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A lot. I’m growing a lot from seed this year.
Last year, I tried so so so hard to limit the varieties of vegetable and flowers I grew from seed because I didn’t want to overwhelm myself and end up with nothing but failure. I would say I was pretty successful in this endeavor. Because I placed restrictions on myself, I got the chance to experiment with different ways of growing plants and figuring out in what conditions they thrived. I kept it simple which allowed me to become more confident as a gardener. And finally, managing a smaller amount of varieties allowed me to spend less time researching the needs of a ton of plants and focus more on practicing tasks that yielded better results, ie. more food produced. I highly recommend limiting yourself in the first year if you’re a beginner. Even though it’s so hard!
But this year. Oh ho ho, this year!
I’m feeling confident and adventurous. I’ve learned so much that I feel I’m ready to branch out a bit and push myself further. So when one of my favorite garden stores had a liquidation sale last year, I grabbed whatever seed packets looked fun. I’ve been hanging on to them for a few months. But it is now finally time to get planting!
So let me introduce you to Alice’s 2019 garden of fun! And maybe talk a bit about how it compares to what I grew in 2018 too since I failed so miserably at talking about it last year.
Tomatoes
Varieties: Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Barnes Mountain Yellow, Riesentraube, Roma
Last year, I grew 3 varieties: Riesentraube, Roma, and Green Vernissage.
I’m still a little bitter about my Roma’s last year. They ripened and were hit by frost while I was away on a trip last year. So I really didn’t get to enjoy them. The Riesentraube were shaded by my Green Vernissage and didn’t fruit, so I feel those need a do-over. I had the most success with the Green Vernissage. I ended up with a ton! Very good harvest, but I’m ready to try something different.
All but the Roma are indeterminate varieties which means they should get big and produce lots of fruit assuming I do things correctly. Most tomatoes take anywhere from 75 to 90 days to start producing fruit after you plant them, so I’m hoping I get to enjoy them starting in July. The Brandywines, Cherokee Purples, and Barnes Mtn all make great slicer and salad tomatoes. Riesentraube (German for “giant grape”) are great for snacking or salads, and the Romas I’m looking forward to trying my hand at making and canning sauces. I’ve never canned before, so again, learning!
And here’s how those seeds are coming along in week 5:
Purple Tomatillo
A freaking purple tomatillo! It supposedly turns a brilliant, dark purple. In fact, that how you know it’s ripe. I’ve never grown tomatillos before, so I’m excited to see how this goes. Looks like this one can take anywhere from 70-90 days to bear fruit. That’s a big window! Reviewers have said purple tomatillos can take a long time to ripen, but once it does, it could be eaten right off the vine. My only culinary experience with tomatillos is using the canned stuff to make chili verde sauce. I’m looking forward to trying this in sauces and salsas and all sorts of Mexican cooking.
Week 5 progress:
Squash
Varieties: Zucchini (Black Beauty), Yellow Summer (Saffron Prolific Straightneck), Butternut (Waltham), Acorn, Spaghetti, Yellow Scallop
My squash last year was a bit of a mixed bag. I grew all of the varieties above except for the Yellow Scallop. Zucchini and Yellow Summer are legendary for being prolific and hard to keep up with. Towards the beginning of the season, it looked like that might be the case. However, after a few very tasty harvests, I started struggling with blossom end rot. It’s something I didn’t know was a possibility, and I had a tough time trying to correct it.
I would classify my winter squash (butternut, acorn, and spaghetti) as both failure and success mostly leaning towards failure. I didn’t get a single butternut. Lost all of them to blossom end rot. I got 4 or 5 acorn squash that were huge, beautiful, and delicious, so that goes in the win category. And finally, I got 2 spaghetti squash. Not bad, but I feel I can do better.
But upon reflection, there are few places where I could have done better.
- I planted way too early. In my enthusiasm to get going, I planted my squash in the garden prior to the last frost date. Which in Montana, is asking for trouble. They did not like that at all!
- I crowded them. I planted too many plants right next to one another thus making them compete for space and nutrients.
- I didn’t prepare the ground with the goodness they needed. I threw in some Espoma Bio-tone fertilizer to get them going, but I’m thinking I may need to add some beefier fertilizer for these guys.
