2012 Veg Garden Wrap-Up

Here's a wrap up of the 2012 veg garden production.

Notes:  Seeds come from BC=Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, unless indicated.  I've listed the exact variety of each plant, where I knew it.  There are some that I've lost or never knew.  I tried saving some of my own seed last year and I've noted which of our own seeds we used this year.  

Beans 

• Red Chinese long beans [our saved seed from 2011] Excellent germination.   I love these beans!   We'll always do these.
• Green Chinese long bean.   These don't like heat.   Did fabulously once the weather cooled late summer and were frost resistant for the first few light frosts.   Definitely a keeper.
• Dragon Tongue [our saved seed from 2011]  Excellent germination.  First beans June 30.
• Blue Lake [our saved seed from 2011]  Excellent germination.

Broccoli:  4 pack from Menard's.   Cabbage worms got them.  Good production, but covered with worms.  Pulled them up and tossed them.

Cabbage:  4 pack from Menard's.  Cabbage worms got them.  Pulled them up.

Carrots:  St Valery.    I grew carrots!    Woo-hoo!     Unfortunately, they were woody and didn't taste very good because of our soil.  No one would eat them.  I won't be doing carrots again.  

Collards:  4 pack from Menard's.  Cabbage worms got them.  Pulled them up.

Cucumber

• Telegraph:   My favorite, smooth skin and long.   Great cukes!   Will do these again.  
• de Bourbonne [tiny ones].  First cuke July 1.   Pick tiny.   Delicious and extremely prolific!  Will do these again. 

Eggplant

• Japanese Pickling [good success 2011]  Very heat tolerant!  These are my favorite.   Will do these again. 
• Rosa Bianca [round, rose pink]  These don't tolerate the very high heat [100 +] that we had.  Water frequently.   Didn't produce much for me, right next to the Japanese Pickling eggplant.   Won't do these again.  

Fennel:  Di Firenze.  I planted these in the middle of the summer and babied them until the heat broke.   They're in the coldframe now and going gangbusters.   Will probably have fennel gratin for Christmas.   YAY!    Will start another batch in the coldframe in January.


Garlic:   Forgot about it.   I planted some in the spring and then just left it all year.    Try to plant this IN THE FALL.    I've planted a bunch from some random garlic from the store.   Came up and is still green.   Hopefully, we'll have a nice harvest next spring.


Greens:   Siamese Dragon Mix from BC.    Great producer in the coldframe all winter long.   Our favorite greens mix. 

Herbs, Annual:

• Basil, dark purple opal. Water seeds daily until they sprout.   Likes fertile soil.  
• Basil, italian.  Water seeds daily until they sprout.   I like the large leaf varieties.    Pick often [Cut just above a pair of leaves].   They'll produce like crazy.    Pinch off flowers. 
• Cilantro, Slo Bolt [our saved seed from 2011, original seed from BC]  Great germination.   I still have it coming up in the cold frame and warm pockets of the raised beds!

Herbs, Perennial [planted several years ago]

• Lavender
• Thyme
• Sage
• Horehound [self sows]
• Chives [self sows]
• Garlic Chives [self sows]
• Anise Hyssop
• Hyssop
• Chamomile [self sows]
• Alpine Strawberries
• Clary Sage [self sows]
• Winter savory
• Lemon balm [self sows]
• Sorrel

Kale :  Ragged Jack?     Planted it in the coldframe last year where it came up then sat at 1 1/2 inches tall for weeks.   Got aphids.   Transplanted outside in Feb and it really took off.  Delicious!

Melon

• watermelon Crimson Sweet.  Seed from Menard's - I got a couple small ones. Enough for K2.   
• muskmelon Kansas.   Unhappy where it's planted.  One leaf.  Produced nothing. 
• muskmelon Sweet Passion:  good success 2011, not so much 2012.  Only got a couple.  Didn't like where it was planted.  

