summer when the squirrels aren't trying to dig up all my plants. And it's a bit too early to make a call on the one that I planted.
04/02/11 - I had 3 Krims in little pots - 2 are piddly, and the 3rd looks pretty good. I'm keeping it in a pot until fall though. The one I planted in the garden is already flowering.
Update 07/21/11: Pulled out the plant in the garden (it was looking pitiful) and planted two of the plants I grew from seed in the garden - replacing the Krim and one Roma. Also took a cutting from the plant I bought and planted in a pot. Will be giving away the cutting and one from seed. The plant in the garden produced 5 tomatoes, but 3 were marred by birds. I put up bird netting and also set out bowls of water for the animals.
Experience this year:  5 tomatoes total from 2 plants.  I really wish these plants would produce more...I do so like their toms...

 
Provider Bush Bean: Free from the Master Gardeners. High Mowing Organic Seeds Company. Packed for 2010, opened 2011. Seeds stored at room temperature for 2010. Stored in fridge since 2011.Description: Standard green bean, always reliable even in poor weather. Comes through every year with early, heavy yields of attractive stringless beans. Concentrated sets. Days to Maturity: 50
Notes: Surprised me that the seeds are purple. direct sowed 3/20. Noticed plants on 3/27
Experience this year:  Epic fail.

Black Eyed Peas: Free from my friend, Ross. Seeds stored at room temperature.
Description: Cowpeas, also called Black Eyed Peas, are a favorite southern bean. Although the young leaves are edible, most gardeners grow them for the bean inside. Cowpeas are native to Africa, where it is an important food crop. The plant thrives in warmer climates. There are vining and non-vining varieties. Maturity in 80-90 days.
Notes: planted for the nitrogen fixing properties.
Experience this year:  Managed to get a small crop which I will save for future nitrogen fixing purposes since I don't like black eyed peas.

Basil (Custom Blend): Bontanical Interests. Packed for 2010. opened 2011. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: This unique blend of basils will provide you with exquisite culinary delights for your kitchen, texture and scent for your flower arrangements, color and form for you flower beds. Includes: Lemon Basil, Anise Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Red Rubin Basil, Dark Opal Basil, Thai Basil, and Genovese Basil.
Notes: I had a ton of these at work, but then a bunch of them died. just planted some seeds in a 6-pack thingy on 3/19.
04/2/11 - I don't feel that they came up quite as quick as they did at work (I guess they really do like warmer temperatures). But they have all come up as far as I can tell. Just waiting for them to get bigger so I can transplant them.
Update 07/21/11: The only two to make it were a Thai Basil and a Cinnamon Basil.
Experience this year:  While the cinnamon basil smells good, I still haven't figured out what to do with it...at least the Thai basil I'll use in sauces...

Roma Tomato: Botanical Interests Organic. Opened 2011. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: An absolutely excellent, old heirloom tomato used for sauce or canning. Very firm, meaty 3 inche oblong fruits with very few seeds. Very productive - up to 200 fruits per plant!
Notes: planted on 1/5, 7 plants by 1/18. All have since died. Ended up buying a plant a the Sunshine Community Gardens plant sale (transplanted to garden on 3/19).
04-02-11 - Ross gave me a Roma tomato seedling (from Red Barn) in exchange for a pepper plant and some lemon balm.
Update 07/21/11: Pulled the plant I had bought as it looked pitiful (only produced maybe 5 tomatoes). The plant I got from Ross has flowered, but not until after the night-time temps were too hot to set fruit.
Experience this year: 7 tomatoes total from 2 plants - the one from Ross bloomed prolifically at the end, but it never did set fruit.  Again, another bummer since really the only way we eat tomatoes is in sauce and Romas are great for sauce.

Early Summer Crookneck Squash: Free from the Allandale plant sale in 2010. packed for 2009, opened 2010. Seeds stored in the fridge since I got them in 2010.
Description: the standard variety for many years. Summer Crookneck has been improved to have a smoother, less waterd skin and a more compact bush type plant. This variety is very popular, easy to grow and fast maturing. Many gardeners feel that this variety is more flavorful than the straight-neck types.
Notes: Previously planted some of this in the fall, but they never sprouted (likely because of my lackluster watering skills). planted on 3/20. Sprouted on 3/27
Update 07/21/11: A few of the plants have finally taken off and I noticed my first female flower the other day (now I'm just waiting for it to bloom....). The bees visit the garden specifically for the crookneck pollen...which is plentiful.
Experience this year:  3 squash total - 2 eaten by squirrels, 1 picked too late to eat.