So I’m trying again this year and adding the yellow scallops because they look like little space ships. The summer squashes (zucchini, yellow summer, yellow scallops) should take around 50-70 days to start producing while the winter squashes (acorn, spaghetti, butternut) can take a bit longer. Like anywhere from 80-100 days. I’m wondering if Montana’s short growing season also had a hand in last year’s winter squash struggle. I’m going to try adding extra calcium to the soil as that seems to be the solution to blossom end rot in most cases.
As you can see from my seedlings down below, I’m struggling again with growing these, but much sooner in the process than I thought I’d be. Booooo! Fortunately, squash sprout fast (usually within a couple days), so if these doin’t make it, I’ll just throw a seed in the ground. I’m thinking I should stick to that strategy from here on out anyway.
Cucumber-Marketmore 76
Takes 70 days for the fruit to show up. This is you’re standard cucumber you’d probably find at the store. I decided not to grow this last year, mostly because I ran out of room. So I’m excited to try it this year. I’ll eat cucumber straight. But my favorite application is in tzatziki sauce. Or if you’re feeling real saucy, cucumber slices go great in a Hendrix (gin) and tonic.
My seedlings are looking ok, but the are starting to show some signs of struggle like the squash:
Beans
Varieties: Dragon Tongue, Calima
Why mess with a good thing! I grew both of these last year, and they were amazing both in taste and production. Again, beans are known for being prolific, and these certainly lived up to that. Even when I thought the plants were petering out, I discovered that I just wasn’t hunting for beans hard enough. They carried on producing through the end of the season. In fact, it’s because of the vast quantities of produce you get off of few plants that I’m not adding any other varieties this year. Otherwise, I might have a bit of trouble keeping up with production.
The only thing I need to perfect is food preservation. I learned that they don’t do great if you just freeze them after picking (they turn real slimy once thawed). They’re quick growers, so like last year, I’m just going to plant the seed directly into the soil. And even though these are bush varieties, I’ll still train them up supports.
Eggplants
Varieties: Black Beauty, Ping Tung, Listada de Gandia
I grew Black Beauty last year in containers. I managed to grow several eggplant though on the small side. But I didn’t get to eat a single one! This is a lesson in trusting your gardening instincts, because even though you’re just starting out, you may actually be right sometimes. I ignored my gut when it was telling me it was time to harvest. I left them way too long, and they over-ripened and shrivels up. They were gorgeous up until that point!
So I’m having another do-over this year with the Black Beauty, and because I’m confident I can grow good looking eggplants, I’m adding the other two to the mix. My trick is knowing when to harvest, but I’ve read enough about where I went wrong last year that I think I got this (look for the sheen!). I love using eggplants in stir frys. And the Black Beauty goes great in mousakka.
Eggplant from seed is relatively slow growing. They don’t look like much in week 5, but I remember thinking last year that they wouldn’t make it. It’s just how they are. These are fine.
Peppers
Sweet Varieties: Jupiter Bell, Purple Beauty, Jimmy Nardello
Hot Varieties: Chocolate Habanero, Thai Red Chile, Jalapeno
If I could be a pepper farmer, I totally would. Pepper plants are just beautiful. Their structure is delicate, their fruit is dramatic. Just gorgeous! And they’re tasty.
Last year, I grew jalapenos and jupiters (which look like your standard green bell pepper) in containers. Then later in the season when some extra plants went unclaimed by friends, I found a spot in the ground for them. Jalapenos were another big success. This was surprising to me because I thought I needed to live somewhere that was way hotter for longer to get any. But jalapenos were second to my beans as far as production. The jupiters did alright. The peppers I grew in pots came out really small but tasty. The late season plants that went into the ground ended up producing much larger peppers which I thought was interesting.
So again, this year I’m stick with jalapenos and jupiters and adding more varieties. Like eggplant, peppers are slower growers, but these seedlings are looking great.
Melons-Green Nutmeg
Out of everything I’m growing this year, I’m most intimidated by melons. It doesn’t entirely make sense, but in my mind these are tremendously difficult to grow. Even though the instructions on the packet and guides that I’ve read online seem to suggest this is not that different than a vegetable. I have a funny mental block about growing fruit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Despite my weird reservations, I’m going for it! Because Nick likes green melons. And so do I.
