"Viva Italia" tomato, a processor. Excellent disease resistance (though mine are subsurface drip irrigated receiving little very little rain), very productive, make great salsas and spag sauces.

"Fooled You" jalapeno: Zero problems, highly productive, great case, large fruit for stuffing and absolutely no heat at all in a single pepper for the last 4 years.

"Packman" broccoli: same as the above except for worms (nothing exclusive there), beautiful heads, very reliable from one type of spring and fall to the next regardless of the extremes.

Michael

Petit Provencal peas... I got them in a Wintersown.org pack last year, and they are wonderful. Not too tall so they don't really need trellising (some twiggy branches work fine), prolific, delicious, and lots of peas per pod, so less work shelling them all.

Painted Lady runner beans... prolific, delicious, freeze well, and beautiful... they also attract pollinators and I even saw a hummingbird visiting last year!

And I'm forever going on about swiss chard, SO much easier than spinach and just as tasty.

I'm trying not to duplicate Anney's choices and I'm not sure I can, except for the tomatoes she mentions, which I have not grown.

I do have a tomato which was surprisingly good though. It is Aunt Gertie's Gold. Loaded with flavor!

Another surprisingly good variety was Emerald okra. Reading recent okra threads tells me I am not the only gardener to make this discovery.

I would be unfortunate if we focus on a narrow range of just the very best varieties though. I see that possibly happening with varieties such as Fortex, which is so good that many of us may grow it to the exclusion of most others.

Jim

jimster that is a good point
"would be unfortunate if we focus on a narrow range of just the very best varieties though. I see that possibly happening with varieties such as Fortex, which is so good that many of us may grow it to the exclusion of most others"
I start from a place of ignorance only starting gardening last year and I am guilty for that, for instance I used Moneymaker and Tumbling Tom Tomato's, as that is what I remember my dad growing, along with Celebrity, Beefmaster and Brandywine, which are in every nursery around me, even though I am starting from seed, in fact the only brave choice I made was a tomato called Costoluto Genovese, and a free packet called lady bug...so lady bug not so brave :-)
and back to the point, for me surprise Beet greens, never heard of that before I move here, no idea of what variety mine are but they are lush!

Heather, from when I was a little kid, beet greens have been a favorite vegetable of mine. You are not alone in discovering beet greens recently. They are very popular in a mix of baby greens for salad.

Jim

for me it would have to be green beans. I would never eat canned or nasty brown fresh ones from the store. I never grew them in my garden cause yuck, they were icky. Then at someone elses request I did grow them. OMG! YUMMY, wrap me in bacon and die happy. I learned from that to try many new things. Someday I may even like beets, still can't believe how many of those I sell every year.

Very interesting syrvey.

I think I have not yet found all of them but I have a few that came across with last year.
For years I tried to grow bell peppers. I like both hot and sweet
peppers. But never had a luck with bells. Last year I got some CUBANELLE & GYPSY SWEET.
I thing I will grow them every year from now on.
Another veggie is AURUGULA. It is great by itself or in salad.
Or you can saute' it briefly and serve it as side veggie dish.
Right now they are at the peak in my garden. They beat the lettuce variety in growth.
This year I am on the road of discovery to find a surprise tomato.

Jim

I don't worry about getting stuck on one vegetable and not trying others. Fortunately, we can grow our "surprise favorites" and try others out at the same time.

I see that posters here have listed beet greens. I haven't tried them either! This personal experience thing is what's likely to inspire me to try what you've grown and maybe find a new surprise. :-)

I'm looking forward to the Swiss Chard if I'm able to use the leaves in salads and soups and the ribs as celery or cooked like asparagus with butter and salt! (Anybody done that?)

Lots of people discard the ribs, but I like them. I just start them a little ahead of the greens in anything I'm making so they are tender by the time the greens are done.

I don't think I'd like them raw in salad, though. They do seem a better cooked vegetable to my taste.