Sweet Corn, Sugar Dots: Unknown Variety (likely from Lowe's or Walmart)
Description: Yellow kernels that are sweet and tender. Mid to late season. Ears are 8 inches long with 16-18 rows. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Notes: I opened this packet years ago, so they may not even sprout. In fact, I think I have a picture of the corn last time I grew it - I never did get any ears from it, but it sure did look nice for the first couple of months it was growing. direct sow 3/20, sprouted 3/25
Update 07/21/11: It seemed like all the seeds sprouted, and I even thinned them. But they were in a part of the garden that didn't get much sun and so they were stunted. The ears produced were maybe only 2" long and I never even bothered pulling them off the plants.
Experience this year:  HAHAHAHA

Lemon Balm: Originally paid $2.99 for each plant at Red Barn in 2010. Plant survived the winter so I did not purchase in 2011.
Description: Lemon balm (Melissa officianlis L.) is a lemon scented member of the mint family. A native to southern Europe, it is a perennial which will over-winter in hardiness zones 4 to 5. The plant develops many branches and grows to a height of about 2 feet. The leaves are 2-3 inches long, oval to almost heart shaped, shiny and wrinkled with scalloped edges. Small light blue to white flowers appear in late spring through midsummer.
Notes: I didn't buy this - it managed to survive the winter. That's one hardy plant, yo. I already can foresee that I'll have to do some major cutting back of the plants as they're starting to spread everywhere (which for now is okay since it acts as a ground cover).
04-02-11 - Took some cuttings for coworkers (3-27). Currently the cuttings are sitting in some water on my windowsill.
Update 07/21/11: The lemon balm is looking a little pitiful--like crispy. but it's still alive and it's only the top that's crispy.
 Experience this year:  My in laws love this plant.  Every time they come over, they harvest a bunch to take home and add to salads.  Too bad Shawn and I don't really care for it (Shawn's not a lemon fan to begin with).  I'll still use it for the mosquitos, but that's about it.  I really probably should remove it from the garden...now I just need to create an herb garden somewhere...

Delicata and Early Butternut Squash: Compact Winter Squash, Renee's Garden. Opened 2009. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: This duo of All-America winners are the best space-saving varieties of nutty, sweet-tasting, vitamin-rich winter squash. the compact vines of productive Early Butternut Bush produce fruits with tan rinds that have moist, smooth, creamy-orange flesh. Compact Bush Delicata has oblong fruits with handsome striped rinds and rich golden flesh with a delicious sweet potato-like texture.
Notes: direct sow planted on 3/20. Used up the rest of the pack - 3 butternut, 2 delicata. Sprouted on 3/27
Update 07/21/11: Dead.
Experience this year:  Epic Fail.

Quinoa: Brightest Brilliant Rainbow, Botanical Interest Organic. Opened 2010. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: Our Quinoa (pronounced "keen-wa") has striking colors of hot pink, burgundy, red, orange, yellow, white and green. Harvest the young leaves to eat raw or cooked. Colorful seed heads appear in 90-120 days. Their nutty and deliciuos grains have as much protein as milk!
Notes: planted in the fall, but they didn't do very well. I planted again in the early spring, but they never germinated (because of my lack of watering). Planted again in a 6-pack container 3/19. All seeds have sprouted as of 04-02-11
Update 07/21/11: Only 3 plants ever looked like they were doing okay. Grew to a maximum height of 6". May get a tiny itty bitty harvest from one plant...assuming the birds don't eat all the seed (which, which the year we're having, I wouldn't fault them for it at all).
Experience this year:  Epic Fail.  Again. Which, considering other amaranths do fine, it's getting annoying.

Yellow Hot Pepper Plant: From my coworker, Charlie in 2010.
Notes: The plant never even fruited last year so I dug it up and potted it and managed to keep it alive through the winter. I just transplanted it into the garden on 3/19.
04-02-11 - This plant is actually looking worse instead of better. GROW PLANT, DAMN YOU!
04-09-11 - I think the plant may have given up the ghost.
Update 07/21/11: Yep...it died. Sad.
Experience this year:  We shall have a moment of silence for the poor dead plant...I was so looking forward to it as well...

