…and it’s all the weather’s fault
I may be able to get some gardening done tomorrow, but after that there is a prediction of very cold fuckin’ weather for the coming week. Cold as in down into the upper 20’s a couple of nights. Time to mulch the spinach again.
So anyway, I’ve got a fat stack of Gardener’s Porn (AKA seed and nursery catalogs) sitting here and I’ve been thinking about the veggie garden for this year. So far, this is what I’m probably going to plant…
Bush Beans: Most years, I grow Blue Lake Green Beans using the pole bean type. This year, I’m going to go with the bush type, since they take up less space and have a determinate (everything ripens at once) growing habit. I’m shooting for enough plants to yield about 40-50 pounds of cut&blanched&frozen beans.
Hybrid and Heirloom Tomatos: The past couple of years, I’ve only grown heirloom tomatos. Now, they taste wonderful, but the yields are not humongous and screwy weather (as we had last year) just plays hell with them. This year, I’ll include 3-4 hybrid tomato varieties for a better yield.
Winter Squash: This (along with carrots) is a culinary gamble. See, Grace has less experience with different foods than I do, so if I’m gonna get her to eat something new (like winter squash), I’ll have to make it delicious or else I’ll have to eat all that squash myself.
Carrots: Here’s the Carrot Quandry here at the House of Cross…Grace likes them raw, but not cooked…I like them cooked, but not raw. Once again, I will have to cook them up in such a way as to make them something she will want to eat.
Sweet Corn: I tried growing corn 3 years ago and it grew like hell, but didn’t taste all that great. This year, armed with garden books and organic fertilizer, I’m gonna try again.
Peas: But not many, because peas are something Grace will not eat, no how, no way. On the other hand, I love peas, so they’ll be mine, all MINE! Bwuhahahahaha!
Cantalopes: As I do every year, I’ll plant some “Ambrosia” cantalopes. They’re small, but incredibly delicious.
Potatos: I’m going to try my hand at growing some taters this year. Yukon Golds, to be specific. I doubt we’ll get more than 10 pounds worth, but if I can do a good job of it, I’ll grow more next year.
Turnips: Only a few, but they’ll add some delisciosity to stews and mashes and such. I’m thinking I’ll grow the longer cylindrical type, rather than the old round standbys.
Bell Peppers: I grow these every year and use them inj all sorts of dishes. I think this year I’ll try growing one of the smaller “baby bell” types along with the regular varieties. I won’t be growing any chiles this year, since I still have many many pounds of dried chiles from years past.
New Zealand Spinach: Is not actually spinach at all, but a perennial vine whose leaves taste and look like spinach. Given how much Grace and I love spinach, and given how spinach craps out as soon as the warm weather hits, this heat loving plant will keep us eating our greens until the fall spinach crop comes in.
Cucumbers: I’ll plant one vine of cukes for Grace, since I don’t like them. If we ever get into making pickles, I’ll grow more.
Zuchinni: As always, I’ll grow ONE plant, and, as always, we’ll have tons of zuchinni to eat.
Garlic: Actually, there is a ton of garlic growing all over my garden, but this year I’m going to try a few new varieties. They won’t ripen until the fall, but they’ll be worth waiting for.
Most likely, I’ll add a few veggies before things are done, but there’s the big list.
Next LJ: The 2006 Herb List.
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