Grading the Garden 09

Gawrsh its been a long time since I’ve done a gardening post. I kinda put the growing things aside during the holidays, but now that the seed catalogs are arriving, it’s time to start thinking about putting in an order. But before I do that, I’m looking at what I planted this past year in my zone 6 vegetable garden and trying to decide what’s worth repeating. Here’s a partial list, with grades, of what I grew this year. (BTW, if you are new to my blog, you may not know that this past year’s “Purple Paisley” garden was inspired by Prince, who “introduced” my husband and I.)

Vegetables

Lettuce: Red Rosie(romaine) A+

Lettuce: Mascara- A+

Lettuce: Johnny’s Encore Mix - A

Beets: Chiogga - D – have not pulled up anything yet worth eating, but haven’t given up on them.

Snap peas: Sugar Ann - C – did not yield nearly as well as the climbers. Plus, Miss B. got to them.

Carrots: Purple Rain – B- beautiful and fun to grow, although stubby.

Carrots: Danvers - C – stubby, probably due to shallow bed

Arugula: Roquette - D – wrong variety, planted to late

Spinach and Kale: F- Both mysteriously disappeared (sob!) from this bed, which is known to have slugs. I may try these on the deck as well.

With the exception of the bush peas, I will be growing all of these crops again, plus swiss chard and kale. I need a new variety of arugula to try. I’ll be growing the climbing peas on a trellis on my deck like in previous years.

Tomato: Celebrity - A

Tomato: Purple cherokee - A

Tomato: Vintage Wine – A-

Tomato : large husky red - B

Tomato: Sweet 100- A

Tomato-: Italian Tree – B

Tomato : Ponderosa – B

Tomato-: Jet Star - B

Red Pepper: Carmen - C

Green Pepper: Giant Jalapeno – B

Purple peppers: Lilac – B

Broccoli: F- eaten by slugs, didn’t produce flowers.

Edamame: Green Envy (this was fun to try, but you really need a large space to get a good yield. I'll probably plant the leftover seeds I have in the school courtyard.)

I’m going to limit myself to heirloom varieties of tomatos this year, and maybe a few hybrids that I already have seeds for. I’m moving the broccoli onto my deck to keep the slugs out of it and also because I’ve decided I really like the way it looks (I tried some on my deck in an earthbox during the late part of the season and it did very well and only just wilted due to frost). 

Cucumber: Organic – A

Cucumber: Seedless - B

Zucchini Squash: Cashflow – A

Canteloupe – Minnesota Midget - C- planted too late but managed to produce a few

Garlic TBD – planted in October

Potatoes – TBD –Remember my potato experiment? Nothing yet.

Snake Gourds A – fun. Definitiely want to experiment with more gourds.

I’ll be growing all of these again except for canteloupe, which isn’t space efficient enough for me. The snake gourds were planted on the deck – I may try the gourds on my arbor this year instead.   I'm also going to try some yellow and winter squashes.



Herbs:

Basil: Purple – B – not as pest resistant as the other varieties.

Basil: Italian - A

Lemon Verbena: A

Catmint: B

Lavendar – C

Dill – D for died

Vietnamese Cilantro – A

Flat Giant Parseley – A

Sage (reg and purple) –A

Lemon Thyme - A

Chives – TBD

Marjoram – TBD

I’ve decided to take out both the lemon verbena and the anise hyssop and put them somewhere else because I haven’t used them at all for cooking. In this bed I really want to focus on things I use and cook with frequently. I guess I just don’t like sage all that much. I thought I’d be using it more for the holidays, but it’s still uncut. I guess I don’t even like basil that much –it’s always so strong and overpowering. I used mostly mint, parseley, oregano, cilantro and the lemon thyme this year. Would like to grow more mint.


Flowers:

Milkweed: Tropical – A – slow to get started but spectacular and long-blooming when they came around.

Allium: Purple Sensation –A - wonderful deer-resistant bulbs to plant here.

Morning Glories: Tall Mix – A, but I’m sick of them.

Scarlet Runner and Purple Hyacinth Beans – B – grown for the last two years. Fun to grow, but may give them a rest.

Sunflowers: B – I always plant a mix packet and usually end up with about 10 flowers (I suspect hungry birds). I’m happy with them but would like to increase the yield, so will try starting more in the greenhouse.

Zinnia: Candy Stripe – C – planted late, but loved ‘em when they finally got here,though small.

Sorry I wasn't real specific with some of the seed varieties and sources.   If you're interested in a particular variety, or source, let me know and I'll give you any info I can.  Or, if you have any suggestions for me for next year, I would love to hear them.  This is only my second year growing most things, so I'm eager to hear from others - in and out of zone 6 - who have had more and different experiences. What did well for you this year? Any "can't miss" cultivars I've neglected or warnings about what to stay away from?

Previous Posts
Grading Tomatoes 2008