Naga Jolokia: $2 from the Sunshine Community Garden plant sale.
Description: No matter what you call it, it's the world's HOTTEST pepper with a record breaking heat of over 1 million Scoville units. That's more than double the old record holder, the Red Savina Habanero. If you like HOT, then this one's for you. Fruits are 2-3" long and 1-1.5" wide. Ripens from light green to orange to red.
Notes: Tis but a tiny thing. Transplanted into the flower pot by the garden on 3/19. I don't really know why we're trying this one (but when you've got Thai chiles at up to 100,000, have had habaneros at 350,000, and have been trying to grow a Red Savina at 577,000, you might as well throw in the Naga Jolokia at 1,040,000 - but the Naga Viper is now the world's hottest pepper as of 2/25/2011 at 1,380,000). We once tried a hot sauce made from this pepper, and while it was delicious, I couldn't handle more than five drops in the tomato sauce we were making. That's right about 5 drops with one can of tomato sauce is enough to give a nice kick.
04-02-11 - The plant looked tiny and piddly and then all of the sudden this last week it seemed like it doubled in size...which isn't saying a whole lot considering how small it was to begin with. But I'm starting to think it might make it.
Update 07/21/11: The plant is quite large, but it hasn't ever flowered and I think the parsley in the same pot is taking all the nutrients and water...I really need to pull it out.
Experience this year:  Nope...No peppers.  I will try to overwinter to see what happens.

Jalapeno M: $2 from the Sunshine Community Garden plant sale
Description: Fiery, thick walled peppers grow 3" with rounded tips. Dark green at first then red. Good for nachos and other Tex-Mex dishes. Days to Maturity: 75
Notes: Best looking pepper of all the ones I have this year. Transplanted into the garden on 3/19.
Update 07/21/11: Has been producing peppers consistently, but only provided a handful. The hotter it's been getting, the smaller the peppers are - they're now almost the size of the red hot peppers that Charlie gave me...
Experience this year:  38 peppers total.  The problem:  They're jalapenos...that's just not spicy enough for this house.

Late Summer planted crops:
White Kennebec Potatoes:
Notes:  4 planted.  Never seemed to do well...Seemed diseased, maybe?
Experience this year:  Yeah...I got 2 small potatoes in return...a 50% return rate = not worth it.

Red LaSoda Potatoes:
Notes:  5 planted.  Always seemed to be doing better and growing faster than the Kennebecs.
Experience this year:  10 potatoes in return.  a 200% return rate = will do again in the future.

Sweet Potatoes:  I let a sweet potato from the store go too long and it started sprouting.  So I pulled off the sprouts and planted them.  Voila! Sweet potato slips!
Notes:  4 slips planted.  Man, they can take the heat like champs...they'll get a little wilty, but nothing that they don't recover from.
Experience this year:  16 edible sized potatoes harvested.  400% return rate means HELLZ YEAH I'm planting more in the future.

Spring Growing Season 2011

Icebox Watermelons: Rainbow Sherbet. Renee's Garden.
Description: Grow three varieties of early maturing "icebox" watermelons with delicious pastel yellow, orange, or pink flesh. These extra fancy beauties weigh in at only 4-7 pounds with thing, green-striped rinds and dense, crisp flesh. Their party colors and refreshing sweet, sherbet-like taste make them wonderful everyday treats or gorgeous summer desserts. Pick melons when the tendril closest to the fruit turns brown, and the light pathc on the bottom o fthe melon changes from cream to tan. Days to Maturity: approx 75. Year Opened: 2009. Number Planted: remainder of packet (about 6) on 3/20. Sprouted 3/27. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Experience: In the past, the damn varmints have always gotten the watermelons - either because they actually bit into the watermelon, or because the watermelon split due to too much water.
Update -7/21/11: Finally found my first female flower. Which I fertilized.

Pumpkin: Casper - White. Page's Seeds.
Description: Casper, a white skinned ornamental pumpkin with thick orange flesh o fexcellent eating quality. Grows 8"-12" in diameter, 10-16 lbs. Casper's skin has less bluing than many other whites. the handle is tan with a corky texture. Days to Maturity: 100. Year Opened: 2011 (packed for 2009). Number Planted: 4 (entire packet). Seeds stored at room temperature.
Experience: Kept forgetting I had these seeds until I found them again this morning (3/20). Sprouted (1) on 4/1. Go 25% success rate!
Update: 07/21/11 - Piddly. but still alive

