I haven't grown too many vegetables in recent years. I have a postage stamp sized veggie patch (a far cry from our large gardens of yesteryear) and half of that I previously devoted to sunflowers. Mostly what I have grown has been squash varieties. I have had good luck with heirloom crookneck summer squash and I save the seeds each year. (I prefer non-hybridized varieties so that the saved seeds will grow true to form each year.)

Last year I made the mistake of growing a hill of cucumbers at a distance that I thought wide enough from the yellow squash, but it wasn't! I ended up with some odd cucumber/squash hybrids that fortunately tasted like cucumbers and made good sweet pickles, but they did look unique! The squash, strangely, was unaffected by this cross-pollination mix-up.

I've grown a lot of herbs, in pots, and in the ground, basil, thyme, dill, oregano, and others. Last year we had a nice crop of red romaine lettuce that came as a freeby with a seed order.

This coming year however I've decided to devote the entire "postage stamp" to edibles, but, as the seeds I ordered are, as yet untried, I can't vouch for them. I was happy enough with the red romaine last summer that I ordered a green and red speckled variety for the coming year, also bush beans, spinach, mizuna (a sort of lettuce-y/cabbage-y kind of plant for salads and stir fries, dark red in color), and I plan to plant my saved yellow crookneck squash seeds for a fourth or fifth year (without any nearby cousins for them to contaminate!). Will let you know how these varieties pan out. They all came from http://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/ .

I don't believe it's possible for cross-pollination to affect the fruit of that year. Your seeds must have been cross-pollinated from the year before. Do you know what varieties they were?

I grow a relatively smaller selection of types of fruits and veggies since the critters like the fruit too much to make it worthwhile here and DH has a limited set of veggies he likes, so I only find it worthwhile to grow what he likes plus what I really like and am willing to eat all of the garden's production. I do like finding types that keep well enough to reduce our need to buy as much winter produce.

Snap peas: Sugar Snap has the best taste to me of all the types I grow, so I always grow that along with Sugar Daddy for earlier peas. I usually grow about 10 feet, planted in two batches, and I eat them all, mostly raw.

Basil: Lettuce Leaf has huge leaves and is a bit milder, plus I grow Genevese for the stronger flavor. Both preserve well made into pesto and frozen.

Bell peppers: Ace or New Ace for something like 20 years. As tree_oracle says, it produces consistently regardless of weather here in New England. I used to try another type for comparison each year, but after a dozen or so varieties that were supposed to be early producers, I gave up, and just plant Ace.

Banana peppers: I'd love a recommendation of BIG sweet ones. I used to plant Montego until the producer discontinued it. I grow Hungarian Wax AKA Hungarian Hot Wax (I can't taste any difference) for a warm banana pepper that consistently has so many fruit on it that I have learned to give it a cage to keep branches from breaking.

Tomatoes: Sun Gold cherry tomatoes and usually a red grape tomato.

I am looking for a disease resistant, indeterminate (tall vine) tomato that is early and has good flavor. I used to grow Early Cascade which won our home tests on flavor and was prolific, early, and healthy, but it was discontinued. Haven't found an adequate replacement yet for our cool nights though I've tried 5 or 6 each year in the ~10 years since. Any suggestions of early/cool tolerant/short season indeterminates welcome.

Sweet Potato: Beauregarde has produced well for me, but I haven't tried others.

Potato - Russian banana fingerlings are big and flavorful, good for roasting and stews since they hold together well, but the waxy texture makes them too slimy mashed or as a blended soup. Yellow Finn or Yukon Gold for all purpose, and Butte, a russet, for baking and just about all other purposes. I get them all at Wood Prairie Farm when needed, though often I plant some from the previous year. All are good to great keepers in the cold cellar.

Onion - Highlander and Copra. Both are great keepers, with Highlander being sweeter and larger. We eat a lot of onions, so I typically plant 150-200 onions.

Leek - King Richard or Lancelot. KR gets really tall stalks, so if well mulched a lot is useable. Lancelot keeps better in the winter garden when mulched. Both taste great.

Eggplant - Orient Express is like the Ace pepper of eggplants for me. It's the only Eggplant that produces consistently, and I've tried many other types, including several other Asian types, large ones, and specialty ones.

Kale - Redbor - I grow this as much for its beauty as for eating, though it is also better flavored that the other two types I've grown. It's the only vegetable I've ever had a neighbor stop when driving by to ask what it is. It has beautiful bluish, curly-edged leaves with purple stems for much of the season, turning completely deep purple when it gets cold.

Broccoli - I've grown a couple types that were too bitter to enjoy raw, but other than that, I grow whatever.

Parsley - Flat leafed Italian rather than curly since it has better flavor and is more easily cleaned.

Tromboncino squash AKA Zucchetta. Heirloom, with giant long vines (20') but it's edible when quite young like zucchini, only better tasting, and makes a good though mild orange storage squash that I've kept through spring of the following year.

Garlic - I've lost track of the varieties, it's been so long since I had to buy it, but I prefer varieties with fewer, larger cloves rather than many smaller. I honestly haven't found that either of us notice a lot of difference in flavor from type to type, so I want easier pealing. Keeps well until the new crop comes in.

Suzabanana that is a great list thanks for sharing. I hadn't heard of the Moscovich tomato but it sounds really interesting. The descriptions I read don't make the plant sound all that compact but maybe it's a matter of degree? I think I may try them as a seed starting exercise this winter.

