What are new plants are you trying in 2021

Lisa K
Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited October 2021 in Vegetables

Last year every time I went to try to start my cool weather crops we ended up with a heatwave, so I will be attempting to start them in the next couple of days and so far some of the new things I am planning are:

Different kinds of beets; Chijimisai (greens); Vibrant Ultra Violet Mustard; Japanese Giant Red Mustard; Black Hulless Barley; purple Kohlrabi and Okra.

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Comments

  • karenjanicki
    karenjanicki Posts: 996 ✭✭✭✭

    I can't remember many of the seeds I purchased but there were quite a few new ones to me.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    red veined sorrel

    veriegated corn (leaves have stripes - beautiful

    multi colored lettuces

    red beans - to go with my purple and speckled beans

    kuta gourd

    and will probably end up getting more

  • Hassena
    Hassena Posts: 345 ✭✭✭

    Kohlrabi is delish. @Lisa K

    This year newbies are tatsoi greens.

    We are doing a lot more of indoor growing. Just until the weather warms.

  • lewis.mary.e
    lewis.mary.e Posts: 225 ✭✭✭

    New to us are apple trees. And we'll be planting what I call peppermint beets. When you cut them open they have red and white rings.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'd like to try growing horseradish and ground nuts this year.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @karenjanicki I made the mistake when looking at Baker's Seeds website and clicked on new for 2021 and went a little crazy, so come Spring I will have a lot more new seeds!

    @Denise Grant yes seed catalogs are my downfall!

    @VermontCathy I love growing horseradish it is so easy and the young leaves are nice in a salad!

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The toughest thing about growing horseradish is finding the plants! It's not commonly sold by most suppliers.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Ground nuts grow wild here @VermontCathy A friend showed me how to find them

    I grew peppermint beets for the first time last year@lewis.mary.e Loved them and my nieces and nephew did too.

    @Lisa K my bakers creek order is almost ready. I am afraid to hit the pay button

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Denise Grant been there done that! 😄

    @VermontCathy if you have a grocery store that carries it you can use them to start. I got my from our local Sprouts Market I checked weekly until I found two pieces of root that had eyes and planted them. I would also recommend growing them in a big bucket because the do spread.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Great horseradish suppliers @torey

    I am lucky enough to have a few fiends with horseradish. It spreads here so they are alwasy will to give you a couple of shovels full

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    Horseradish is in everyone's garden in my area. One of the plants brought in by the first settlers so you can find clumps at old homestead sites.

    I've grown the striped beets before. "Chiogga" variety. Very nice.

  • karenjanicki
    karenjanicki Posts: 996 ✭✭✭✭

    That's ok! I love seed catalogues. And I think ample seeds are a good thing :)

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @karenjanicki I so agree!

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    Besides having order several new varieties of vegetables that I have grown before, I'm going to try luffa gourds. I understand that if you pick them very young, they are a good substitute for zucchini. But I let my zucchini get really big last year. So if I do that with the luffa, I can have kitchen sponges without all the plastic.

    There are a number of other things that I want to grow this year. Not sure whether to go on line and order or hope that I'll be able to get seed from some of the local seed growers at the local food co-op.

    So many of the places I have been looking at on line are sold out of many varieties already.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @marjstratton I have grown luffahs on and off for years. I love them!

    In my climate its hard to get a good crop since luffahs taek a long season. I start them early and use a paper pot (made from newspaper) so that I can just plant ther plant without disturbing the roots. I have noticed they start out slow but then overnight seem to have a lot of luffahs

    I have eaten the luffah but since I really value the sponges you can make I let 98% of them grow all season.

    You should soak the luffahs to get the skin off and let dry. Some people bleach the luffah sponge but I like it natural.

    One thing you can do is to make soap and while its still in the setting stage pour it on ther luffah. You end up having a great scrubbing bath sponge

    The blosson is white and opens more at night or on darkish days. For that reason I plant a lot of night pollinators around it

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @marjstratton I just got some new seeds (new to me) from Baker's Creek which is a great place of seeds, they have a lot and many different varieties.

  • karenjanicki
    karenjanicki Posts: 996 ✭✭✭✭

    I really like a good crisp new seed catalogue though. Especially seed savers! Oh my goodness such beautiful produce. Creation art!

