2010 Garden: Planning in process

I just started receiving all the gorgeous catalogs and am so excited for my 2010 garden.  I think I have decided what I am going to plant in my vegetable Garden.

Here are repeats from last years garden I will grow again because they were easy and productive.

Herbs and greens:

Arugala- this is pretty much growing wild now because it re-seeded itself.

Spring Mix: very easy to grow but make sure to protect it from the sun.

Genovese Basil
Our most popular basil offering. Basil Genovese comes from Italy to lend its fragrance and beauty to your landscape, and, more importantly, its flavor to any dish that calls for basil. Large, dark green, heavily perfumed 2″ long. This is a choice basil selection.

Cilantro is still growing…one stem is over 2 feet long!

Chives
The sweet, oniony flavor of chives is well-known. Deserving of equal appreciation are the spunky lavender flowers, which not only serve as a decorative border for garden beds, but can be eaten in salads or used as a garnish for other foods. Said to deter Japanese beetles. Full sun to part shade; prefers moderately rich soil.

Sage
(Salvia officinalis) Besides carrying the banner for Thanksgiving, sage works well with virtually every kind of food. Harvest its leaves any time and use it fresh, dried, or frozen. Grows 12-30″ tall; full sun; well-drained soil. Perennial.

English Thyme
This invaluable culinary herb is one of the finest herbs of French cuisine, and was once used in combination with beer as a cure for shyness. Its low-growing, gentle appearance and pretty flowers also make it a favorite landscape plant. Grows 1′ tall; full sun to part shade; light, well-drained soil. Perennial.

Mint
Mint makes a lively addition to salads and teas. Our mint is grown from seed which allows us to offer you certified organic plants. Mint grown from seed does not grow true to type, so we cannot specify the variety, but we are told by our supplier the flavor is that of peppermint.
 
 
Tomatoes:
 
Black Krim
This is the legendary black tomato, known for its brown-black skin and sweet-rich flavor. Reportedly Russian in origin. We introduced Black Krim in 1995 and it has developed a steady and growing following ever since. Fruits are borne in strands and are large, firm, with fine-textured interiors.  This was very productive in my garden.

Marvel Stripe
Luscious sweet flavor, lively coloring, and large, 1-2 lb. fruits make this one of the best of the heirloom beefsteaks. The fruits are bicolored red and yellow with a marbelized interior. Indeterminate. 80-90 days.  This was my most productive tomato plants…very sweet and juicy tomatoes.
 
Sungold
An orange cherry tomato that may be the most significant tomato introduction in the last decade. It has a distinctive tropical flavor that sets it apart, or, as one customer said, “like fireworks in your mouth.” Produces long strands of fruit on vigorous, tall, indeterminate vines. Early. Hybrid. 57 days.

Sun Sugar
Judged the best tasting cherry tomato by the garden and food staff of Sunset Magazine. How could we resist offering to you for your consideration? Orange skinned and similar in appearance to Sun Gold. Crack resistant. Indeterminate. 62 days.
 
Sugar Snack
Sugar Snack produces impressive clusters of sweet and attractive cherry tomatoes, similar in appearance to Sweet 100. Unlike Sweet 100, Sugar Snack fruits are much less likely to crack. Ranked the #2 cherry tomato by the garden editors of Sunset Magazine, just behind SunSugar. A very heavy producer. Indeterminate. 65 days.
 
Cocozelle Zucchini

This is an easy-to-grow, productive and flavorful variety of zucchini that belongs in every summer garden. 45-60 days.

Charentais Melon
The most famous of the French cantaloupes, and a fixture at late summer produce markets in the south of France. Charentais produces small, 1-2 lb. fruits filled with fragrant and flavorful orange flesh. The slightly lobed fruit has a smooth gray surface with green vertical stripes at each lobe. Each fruit is perfectly sized for four delectable servings. 75 – 90 days.

Honey Orange Melon
This unusual honeydew has sweet flavor and pretty salmon-orange flesh that contrasts nicely with its ivory skin. Honey Orange produces numerous 3 lb. fruits that mature early and hold well after harvesting. It also tolerates cool conditions well. 74 days.
 
 
Here are some new things I will plant. for 2010
 
Jalapeno Peppers
Serrano Peppers
Garlic
Shallots
Pattypan squash
Orangeglo watermelon
Moon and Stars watermelon
Blacktail mountain watermelon
Crimson Sweet
 
Diva Cucumber
When we had to decide on a cucumber variety to offer in seedling form, Diva was the obvious choice. A 2002 All-America Selection, it produces delicious and uniform cucumbers with a sweet, melon-like flavor. Diva makes a first rate addition to salads, and it is so good it can be eaten all alone.

Sugar Baby watermelon
Sugar Baby’s perfect sized fruits have made it the backyard gardener’s favorite watermelon. The 6-8″ round fruits have deep maroon-red interiors of sweet, fine-textured flesh, and weigh 8-10 lbs. – just right for the icebox. 78 days.
 
Tomatillo
Tomatillos are an essential ingredient in many Southwestern dishes and salsa verde, giving these preparations a distinctive clean, sharp taste. The plants are multibranching, 3-4′ tall, and extremely prolific. The fruits are about the size of large cherry tomatoes and covered with easy-to-remove brown papery husks which conceal the dark green, smooth skin. 60 days. Open pollinated. OG. 35-45 seeds/pkt.

New tomatoes for 2010

Anna Russian
The oxheart has very delicate, wistful foliage as do many of the Russian varieties. Don’t let that fool you! Anna is easy to grow and bears heavily during hot and cool weather. 65 days

Cherokee Purple
A legendary and beautiful tomato, at least 100 years old and said to be grown by the Cherokee People. 12 oz. deep dark dusky rose-purple, deep red inside, with sweet, rich and smoky, luscious flavor. Cherokee Purple is a garden staple, in everyone’s favorite list for a good reason– disease resistant, reliable and easy to grow, and great one for your heirloom or heritage garden. Seeds were sent to Craig Lehoullier by JD Green of Tennessee who got them from a neighbor whose family had grown them for more than 100 years. In 1990 Craig named it Cherokee Purple.

Cherokee Green
Another marvelous tomato from Craig LeHoullier. As Craig was growing our Cherokee Chocolate, one plant gave him ripe fruit which remained green! Growing on a big leafy plant, Cherokee Green fruits reach to 12″ to 16″ ounces and deliver the classic knock-out flavor and probably in the top 3 of the green varieties. Amber green with a yellow hue when ripe, they deliver a tangy rich sweet taste with meaty juicy texture. 75 days

Orange Strawberry
Vivid orange inside and out, with
a rich, sweet taste to match. Orange Strawberry is an oxheart type of tomato with the fine flavor and distinctive shape for which oxhearts are known. Fruits run in the 1/2 to 1 lb. range. Plants are indeterminate, productive. Heirloom. 80 days.

Neves Azorean Red NAR. (Pronounced Neh-ves Ah ZOR ee uhn) 75 days. Boy are you in for a treat! This terrific, boldly flavored, 1 to 3 lb tomato is produced on a big hearty plant with a large central stem branching out into loaded branches of big beefsteak tomatoes so delicious they have become the talk of the tomato world. I have been custom growing this variety for certain very discriminating customers for the past couple of years, and now that the world is catching on to this spectacular fruit, it could become the ultimate sandwich tomato or to show off your special tomato salad. This one packs quite a flavor punch–not for sissies. Featuring great disease resistance and an excellent production right up until frost, we heartily thank Anthony Neves who brought the seeds home with him from a trip to The Azores, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic about 900 miles west of mainland Portugal.