NHBabs, it sounds like the Moscovich might meet your needs, too. Would (or others here) be interested in the extra seeds if I order some? I tend to overplant when faced with a full packet and my family is still recovering from the cherry tomato debacle of 2013. I gave away many seedlings that year but not quite enough. . .

Yes, Christmas is over and time to start planning the garden. I was just about to start a thread like this, but you beat me to it, Suzabanana. :-)

I had a half hearted vegetable garden last year, so I'm very motivated to fully be involved in the garden this year. I've been trying a lot of new varieties the past five years or so and have found a few winners, so here's my list including old favorites.

'Sungold' Tomato - Our #1 favorite crop every year. Have grown it for a long time. Never lets us down. Healthy, early, productive and best flavor. After trying many 'early' tomatoes, 'Sungold' is actually the earliest and best tasting. But I am still hoping to find a larger tomato, that has great flavor is healthy and productive. Doesn't matter if it is that early.

Peppers - 'Marconi' was a great producer for us in the past. I tried 'Carmen' last year and will grow it again this year. Pretty elongated red peppers. Had an uneven result last year. One plant produced a ton, another 3 ft away did very little.

'Sugar Snap' Snap Peas - have been my favorite, but haven't tried too many

String Beans - 'Provider', 'Maxibel', 'Blue Lake', and 'Trionfo Violetto' a purple.

Pumpkin - 'New England Pumpkin Pie' - best tasting, great for cooking

My two best success stories ….

Cabbage - 'Gonzales' - I'm the only one who eats cabbage, and these are softball size cabbages, that give me enough for one big bowl of cole slaw for each cabbage. Love them. Take up 10" of space so you can grow a lot.

Cucumber 'Ministro' - I couldn't believe how many cucumbers this plant produced. Slicing cucumbers. Healthy plant.

These should all be available from FEDCO and most of them should be offered as organic.

I am still looking for a good large tomato. Healthy, productive and very good taste. Last year, I tried 'Cherokee Purple' and the flavor was very good, but I had trouble with the fruit. They all split excessively on me. I couldn't tell when they were ripe and a lot of them ended up rotting on the vine. I want to try them again, but will have to figure out what I can do differently.

I will try the 'Brandy Boy' Tomato this year. I've heard a lot of good things about it. And I'll look for that 'Moscovich' Tomato too.

'Ace' Pepper sounds like worth trying too.

Suzabanana, the cucumbers were Boston Pickling Cucumbers from seeds purchased (from the link I posted above) the same year I planted them, so they had not been previously exposed to pollen from my yellow crookneck squash. The first cucumbers were normal but the later ones were a curious mix of yellow spotted, partially crooknecked mutants. Most likely the pollen travelled via prevailing wind drift across the field from squash to cucumber. I suppose bees could have carried the pollen, but the fact that it only travelled in a single direction makes me think it travelled on the wind. I have read that, contrary to folk lore, cucumbers and summer squash will not cross-pollinate, but my experience says otherwise, so I am inclined to go with the folk lore. (Perhaps those who claim that the two vegetables do not cross-pollinate are growing hybrid varieties that do not behave the same as my heirloom open-pollinated types. This might explain the contradiction between old widely held beliefs and current scientific wisdom. It is a thought anyway.)

left to right: "Crookneck-Early Golden Summer Squash," alien squash-cucumbers in the middle, and an unaffected "Boston Pickling Cucumber" on the far right.

I would recommend this squash variety and this cucumber variety, as both grew prolifically and quickly, but I don't recommend letting them get together to conspire, as mine did!

Suzabanana, I am assuming that when you said that Moscovich tomato was compact, you meant that the vine was determinate (short) rather than indeterminate 6+ feet and doesn't stop growing taller. Is this the case?

Edited to say that when I looked it up, Johnny's listed it as indeterminate, so it may well fit my tomato wishes. I'll check to see if anyone local is growing this variety for sale as plants.

I've been looking at the Vegetable Gardening thread but not here so I just sent in my Fedco order for seeds and potatoes plus first time orders to two pepper seed companies which is my "I've got to be nuts" project this year to grow and learn more about peppers other than bells and the common jalapenos.

I used to love Provider bush beans but we now prefer filet varieties. I was happy with some pole beans a friend gave me: Blue Coco and Rattlesnake so I save seed and will plant again. My initial planting of 6 seeds each was plenty for two people. I was happy with Yaya carrots and I think Nelson. I ordered Red Maria and Blue Gold potatoes from Fedco plus some fingerlings. I think we've liked all the Moose Tubers fingerlings that we've grown except for the Purple Mollies which are grandchildren thought were too strange (total purple). Taste was fine.

I will grow several paste tomatoes again: Opalka, Cuor
di Bue,
Polish Linguisa, San Marzano Lungo and
Vilms. The smaller sizes worked well in the dehydrator but I liked the larger ones when I made sauce to can. For slicers, I don't seem to have a favorite. We like a yellow tomato but the ones I've grown for the paste couple of years don't seem to have the great flavor I remember. For an early tomato of decent size, I grew 4th of July which I bought as a large plant at Roberts Greenhouse. I had previously grown Stupice but it didn't produce very many tomatoes.