OK Lets start with beet greens I have gardened all my life and did not like beets. Last year being new to square foot gardening. Well to shorten the story I found out I love baby beets. Seems like all those years me and the family were letting the beets go too long before harvesting. Now I pick them from the size of my finger tip to the size of a ping pong ball and saute in butter or add to a raw salad. Oh my they are so good. The other is Swiss Chard another one I have grown for years, Bright lights it is an OK vegetable,and I enjoyed the leaves. Well last year I put in Fordhook Giant.Now I go after the stem I love it raw with peanut butter dabbed into the groove, or steamed like Asparagus with butter and salt. How much do I like chard, well I grew it all winter in my kitchen under lights as There is no place to buy it up here not even in summer.

Curt~

Last year I grew Black Cherry (tomato). I'll never be without it, if I can help it. We ate it like fruit!

Also Lambs' Quarters, which make an OUTSTANDING green, cooked like spinach. In 2006 I had one plant volunteer in the garden. I left it to make seed and now, every year we harvest enough from volunteers, that we freeze pounds of the stuff to eat all year long. This is our kids' favorite vegetable when they come home from college. It's heat and drought resistant and, if it sprouts where we don't want it... easy to weed out.

George
Tahlequah, OK

I love beets and beet greens! Unfortunately, my beets didn't give me anything but greens last year, but I did enjoy them. Would've loved some actual beets tho! It was my first year trying to grow them so maybe I'll do better this year ;).

Anywho - I grew Cherokee Purple along with Julia Child for the first time last year. I only planted the Julia Child's because of the name - she was a fav of mine so I wanted to check them out. They were awesome!! To tell you the truth, I liked the JC better than the Cherokee Purple! They're going to be a staple of mine now. And again - hopefully I'll get more than the 3 or 4 I got last year before the late blight hit!!

Lisa

lots of great ideas !! I am going to try some of the veg mentioned here. Additionally, here are a few I would grow again -

for instant gratification(due to the easiness to grow) :
zucchini (very easy to grow)
cayenne pepper
green beans
tomatoes
fava beans
turnip
leek & onion
coriander

for the amazing taste -
okra(successful for the first time last year)
cauliflower
broccoli (I grew broccoli for the firs time this year. the side shoots that are much smaller are the tastiest broccoli i have ever had...)
red long radish
eggplant

These days, I only grow what i can start from seeds and these are all that I start myself

Garlic chives!!! =) I swear, you can leave them in the same pot for a decade, store it in your attic in a box over Winter and they'll still come back the next Spring! Amazing herb.

For all the new-to-beets people, I have a tip on peeling bits. Don't peel them prior to cooking as you would other root vegetables. It's messy and they "bleed" out a lot of their color in the cooking. For the same reason, if you trim off the tops (which you probably would want to do with older, larger beets) leave an inch or two of stalks attached. Don't trim the tap root too short either.

After cooking, cool under water enough that you can handle the beets. The skins will slip off easily.

Small beets, more or less marble size, can be cooked and eaten roots, greens and all.

Jim

Ground cherries. I had never even heard of them, and when I went by a local nursery late in the planting season to see if they had any pepper plants left, the owner recommended I try one. After the kids and I tasted a sample, we decided to give them a try. I can't tell you how much fun the kids had checking around everyday to see if any ripe ones had fallen off. They loved to peel the little paper husks off. I'm planting three different kinds this year, in hopes that I'll have enough to make some jam.

Alma Paprika peppers. Planted them a couple years ago, and when I made my first batch of homemade paprika out of them, I was hooked. The grocery store stuff is flavorless compared to homemade.

Lime Basil. I've tried numerous kinds of basil, but I fell in love with the smell of this one. Found myself rubbing the leaves everytime I walked by it. The flavor is mild and sweet compared to regular basil, kind of tropical to me. Makes a great pesto too - great on fish or chicken.

Hope to find some new surprises this year!