True Thai Chiles: Orange Fogo and Red Dragon. Renee's Garden.
Description: We import these brilliantly colored, authentic Thai chiles direct from the source! Vigorous Fogo ripens bright orange with delicious medium hot/sweet pungency, perfect minced in sauces and salads. Red Demon's fiery little fruits point up like flames, with that nutty, incendiary pungency just right for stirfries. Use fresh or air dry for tantalizing Asian-style dishes. Days to Maturity: Approx 85. Year Opened: 2008. Number Planted: 4 Red Demon, 6 Orange Fogo (planted 1/5/11, sprouted 1/18/11). Seeds stored at room temperature in 2008, stored in the fridge since 2009.
Experience: Just transplanted all the chiles into 6-pack-sized thingies 3/19. Just transplanted the chiles AGAIN into 4" pots on 3/26 in order to give orange fogo plants to other garden bloggers and to give some cayenne, red demon, and orange fogo plants to my coworkers.
Update 07/21/11: Best year yet for the Red Demon. Like the entire plant is COVERED in chiles. I didn't want to plant this plant again since I had never had super great success with it...but hell, I may need to buy more seeds and grow it again next year...or save the seeds...hmmmm....

Habanero Chile: Red Savina. Renee's Garden.
Description: Bred exclusively by Frank Garcias at GNS Spices, incendiary Red Savina is the hottest habanero known, tipping the scale at 380,000 to 500,000 Scoville units which put it in the Guinness Book of World Records. Along with brilliant red color and intense heat, Red Savina's flesh has that special tantalizing fiery fruitiness that characterizes habanero chiles from the Yucatan. The Chinese lantern-shaped fruits grow on sturdy 3 to 3.5 foot plants that do best in long hot summer areas. Days to Maturity: Approx 90. Year Opened: 2009. Number Planted: 5, Took a while for them to sprout - I planted on 1/5 and by 1/18, only 1 had sprouted. Seeds always stored in the fridge
Experience: As I posted earlier, they all came up and then a squirrel went and dug in the box I was growing the seeds and ripped up all of the habanero seedlings (leaving the other ones alone, naturally). I tried to save 3 of them (2 were obviously goners). Of those, only 1 made it. I just transplanted it into a 4" pot yesterday (3/19). The remaining plant was killed off by varmints on 3/31. Planted 1 lone seed in the 4" pot on 4/1
Update 07/21/11: The plant is still alive. And still in the 4" pot.

Specialty Eggplants: Italian Trio. Renee's Garden
Description: Our trio of delicious Italian eggplants combines teardrop-shaped, purple-black "Nadia," gorgeous, oval-shaped magenta "Beatrice" and heirloom rose and white, globe-shaped "Rosa Bianca." The strong plants with velvety leaves and lavender blossoms bear abundant crops of curvaceous glossy fruits with tender skins and succulent flesh that is never bitter or seedy. Enjoy in recipes from all Mediterranean cuisines. Days to Maturity: Approx 80. Year opened: 2009. Number Planted: 6. Two of each variety. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Experience: 5 of the plants sprouted by 1/18 (planted on 1/5). 2 made it to transplanting time (3/19). Both are the Beatrice variety (same variety that survived last year).
Update 07/21/11: Have yet to set fruit, though one of them may have finally set one fruit.

True Thai Basil: Queenette. Renee's Garden
Description: This tropical-looking ornamental basil has dense .5" leaves that grow in clusters around distinctive purple stems. Imported directly from our best Thai seed producer, Queenette's exotic flavor combines aromatic mild sweet spices with clove/mint basil flavor. It is a critical ingredient in Southeast Asian dishes and marvellous in stirfries, chutneys and marinades. An eye-catching herb to interplant with flowers for "edible landscaping." Plant Queenette basil to enjoy growing and cooking with authentic Thai ingredients. Days to Maturity: NA. Year opened: 2009. Number Planted: A crap-load. Seeds always stored in the fridge
Experience: 19 Thai basils as of 1/19 (planted 1/5). I don't know how many I have left because they're all in one flowerpot at work. I just "planted" all the seeds I saved from last year's plants (3/19). Obviously, when I say "planted" I mean "throw the seeds to the wind in a couple areas where basil may grow in the back yard." As an added bonus, I still have 2 full jars of dried basil and about one quart of frozen basil cubes from last year. As the combo basil has Thai Basil in it, I've decided that I'm not going to plant any of the Thai Basil in the normal garden bed.
Update 07/21/11: I still have maybe 5 in the flowerpot at work.

