Having so much fun!!!

So just a quick note to update the progress in the garden.  This year I used black landscape fabric to cover most of my beds and so far I LOVE IT.  It is neat, keeps my plants warm, reduces evaporation, and most of all keeps the weeds to a minimum.  It wasn't cheap, but so far I feel it was worth its weight in gold!

So this year I am trying some things I haven't before, and I am really excited about them all!

• ROSE ORACH- Cultivated since the 1800s, this will do well in warmer climates whereas true spinach will not. In coastal regions, it will perform despite salt and wind effect. The magenta leaves will turn green when cooked, but are colorful additions to salad or micro-green mixes.

• SUN BERRY- (Solanum Burbankii) Bred in the early 1900s by Luther Burbank, who called it Sunberry and lamented it being renamed Wonderberry by the dealer who purchased and introduced it. Critics immediately claimed Burbank had simply reintroduced S. nigrum, Garden Huckleberry, as a new plant. Burbank said it was the result of many years of crossing of Solanum guinense (a species native to Africa) and S. villosum (indigenous to Europe). Sunberry’s fruits are blue, slightly sweet and slightly larger than a pea. Said by its admirers to rival and even surpass blueberries. Truly historic variety

• BEETBERRY-A truly unique plant also known as "Strawberry Spinach." Sprawling plants are grown primarily as a nutritious green for salads and braising while the pleasantly sweet but fairly bland berries provide a fun accent to salads. Loves cool weather but also tolerates heat.

• ROMANESCO- Italian herloom.  Gorgeous head is sprightly, light green spiral of cone-shaped florets, with a delectably mild flavor and a texture more akin to cauliflower than broccoli. 

• BROAD WINDSOR BEAN- Plants grow 24 to 36" tall and produce 1" wide, 6 to 8" long pods containing 5 to 6 large beans. We love to substitute this bean for chickpeas in hummus. Pkt. Favas have approximately the same cultural requirements as peas. Sow seeds 4-6" apart in rows 18-36" apart. Use as a frost-tolerant, spring-planted lima bean substitute from Virginia northward. Fava beans thrive in cool rainy areas and are planted as early as March/April so that plants are flowering when daytime temperatures average less than 70oF. From Virginia northward, favas are planted in the spring, whereas in Gulf Coast states and warm coastal areas they may be planted from October to December for harvest in March. Approximately the size of a large lima, favas have a flavor that is similar to a blend of limas and peas, but are more nutritious than limas. For use as a snap bean, harvest the pods at 2 to 3". For use as a green shelled bean, harvest when pods are 4 to 7" long. Prepare in the same manner as peas or beans. Caution: A small percentage of people of Mediterranean descent may experience a hereditary allergic reaction to fava beans. PACKET: 57 g (2 oz). Approximately 40 seeds. Sows 12-18’.
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  TENDERGREEN BUSH BEAN-tendergreen seeds will produce plants that are medium to large, and are very productive. The plants will mature in 55-60 days.Beans are ready to pick when the pods are 5-6 inches long.The more you pick them the more they produce!The pods are round, tender and stringless. They are great for canning or freezing.
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  VERMONT CRANBERRY- 60 days. Phaseolus vulgaris. Plant produces good yields of flavorful bean. Excellent for soups and baking.

• SOUTHERN WHIPPORWHIL BEAN-Source: John Coykendall, Knoxville , TN (originally from Lowery Langston in Jefferson County , TN ) The Langston family broadcast the seeds in the cornfield for a fall crop and for animal forage. Seeds are good eaten green or dried for winter storage

• CALICO CROWDER BEAN- A pre-Civil War variety with running vines, the pods are about 14 inches with medium-sized peas that are white with maroon splotches and good fresh or dried. An excellent producer with great flavor. In the South, farmers use to plant peas in with their corn so peas would grow up the corn for easier picking, and to provide nitrogen for the corn. About 70 days to fresh harvest, 85 days to dry. Rare.
• COLLARDS- just your average collards

• YAMATO- 60 days. An Asian white-spined cucumber similar to 'Suyo Long' but superior in performance and flavor. Fruits range from 1" to 1-1/2" in diameter and 12 to 16" in length and are green with narrow yellow stripes. 'Yamato' is a very hardy, reliable variety in the hot, humid Southeast. Flesh is sweet, somewhat buttery, crisp and succulent. Pkt.
  
  "If this variety is properly trellised, it will yield gorgeous long straight beautiful cucumbers. Do not grow this variety if you do not intend to trellis it as you will likely not get many usable fruits." -Cricket Rakit
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  ESTANCIA (PEA)- Bright flavor of sweet edible-pod peas all summer, then all winter too.  Top choice for canning and freezing.  Pods grow prolifically on plants with few leaves.

• GOLDEN AND WHITE BEETS- Deep globe shaped golden roots with light green, yellow veined tops. Both are sweet and tender, especially when young. Roots do not bleed like red beets when pickled. Golden beets make a nice change of pace and color contrast in salads and relish trays. Approximately 55 days to maturity

• SUGAR NUT- Hands down taste test winner almost every summer.  Spherical, 2 lb variety with yellow skin adn green flesh.  Very small seed cavity, unbelievabley sweet flavor and a clean juicy texture.

• BOSTON MARROW- This variety is originally from Buffalo, New York, where the local Native Americans introduced it to European settlers. The Boston Marrow squash grows well in regions where the growing season is cool and short. The fruit averages from 8-9 pounds, and has a skin as thin as an eggshell with a fine-textured flesh. The taste of the flesh is much richer and more nutritious than that of a pumpkin. The Boston Marrow is used for puddings, and, despite it's oily texture, often eaten raw.

• NEW ZEALAND SPINACH- is used in the same manner as spinach, but the plant is very different. It reaches a height of 1-2 feet and is much branched, spreading to 2-3 feet across. When the plant has reached a spread of 1 foot or so, the 2 or 3 inches at the end of the branches (tender shoots, tips, and leaves) may be harvested with a knife. New growth will arise along these cut branches and their ends may also be harvested.
• RARE HEIRLOOM POTATO MIX- (see previous post for types) ]

• Masai Green beans- (www.waldeneffect.org/20090629bean.jpg) "These heirloom, French-style green beans are all we'll eat now, first and foremost for their exquisite flavor. The tiny beans are sweet and stringless, so I usually just break them in half and steam them for three minutes, or toss them in a skillet with garlic for a few minutes. Either way, they are phenomenal. Masai beans also freeze extremely well --- we froze four and a half gallons last year and wished we'd had twice that many. Of course, Masai beans are also a pleasure to grow. First, they're heirlooms, so you never have to pay for seeds again. They're bush beans, too, which means the plants produce big crops all at once without a trellis. But unlike most bush beans, they just keep producing big crops all summer, so there's no need to succession plant. (I do succession plant, but only because I like to have lots of beds and it's easier to start them scattered throughout the summer.) The clincher is that they seem to be relatively immune to bean beetles. Try them out and I suspect you'll write your own ode to Masai Beans next summer.
      Gees, you wonder if I actually am planting anything 'old' from last year!  I think I am :)