Bonnie

Fava beans! I had never heard of them until a couple years ago, and never grown them until last year. They are delicious -- I could eat them as a snack or use them in place of edamame in recipes.

Just great :)
Jill

Bonnie,

How do you process the paprika? Dehydrator? Coffee grinder? Just briefly, please.

People on the Cooking Forum rave about Spanish smoked paprika. I have made chipotles, which are dry smoked jalapenos. Smoked paprika would be a tempting project.

Jim

You got it! I cut in small strips to speed up the drying process, and place in the dehydrator. Once most of them feel crisp, I take them out, and let them sit out for another day, just to be sure they are completely dry. Grind them in small batches in the coffee grinder, making sure not to breathe in the powder, as I transfer it to a spice jar using a funnel.

I've tried the smoked paprika from a spice store before, but I haven't tried doing that myself. I know some folks put them in a smoker, before drying and grinding, but I actually like the flavor without it, so not sure if I want to take a chance, and mess with a good thing, if you know what I mean. Especially since I'd have to wait a whole 'nother year to make another batch!

I'm trying several other types of peppers that are said to be good for paprika this year - Botinecka Zuta, Feherozon, Hungarian Paprika, and Soroksari. Can't wait to compare the taste of all of them!

Bonnie

Great thread! Very happy reading that black cherry tomatoes are good, just put a couple of plants in the cherry tomato bed.

The answer on what surprised me is different every year, and for last year it was chayote! I liked many things about this amazingly vigorous vine. One thing is that it produces right in the time 'gap' when all winter squash is done but the cole crops are still infants. One vine gave us about 50 vegetable pears, chayote, mirlitons, or whatever you call it. The seed came from the store but it grew fruit that tasted better than store bought, a lot more tender. Also, it attracted A LOT of bees and a praying mantid laid her eggs in the plant. We grew it around an arbor/trellis where it made shade for us and it looked nice too!

I made the same beet discovery as some of you about three years ago. I never liked beets growing up, but I decided to grow it anyway and found I liked the leaves. Then I found out that grating or thinly slicing the raw roots and marinating them with some balsamic vinegar and adding that to salads was not half bad. Then I tried roasting them, wow, roasted beets. I think I like beets now.

For those of you who are into the beet 'greens' there is a variety called 'bull's blood' which has some very dark purple/maroon leaves and they are just wonderful. The roots are not much but I will grow it again for the leaves, this variety is grown primarily for the greens (that are purple, not green).

My surprise was (like a few others) Swiss Chard, or silverbeet as its called here. I can remember eating it when I was younger but it never tasted good. But growing it fresh and being able to eat the younger leaves (not the huge, bitter ones that make my teeth hurt) changed my mind completely.

I only wish it grew all year here... But I'm starting my winter crop now so it shouldn't be too long of a wait.

Favorites are all very personal, aren't they?

Here's a word of caution, don't think that a variety that you really like will be there forever. Of course, this is especially true if they are hybrids and you are dependent on a seed company that owns the parent lines. I've lived long enuf to know that varieties fall in and out of favor. Or, maybe, the Grinch steals them!

It is best to do as Jim suggests and keep exploring. You don't have to be dissatisfied - just curious. This was a great idea for a topic, Anney!

Okay, baby beets and green beans have long been 2 of my very favorite veggies. But, I'm fortunate to garden where these do well enough and a good number of varieties have been a delight to grow and bring to the table.

A couple that I've missed - I mean, really missed - and after 12 months of kicking myself was able to bring back into the garden, NEVER to be without again -- are leeks and celeriac. And, heck, I had never even grown these until about 6 or 7 years ago. Given my soup & stew winter habits, I paid an unacceptable price.

One variety I cried about for a year after I forgot to order the seed - was SunSugar cherry tomatoes. A variety which might have compensated, I suppose, was Sungold. But, it wasn't there either . . .

I can still remember one year at another home when the season was so short that I didn't have 1 sun-ripened tomato. I get emotional just thinking about that time and it's been decades ago!