Okra:  Red okra [our saved seed from 2011] Poor germination.  Only 4 sprouted.   When we've bought fresh seed from BC, this was an excellent bearer!

Onions

• 1 bag sets yellow.  Ready to harvest,  July 1
• 1 bag sets red.   From May's.  Ready to harvest, July 1.
• Egyptian walking onions - going like crazy now. 
  

Peas

• Sugar Snap:   Hardy and prolific.  Slightly better than the Mammoth.  Heat tolerant.    Finished June 24.
• Mammoth Melting Sugar:  Hardy and prolific.   Finished June 24.

Peppers

• Pepperoncini - Good bearer!  Hotter than we like.
• Orange Bell - Good!
• Lipstick - Great producer!    Not very fleshy.
• Anaheim - Great producer!  Long, gorgeous, not very meaty.  

Potatoes:  Kennebec.   From May's.    Had poor success with the potato towers.   Will plant them differently next year.  

Radish:

• Rat's Tail.  Delicious!!  Fun, very prolific.  Heat tolerant.  Fruit [green seed pod] is delicious fresh and dries well to use  in soups all winter.  Self sows.  
• Early Scarlet Globe:   Plant 3 or so inches apart. [I'm talking to you, Robin!]   Great radishes if they're not crowded. 

Sweet potatoes:  Georgia Jet.  From Bloomingfoods.  Great yield.

Squash, Summer  [vulnerable to vine borers here in southern Indiana.]

• Zucchino Rampicante:   Terrific squash!   We left ours until they turned tan.  Delicious!
• Golden Marbre Scallop [pattypan]:  My favorite scalloped pattypan.
• Lemon Squash:   Better than crookneck in my opinion.   Delicious!  
• Castata Romanesco [zucch type]:  Early set of fruit. Light.  Striped.  First one, June 30.   Best zuch we've had here.   Still vulnerable to vine borers, but produced nice squash anyway.  

Squash, Winter

• Baby blue hubbard [try again, BC seed from 2011]:  Didn't come up.
• Golden hubbard:   Good producer!   Delicious squash. 
• Omaha pumpkin [smallish, enlongated]:   Bad seed.  
• butternut Rogosa Violina Gioia:  Never produced.
• Queensland Blue:   Long vines!   Great squash.
• Greek Sweet Red [BC seed from 2011 to try again]:   Very prolific.  Seemed to really take off once the weather cooled off.    Delicious!  One of my favorites.
• Black Futsu [BC seed from 2011 to try again]:  Came up late.   At the very END of the season, started producing cute little squash.   I'm going to try these again 2013. 
• Choctaw Sweet Potato squash  [BC seed from 2011 to try again]:  Didn't come up.

Squash/Melon, Volunteer [These guys showed up and I decided to leave them.  Had no idea what they were until they set fruit.]

• Little white scalloped pumpkin.  Cute!
• Regular round white pumpkin.  Smallish.  Cute!
• Butternut squash:   Got a bunch of nice ones.  
• Mystery winter squash/gourd:  Striped with a few warts.  Turned tan with green spotted stripes.   Weird, but fun.   Not edible.
• Cantaloupe:   Got a little one.

Strawberries

• June bearing [from May's]:   Great producers!
• Ever bearing  [from May's]:   Great producers!

Tomato

• Red Zebra:  set fruit very quickly.  Smaller tomatoes.   Delicious. 
• North Dakota Earliana:   Good.
• Beauty King: set fruit early.   Good. 
• Principe Borghese [grape]: slow to set fruit, but then they took off.   Hundreds of tomatoes until frost.
• Amish Paste: These set fruit first.  Nice meaty tomato that looks like a large roma.   One of our favorites. 
• Pontano Romanesco:   It grew.   Nothing special here this year. 
• Volunteer Mystery Plant #1:  Set lots of fruit.  Irregularly shaped like Sioux from 2011.
• Volunteer Mystery Plant #2:  Lots of fruit.