I love Carmen peppers for early red ones but I also grew a variety of bell peppers. They were all very good. I probably will not grow poblanos any more simply because I don't use them enough compared to other varieties. Jalapeno is a staple.

My favorite zucchini is Constanto Romanesque but last summer I tried some small patty pans from the farmers market and liked them very much. Ordered two kinds from Fedco plus the zephyr summer squash which I also thought was tasty.

Favorite cucumber is Poona Kheara but it's strange looking. Tends to turn orange and get a netted skin but the flavor stays good even when it gets larger.

We switched from buttercup squashes to kabocha when we discovered Confection from Johnny's. I think they are dropping it for an improved variety. Also loved Delicata Zeppelin squashes (one is perfect for two people). Last summer I also grew Long Island Cheese pumpkin which is a great pumpkin for cooking but doesn't have the flavor I thought I remembered from the ones I bought at the winter farmers market in Rollingsford NH. Got a great harvest. Flavor is decent but it's more like a butternut squash and we prefer the sweeter, drier flesh of the kabocha.

My favorite spinach was Tyee and I don't know why Johnny's is dropping it. Also love Sugar Snap peas of any kind. We seem to like all varieties of beets but the yellow ones the best except I seem to have germination problems with them.

I wish my husband liked rutabagas because I love the Gilfeather turnip (seed from Fedco if you don't buy it at the festival in Vermont). It has white flesh and is fairly sweet. I also like the hakurei white turnips.

My broccoli success this year was a six-pack I bought in Maine over 4th of July weekend. It looked like the nursery had really nice young plants of all kinds for the summer people who were just starting their gardens. It was in the Deer Isle area. Sorry I've lost the label but it was a good tasting broccoli with large heads and good side shoot production. It managed to head up just as it started getting cold.

I have a large vegetable garden
in SE NH (6a), split into two plots.
What we usually grow (all from seed except peppers and herbs):

• Green beans (bush) “Masai”
  – small plants, big yield, delicious and the beans stay small and tender even
  when left on the plant for a while (Pinetree Seeds)
• Beets “Ruby Queen”
• Broccoli “Packman
  Hybrid” – hard to find this year
• Brussel Sprouts “Jade
  Cross”
• Cabbage “Golden
  Acre”
• Corn “Mini Mirai”– the
  best ever! Small ears (8”), but lots of
  them, sweet and delicious. Very popular
  with friends and relatives. (Harris
  Seeds)
• Cucumber – usually
  a pickling type like “Boston Pickling” or “Homemade Pickles”
• Lettuce “Buttercrunch”
• Radish “Cherry
  Belle”
• Spinach “Space
  Hybrid”. Liked “Bordeaux” too, but can’t
  find it now
• Summer Squash – straight
  yellow and zucchini (varies) – but like Sped said, I have seen crosses with
  first year seed right out of the packet, e.g. yellow zucchini.
• Winter Squash –
  Kabocha varieties “Sunshine” and “Wintersweet” (very ornamental too), also buttercup
  and butternut
• Sweet Peppers “Carmen”
  (Italian horn type), and “Big Bertha” (huge bell type). I buy plants locally.
• Hot Peppers “Cherry
  Bomb” (they are not too hot), Jalapenos (no particular variety –
  whatever plants the local greenhouse has).
• Pumpkins –
  varies. Some of the good ones: CT Field;
  Jack Be Little; Flatso; Musquee de Provence
• Swiss Chard “Bright
  Lights” – gorgeous color too
• Arugula - no-name
  (but I like the sound of your Sylvetta, suzabanana)

Tomatoes –Some that were good for us...

Heirlooms:

• “Eva Purple Ball”–
  tennis ball size, uniform, trouble free, good yield, pink and tasty
• “Big Rainbow” –
  Huge, mostly yellow with pink shading, late, but a good yield, great taste
• “Earl of Edgecomb”
  – also tennis ball size, smooth, pretty, tasty, orange
• “Anna Russian” –
  pink heart, few seeds, very good
• ”Black Cherry” –
  Like most cherries, huge yield. Great
  taste, very pretty
• “Aunt Ruby’s German
  Green” – large, good yield, very tasty, short shelf life
• “Humph” – also
  green and tasty, but medium size and not as short-lived
• “Green Doctors”
  (cherry) – nice tangy taste, pretty, lots of them. It’s hard to convince some people that Green
  When Ripe tomatoes (GWRs) are ripe!
• “Pruden’s Purple” – pink, lovely Brandywine
  taste, but a better yield
• “White Tomesol” –
  very pale yellow, juicy, mild sweet taste, early and plentiful

Some Hybrids:

• “Big Beef”, “Jet
  Star”, “Supersonic”, etc.
• “Sungold” cherry
  – like most everyone else, love the sweet taste. Huge volume, but they do split when you can’t
  keep up.

Annual herbs:
flat leaf parsley, fernleaf dill, basil – whatever plants look good locally

Susan

Defrost - I need to get an order ready from Fedco. I still have a lot of seed left over from last year, so I’ll probably only order a few ‘wants’.

Is there a favorite ‘filet’ variety of bean you like?

I used Scarlet Runner Bean last year and stopped picking them and had a ton of seed to collect in the fall.

I’ve yet to try potatoes. I think I hesitate because of some health problem I’ve read that they can have. We’re also eating a lot fewer potatoes.

