2014 - Let's share our growing lists - "You just gotta try"... [View all]

I've decided to make a pinned thread for the "how" of our 2014 gardens, focusing on what we've learned and what we may try differently.

This is for specific varieties each of us may wish to highlight to others.

We've been selling seedlings for over 15 years now and my customers expect to see some of the usual suspects - I always try to work some new things into the garden each year.

I focus on non-hybrid (open pollinated, including many heirlooms) because I enjoy saving seed and keeping things going, so there are few hybrids in my garden.

Tomatoes - our Dwarf tomato project released 8 more varieties this year - sprinkled around various seed companies are now 25 new Dwarf growing (short, stocky, but large delicious fruit) varieties that our world-wide, all amateur/volunteer (and unpaid!) project created.

Aside from my usual suspects (Cherokee Purple, Chocolate and Green, Sungold, Lillian's Yellow, Green Giant, Lucky Cross) I love the relatively new variety Dester (a family heirloom sent to the Seed Savers Exchange). I need to regrow the varieties I am featuring in my upcoming book - some photos need to be retaken. My tomato sandbox (for playing) will be around work for the next round of new Dwarf varieties - we are entering into stripes, pastes and cherry types.

Peppers - I like colored bells and long shaped Italian frying peppers - we eat a LOT of sweet peppers - so a range of colors, like Orange Bell, Chocolate Bell, and a handful of new ones I am developing from a hybrid - all works in progress. Jimmy Nardello, Marconi, and hot peppers like Padron, Serrano and NuMex Big Jim anaheim types - as well as Trinidad Scorpion Butch T (HOT!!!!)

Eggplant - It's more about color, so I try to include white, green, lavender, striped and black varieties - shapes running from round/teardrop to long and skinny Asian types.

I grow a selection of different colored heirloom lettuce supplied to me by my Michigan gardening pal Jeff; some mustards, kale, collards, chard, and gold, white, red and white/red striped beets.

For cucumbers, Diva is our favorite - for summer squash, Zephyr....always a few rows of green bush beans as well (less fussy about the particular variety, though Jade does particularly well here).

I am doing more garden blogging these days - http://nctomatoman.weebly.com/nctomato-and-garden-blog.html - follow along.

What is everyone growing this year?