Long Red Cayenne Pepper: Free from the Allandale plant sale in 2010. Heirloom Seeds Company. packed for 2009, opened in 2011. Seeds stored in the fridge since I obtained them in 2010.
Description: No description on seed packet.
Experience: I planted 3 seeds, all three did germinate. just transplanted into a 6-pack on 3/19. Transplanted into 4" pots on 3/26. gave two to Janna and Pam. Kept 1 for myself.
Update 07/21/11: The plant has produced a handful of peppers with another handful on the plant. It is about half the size of the Red Demon which is in the same pot.

Black Krim Tomato: Planted 9 (planted 1/5, sprouted by 1/18), 3 are still alive, but tiny (Botanical Interests Organic, opened 2011). Bought 1 at the Sunshine Community Garden sale and planted on 3/19. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: Large brown-red fruit with rich sweet flavor. Sets well in heat. Heirloom from Crimea. (from the Sunshine Gardens info sheet) Dark-brown, red fruit, large (10-12 oz), Russian. Heavy Producer, prone to cracking. Likes hot weather. Rich complex flavor, sweet-tasting fruit. Indeterminate. 75-90 days. Status: Heirloom
Experience: Growing these from seed isn't going so well...perhaps I'll have better luck in the summer when the squirrels aren't trying to dig up all my plants. And it's a bit too early to make a call on the one that I planted.
04/02/11 - I had 3 Krims in little pots - 2 are piddly, and the 3rd looks pretty good. I'm keeping it in a pot until fall though. The one I planted in the garden is already flowering.
Update 07/21/11: Pulled out the plant in the garden (it was looking pitiful) and planted two of the plants I grew from seed in the garden - replacing the Krim and one Roma. Also took a cutting from the plant I bought and planted in a pot. Will be giving away the cutting and one from seed. The plant in the garden produced 5 tomatoes, but 3 were marred by birds. I put up bird netting and also set out bowls of water for the animals.

Provider Bush Bean: Free from the Master Gardeners. High Mowing Organic Seeds Company. Packed for 2010, opened 2011. Seeds stored at room temperature for 2010. Stored in fridge since 2011.
Description: Standard green bean, always reliable even in poor weather. Comes through every year with early, heavy yields of attractive stringless beans. Concentrated sets. Days to Maturity: 50
Experience: Surprised me that the seeds are purple. direct sowed 3/20. Noticed plants on 3/27

Black Eyed Peas: Free from my friend, Ross. Seeds stored at room temperature.
Description: Cowpeas, also called Black Eyed Peas, are a favorite southern bean. Although the young leaves are edible, most gardeners grow them for the bean inside. Cowpeas are native to Africa, where it is an important food crop. The plant thrives in warmer climates. There are vining and non-vining varieties. Maturity in 80-90 days.
Experience: planted for the nitrogen fixing properties.

Basil (Custom Blend): Bontanical Interests. Packed for 2010. opened 2011. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: This unique blend of basils will provide you with exquisite culinary delights for your kitchen, texture and scent for your flower arrangements, color and form for you flower beds. Includes: Lemon Basil, Anise Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Red Rubin Basil, Dark Opal Basil, Thai Basil, and Genovese Basil.
Experience: I had a ton of these at work, but then a bunch of them died. just planted some seeds in a 6-pack thingy on 3/19.
04/2/11 - I don't feel that they came up quite as quick as they did at work (I guess they really do like warmer temperatures). But they have all come up as far as I can tell. Just waiting for them to get bigger so I can transplant them.
Update 07/21/11: The only two to make it were a Thai Basil and a Cinnamon Basil.

Roma Tomato: Botanical Interests Organic. Opened 2011. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: An absolutely excellent, old heirloom tomato used for sauce or canning. Very firm, meaty 3 inche oblong fruits with very few seeds. Very productive - up to 200 fruits per plant!
Experience: planted on 1/5, 7 plants by 1/18. All have since died. Ended up buying a plant a the Sunshine Community Gardens plant sale (transplanted to garden on 3/19).
04-02-11 - Ross gave me a Roma tomato seedling (from Red Barn) in exchange for a pepper plant and some lemon balm.
Update 07/21/11: Pulled the plant I had bought as it looked pitiful (only produced maybe 5 tomatoes). The plant I got from Ross has flowered, but not until after the night-time temps were too hot to set fruit.