I’m still trying to find a summer squash that doesn’t get mildew. Kinda of thinking that’s not going to happen.

I’ve heard great things about that ‘Confection’ squash. I’ll have to look for it.

Homegrowinthe603 - I’m in 6a here in Mass.

Do you have success with Brussel Sprouts every year?

‘Big Bertha’ sounds like a good pepper to try.

I had that ‘Eva Purple Ball’ seed and I don’t remember if I grew it. Johnny’s used to have it.

I will look for ‘Pruden’s Purple’ to try.

Thanks...

Prairie, yes we have nice brussel sprouts every year. Still going strong now in the snow:

I get Big Bertha plants locally. This pic is from 2012, and some years are not as bountiful:

I get a lot of seeds from Pinetree in Maine, including the Pruden's tomato and the Jade Cross b. sprouts.

The Eva Purple Ball tomato came from Sample Seed Shop in NY, as well as some of the other heirlooms.

Susan

HGin603 - Great stand of Brussel Sprouts and what a long growing season this year! I rarely have luck with them and I suspect it's because I don't have enough sun. They grow but don't produce most years. But, I'd love to hear what your routine is with them, to give it a better try this year, to see if I still have trouble. Can I assume you start your seedlings under lights, or do you winter sow? When do you start them and when do they go in the ground?

Yes, those are nice big peppers. Nice and blocky shaped unlike the Carmen that taper. I did a quick Google search and lots of sources for that 'Big Bertha' seed. Have you tried 'King of the North'?

I haven't bought from Pinetree in awhile, I'll give them a look and I took a look at The Sample Seed Shop, which is new to me. Looks like a good source of non GMO heirlooms. I saw both the tomatoes you mentioned and a couple more that looked interesting. Have you tried others there? I was looking at 'Jaune Flamme' and 'Goose Creek'. Thanks

Carmen is a favorite, a good size for two that is among my first peppers to turn red but the flavor is different than the bells. Also bell peppers seem to be easier to roast and peel because they have thick flesh. King of the North was one that I grew last summer. I think all my peppers did well.

Prairiemoon, it looks like Johnny's has dropped Confection and replaced it with Winter Sweet which is supposed to be improved. I believe Confection was their own developed variety. What I like about this kabocha variety is that it's dry flesh and very sweet. Kabocha skin is also edible. When we get vegetable tempura at a restaurant, it has some thin slices of this kind of squash. Skin is light greyish green.

I've been happy with all the filets I have tried. Funny, I started growing Scarlet Runner Beans to attract hummingbirds but we never eat them. At what stage do you eat them? An internet gardening friend highly recommends the runner beans she grows in Cornwall. Another garden goodie that is loved elsewhere but not well known here.

The potato samplers from Moose's Tubers via Fedco are a good way to try potatoes. Yes, I have to do a lot of potato beetle patrol but the easiest way is to keep a plastic container of water in the potato patch. I knock all the beetles and slugs I find into the container and cover it. It only takes a few minutes. I started with their fingerling sampler because the potatoes are so expensive at the farmers markets. They were very prolific and very tasty. Some local seed sources have a decent variety of seed potatoes. The 5 pounds of fingerlings (one lb of each variety) was plenty for the two of us and stored well into the winter.

I'm really pleased with how we can store garlic, potatoes, and squash thru the winter. I remember my in-laws Buttercup squashes didn't keep much past Christmas but the kabocha and Long Island Cheese Pumpkin last a lot longer.

Photo is last summer's pepper patch. I have to use tomato cages because some of the plants get top heavy and fall over.

Hi Defrost - Great looking pepper plant! So bushy. I grew Carmen last year in a new location and it was very odd. One plant was covered with peppers and the same variety 3ft away in just as much sun, with the same watering schedule, produced two peppers. Even my productive Carmen pepper plant was not as bushy as that. Mine was tall and needed a tomato cage, but you could see the structure of the plant. Did you use any special fertilizer or fertilize them often or prune them? Last year was a good year for Peppers, I wonder sometimes if I water them too much. The whole vegetable garden is watered on the same schedule, but the Peppers, maybe would do just as well with a little less.

I can see the Banana Peppers in the background. Very pretty!

I've never tried the Kabocha squash. I'm growing butternuts and spaghetti, which my husband is a fan of. I'm going to have to try one. I'm still experimenting with the best place to grow squash. How do the plants do as far as mildew?

Can potatoes take less sun?

Are you storing veggies over the winter in the basement or refrigerator? I remember on our trips to Sturbridge Village that the huge Hubbard squashes would be all around the house in the Fall. Of course, their houses were a lot colder in the winter. [g]

Good morning, prairiemoon! I don't have a problem with mildew on the winter squashes but for the past two years have not been able to grow zucchini because of it and striped cucumber beetles. Last year when they attacked the zucchini, I put row cover over the winter squash and crossed my fingers. The row cover stayed on until mid-July and we got the best crop ever. I think I tried spraying the zucchini plants with milk for mildew. We got a couple of sickly looking zucchini. I'll try a new spot again this summer.

Your husband might not like kabocha since the flesh is more like a sweet potato. We find butternuts to be too watery and not as sweet. The cheese pumpkin is very similar. I might not grow it again but we'll see if it changes during storage. Maybe the pumpkins I bought last winter at the farmers market weren't cheese pumpkins because the flesh was more like a kabocha.

