After gardening for many years, I’m – fortunately – past the stage where I feel the need to grow every single thing out there. Still, every year I try a few new things in the vegetable garden and flower beds. Here’s a quick look at what is new for me this year in the vegetable garden.
I’ve been leery of growing broccoli for no good reason, but this year I’ll try Asparabroc Baby Broccoli. It’s described as tender with a sweet broccoli taste with a hint of asparagus. It matures in only 50 days and seeds can be started indoors or sowed directly into the soil. After the main stem is cut, side shoots can be harvested for another month.
The two new tomatoes I’ll be growing this year are both a bit unusual. The first is ‘Indigo Blue Beauty,’ one of the Indigo Series. The tomatoes in this series contain the same powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins that make blueberries so good for you. ‘Indigo Blue Beauty’ boasts of meaty, juicy, 4-8 oz. beefsteak fruits that hold well on the vine for extended periods, resisting sunburn and cracking. The strange thing about the Indigo Series is that the tomatoes are so dark in color as to look rotten when they are ripe. Determining when to harvest will be a challenge.
The second “new” tomato I’ll grow this year is an heirloom tomato that’s been around for over 100 years. It is also unusual in color, appearing brown when ripe. Dense, juicy fruits are round and average 8-12 oz. Cherokee is popular both for its unusual color and its wonderful tomato taste.
Last year I grew bok choy, also called pak choi, for the first time, with great success. This year I’ll be trying ‘Toy Choi’ an early, miniature version. The 5-inch plants have white stems with dark green leaves and since they are so small, can be closely spaced. They can be eaten raw in salads or entire heads can be roasted and drizzled with olive oil and served as a side dish.
I’ll also be growing corn salad, a fast growing green that develops small rosettes of glossy, oval leaves with a buttery texture and sweet, nutty flavor. I’ll plant corn salad in early spring and then again in fall, since it’s not a plant for hot weather.
The final new item in my garden this year will be ‘Annihilator’ bush beans. Although my garden has been a prolific producer of several different pole beans, bush beans have never been very successful. I’m certain I would have had a huge harvest last year, though, if a baby bunny hadn’t breeched the fence and taken up permanent residence inside the garden. A new fence is on the spring chore list. Anyway, ‘Annihilator’ promises incredible yields of beautiful, dark green, glossy, 6-inch, tender, tasty pods set high on the plant for easy picking. How can they fail?
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