By John Mauer
A new year of gardening is upon us, at least the glorious seed catalogs. However, in all our years of gardening, Laura and I have rarely gotten or given advice. We grow seedlings, plant, nurture, weed, harvest, and take notes, but there has never been a way of sharing ideas. (Talks with Harry Adams being the exception.)
I know. Most of us use the various farms for fresh in-season produce. Vince and Maria LaFontan have Mountain View Farm, an organic farm above Macedonia with an amazing selection of produce. Megan, at the Kent Land Trust farm on Route 7, grows organic produce for shares in the farming, but the shares go fast so sign up. And various farmers sell their produce at the Kent Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning in season.
But what about fresh-picked, home grown vegetables? Here’s a few of our favorites just to scratch the surface; add a few of yours.
- Hot Peppers
- Hungarian Yellow Wax can usually be found as seedlings at local markets, but can be started in March as well. These set vertical yellow fruit early with reasonably consistent heat. Harvest continues into Fall. Source: Johnny’s Seed Catalog
- Super Chilies have small hot fruit on small plants, but the yield is incredible, almost decorative in density. These dry very well for winter. They can be grown in a container and brought indoors at frost if desired. Source: Totally Tomatoes
- Sweet Bell Pepper
- Ace is always productive here in Kent and rarely cracks, even if not picked in time. The green fruit is very consistent and good for stuffing. Source: Johnny’s
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Matt’s Wild Cherry has always produced well here even though it seems to have problems elsewhere. It needs staking and can grow very tall, but will yield from early summer on. Source: Johnny’s
- Tomatoes
- Brandywine is an heirloom tomato with slightly orange color and great taste. Because of the taste, it is usually available at some farm stands, but is better fresh. It needs staking. Source: Johnny’s
- Celebrity has the best disease resistance for our area and only needs a cage (no staking). This variety is especially good with manganese toxicity as long as the soil is kept limed. Source: Johnny’s
- Salad Fixings
- Arugula, the standard variety, grows quickly and has an excellent sharp taste for salads. It is best picked fresh, a few leaves at a time. Note that it will grow as a weed if allowed, so keep dead headed. And replant often for young leaves. Source: Johnny’s
In case you didn’t notice, Johnny’s is our favorite seed catalog with many organic seed offerings. If you missed sweet corn from this list, we no longer grow it. With the advent of super-sweet varieties, farm market corn is frequently as good as garden fresh. Have a great year in the garden.
Nice pictures