The peppers are growing in a high tunnel with the sides rolled up. Even open to the air like that, the temps frequently get close to 100. I've never had such healthy tomatoes and peppers. But, they also don't get rained on. I have to water and use a sprinkler. When I transplant the seedlings, I water with fish emulsion and maybe water with more fish emulsion during the first month, once a week to get the plants well established. When I get the plants from the local grower, they look very small compared to what's available at the nurseries but they usually do very well. One year I did have a pepper plant that never produced and I don't know why. I plant pretty close together so the bushy bell pepper is probably two plants. I use composted horse manure but last year used composted beef cow manure. Plus compost from the bin and I think I put a handful of an organic fertilizer in each hole. NOFA does a bulk order every March so I can get reasonable prices on a gallon of fish emulsion, etc.

The potatoes are in full sun. I'm not sure about partial sun but last summer I didn't water them enough. We had so little rain and we're on a well so the winter squash got priority.

The squash are in our basement garage in the coldest wall next to the door. It's tricky because we have a wood furnace in the next section of the basement so overall it doesn't get very cold. I have carrots and beets in an old fridge in the garage. My husband's family used to store carrots in sand. Last winter I found out I should have done that because the carrots dried out. This winter we have the old fridge. It's hand to have it in the garage because it's between the two overhead doors. I can take ice cream out of the car and put it right into the freezer.

My in-laws used to keep their squash under the beds on the unheated second floor of their old cape. We live in an old farmhouse and don't keep the second floor warm. We can use the oil baseboard heat but I don't mind a very cool bedroom and the other rooms are rarely used.

My husband asked me to grow carrots. I hadn't bothered because they are so cheap at the supermarket ... except now I can compare homegrown to store bought and the store bought have so little flavor. I like being outside in summer and seem to enjoy gardening. I read "Eating on the Wild Side" after attending a lecture by a local food writer. It's not about foraging, it's about the history of food plants and which are the most nutritious. Fascinating. Also good tips like asparagus is the sweetest within 4 hours of picking. We now just pick what we are going to eat for dinner and it is much sweeter.

This is a great thread. I'll chime in, but try to stick with some of the varieties people have already mentioned, because otherwise I'll write a book!

I love Carmen peppers. In fact, I had two in an Earthbox container that I rolled inside the garage for a few cold nights in Nov, and then left it back outside almost all of December. I wasn't planning to overwinter them, but when it finally turned cold I just rolled it back into the garage. They have kept producing and ripening peppers all fall, and even now there are still some ripening almost in the dark inside!

For tomatoes, I'll second the thumbs-up for Eva's Purple Ball, Cherokee Purple (also love Black Krim, even though it cracks like crazy). Jaune Flamme is also a favorite! I've stopped growing cherry tomatoes, because Jaune Flamme is always my earliest tomato, its nearly as prolific as a cherry, and they are sort of double-cherry sized, maybe 'saladette' is the word?

I grew Brandy Boy last year and liked it, but I did a side-by-side with another Brandywine-type, called Earl's Faux, which really knocked my socks off! Both put out a good crop of big beefsteaks fairly early, but Earl's Faux had better taste, and it kept on churning out amazing-tasting tomatoes for far longer than Brandy Boy.

Kosovo is another productive, fairly early heart-shape that I really like, gonna grow it again this year after a break.

I put a lot of work into watermelons this year, and it paid off with some really sweet 10-lb melons. My best were seedless: Revolution (best I've ever eaten!) and Harvest Moon. For seeded, Blacktail Mountain did well, but it wasn't quite as sweet as the others. I'm thinking of adding Crimson Sweet and/or Sangria this year for seeded.

I am very envious of your overwintering Carmen. Does the flavor deteriorate once it gets cold? I think tomatoes do so I think I might have to get ruthless this coming season and pull the plants when I notice that flavor drop. I tied up the high tunnel with peppers and tomatoes so never got it planted properly for fall/winter.

Thanks for your review of tomatoes. I like a saladette size which to me is about the right size for one sandwich.

I am astonished to see your brussel sprouts still producing in the snow, Susan!

The photos of everyone's beautiful peppers make me think I should try growing them again.

I generally find peppers to hold up to cool fall temps much better than tomatoes. But these Carmen peppers have been exceptional; they are definitely less sweet now, but even as late as thanksgiving, the red ripe ones I was picking had almost full summer sweetness. It was great!

Hi defrost - Which winter squashes are you growing that you don’t have a problem with mildew? I grow Butternut and black Zucchinis and I tried that Trombocino that HGI603 mentioned and I get mildew on all of them by the end of the season. I haven’t yet tried to cover them with a row cover.

Kabocha is more like a sweet potato? I wonder if you could use it to make sweet potato casserole? [g]

I wonder if anyone has tried that Red Kuri squash? It’s so pretty, I’d like to grow it just for that.

Oh, so you make it hotter for the peppers. Well, it sure makes a difference. And the bushy pepper could have been two plants? lol That’s an interesting way to do it.

I paid $17. a bottle for fish emulsion last year. It’s gotten pretty expensive. Do you order it through NOFA?

I rarely have a lot to store over the winter, so I’ve resisted getting a second fridge. We do have an upright freezer, so I can freeze what comes out of the garden. And we don't have a cool spot in the house for storing squashes, etc. So we eat them as quick as we can.