Because this was a recent addition to the garden, I only started seeds a week ago. One has sprouted so far, and it’s cute!
Root Vegetables
Carrot Varieties: Nantes Supreme, Cosmic Purple
Up until last year, I’ve always felt pretty meh about carrots. The ones you get from the store have a lot of crunch with no real flavor payoff. But I planted them in my garden because a garden without carrots didn’t feel totally right. It was more out of sense of duty than me actually wanting to eat carrots. I’m so glad I planted them though. Carrots straight from the garden are delicious! Had I known going in, I would have taken a bit more care in growing them. Not that they were totally neglected, but I now know the importance of thinning them. When I began harvesting them, I had cute little baby carrots. As I pulled more and more, it allowed the ones left in the ground to get bigger. So they got better as the season went on,
This year, I won’t let them get too crowded. The Nantes Supreme is my repeat variety. I’m adding Cosmic Purple because, you know, purple. I now love garden carrots so much that I’ll eat them raw, but roasting them also does wonders for bringing out their flavor. These will be directly sown.
Onion Varieties: Yellow of Parma, Australian Brown, Tokyo Long White
I have some stuff to work out with onions. Last year, I grew Australian Browns and the Tokyo Long White because they looked recognizable as a yellow onion and green onion respectively. I did fine on the green onions, although I wish I had grown more. I did produce some Australian Browns, but they were tiny. Not sure why.
So this year I’ll be trying again and adding Yellow of Parma partly to see if I get a different result from a different variety. The seedlings look like a sad attempt at growing grass. Perfectly healthy for onions though.
Beets-Detroit Dark Red
Beets were another favorite of mine last year. I had a hard time growing them at first. I direct sowed them, but for some reason they didn’t do anything. But then I tried starting them indoors in peat pellets, and that did the trick. They turned out a bit smaller than I thought they’d be, but they were still tasty!
I’m not sure what to do differently to try to get bigger beets. My only thought is to make sure to really prepare the soil with starter fertilizer. Other than that, I’ll be planting a lot more this year.
Week 5 onion and beet seedlings:
Radish Varieties: Pink Beauty, Early Scarlet Globe, China Rose
Radishes are easy peasy. Seriously, if you need a confidence boost, grow radishes. Last year in very early spring (in Montana, they call it still-winter), I grew Pink Beauty and Early Scarlet in a container in my window sill. Within a few weeks, I had really great looking radishes. It was as simple as that.
But I stopped there because, well, I’m not a fan of raw radish. Too peppery for my taste. I did however play around with pickling them, and that experiment was delicious. But by the time I figure that out, I was well into summer and busy tending to the rest of my garden. So this year, I’m planting more of them and adding in China Rose radishes for the cool factor. Seriously, look at these guys!
Photo curtesy of Baker Creek Seeds
Greens
Varieties: Lacinato Kale, Swiss Chard (rainbow blend)
Last year, I tried growing swiss chard but planted them in a spot that was way too shady. So obviously, they didn’t do well. I also planted up quite a few lettuces. While pretty, I finally had to own up to a dark secret I’ve been hiding deep down in my soul for years…
I don’t care for lettuce. *gasp*
I love growing them for looks, but that’s about it. The flavor is usually pretty underwhelming, and I’m not a lettucey salad person. I grew a few lettuce varieties really well last year, but I’d rather focus my energy elsewhere.
You know what I do love though? Kale. Chard. Cabbages. Your beefier greens, if you will. So I’mma do those. I have cabbage seeds, but I’m not planning on trying them this year. That may change if I discover I have room for them once I start developing the garden.
Week 5 seedlings are looking wonderful:
I told you I’m growing a lot of stuff. Here’s the crazy part…that’s not all! This is just part 1! I haven’t even talked about the herbs and flowers I’m growing from seed this year. That will come in the next couple of posts since this one’s already long enough.
If you have any tips to share about growing any of the varieties I’ve listed here, I’d love it if you’d leave me a comment. I can use all the help I can get!