Everyone grows tomatoes, that's an easy one to say the home gardener should grow.
I've discovered the wonders of fresh asparagus, and was amazed to discover that there is more than one type of carrot or lettuce out there. I have over 1200 sq ft in raised beds (and more ground available) to feed about 10-12 people and would like suggestions of stuff to try.
What may seem obvious to you may not be to someone who's only been exposed to what is available in a city grocery store.
For example, kohlrabi - where has that been my whole life? And the different types of lettuces available!!!! Yum!!!
I'd appreciate suggestions on new types of veggies or varieties to try!!!
Thanks! Hostamomma
Opinion - most under-grown or under-rated home grown veggie
Depends on your perspective. With modern advances in preservation, root crops that were used to sustain folks through the winter have fallen into disfavor. Salsify and Parsnips come to mind. Recently winter radishes have come back into play with the introduction of better Asian varieties. Kohlrabi have always had its adherents as have turnips and rutabagas. One old timer that you rarely see anymore is the Chufa (ground almond). In the tomato group Tomatilloes and ground cherries are getting more interest. Lots of things out there including some usually consider weeds like dandelions, chicory, amaranth(vegetable), purslane, rocket, etc. Once folks used a lot of preserves, Vine peach, garden huckleberry, citron,...or pickle ( the West Indian Gherkin)
Farmerdill
Thank you so much for the reply. I already have parsnips, turnips, and rutabagas on my seed list! Salsify looks scary and no-one sells it at the local farmers market so I have no idea how it tastes.
One thing you mentioned was chufa which I had to look up - would you believe we used to forage for it (we called it ground nuts) when I was a girl scount MANY moons ago? I used to love it and would like to put some in my garden but some commentary seems to say it's very invasive (funny - I remember having to look Hard! to find it)...is there a weed that has a smiliar name?
I've grown plenty of tomatoes, cukes, and peppers in my life but want to branch out now that I have a little more space. Ultimately my goal is to cover my family's veggie needs at least 80% from my garden. Not sure if it's possible but I want to give it a try.
Your input is greatly appreciated! (on this and many other topics)
Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) used to be fairly widely grown as the oyster plant. It makes a great mock oyster stew but there are other ways of preparing it. Scorzonera (Scorzonera hispanica) is somewhat similar but more popular in Europe than in North America. Chufa is a variation of Nutsedge. Use to grow it when I was a a kid and it was not invasive like the Yellow Nutsedge that plague my fields. The tubers (nuts) are larger. Today it is used mostly for wild life plots.
80% should be attainable as long as you are willing to go with "in-season" and use preservation methods like freezing, canning, and drying.
Best meal I ever had was green beans and potatoes fresh from the garden, cooked with a little bacon or ham and served with biscuits.
I grew (and tasted) Swiss Chard for the first time this past summer and it's easy to grow. DH chops some leaves and onions, sautes a bit and then stirs it into scrambled eggs.
We also like spaghetti squash cooked a number of ways. You can't go wrong with yellow squash or zucchini....lots of ways to cook those.
Don't forget melons and strawberries.
Several I did not mention because I do not grow them: Radicchio, Celeriac, Celery, artichoke (both globe and Jerusalem), Vegetable soybeans (edamame), broccoli raab, burdock, Chinese cabbage (Napa) bok Choi, endive, escarole, fennel, corn salad
I think every garden should include some potatoes. There's nothing to compare with fresh-dug new potatoes in the early summer! And, so easy!!!
I'd have to add onions and garlic, I rarely go a day without using them for something and pretty much can't remember the last time I bought an onion. And winter squash, many types will store well, or you can cook it up and freeze it or use it for pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, etc. And I don't think anyone mentioned beets yet -- you can use the greens and the roots, we cook the tops the same as you would spinach; if you find you like them a lot, definitely try some Swiss chard as msrobin suggested -- it's basically a beet that was developed for the leaves instead of the roots, and the "Bright Lights" variety is pretty enough to grow as an ornamental!
