By LaVERLE McCANDLESS
Contributor
“Today is the day when bold kites fly,
When cumulus clouds roar across the sky,
When robins return, when children cheer,
When light rain beckons spring to appear.”
-Robert McCracken
The only edible vegtable receiving a 2007 All America Selections award is “Holy Mole” (pronounced Holy Moly) hybrid pepper. This 8-inch skinny brown pepper has an unusual tangy flavor and is a bit on the hot side.
Among the peppers which were considered for the AAS award was an orange bell, “Satsuma” for its sweetness, and “Carmen” a fast ripening Italian “bull's horn” (in some catalogs also known as “ram's horn”) great in salads and for roasting.
Do you like to try new and different types of carrots? A very sweet and juicy cream colored carrot is “White Satin.” Another interesting carrot is “Rainbow Hybrid,” a long slender yellow and white carrots of different flavors.
Tomatoes continue to dominate in the edible department of the vegetable garden, whether in the ground or in containers. Remember if you are doing container planting of tomatoes, the size of the container determines the size of your tomato.
If you plant a large-type tomato in a container, give the roots a lot of growing room in order to have large tomatoes. This is why the cherry and patio tomatoes were developed—to have a smaller variety of tomato plus the convenience of being in a container on your patio or balcony.
Interesting tomatoes this year, “Red Lightning Hybrid,” a yellow striped tomato from the famous “Red Zebra” heirloom. “Grandaddy” is from Paul Thomas, breeder of “Better Boy,” but no days to maturity listed for the two tomatoes I could find. There is a catalog dedicated to tomatoes and peppers—a good read and a good wish book!
Heirlooms are a big item in many catalogs this year with a few catalogs dedicated to heirloom varieties only. Heirloom potatoes are getting to be a big thing with gardeners. There seems to be a comeback in the colored potatoes not seen before in the potato line of heirlooms. “Huckleberry” is a rosy colored potato and gold-fleshed “Red Gold” is listed in catalogs.
For those of you who like peas but don't have the large climbing area to support peas, “Peas ‘n a Pot” are 10 inches tall but producing as many 3-inch pods as the big plants. A great plant for a small area.
Hopefully during those snowy days of the past months, you find all the seeds and plants you would like to plant in your garden. WARNING—if you plant heirloom varieties and plant other varieties alongside them, you may end up with a “hybrid” item which in turn will not produce the original variety if you save the seed.
Wind and insects have a habit of moving pollen from one flower to the next and they don't care if it is an heirloom or a hybrid as long as it is a flower with pollen. So you all have fun in the garden this year whether you are a flower, herb, vegetable, or a mix-of-everything gardener.
Gardening questions? We are as close as the phone 455-7568 or e-mail at: [email protected].
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