As far as just sitting right down in the garden dirt out of joy: I think that would have been when I learned that I could grow, at least, some melons! It hardly mattered to me which ones, just some that could ripen fully to that sun-sweetened, delicious stage that I just didn't think was ever going to be possible. The whole country around here was redeemed when I learned there were a few varieties I could grow! Yep.

Steve

Steve
Here's a word of caution, don't think that a variety that you really like will be there forever.

An excellent note! And particularly true when a plant variety is a hybrid. It's one thing if we find ourselves short of a really good plant seed for a year or so, or find ourselves living in a place where it can't be grown, as you found yourself.

But to your point, I've seen some hybrids just disappear from the scene. Forever. They're usually supplanted by something else thought to be better or "more marketable". Seed hoarding of hybrids goes only so far -- when you've finished your supply of the seeds and they're no longer available, you're up the creek if it's a plant you really like.

I don't know what the answer to this conundrum is, but it's one reason I'm so interested in the efforts of individuals to de-hybridize various vegetables and possibly bring them back to an open-pollinated version that's just as good as the hybrid. I'd like to move to all open-pollinated versions myself, just so the seed control isn't at risk in the grip of agribusiness (another topic).

Great thread topic!

I tried different green beans and settled on Kentucky Wonder (OP) a few years back. Very vigorous and the tastiest I've tried, especially stirred fried until tender. I'll try some Fortex this year based comments here.

Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes been growing for several years. Sweet 100s or Super Sweet 100s crack too much for me and taste like sugar water. Sweet Million are sweet and have meaty tomato flavor and do not crack.
Trying Cherry Sweetie from Park Seed this year. They say it is like Sweet Million, only open pollinated. Hope it is as good.

Florida Broadleaf Mustard greens have surprised and pleased me a lot. They are not as tough and strong-flavored as the curly-leafed mustards. The seeds germinate even in August, the greens keep coming, and here in Tx they start back up in Feb or March. I like easy, and they are that.

I also was kind of surprised how Ky Wonder beans did for me last Fall. They started slow, but after a couple rainy weeks they took off and produced until the frost. Maybe I'll try Fortex this year.

After reading this thread, I'm going to try Swiss Chard again this Fall. I think I might have let the leaves get too large in the past.

I'm going to plant okra for the first time, the Emerald variety, later this year. My wife says she doesn't care much for it, but my grandfather grew it and as a boy I loved my grandma's fried okra. It should do really well in the Texas heat. I have a fairly small garden so I try something new each year.

Mine's more generalities, as I'm only on my 3rd year with a veggie garden, and still figuring out what I can grow, lol.

Kale and Collards - prolific producers, and both overwintered well, and I should be able to harvest the new growth starting next week, if all goes well. I was able to harvest until they were snow covered as well. Both have earned a place in my yearly gardes, although I would like to switch over to Lacinato Kale as I find the ruffled leaves a Pain to wash. Hopefully, it will be as hardy, but I am planting the ruffled stuff too just in case. Collards I am just going to stick with what came in that little 20 cent packet from Wal-Mart, because it sure did produce, and we loved the taste!

Radishes - easy enough, sure, but I always only planted a few seeds, for salad garnishes. . . The surprise is that my youngest now eats them like they are candy, so this year we have bought every variety that we could find, and are planting them EVERYWHERE we can fins 3 inches, lol. These will be a permenant addition, as she can plant them herself, and eats 10 or 12 a day!

Beans - Well, I had it in my head that the pretty colors were harder to grow, but last year I had a packet from Renee's Garden that had purple, green and wax all in one pack, and the purple outpaced all of the others. I will be trying a few different kinds this year to see if I can find more favorites, but in the meantime, I have 2 of the Renee's packs ready to go.