Sandy
Definitely potatoes - they produce a large harvest in a small space. I have to agree with chard and beets as well. Anything that is cut and come again maximizes your space. I grow beets mostly for the greens. My favorite way to eat them and chard? Cut up some bacon and fry until brown. Add onions and garlic and cook a couple minutes. Add a bit of water, a bit of sugar and a pinch or so of red pepper flakes and boil. Scrape bottom of pan to loosen yummy bacon stuff. Add your chard and/or beet greens and cover. Cook until greens are tender (about 5 minutes). Add a bit of salt and pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar... Delicious!
locakelly: Your recipe makes my mouth water.... and adds to the angst of waiting for spring!
lol - we had some just the other night. I have greens coming out my ears right now... It reminds me of zucchini in summer... No one leaves here without a bag of washed and chopped greens and the recipe!
No greens here in Indiana, just lots of snow on the ground and steady rain today (at least it isn't more snow!). Enjoy your gardening weather in Arizona. It'll be a few weeks before we can even get into the garden.
Green onions, carrots, lettuce and greens. No one seems to seek them out to grow, but everyone uses them almost everyday. There does seem to be quite a bit of heirloom greens and lettuce varieties. I always feel bad that I don't try more of them. My orders seem to be dominated by warm season 'fun' crops.
As you mentioned, I started my veggie gardening with a few tomatoes and peppers a couple years ago. Now, look out. I'm enjoying growing things that I never would have considered. Not that they are exotic. It's just that I didn't think a home gardener would go there.
For instance, I grew potatoes last spring and have already ordered six varieties for this year. I can't wait. And beets. I hadn't eaten them since I was little. I love the roots and the tops. I had never eaten chard. Last year, I just kept picking it all season and used it in eggs, stir frys, salad, and soups. Yum. And it is so pretty too. And then there is pac choi. Love it!
I can't wait for the snow to melt.
Kelly - that sounds like a great way to cook chard, I can't wait to try it!
When I meet someone new and the conversation turns to gardening and they ask me what I grow - I tell them it would be easier to list the things I don't grow!
Sandy
LOL Sandy!
You can sub any greens in that recipe. You would just need to cook things like collards longer...
Whoa, that's one of the few things I've never had (collards)...
Guess I'd better add that to my To-Grow list!
You have to give collards a try. They are my favorite greens. Very mellow and subtly sweet. They are also easy to grow, both cold hardy and resistant to bolting.
Okay! You had me at "cold hardy" in particular... off to find a package of collard seeds!
:-)
Ground cherries.....I'm interested but I've read in the seed catalogs that they are a bit hard to get started from seed. What are your experiences?
Also, I would add the New Zealand spinach and strawberry spinach to the list. I've had several people tell me that they are the same thing and I've only grown the New Zealand spinach (great for hot weather). Sorry if someone else already mentioned those two--I just keep getting interupted this morning =D!
Great subject by the way!
I grow the Red Malabar Spinach and it is very good. Pretty too as an ornamental and you use the leaves just like regular spinach. It does well in our Phoenix summer right up until about July or when it stays over 100° for a couple weeks straight. It croaked and I cut it back and about October back it came again. Reseeds easily too so once you plant it you never really have to plant it again - lol. Can't tell you how many "babies" I gave away last year from one plant.
Well, these aren't veggies but I find them so easy to grow and a must in cooking: common sage(starts from seed very easily), parsely, and thyme just to name a few. Easy enough to tuck among the veggies and pick for cooking dinner.
I've been reading all of these posts with great interest. Many of your suggestions were not on my list (but are now) so thank you very much!
I'll second the suggestion for Edamame / vegetable soybeans. You may have read about them, that you eat them by squeezing the beans out of the pod. I grew them last year and they did great and were tasty too. As easy to grow as bush green beans.
Swiss chard is great--lasts thur the summer unlike spinach-- but once the flea beetles found mine , I have not been able to cope Same with strawberry spinach, flea beetle chow.
