Potatoes?
I always save some space to grow new varieties of vegetables in my garden. Since I’ve only been growing edibles for 4-5 years, I haven’t honed in on the varieties that I love yet, at least not in every area. When it comes to potatoes – I have learned that I LOVE Kennebecs. They grow well for me, the texture is great, and they store beautifully. I’m looking for another variety to grow this year and I’ve been debating between Katahdin & German Butterball as part of my main crop potatoes. I don’t like a mealy potato, so I’m wondering if I’ll like the Katahdin.
The ‘Butte’ potatoes I grew as a late harvest crop are doing wonderfully and are still going strong in the cellar, but I don’t love the texture of them so they got knocked off the list. Way too mealy and the skins are too tough (at least for my tastes). It might be a good mashing potato, but it’s not great fried – which is how we eat the majority of our potatoes.
I stumbled upon a new source for seed potatoes – the Maine Potato Lady and added her to my seed potato source list. Thought you might like to check our her website, she specializes in potatoes, shallots, onions, and garlic.
Have you had any experience with either of these or another variety of potato you think I should try?
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New in the Garden for 2012
Each year I try a few new things that I’ve never grown before. Usually they’re vegetables that I’ve purchased at the farmer’s market and liked. When I saw what new things Renee’s Garden was introducing this year I decided to try a few of them out. Here’s what’s new in the garden for the 2012 growing season:
I can’t wait to see how the Pak Choi and Napa cabbage grows. We’re big fans of kimchi here at Chiot’s Run, eating through a half gallon a week when I make it. As a result I’m hoping to grow lots of napa cabbage and some peppers too. I’m also pretty excited about the container zucchini which should be nice since it won’t take up much space. Since my edible gardening space is a bit limited, smaller varieties of plants help maximize that space and since I can’t seem to grow a zucchini to save my life, the less space I give it the better.
What new and exciting things have you added to your edible garden for the 2012 season?
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What To Do With a Turnip?
I found these lovely turnips at Local Roots in Wooster, OH last week and snatched them up. I’ve never grown them and have only had them in my kitchen once before. As I strive to learn more about winter gardening and growing vegetables that don’t require canning or preparation for storage, I find myself turning to root vegetables like the turnip. Purchasing from local farmers before growing them yourself is a great way to test them out to make sure you like them; you also know if they grow well in your area if the farmers are selling them. Although I’m thinking even if I don’t love them, they’ll be growing in my garden in the future because they’re such a versatile and useful winter vegetable!
According to what I’ve read in my on-line searches, There are many different way to prepare turnips, but I’m not sure which methods I should try. I figured the best place to ask for advice is here. These three large turnips should give me enough to try three different recipes. What do you recommend?
So what is the best way to eat a turnip? Have you ever grown turnips in your garden?
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Grow Your Own – Be Sure
I really love the old posters from the 1940’s when the government was encouraging people to grow Victory Gardens and to preserve their harvests. I’ve always thought about buying some, but never have gotten around to it. This year, a good friend, gave me one for Christmas. It’s the perfect one because of what is says:
We all have our reasons for growing edibles in our gardens, mine is to know exactly what’s going into my vegetables. Sure, I buy from local farmers who’s farms I’ve visited, but even that’s not quite like plucking things from your own little spot of earth.
When I eat a tomato from my garden I know the seeds were saved from a previous year, the plants were nurtured from tiny seedlings to rampant vines, they were grown in soil lovingly cultivated to be as healthy as possible, and the fruits were harvested just a few minutes before being eaten. I am familiar with every moment in the life of this tomato and it makes me smile. I love knowing that it wasn’t picked to early or sprayed with anything scary. Not only is this good for my health, it’s good for my pocketbook as well!
Why do you include edibles in your garden?
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Enjoying the Fruits of our Labor
I mentioned earlier this fall that I grew popcorn in the potager I share with my mom. I’ve grown ‘Strawberry’ Popcorn before, which produces tasty little deep red ears of corn that are beautiful while growing in the garden and after harvest. The seeds for this variety were from Botanical Interests. This summer I decided to try ‘Pennsylvania Butter’ which I purchased from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.
Our popcorn from this year has been up the attic drying since we harvested it a few months ago. We usually save it until winter and shell it while we’re watching a movie. We ran out of the popcorn from the local farm earlier this week, so we spent an evening shelling our homegrown popcorn.
One of the best things about growing your own popcorn or sourcing heirloom popcorn from a local farmer is the taste. Once you make the switch you’ll be wondering why you ever ate the plain yellow popcorn from the store, which tastes kind of like puffed corn cereal. If you’ve never eaten heirloom popcorn I’d highly recommend giving it a try, but be warned, you’ll never be able to eat regular popcorn again!
The weather this past summer was not kind to corn, we didn’t even think we were going to get any for the pantry. About fifteen percent of the ears were moldy because it was so wet towards the end of summer, luckily the rest was fairly nice. The ears were rather small, but I wasn’t home to give them a dose of fertilizer in August. Next time I grow popcorn I’ll underplant with clover to provide lots of nitrogen and add some kelp at planting time. Considering it was only my second year growing popcorn I was impressed with my harvest.
I’ve had a few questions from readers about making stovetop popcorn, which is the only kind we make here since we don’t have a microwave. It tastes so much better than other cooking methods and it’s a great way to add some extra coconut oil and pastured butter to your diet (if you haven’t heard about how great these are for your health head on over to the Weston A Price Foundation and read a few articles, once you do you’ll be searching for ways to add them). There’s a how-to video over on the Your Day Blog so you can see how I do it. We’ve been enjoying some this week while we enjoy the 007 Days of Christmas!
Are there any harvests from your summer garden that you’re especially enjoying now?