Oregon Sugar Pod peas - the kids LOVED these, and they grew really nicely for me.

sapphires3, do you mean switch from Lacinato Kale? Lacinator kale is also ruffled. Red Russian kale has a flatter leaf - maybe you could try that one?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:30634}}

Since I started gardening, I discovered two new favorite tomato varieties: Black Krim and Brandywine. My mouth is watering just thinking about them now :) They're both open pollinated too, which I love.

Oh, OK, I think I am using the wrong word. . . The pic you have is what I thought Lacinato Kale was, and I can see how that is ruffled.

I had been using a packet market "curly", and the edges were curly, lol. Like the Kale you get at the supermarket.

We use Kale every day around here, and it was sure getting old washing each leaf to get any grit hiding in those curly edges. . .

Thanks for checking up for me! It sure would be frustrating to plant something specifically to solve a problem, and have it be the wrong thing, huh?

Most recently for me was Okra. I tried it just to see how it'd do last year and it was a big hit in the kitchen.

I set up my 9' by 20' tunnel (hoop house) a couple days ago and planted a half-dozen varieties of Asian greens. There's already some started in the greenhouse, waiting to be set out into the tunnel and into the garden a little later. I guess it doesn't always occur to me that not everyone is doing this during early spring.

If you have learned that you like mustard greens, try one of the Asian types like Fun Jen (you gotta love that name ;o). If kale, or maybe broccoli raab, has been a welcome part of your gardening, Chinese kale (Gai Lan or Kailaan) isn't really the same thing but you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

There are lots and lots more. Of course, there is Chinese cabbage and bok choy. If you think you haven't eaten bok choy, I bet you have - at a Chinese restaurant in Chow Mein. I like the "baby" varieties - they are so tender. And another Asian green, Maruba Santoh is so mild that you'll think it is a lettuce. Many of these greens are great in a salad.

These brassicas are quick and fairly easy. About the only problems I have is planting outside their season and I can get away with that early in the tunnel. Setting out plants when it is too cold, they may bolt to seed. And, this is arid country so when the lettuce can no longer handle the weather - the Asian greens are probably all finished, too.

About the only one I can keep going into the heat and dryness of summer is Senposai, a cross-species hybrid. But, when the weather starts to cool late in the season - back come the Asian greens! They are so quick that there will be a basket-full before frost . . . and, after.

Steve

Keeping with the beets theme, I've always been lukewarm on beets. My mom would just boil them, or make borscht. Have always loved beet greens and chard, though. Husband didn't like beets at all. I recently started experimenting with golden beets and Chioggia beets, and they are a totally different animal, with a nice, mild flavor. He actually got excited last time I brought golden beets home from the co-op.

Kale has been a nice surprise for me, as in just the past couple years I've discovered how good it is in hearty winter soups, or with beans and sausage.

Also, yard-long beans. They can be a little bit tricky to cook, but they are really tasty and productive, and kick in just when it's getting too hot for the regular pole beans. We got more than we could use off of just a 4' row last year. They will definitely be in my garden from now on.

This year I'm trying out celeriac and parsley root, and hoping to be pleasantly surprised again.

Great thread - and great replies. I'm sitting on my hands (figurately) to prevent myself from ordering half the veggies listed here. My garden is already too full!

A favorite of ours is Orient Express Asian Eggplants. We bought a plant at a farmer's market two years ago. It produced a gazillion (OK maybe a dozen or so) eggplants, one (or two) after another! I saved the seeds and planted them again last year - same fabulous results. Just started some indoors for year #3. A great eggplant for those blessed with long summers (like here in DC/MD).

I second the Orient Express eggplants. We grew them in hoop greenhouses last year and they were wonderful. I'm glad to hear your seeds did well. My seed pkt. says hybrid but I think I'll save some this year.

Rattail radishes. I have a bad habit of letting my radishes get old and pithy. Rattails don't produce radishes, they grow 6" long pods with a mild radish flavor. Good in salad, stir fry, pickled. And best of all, one planting lasted all season.