  • herbantherapy
    herbantherapy Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭

    I’m basically only growing 2 varieties of the normal and everything else is new. But I’m not actually growing anything I’ve never grown before, just new varieties of what I have. Normally I go crazy in the seed catalogs and plant so much I can’t remember it all and then it all gets away from me and I only have semi-productive crops. So this year I’m focusing on becoming a vegetable gardener.

    I grow over 50 varieties of herbs and have 100’s of ornamentals, but for some reason...veggies elude me.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2021

    @herbantherapy What veggies are you concentrating on?

    Over 50 herbs, very nice!

  • herbantherapy
    herbantherapy Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭

    @Denise Grant

    I planted all my existing raised beds with either soft neck or hard neck garlic (4 beds and two 20 galloon pots). I won’t harvest these til July-Sept depending on how cool the summer is, so I figure I can concentrate on my 3 new beds and 2 in ground beds.

    In ground bed 1: existing rhubarb stays and I’m planting a pie pumpkin in there.

    In ground bed 2: existing artichokes will be planted up with corn. This will protect the artichokes on the hottest days when they often get sunburned.

    2 new beds are only 2x2: Spring will have peas (I have always had success with peas). Then early Summer will have pickling cucumber (I never get those bigger than a few inches tall). In fall I will plant radish in one and beets in the other (I usually do well with these).

    In the new 6’x8’ bed I’m planting strawberry spinach on the short edges, regular spinach on the long north end. Each side with bush beans (then kohlrabi in fall), the middle with kale (then chard in fall) and cabbage. The dead center will be the real test of growing hatch Chile. I need to make a cloche for this one. And the back south edge will be planted with summer squash on a trellis system.

    This my 2nd year with raspberry and blueberry plants so I will be tending them and a newly transplanted strawberry patch.

    Im installing a drip system on a timer for the first time so I think that will really help me!

  • Megan Venturella
    Megan Venturella Posts: 678 ✭✭✭✭

    I’m going to try a small patch of cotton. I can’t wait! Also Roselle and mushrooms. I don’t know why I’m so intimidated to try my hand at mushrooms, but I am. 🤞

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @herbantherapy Love your garden bed layouts

    I think my problem with peas is I plant them the wrong time. More experimenting is needed. I get enough to much in in ther garden area but they rarely make it in the house!

    @Megan Venturella Mushrooms intimidate me too but I still plan to take them on this year

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    I would like to try to grow a Manuka tree for my bees. I have read so much about Manuka honey... I would like to have a little drop in my honey... I know I will have to grow it in a pot, as the winters are too harsh here. Does anyone have a Manuka tree in a country with real winters? Does it survive and blossom?

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @torey Thank you! I will definitely check those out.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Besides trying new things I am also trying new varieties like the carrots below, I have grown carrots before but the white carrot is new it is from a Rainbow blend. @herbantherapy


  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    White and purple carrots are great! I usually grow a mix.

  • Sharie
    Sharie Posts: 276 ✭✭✭

    My seeds arrived yesterday! About 50 packets of veg and flowers, most of which I hadn't grown before. Some of the stranger ones:

    Urizun Japanese Winged Bean

    Thousandhead Kale

    Ashwagandha Garden Berry

    Chinese Python Snake Bean

    Salad Burnet

    'Mini Love' Personal Size Watermelons

    'Mikado' Japanese Baby Turnips

    Quite a few new varieties of hot peppers. I hope to make sauces so seeing what grows best here in my climate.

    Lots of new tomato varieties. They tend to get really attacked here by bugs so I'm testing until I find the best varieties to keep growing.

    I went a little nuts with seeds but living in a new climate and lots of microclimates even within an acre, it takes a lot of experimenting to see what works and also what time of year to plant. Although we have little variation in daylight hours, we have a dry windy season which is almost useless to grow anything as it just gets ripped apart and a rainy season which is great for the garden. The plants absolutely do not like tap water so I'm learning what will survive through dry season without a lot of watering.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I feel like a kid on Christmas day when I get my seeds!😃

  • happy-trails
    happy-trails Posts: 170 ✭✭✭

    Your plants sound fun! I had a great time growing okra last year and the flowers are beautiful. I love them for gut health and as a natural thickener in drinks, instead of cream. This season I'll be trying purple kohlrabi too! Also red okra and sun chokes, and nebula carrots that I keep saying I need to try! I need to get on it.