I’ve read ‘Eating on the Wild Side’ too. Fascinating book, but not everyone’s cup of tea. My daughter would find it very boring. [g] I’m still trying to get my husband into the habit of letting the crushed garlic sit for 10 minutes before cooking with it. :-)

Seanm - That is cool that you can roll an Earthbox into the garage and you still had peppers ripening. Good to know.

Thanks for the thumbs up on the Jaune Flamme and Eva’s Purple Ball. I like the saladette size too. In 2014, I grew Fourth of July and got amazing production of that size tomato, I just wasn’t thrilled with the flavor, so I’m looking for a replacement. I forgot I also wanted to try Brandy Boy, but I’ll look for that Earl’s Faux.

So, what extra work did you end up doing for your melons?

Spedigrees - I find Peppers so easy. Just plant and forget them, more or less. Adding a 1/4 of liquid fish emulsion fert to the water every time I water and just wait for them.

Sped, the brussel sprouts always stay in the garden long
after other plants have been pulled. They are actually better after a few frosts and you can continue to
harvest them as long as you can find more to pick (and you can still reach the
plants). Deer do like to eat them in the
winter some years, but this year they have not bothered them too much.

Prairie, the seeds are sown directly in the garden which is
full sun. When they germinate, they are
thinned and transplanted so that they are about a foot apart. DH is the one who
tends to the sprouts, and he has reminded me that they are not trouble free. Like the rest of the garden, there are a
number of insects and diseases that can show up, so he has to stay on top of
that. Jade Cross is a hybrid, and it has
done the best for us.

Tomatoes are the only thing I start from seed inside. Of the varieties I listed above, Eva purple
ball, Earl of Edgecomb, and Humph came from Sample Seed Shop.

Since I buy pepper plants locally, my selection is limited. I can usually get Big Bertha, but I'm not familiar with King of the North.

Susan

Prairiemoon, I still had some Confection seed left, also grew Winter Sweet which is the replacement for Confection, Delicata Squash, and got two squashes that look like a grey/green kuri squash but we haven't tried them yet. The kabocha squash flesh is dense like a sweet potato but the flavor is different. Still, I cut it up and use it like sweet potato in recipes such as Massaman Curry. It holds its shape.

Yes, I order fish emulsion, seed starting soil, and other fertilizers thru the NH NOFA bulk order. I'm not a member. I found the price list for 2013, the orders had to be in by mid-February for a March pickup and a GALLON of fish emulsion was $19. It's well worth the trip to the pickup place (about 30 minutes away).

The second fridge was used. We were aleady using a dorm size fridge. I started doing fermenting so I have a bunch of jars of different things in the fridge, too. We changed to a slightly smaller upright freezer which seems to fill quickly. The bread outlet store sells a lot of things on Tues and Friday for 99 cents each. They carry the Arnold brand and several other things we like so I might pick up 6 loaves of bread, hamburger rolls, sandwich thins, Thomas' English Muffins, etc once a month. Not to mention my husband's ice cream addiction.

YES, Spedigrees, you should try peppers again. They are so good fresh, cooked and fermented. I also tried dehydrating this year but haven't tried to cook the dehydrated bell peppers yet.

HGI603- That’s interesting that you sow direct with Brussels Sprouts. I’ll give that a try this year. So, I assume you sow seed early and allow the plant to grow all season into the fall, right? Not sure which variety I have, but I have seed to use up, but I’ll keep that Jade Cross in mind.

Defrost - So how did ‘Confection’ compare to ‘Winter Sweet’? Or haven’t you tried them yet?

I’ll have to check out that NOFA bulk order this year. Thanks.

Dehydrating and Fermenting -- you are very cutting edge! [g] So how is the fermenting going? I keep reading about fermenting everything and how good it is for you, but all I can think of is how Saurkraut tastes and how much I don’t like it. I do make my own yogurt but that’s as far as I go. I will be interested to hear how you like using the dehydrated veggies. Have you done fruit too?

prairiemoon2, I don't think I can tell the difference. I have a photo of our squash harvest and there's no way I can tell them apart. The one we had most recently was delicious. In the photo it is also hard to see the two kuri varieties since they are the same color as Confection/Winter Sweet. You will notice the rodent damage in a few squashes. These areas healed over but I cut a wide space around them. That's where they start to spoil. The Delicatas are perfect for a quick meal. Just microwave, take out seeds and serve. Their skin is also edible but I haven't tried any recipes where they are sliced and cooked (but not peeled). I usually microwave the large winter squashes for 5 minutes to soften the skin so they are easier to cut up. Otherwise, sharpen your knife first. I think people like butternuts better because they are easier to peel. BTW the fertilizer in the photo is only used on annual flowers, mostly container plants.

Hi prairiemoon,

For the watermelons, I tried black plastic this year, which really made a difference, and I also put down drip tape for my whole garden, though I think I generally underwatered with it. The biggest 'extra work' though was in not ignoring the watermelon seedlings while I am busy planting out my tomatoes and peppers in late May. Since the melons will go out 2-3 weeks after those, I always find myself overwhelmed around then...