Black Krim and Green Zebra tomatoes. They both produced well (again, in hoop greenhouses) and the flavor was excellent. I've been looking for OP tomatoes that will do well in my short season. These are keepers.

Great thread.

I second the Fava Beans obsession. I tried them on a whim a couple years ago. They're wonderful in every way: interesting plant, sweet-smelling flowers, and tasty beans. And they like cool weather, so it's another thing to play with in early spring. My favas are just coming up around here.

Another relatively new favorite of mine is Perpetual Spinach, a.k.a. Leaf Beets. It is a kind of chard, but it looks like spinach: dark green leaves, smooth leaves, and a thin stem. It's fantastic. But unlike spinach, it thrives all summer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Perpetual Spinach, a.k.a. Leaf Beets

This year I have a very productive winter garden. I'm going to grow one every year, love the broccoli and califlower, lettuce and everything, the english peas are coming in now. still have a few califlower left and the broccoli in putting out side shoots. The only bugs
are Ladybugs :)

sapphires 3 - I grow Red Russian, curly kale (aka borecole) and what you refer to as laciniato but which I know as Tuscan Black. I find the easiest way to wash all of them is to fill the sink, sloosh them through and then repeat several times with clean water. It takes forever trying to do them under the running tap (faucet).

I love Dixie lee Peas. I use to think field peas where nasty when I was a child but I love them now. Anita

Last year, I discovered winter squash for the first time. Butternut and acorn. So this year I am growing many more varieties just to try them out. They are so easy to grow.

One of my huge surprises has been Orangeglo watermelon. It's an open-pollinated, heirloom variety so I save the seeds and buy more when I don't have enough to fill our desire for melons. It is a gorgeous thing, bigger than I thought but it still fit in the fridge. Almost neon shade of orange with a flavor that is still sweetly watermelon with a suggestion of tropical fruit thrown in. This year I'm going to try dehydrating a tray of it to see what it is like that way. Of course I'll have to hide one of the melons from my family but it would be nice having this incredible flavor in the middle of winter.

It isn't a good shipper and I don't know how they'd do at a roadside stand because our family just about stands out in the garden with a fork in hand, bibs around their necks and a salt shaker in their pockets, waiting for it to grow up.

Okra, for gumbo and pickling
Cylindra beets, to eat roasted and make pickles.
Beans Derby and Contender, you can pick a handful at once.
Armenian cucs, for Bread and Butter pickles, very crisp pickles.
Santa cherry tomatoes
Super Fantastic tomatoes
Melody spinach,plant in fall,we sometimes can pick all winter.
Ambrosia cantaloupe, pure heaven
Big Bertha peppers, one stuffed is a meal.
Seeds for some of these are getting hard to find.

Ground cherries  amazingly sweet, and grown like tomatoes
Brandywine tomatoes  rich, juicy, meaty
Hardneck garlic  great greens, bulbs, scapes
Beet greens  sweet when fresh, great in salads
Fresh peas  sweet and tender

I discovered swiss chard when I lived in San Diego, an asian neighbor dug up some of her plants and gave me 2 big plants. I LOVED them. They had big huge leafs, I would steam and then briefly saute in fresh garlic and butter..YUMMMY...Now for some reason, the chard I have planted here in GA is not as good to me, the flavor is very different. I got a bunch of seeds in a seed exchange, so maybe the varieties were just not the same. I'm going to try to plant more of the big green ones, the shorter more colorful (more red stemmed ones) just dont have the same buttery taste to me.

I also got seeds from a neighbor last year of what i was told was a climbing okra...turns out that it is something else which I cannot recall the name, I know that they are used when left to dry out to make luffa's?, and since they were planted so late last year, I did not get a chance to try them out..but they were really big long pods. I'll try them again this year and see what happens.

