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Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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Posted by scottfsmith 6B/7A MD (My Page) on Thu, Mar 3, 05 at 10:43
| I don' t have a lot of time or space for a vegetable garden (I already have 300 fruit trees to deal with in my limited spare time), but I do want to start a few things that I can't find great versions of locally. We live within walking distance of a Whole Foods store, which has a pretty good produce selection, and also there is a farmers market that we hit fairly often in the summer. So I am looking for things that I still would like to have over what I can find at the market. Here is what I have come up with so far.
Tomatoes: its always good to grow these to get nice ripe ones! Our farmers market now sells many heirloom varieties but somehow the quality is not consistent, perhaps picked too early or wrong varieties.
Melons: There are not many melons beyond the standard ones available here, so I wanted to try growing some Charentais and a few others.
Watermelon: it is too inconsistent flavor in the stores so I would like to try my own. My kids love watermelon, so they will really enjoy growing it as well.
Squash: well I just love good squash so I have to grow some.
I have grown peppers before but my results don't seem to improve any on the stores. Ditto eggplant. We can buy very good lettuce, but I guess growing it would have the advantage of always having some available, we are often out. I am already growing all the standard herbs.
I'd be interested to hear from others in a similar situation to see what you found rewarding. One thing I was looking at for example was the serpentine melons, our kids love cukes and thought those might be a nice variation. But I never tried one myself.
Scott |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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| One thing about watermelons, start thinking about what you will do when all those watermelons ripen at the same time. I don't grow watermelons for just that reason. Prefer honeydews & other similar-size melons instead. Easier to store. I also like to grow a LOT of different Asian greens, but then again, I'm really into stirfries. I also grow eggplants that one doesn't always find easily at the markets - white, violets, greens - all far less seedy & bitter than your common black varieties. I don't bother with bell peppers, since they're always available in decent quality, but do grow a plethora of different hot peppers. They freeze so well & so easily (just wash, dry, & pop into freezer bags whole), that it's senseless to buy them at their inflated store prices over the winter. I also grow any & all herbs that I even remotely want to use. Herbs in the markets are SO expensive. Why buy when you can easily grow your own basil, Italian flat parsley, coriander, chervil, etc. |
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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| I agree with Breezy. I love herbs and grow as many varieties as I can that I will use. I also grow tomatoes. I love to eat them and they are commanding the same prices per pound as most low grade beef, chicken, and fish. I also love squash, eggplants, sweet and hot peppers. |
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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| Try growing a few different varieties of carrots, especially Chantenay types. They don’t take up much space in a small garden and you won’t believe the difference in flavor. It seems that carrots, like tomatoes, are bred to appeal to the eye and not the palate of consumers. There is a big difference in taste between the Chantenay I can grow and the sour-tasting Imperator types that are sold in the supermarket. In addition, you can plant a late crop, leave it in the ground heavily mulched in the fall, and dig carrots well after frost hits to extend your harvest season. -- BC -- |
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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| You can get some nice determinant tomatoes if space is a concern. Tomato Forum will offer you plenty of suggestions. Agreed that fresh herbs are worth the space. I esp use chives, garlic chives, winter savoury (more ornamental that sprawling oregano and stronger but similar flavour), mints - esp chocolate (contained), lemon verbena (lemon balm just takes advantage and overruns your garden!), tarragon, basils. |
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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| Thanks for all the ideas. I grow lots of basil and have all the big perennial herbs (thyme, marjoram, oregano, sage), but I should be able to squeeze in a few more annuals. Most of my vegetable gardening in the past has been the "one eye open" kind, buy the flats and plug 'em in. I never had much luck with carrots with that style, but they are due for another try now, with a little more planning. The asian greens idea I will have to check out, my wife is asian and I would have a ready target for the produce. The local market also doesn't sell too much of that. She goes to the big asian supermarket every once in awhile, but its over half an hour from where we are. Breezyb, I would be interested in the top couple asian greens that you grow as far as ease of growing in our climate and taste. Now I need to figure out where I can put everything! I started putting up a melon trellis over the weekend, but after getting the poles in the ground I got concerned about it shading out the grape trellis that is only 4' away. I may try trellising the melons to only 4' high and since the grapes are 6' high they will not get blocked so much. Scott |
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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| I think your approach is a sensible one - grow the things yourself that you can't find decent versions of locally. And with 300 fruit trees, you hopefully won't be tempted to really expand you foray into heirloom veggie gardening. I didn't think I had an addictive personality, but I've discovered i do. Thank goodness it's heirlooms and not something else!!! |
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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| Raymondo, I know I have an addictive personality, and I am always working to keep it under control. Without a lot of success sometimes! Fortunately my yard is less than an acre, that puts a strong upper bound on my growing urges. I don't plan to leap into Heirloom veggies, but I feel a bit unbalanced growing all this fruit and no veggies at all. Scott |
RE: Best heirlooms for a new gourmet veggie garden?
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Did we have an addictive personality before gardening, or was it caused by gardening.
The chicken or the egg thing. Douglas(who likes Delicata squash, Charentais melons, and Aunt Gerties Gold tomatoes quite much). |
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