On the topic of extra fridges and freezers, I have it in my head that I need some sort of 'produce fridge' that can keep my tomatoes, eggplants, and lots else at 50-55 degrees with the right humidity, because in the summer its no good to keep them on the counter for long, and its no good to put them in the cold fridge either. Closest I can find is some sort of wine fridge/cellar, which has similar temp requirements, but you pay through the nose because its for 'wine collectors'. Anybody solve this one?

I have a second fridge that I bought when I began home cooking for my dogs in 2007. It is handy for more than just the storage of pet food. I would have a hard time reverting to a single refrigerator.

My basement is typically about 5 to 10 degrees lower than the temperature of my house, so I store onions, potatoes, and garlic down there. It doubles as a wine cellar too!

Defrost, I may well give peppers another try, not this coming summer since that is planned out already, but the following year. The peppers pictured on this thread look so good!

Just as I was about to resort to a chain saw to cut open butternut squash one year, a dear friend told me that she simply washes, then stabs hers with a sharp knife, and then bakes them. So that is what I do now! I use a disposable turkey pan to bake them. I have microwaved little acorn squash before also, but I like the butternuts a bit better. I believe I also have tried red kuri squash in the past and I have a favorable memory.

Wow, defrost, super squash harvest! That looks like enough to last you through the whole winter. [g] And maybe feed some of the neighbors too! You must have a large garden.

Seanm, Black Plastic - I think about doing it and then somehow never get around to it. Spring gets to be so busy some years, overwhelmed is the right word. Especially if you have a garden that is a good size. Mine is small, so it’s not too bad.

Drip tape? Do you mean a drip watering system?

Yes, getting the seedlings all the attention they should have is not easy in the spring. I guess after all that extra effort, you can see the results and makes enough difference to make it your regular routine.

I agree that you can’t keep the tomatoes on the counter for too long in hot weather. Nice idea about having a fridge you can turn up to 55 degrees.

Spedigrees, I like the idea of baking squash rather than peeling them. I’m going to have to try that.

Yes, Prairiemoon, that advice about stabbing and baking winter squash whole revolutionized my life! I used to cut them in two with much difficulty, scoop out the seeds, lay the two halves face down in the pan to bake, then scoop out the insides. I was at the point of taking them out and using an axe and a stump before I ended up lopping off one of my hands! Now I just stab, bake whole, cut open, remove seeds, and scoop out the flesh to eat, after they have cooled down a bit of course.

One precaution is that using slightly older, more mature squash with a thicker skin is much better because, with the young ones, their thinner skin can stick to the "meat" and be difficult to separate. There isn't any taste difference between younger squash and older that I can discern.

Thanks, Sped, I will keep in mind the baking technique. I've always just cut up and nuked my squash and then peal it before using. I grow tromboncino AKA zucchetta which may not have as thick/tough skin as some of the others. (Just finished a bowl of squash soup, good for a cold gray day!)

Who'd a thunk that so many of us are avid veggie gardeners?! I think more veggie garden photos need to show up on the "Show us your garden" threads next summer! I am always looking for good ideas on growing techniques. So far I think only HG603 and I have added veggie garden shots in the last couple of years.

Speds - I would have tried cutting it before baking, I see what you are saying, bake it whole and cut it after when it's soft. Great tip! The older I get the more I'm having to look for some of these work arounds. After being home alone one day and not being able to get a jar open, I finally had to break down and buy one of those tools that help in such a situation. Really great results with it too.

NHBabs - I'm also surprised so many here grow vegetables. I thought I shared photos of my new raised beds and trellises, but maybe that was on the Vegetable forum. I will look forward to more photos from the vegetable garden this season too.

I wonder if anyone is starting seed indoors or winter sowing and might share photos of that process?

Here's what I'm doing today, trying to finalize some seed orders and firm up my garden plans for the spring…..

So far… ‘Green Beauty’ Snow Peas that grow 8ft tall, ‘Gigante d’Italia’ Parsley, ‘Indigo’ Raddichio and ‘Baltisk Rod Purpurkal’ Kale are among my finds from Fedco. And I might try Horehound this year and ‘Jelly Bean’ California Poppies are on my list too. I want more Sunflowers this season and I have a lot of leftover seed, but I’m still eyeing ‘Jade’ at Johnny’s.

Wow! What a response! I'm so glad I started this thread :)

NHBabs - to answer your question about the Moscovich tomato, it is indeterminate but grew more bushy than vine-like for me. Perhaps that isn't typical, but it was my experience last summer. Very tasty tomatoes for sure! I only grow indeterminate because I don't can or sauce my tomatoes.

I will be starting seeds indoors, so I'd be happy to share my progress if it's helpful. I'm definitely a novice though!

I have a seed starting rack my husband built for me out of scrap lumber. We have old shop lights that hang from chains so the lights can be raised higher when the plants start growing. I have fairly good luck but I don't think I am transplanting to a larger pot soon enough. Also, this year I have sent for a variety of specialty peppers some of which have a longer growing season. I think I need to start them March 1. Germination time can be up to 2 weeks. I've been exploring the hot pepper forum but advice from hot pepper growers in zone 5 would be much appreciated. I have successful grown jalapenos, poblanos, and Serrano (purchased seedlings) but some of the seeds I've ordered are popular "seasoning peppers" from the Caribbean and South America.