I LOVE Okra, planted Emerald for the first time this year, last year and the few years before, I planted Clemson Spineless, hope I am not dissapointed with Emerald, as I have NO Clemson's planted at all this year. My first year here, I planted 6 yes SIX okra plants, I'll never forget, I was admiring the very lush garden of a neighbor of my MIL's , he's an older gentleman and I was so proud that I too had planted OKRA, he asked me how many plants I had, and I told him SIX...and he chuckled outloud and says "well you might be able to get a mess from them" I learned quickly, there was NO MESS of any kind with just six plants...the next year I planted 20 and even then never had enough to put any up...and it took a week to get a "mess" to cook up. this year I have planted 3 rows (15 feet each), I'm hoping this is enough :)

I also have for the first time successfully grown garlic, I bought a mixed bag (she sent me a few of each of several different varieties) from a lady who sells on the farmers bulletin from Atlanta, I think I planted like 6 or 7 different types. they are all over my garden..cant wait

another surprise that I just love are the multiplying onions. got free bulbs from someone on freecycle, and now I have more of them than I know what to do with..

last year I also for the first time successfully grew PEANUTS!! that was WAY COOL...harvested and put up a dozen gallon bag full of them. of course here in the south we boil them in salty water, yummy!! I have volunteers all over my garden!!

I have enjoyed mustard greens and love having parsley in my garden...I found some growing in the cracks in my lower patio, I had let some in the flower beds go to seed, and I dont have the heart to pull them up!!

And finally sweet potatoes! no hassle great reward!!

Herbs have surprised me the most by far. You don't need many plants to have plenty for cooking. I grew thyme last year, not knowing I liked it, and I now use fresh thyme in everything. I'm now growing a bunch of herbs I've never even used before, because I know I'll use it if it's fresh and right out my back door.

Turnip greens!! Always used turnips for the roots but was really surprised with the turnip greens. I used them in place of mustard greens.
The turnip I grew was "shogoin" and the leaves were very prolific.

Mmmmm fava beans. I planted them last year as a laugh due to the whole Hannibal Lecter thing (Fava beans and a nice chianti LOL) but they are GREAT!

Also, I was never a big hot pepper fan, but we grew Kung Pao last year and they were SO good. Just enough heat and a really nice fruity flavor and darn they were prolific. We were still harvesting peppers into November. I will never NOT do zucchini or summer squash. They are SO easy to grow and super producers. I was getting sick of squash and zucchini last year by the time the vine borers got to them :(

One thing that I am planting this year is edamame, my kids love the stuff even my picky 4 year old who hates most veggies. My biggest problem is space, so I have little rows all over the place. I added beets, turnips, bok choy, the edamame and eggplant this year. I never know what my kids will like. My biggest surprise was Kohrabi, my kindergarten went to school and when they asked her favorite food she told them it was Kohlrabi, the teacher had to look up in the dictionary to see how to spell it. Another one that I am trying this year is brussel sprouts, I have only eaten the slimmy overcooked ones in the past and had the chance to try some nicely cooked ones so am going to add those to the garden.

Stacie

I didn't read the whole thread, but was inspired to post when I read your last sentence. Because the one thing I'd list in response to your question is Swiss Chard!!! It's the most fabulous crop, especially for small-space gardeners. One small block of it, maybe 5 square feet, keeps my family fed all summer, and we LOVE to eat chard. We harvest individual leaves, so the plants keep going all season. It occasionally gets a little chewed by caterpillars but is trouble-free for the most part. it's the ultimate easy, high-yield plant in our garden!

I, too, tried favas for the first time this year, and have vowed to grow them every year from here on out. They are fabulous! You can eat the leaves, eat the pods young, eat the beans, and the plants are a great cover crop for the winter. The beans are so darned tasty sauteed in a little butter and garlic, but they're also amazing raw with some good olive oil, salt and fresh oregano, and boiled with a little salt and eaten like edamame.

They grew so well here over the winter that I joked about filling up every one of my raised beds with favas and scrapping any other cool weather crops. I may actually start doing snap peas, English peas and favas everywhere when fall hits.