Last time I had enough spinach for a serving, cooked, it was awesome! Around here we don't have much spring spinach season so it isn't very efficient.
I have tried sorrel, it made good soup and is a perennial green here.
Sally - we eat a lot of Edamame and my 7 year old was very excited to grow some this year. As usual, I over researched and picked one - from Johnny's Select Seeds the variety called "butterbean" (it is a soybean). I call to put in my Johnny's order and find out there is a total crop failure on that one.
Which type of soybean do you grow?
Well, I grew Envy, from Pinetree seeds, only this one past summer. Can't say I am expert on cultivars . Beer Friend seems to be popular. I saw BeSweet in a catalog and also saw it used in a research paper so it may be one of the better ones. Every catalog I've seen this year has at least one--but seems like everybody offers different ones.
I would have called Swiss chard my underrated vegetable, before my trials with flea beetles!! Talk about crop failure.
Sally, I couldn't grow eggplant for 3 years in the garden because of flea beetles, but this past summer I put a couple of plants in big planters on a 3' high deck and actually got some eggplants. Being up off the ground protected them. Funny though, that the Bright Lights Chard that I planted 10'-12' away from where I tried the eggplant in previous years did just fine with no damage. Point is, you might try growing it in containers.
For those with hot summers who want salad greens vegetable amaranth, oracle, and purslane fit the bill. Purslane contains more Omega 3 than any other leafy green.
In our cool weather mix we like mache(corn salad), upland cress, radicchio, endive and escarole. I love the butterhead lettuces also.
In summer we grow an italian stuffing zucchini called Giambo and a pink eggplant that has no bitterness.
I forgot to mention one of my favorite greens Hon Tsai Tai. It is delicious and you cook leaves, stems, flowers and buds. It is a braising green, fast cooking and loaded with nutrition.
We saute most greens this way: chop garlic and saute in olive oil, add hot pepper flakes and then add chopped greens. Saute for about 5 minutes. Serve with balsamic vinegar.
We cook pak choi, bok choi and nappa cabbage like this also.
Okra!! I love okra. I've found it easy to grow and the flowers are beautiful. I pick it while the pods are still tiny and tender.
Yehudith
Trying different growing 'schemes' is a good idea. Maybe some of these vegetables have been under rated because of trouble growing them. I had great success last fall with lettuce and mustard and think I have really overlooked the potential of the fall season for greens. I really liked n 'oriental salad greens mix' I grew, mustard, komatsuna, and other cabbage family things I think were in it.
Lamb's quarter is not what most people call a crop but since I get so much of it I eat some. Very tender when young though you'd think the stems would be tough.
We also need to know how to cook new things so we'll actually harvest and use. Thanks Calalily for your greens recipe. I've grown a little okra, and when I just have a little I like to mix it with corn and tomatos.
Cowpeas.
Cowpeas indeed! They're very good when cooked fresh with a bit of onion and bacon or just plain slathered with butter. I think a lot of people don't try them because they think they're like black eyed peas but they're not.
They're also great for building soil fertility since they fix nitrogen on their roots and easily decompose for adding organic material. They don't need much water or fertilizer to make a good crop. They also make a good first crop when expanding the garden or on new ground because they can do a good job of shading out weeds. Seed is cheap enough to just broadcast or plant in wide rows. Mississippi Silver is my favorite.
Yes, I'm going to try cowpeas this year. Don't know how to cook them but I told DH that is what Dave's is for =~)! If the ground would ever dry up a bit I could get the beds I want tilled and I would be off to the races. I've got a big pile of used chicken bedding and another pile of cow poo fermenting way to the back of the yard. And I've just found a few more piles of leaves so I can build some new lasagne beds. I know I will wish I didn't want the ground to dry out when August comes around--but I really want to get started out in the veg garden NOW! I want to try all these new veg's and I just miss the smell of the earth!