Early Summer Crookneck Squash: Free from the Allandale plant sale in 2010. packed for 2009, opened 2010. Seeds stored in the fridge since I got them in 2010.
Description: the standard variety for many years. Summer Crookneck has been improved to have a smoother, less waterd skin and a more compact bush type plant. This variety is very popular, easy to grow and fast maturing. Many gardeners feel that this variety is more flavorful than the straight-neck types.
Experience: Previously planted some of this in the fall, but they never sprouted (likely because of my lackluster watering skills). planted on 3/20. Sprouted on 3/27
Update 07/21/11: A few of the plants have finally taken off and I noticed my first female flower the other day (now I'm just waiting for it to bloom....). The bees visit the garden specifically for the crookneck pollen...which is plentiful.

Sweet Corn, Sugar Dots: Unknown Variety (likely from Lowe's or Walmart)
Description: Yellow kernels that are sweet and tender. Mid to late season. Ears are 8 inches long with 16-18 rows. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Experience: I opened this packet years ago, so they may not even sprout. In fact, I think I have a picture of the corn last time I grew it - I never did get any ears from it, but it sure did look nice for the first couple of months it was growing. direct sow 3/20, sprouted 3/25
Update 07/21/11: It seemed like all the seeds sprouted, and I even thinned them. But they were in a part of the garden that didn't get much sun and so they were stunted. The ears produced were maybe only 2" long and I never even bothered pulling them off the plants.

Lemon Balm: Originally paid $2.99 for each plant at Red Barn in 2010. Plant survived the winter so I did not purchase in 2011.
Description: Lemon balm (Melissa officianlis L.) is a lemon scented member of the mint family. A native to southern Europe, it is a perennial which will over-winter in hardiness zones 4 to 5. The plant develops many branches and grows to a height of about 2 feet. The leaves are 2-3 inches long, oval to almost heart shaped, shiny and wrinkled with scalloped edges. Small light blue to white flowers appear in late spring through midsummer.
Experience: I didn't buy this - it managed to survive the winter. That's one hardy plant, yo. I already can foresee that I'll have to do some major cutting back of the plants as they're starting to spread everywhere (which for now is okay since it acts as a ground cover).
04-02-11 - Took some cuttings for coworkers (3-27). Currently the cuttings are sitting in some water on my windowsill.
Update 07/21/11: The lemon balm is looking a little pitiful--like crispy. but it's still alive and it's only the top that's crispy.

Delicata and Early Butternut Squash: Compact Winter Squash, Renee's Garden. Opened 2009. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: This duo of All-America winners are the best space-saving varieties of nutty, sweet-tasting, vitamin-rich winter squash. the compact vines of productive Early Butternut Bush produce fruits with tan rinds that have moist, smooth, creamy-orange flesh. Compact Bush Delicata has oblong fruits with handsome striped rinds and rich golden flesh with a delicious sweet potato-like texture.
Experience: direct sow planted on 3/20. Used up the rest of the pack - 3 butternut, 2 delicata. Sprouted on 3/27
Update 07/21/11: Dead.

Quinoa: Brightest Brilliant Rainbow, Botanical Interest Organic. Opened 2010. Seeds always stored in the fridge.
Description: Our Quinoa (pronounced "keen-wa") has striking colors of hot pink, burgundy, red, orange, yellow, white and green. Harvest the young leaves to eat raw or cooked. Colorful seed heads appear in 90-120 days. Their nutty and deliciuos grains have as much protein as milk!
Experience: planted in the fall, but they didn't do very well. I planted again in the early spring, but they never germinated (because of my lack of watering). Planted again in a 6-pack container 3/19. All seeds have sprouted as of 04-02-11
Update 07/21/11: Only 3 plants ever looked like they were doing okay. Grew to a maximum height of 6". May get a tiny itty bitty harvest from one plant...assuming the birds don't eat all the seed (which, which the year we're having, I wouldn't fault them for it at all).

Yellow Hot Pepper Plant: From my coworker, Charlie in 2010.
Experience: The plant never even fruited last year so I dug it up and potted it and managed to keep it alive through the winter. I just transplanted it into the garden on 3/19.
04-02-11 - This plant is actually looking worse instead of better. GROW PLANT, DAMN YOU!
04-09-11 - I think the plant may have given up the ghost.
Update 07/21/11: Yep...it died. Sad.

