Variety id the Spice of Life
Variety is the spice of life, and gardeners love to try new things. Here is a list of the vegetable varieties we will be growing this year, most of which I have grown before: Arugula- standard; Bush beans- Blue Lake, Roma II, Cherokee Yellow Wax; Climbing beans- Purple Flat, Kentucky Wonder; Ghelly beans- Dwarf Horticulture, Black Turtle, Soy Butterbean; Beets- Detroit Dark Red, Chioggia; Cabbage (Chinese)- Blues, Rubicon, Michihili, Joi choy, Mei Qing, Bokchoy; Carrots- Danvers Half Long; Celery- Utah; Collards- Georgia Southern; Corn- G-90, Incredible, Silver Queen, Golden Bantam, Country Gentleman; Cucumber- Marketmore 76, Straight Eight, National Pickling; Eggplant- Black Beauty, Orient Express; Garlic- Spanish Roja, Music; Gourds- Dipper, Bird House, Crown of Thorns, Small Warted, Autumn Wings; Kale- Flatleaf, Siberian, Blue Scotch Curled; Leeks- King Richard; Lettuce- Nevada, Magenta, Concept, Red Sails, Tropicana, Buttercrunch, Jericho, Winter Density, Anvenue; Melon- Honey Rock, Green Nutmeg; Mustard- Southern Giant Curled, Mizuna; Okra- Burgundy, Clemson Spineless; Onions- Copra, Walla Walla, Yellow Ebenezer; Parsley- Italian Flatleaf, Forest Green, Survivor; Parsnip- Hollow Crown; Peanuts- Virginia Jumbo; Peas- Sugar Snap, Oregon Giant, Skunkpeas; Peppers- Carmen, Pizza, Olympus, Gypsy, Golden Treasure, Hungarian Wax, Jalapeno, Cayenne; Potatoes- Kennebec, Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold; Pumpkin- Old-Time Tennessee, Cushaw; Radish- Cherry Belle, French Breakfast, Daikon, Watermelon, China Rose; Rutabega- Purple-top; Spinach- Bloomsdale Long Standing; Summer Squash- Early Prolific Straightneck, Yellow Scallop, Sunburst, Gold Rush Zucchini, Trombocini; Winter Squash- Waltham Butternut, Table Queen Acorn, Carnival, Delicatta, Sweet Dumpling, Small Wonder Spaghetti; Sweet Potato- Golden Nugget; Swiss Chard- French Swiss Chard; Tomatoes (hybrids)- Better Boy, Celebrity, Goliath, Big Beef, Pink Beauty, Pink Girl, Fantastic; Tomatoes (open-pollinated)- Delicious, Mortgage Lifter, Bradley, Indigo Rose, Black Trifele, Golden Jubilee; Turnips- Purpletop, Amber Globe, Gold Ball, Scarlet Queen, Hakurei; Watermelon- Jubilee, Charleston Grey, Crimson Sweet, Tendersweet, Sugar Baby, Amish Moon and Stars; Herbs- Large Leaf Basil, Pukat Pill, Sage, Oregano, English Thyme, Sorrel; Flowers- Brite Lites Cosmos, Giant Dahlia mix Zinnia, Giant Sunflower, Tithonia, Rosa Rugosa, Valerian, Tuberose.
Warm weather excites gardeners, but do not forget we often have frosts in late April or early May. April 1st is a good time to start tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in a cold frame. Outside, we can plant onions, potatoes, beets, carrots, lettuce, parsley, peas, Swiss chard, celery, spinach, leeks, and radish. We will wait until May for everything else, and will not plant turnips, Arugula, cabbage, mustard, collards, Rutabega, and kale until mid-August.