Have You Tried Any of These Vegetables?

Many of us plan our gardens in advance of spring and fill up our planting beds quickly. Occasionally, however, I actually leave a little space for something new, not necessarily exotic or weird but something that I'd simply like to try out.  The potential list of these potential veggie candidates, of course,  is very long, but here are a few that might at least get you thinking about deviating from your standard repertoire.

Globe Artichokes  (Cynara scolymus) - Here's one  for a backyard gardener with extra space and  looking for a challege.  Annual versions of these perennial plants (in milder climes) were developed in the late 1980's. For our locale there are  several varieties that will grow, but the two more readily available  cultivars are Imperial Star and Colorado Star. They can be grown from seed, but get started  quickly -- in fact, maybe you should wait until next year unless you can get a seedling from a nursery... Anyway,  the seeds require temperatures in the 70-80°F range to germinate, BUT after sprouting the seedlings only need  daytime temperatures in the range 60-70°F  AND need to have night temperatures between  50-60°F (so turn off those heat mats at night).  If you start the seeds in plugs, they will need to be transplanted into 4" pots as soon as the first permanent leaves develop.  The plants like very fertile well drained soil. Artichokes produce deep tap roots and each mature plant requires about 12 square feet of space.

Flower sprouts (Brassica oleracea) - Known as "Kalettes," their commercial name, they are relatively  new to the backyard gardening scene. First developed in Great Britain about 10 years ago,   kalettes are a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale. They  grow on  stalks like B. sprouts, but instead of setting little cabbage-like heads, kalettes set small, loose heads.  The leaves in these heads are more tender than regular kale and hence you can  incorporate into salads without excuses or guilt. like regular kale, they also fill a decorative function on dinner  and serving plates in upscale eateries.  Kalettes are a late crop  requiring a full 100 days to harvest although there are three cultivars, one each for early, mid and late season. In your garden, space plants 18" apart and in rows 3 feet apart.  

Cucumbers (Cucumis melo) - Although Armenian cukes are distantly related to our familiar cucumbers (Cucumis sativus),  they are really melons - it's cousins are honeydews and musks. There are two main varieties, one is long and light green and the other resembles a stiped zuchinni. The flesh is melon-like, but the flavor is cucumber-like. You will need to trellis these plants because they  are vigorous growers and set many fruit. However,  Armenian cucumbers are suseptible to a number of common diseases and  is the  reason why  they hurry to fruit early and often.

Heirloom pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo etc.) -  For a backyard gardener recognizing  a pumpkin as a pumpkin taxonomically gets to  be confusing. Most of us picture "field pumpkins" when we hear the word - plants with big vines, fruits of varying in size and typically some hue of orange (& most recently, white). But it's not quite that simple. There are  various schemes for dividing the Cucurbita into species. One system names 30 species! The term, Cucurbita, simply translated means "gourd," and the species name, pepo, botanically designates a type of berry. Pepos typically have a tough outer rind and a thick underlying flesh layer. Summer squash, zucchini and acorn squashes as well  as field pumpkins are all  C. pepos,  and originate from from wetter areas Mexico and North America. Other Cucurbita  species, like C. maxima, come from South America, but all Cucurbita are traceable to the New World in origin while  their recent cultivars, like the summer favorite, zucchini which was developed in Italy in the 19th century, are associated with other continents.

So in case you happen to have a lot of room left in your garden, here are some heirloom  C. pepos that you might want to try the Connecticut Field, New England Sugar Pie, and the Winter Luxury Pie pumpkins.  For C. maxima,  another  species that  includes recognizable "pumpkins" as well as  many winter squashes like Hubbards, the varieties   that you might consider growing include  Long Island Cheese, Big Max and Rouge Vif D'Estampes pumpkins.

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopesicum) - Try yellow Brandywine; move beyond that old conventional red heirloom...  Remember as an heirloom,  Brandywines are indeterminate - lots of long vines - requiring staking, caging, pruning or treslising for the industrious gardener.  Like all tomatoes they  require fertile soil, and grow best if moisture levels are stable.  Because the heirlooms have not been bred to be disease resistant, especially to late blight (Phytophthera infestans),  Brandywines may not survive too long into late summer or  early fall. However, if you want to splurge, you can by a grafted plant from a nursery on disease resistant stock for about $10+.

Finally, if you are thinking about saving their seed, you may  be disappointed because Brandys will cross pollinate with other tomatoes in your garden or from your neighbor's. "Crossing" will not affect their fruit this year, but you may not get the this year's tomato next year from the seed you saved.

And remember...

"The tomato hides its grief. Internal damage is hard to spot." - Julia Child