Naga Jolokia: $2 from the Sunshine Community Garden plant sale.
Description: No matter what you call it, it's the world's HOTTEST pepper with a record breaking heat of over 1 million Scoville units. That's more than double the old record holder, the Red Savina Habanero. If you like HOT, then this one's for you. Fruits are 2-3" long and 1-1.5" wide. Ripens from light green to orange to red.
Experience: Tis but a tiny thing. Transplanted into the flower pot by the garden on 3/19. I don't really know why we're trying this one (but when you've got Thai chiles at up to 100,000, have had habaneros at 350,000, and have been trying to grow a Red Savina at 577,000, you might as well throw in the Naga Jolokia at 1,040,000 - but the Naga Viper is now the world's hottest pepper as of 2/25/2011 at 1,380,000). We once tried a hot sauce made from this pepper, and while it was delicious, I couldn't handle more than five drops in the tomato sauce we were making. That's right about 5 drops with one can of tomato sauce is enough to give a nice kick.
04-02-11 - The plant looked tiny and piddly and then all of the sudden this last week it seemed like it doubled in size...which isn't saying a whole lot considering how small it was to begin with. But I'm starting to think it might make it.
Update 07/21/11: The plant is quite large, but it hasn't ever flowered and I think the parsley in the same pot is taking all the nutrients and water...I really need to pull it out.

Jalapeno M: $2 from the Sunshine Community Garden plant sale
Description: Fiery, thick walled peppers grow 3" with rounded tips. Dark green at first then red. Good for nachos and other Tex-Mex dishes. Days to Maturity: 75
Experience: Best looking pepper of all the ones I have this year. Transplanted into the garden on 3/19.
Update 07/21/11: Has been producing peppers consistently, but only provided a handful. The hotter it's been getting, the smaller the peppers are - they're now almost the size of the red hot peppers that Charlie gave me...

Fall Garden, Growing Season 2011

The fall garden was planted on October 1st and 2nd this year, since most items are repeats from last year, I'll just copy the same blurb as last year. *note* the colors and formatting is all being wonky and I'll just fix it later...famous last words, I know.*

Broccoli: Renee's Garden, All Season Blend; We've mixed equal amounts of seed for these great tasting, high-yielding hybrid varieties with early, mid, and late season maturities for the longest possible harvests. We've chosen cultivars for flavorful, extra-fancy, tightly beaded main heads and abundant side shoots. All three have excellent disease resistance and weather tolerance. Transplant to Harvest: 60.
Notes: I started the seeds in like July or something and transplanted two plants into the garden. They continue to do well. Both planted next to each other in the 'west garden'
Jan 1 update: one of the plants has a tiny itty bitty broccoli head on it so we should be eating broccoli in another month or so.

Chard: Renee's Garden, Italian Silver Rib; A long time favorite of Italian cooks for its flavor and substance, this fine variety has wide, crisp, silvery-white midribs and crinkled, shiny green leaves. The large-framed, handsome plants grow easily and vigorously from spring through late fall. Heirloom Silver Rib produces an abundance of big succulent leaves with sweet crunchy stalks to enjoy as mild, mellow-tasting greens. You'll find it consistently delicious simply steamed with fresh lemon, sautéed with aromatics or added to stir-fries, soups, and casseroles. Days to harvest: 50. Notes: These are the seeds I got for free from the Planning for Spring Gardens Master Gardener seminar.
Notes 2: Planted four in the "east garden"
Jan 1 update: I think 2 maybe came up but were quickly killed off by lack of water/warm weather.

Beets: Renee's Garden, Jewel-Toned Beets (red sangria, golden, and striped chioggia); Our mixture of burgundy, golden, and candy-striped beets yields big harvets with glowing rich colors, succulent texture and sweet earthy flavor. These beets will become an easy to grow, long keeping staple in your garden and kitchen. The smooth roots can be harvested at any size to bake, boil, or steam and enjoy hot and buttered or chilled in an herb vinaigrette. The nutritious young tops are unrivaled as melt-in-your-mouth steamed greens. Days to Harvest: 55.
Notes: I planted six in a specified spot in the 'west garden' and then planted another 6 or so throughout the 'east garden'
Jan 1 Update: same as the chard. I haven't replanted any since Shawn doesn't care for beets.