The only seeds I start indoors are tomatoes, and I've settled on early to mid-April for starting. One year I started in mid-March and by planting time they were way too big, leggy and required too much re-potting before the ground was warm enough to plant. I've not had any luck starting peppers from seed, but maybe I was too impatient for the germination if it takes 2 weeks! Using a heating mat, tomatoes germinate in 4-5 days if I remember correctly. Shop lights work great for me, too.

Susan

Not all peppers take that long, it's some of these exotic varieties and, yes, I use a heat mat. Last year I spent a few dollars on a large tomato plant at the local nursery. I think it was 4th of July. I'd love to know how they do it but of course they have a heated green house that might be key.

I am trying winter sowing for the first time this year although I was thinking flowers for that. I have a tiny, tiny vegetable patch in the sunniest spot I could find. There isn't much space, but I start tomatoes and a few other things indoors on a makeshift stand. It is just a simple shop light hung from a frame with a small heat mat. Seed starting works fine for me. The hardening off is when I tend to lose things. They dry out so fast or get too hot or too cold.

During hardening off time, sometimes I put my plants in my garden cart. Depending on the weather and temperature, if I have to take them indoors for the night, I can wheel everything into the garage or into the shade.

During hardening off, I use my garden cart the same way defrost49 describes.

Maisie - I winter sowed for three seasons straight and enjoyed it a lot. I still do some but not every season. For the vegetable garden, I have not found it helpful to winter sow. I grow a lot of hot weather crops and between dealing with the short growing season to begin with and a shortage of sun on my property, I feel I need to get off to a faster start. I also have a small garden, so sometimes I purchase tomato/pepper /brassica starts in the spring. Sometimes I start them under lights.

Everything else I direct sow.

Someone in different circumstances might find winter sowing vegetable starts works great for them. I’ve talked to people who garden in a warmer zone, have full sun and love the health and sturdiness of the starts they get from winter sowing. You’re in 6b, so you might want to try a few vegetable seeds when you winter sow and grow them through a season and compare them to what you’ve grown indoors. And the hardening off is done for you.

This year, I’m hoping to start under lights for the vegetable garden, but I’m still going to do a little winter sowing too.

Defrost and homegrown, The garden cart idea is very clever. I wish I had a good site for that but we are perched on the side of a hill, so no carts for me. I'd be chasing the seedlings halfway down the road! Entertaining for the neighbors but tough on the plants. And on me.

Prairie moon, I also tend to go back and forth starting seeds and buying plants for vegetables. I like the process and variety of starting seeds, but end up with either far too many plants or stressing them out in a careless moment of too hot, too cold,too dry. Then I buy plants for a year or two until the seed starting bug gets me again. Maybe I will try a side by side comparison with winter sow and indoors. So much of seed starting for me is the fun of playing at gardening in the off season.

The squash pictures are amazing. It makes me wish I had a bigger sunny spot for them.

Maisie - Defrost's squash pictures are amazing. I'm always wishing I had a bigger sunnier spot. [g]

This year, seed starting is about the fun of gardening in the offiseason for me too, but selection and timing are often the reasons I will try to do it. I like to get my plants in the ground earlier than I can find them available and I usually want varieties that I don't always find. I'm out in the garden in March if possible and still out in the garden in November, so I'm usually ready for a break from gardening during the off season. Last year I didn't do as much gardening, so I'm itching to do some this year.

Indoor seed starting does take a lot of attention and I found I refined it from year to year. I haven't actually done it in awhile, so I hope I can get it right this year. One big key for me, was adding a fan. That made a lot of difference. And I try not to start them too early. It's tempting to try to end up with huge plants to put in the ground, but even a 6 week old plant is 6 weeks ahead and ready to start growing as soon as it hits the ground. Ending up with too many….lol….doesn't everyone do that?!

I found my old 48" shop lights and bulbs and nothing is working, so I'm going to have to replace everything. And what is available is different then it was. I have the old T12 fixtures and I see now they have T8s and T5s. I wonder what everyone else is using?

Thanks for the squash compliments. I'm really lucky to have lots of sunny gardening space. We're still using old T12s but my husband said pretty soon we won't be able to get bulbs. Given that your old fixture isn't working, guess it's time to change although we also buy on Craigslist and that might be a source for some used lights.

I have two packets of exotic pepper seeds that might take 2-4 months to germinate! Yikes! From what I've been able to find, people in my zone 5 start them Jan 1. I think I'll wait until next week. We have a lot of company expected on Saturday and I have lots of house cleaning and cooking to do.

Defrost and Homegrown, I agree that the garden cart idea is a great one! I have a lot of plants, mostly geraniums, that I over-winter in the basement/garage. It is fairly easy to just raise the garage door(s) and carry the trays of plants out into the driveway for the day, but wheeling them all out would be that much easier. I may think about doing that this spring!

I start a lot of annuals, mostly flowers, in small pots on my enclosed back porch and I take them outdoors during the day. I call this make-shift structure my "rain table" because on rainy days I can put my flats of seedlings underneath the sheet of plexiglass and they stay dry but still get sunlight; then on sunny days they can sit atop the structure. (I'm sure I've posted these photos before, so apologies for the repetition to those who've seen them in the past.)

After the last frost, my "rain table" reverts to a wall for holding potted plants.

Cart in use last summer....makes it so much easier for me.

Susan

Clever plexiglass set up. Looks like a lot of healthy tomato plants!

Beautiful work every one!

Mines are Citrus and Figs~!