Carrot: Renee's Garden, Sunshine Mix (Yellowstone and Nantes Forto); Our novelty mix offers gardeners the fun of growing both sunny yellow and bright orange carrots. You'll have eye catching rich harvests of crisp, smooth, evenly cylindrical roots that reach a full 8 inches in length. Both of these premium European varieties taste sweet and crispy with no soapy off-flavors and you can enjoy them over a long harvest period. Whether fresh sliced into carrot sticks, or quickly cooked, their sunshine bright colors are a kitchen gardener's delight! Days to Harvest: 88.
Notes: planted in 2 areas in the 'west garden' but they only appear to be coming up in one area and that area is severely shaded by the lemon balm. I think this may be because I forgot that carrot seedlings need light to germinate. I'll have to replant some more later. Also, I didn't plant any of the Carnival variety yet.
January 1 update: some came up but not very many, I re-planted in late December.

Carrot: Carnival Blend by Botanical Interests Organic; Colored carrots are unique but not new. Grown, and eaten in Asia and Europe 1,000 years ago, they are becoming available once again. Just like the popular orange carrots, red, purple, white and yellow carrots contain plenty of vitamin A and healthy nutrients. Carnival Blend carrots can also be harvested when only 3" to 4" long for gourmet baby carrots. Days to Harvest: 75.
Notes: planted in one area in the west garden.
March 19 update: I completely forgot that I did plant some of these carrots until I went and pulled them up to make room for my spring garden plants. The white ones didn't taste like anything, but the purple one was good.

Peas: Ferry Morse Organic, left over from last year
Notes: planted in 2 areas, one in the 'west garden' and one in the 'east garden' They are sprouted and growing.
January 1 update: Actually the peas did come up, they were just slow. I also planted more in the locations that used to house tomatoes and pepper plants in late December (Sunday before Christmas).

Spinach: Ferry Morse Organic, left over from last year
Notes: I don't think these have come up at all. I will have to replant later.
January 1 update: I replanted the spinach at the end of December (the weekend before Christmas).


Garlic: Already blogged about that here.
Notes: As noted in the link above, so far 2 varieties have not sprouted but the rest are between 1" and 3".
January 1 update: All varieties have sprouted, and I think all of the ones I planted came up. YAY!

Cauliflower: Botanical Interests, Chef's Choice Blend; This colorful mix of three varieties will give you a long harvest period from 75 to 120 days. The white "Snowball", an heirloom variety from 1947, has tight 6½-7½ heads on dwarf plants. "Green Macerataï" is an Italian heirloom with a delicious taste. "Purple of Sicily" is also an Italian heirloom with bright purple heads and mild flavor. Healthy minerals give it the purple color which turns green when cooked. Cauliflower is a cool season crop, and we recommend a late summer planting with fall harvest for best results. It grows best in temperatures around 60 degrees and does not do well in heat. Areas with long cool springs and where summers stay relatively cool will have better success with a spring planting. Late summer planting is recommended in hot summer areas or short spring areas.
Notes: it's impossible to tell what colors are going to be produced by the seeds, so it's just a big ol' guessing game. I ended up with 3 plants.
January 1 update: The plants are still on the small side--to be expected since they're in the east garden which doesn't get as much sun in the fall/winter as the west garden.

Quinoa: Botanical Interests, Brightest Brilliant Rainbow; Annual. Blooms late summer to fall. Full sun. 4'-6' tall. The Incas called quinoa, 'the mother of all grains'. It was planted with a golden tool and offered to the sun in golden vases during solstice. This tall vegetable/ornamental has seed plumes with dazzling colors of hot pink, royal burgundy, red, pumpkin orange, light yellow, creamy white, and lime green. It may initially look a little mundane as plants are growing (it is related to the weed, Lamb's Quarters), but you will be amazed when it produces a rainbow of bright seed plumes filled with edible grains. Use at the back of the flower border for a textural splash of bright colors or grow for the delicious, nutty, high protein grains and nutritious young foliage. Quinoa grains can be cooked like rice, and the tender young leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach. The plumes take around 90-120 days from sowing to appear and will achieve the most intense color when maturing in cool weather.
January 1 update: 4 of the original 6 plants survived and actually started to flower out...at 4" tall instead of the seed packet indicated 4'. I guess that's what the cold weather will do. Unfortunately the seedlings weren't strong enough to hold up their own heads. I guess this is a plant I should re-plant in the spring to see if it does any better.

Onions: Ross once again gave me a handful of onions he had ordered. Experience: The onion were a little harder hit by this year's cold weather - especially the ones in the flower pots. But they appear to be doing fine now (march)

Need to get:

Mustard Greens--specifically the Red Giant or Osaka Purple that Renee Studebaker wrote about earlier this year.
January 1 update: Okay, so I didn't ever make it to anywhere that would have had the greens. gives me something to get next year.