Garden Plants for 2010
- Sweet Corn
- Tomatoes
- Roma
- Brandywine
- Jelly Bean
- Cold Set
- Yellow Pear - Now Picking!!!
- Pink Brandywine? - Now Picking!!!
- Yellow Jubilee
- Mr. Stripey
- Onions
- White
- Yellow
- Red
- Young/Green Onions
- Leeks
- Parsnips
- Beet
- Detroit Dark Red
- Golden
- Carrots
- Rainbow Baby
- Red Core
- Squash
- Spaghetti Squash
- Pumpkin
- Eggplant
- Calliope Hybrid
- Cucumbers
- Lemon Cucumbers
- Slicing & Pickling Varieties
- Potatoes - Adirondak Blue
- Sweet Potatoes
- O’Henry
- Beauregard
- Sweet Peppers
- Green Bell - Now Picking!!!
- Red Sweetheart
- Golden Yellow Bell - Now Picking!!!
- Red Bell
- Banana Peppers - Now Picking!!!
- Watermelon
- Sugar Baby
- Seedless
- Cantelope - Hale’s Best
- Spinach
- Baby Leaf
- Asian Leaf
- Red Vine - Malabar (high in Fiber)
- Radish - Pink
- Lettuces & Greens
- Romaine
- Red & Green Leaf
- Arugula
- Iceburg
- Lattuga Rossa a Foglia Riccia da Tavolo
- Beans -
- Bush Green Stringless Bean
- Bush Black Turtle Beans
- Sunflowers
- American Giant
- Lemon Queen
- Sunspot
- Broccoli
- Calabrese
- Summer Purple
- Cauliflower
- Early Snowball
- Purple
- Celery
- Tall Utah
- Par-Cel - Grows like Parsley, tastes like Celery!
Berries & Fruit Trees
- Strawberries planted in 2008 June & Everbearing Varieties; New bed planted 2010
- Heritage Raspberry planted 2008; additional bush planted 2010
- Bush Blueberry planted 2008; Heritage Blueberry planted 2010
- Applie Trees - Fuji & Red Delicious; attempting to aquire a Jonagold Dwarf.
Herbs
Peppermint, Greek Oregano, Common Sage, TriColor Sage, Rosemary, Tarragon, Flat Italian Parsley,
Basil - Green & Red Varieities & Cilantro
Now Picking All Varieties!!!
2010 Garden Expenses Running Total: $255.00
2010 Garden Harvest Value: $285.50...
Updated 7/12/10
Values in parenthesis reflect package types and Organic values available at the local grocery store or Farmer’s Market.
- Mixed Leaf Lettuce, Baby Spinach, Aurugula, Romaine & Iceberg - $48.00 (28 bags @ $4 ea)
- Radishes - $4.00 (4 bunches @ $1 ea)
- Rainbow Baby Carrots - $7.50 (30 @ $.25/ea)
- Green Onions - $10 (4 bunches)
- Green Beans - $20 (10 lbs)
- Cucumbers Fresh- $46 (65 @ 3 for 1)(12 @ $2/ea)
- Banana Peppers - $8 (4)
- Strawberries - $21 (7.5 lbs)
- Squash Blossoms - $3 (1 dozen)
- Herbs - measured in “bouquets” or small handfuls; about half a typical clamshell package
- Oregano - $10 (5 @ 2/ea)
- Basil - $24 (12 @ 2/ea)
- Parsley -$8 ( 4 @ 2/ea)
- Sage - $10 (5 @ 2/ea)
- Cilantro - $6 (3 @ 2/ea)
- Processed & Preserved Foods
- Pickles - $81 (9 qt @ $5/ea - 12 pt @ $3/ea)
- Relish - $10 (5 half pt @ $2/ea)
- Whole New Potatoes - $6 (3 pts)
- Dehydrated Potatoes Blue/White - In Process
Our Garden Plots & Spaces
- Corn Patch - 8X20 - Raised Rows - Full Sun
- Square Garden - 5 X 12 Raised Bed- Full Sun
- A-Frame - Pots & Bags - Full/Part Sun
- Back Garden - 10X20 Raised Rows - Full/Part Sun
- Herb Garden 2X14 - Raised Bed - Full/Part Sun
- Grape Arbors & Grapes planted in 55 gallon drums
Garden Photos from Early May 2010 of our garden plots & spaces as they fill in for spring & summer crops!
My interest in gardening comes from a deeply rooted desire to create fabulous AND healthy meals! Eating a variety of foods, eating well prepared foods is one of the main ways I “endulge” in this life. 
I am an ametuer gardener, and that would be the nicest way to put it. I’m a city girl and learning how to work the soil here in the Smoky Mountains, the red clay of Appalachia, is an uphill battle! We aquired poultry our 3rd year (2008) on our little micro farm and have begun to ammend the soil with the manure provided by them. They have become a regular part of our lifestyle as they patrol the grounds for pests, so far eliminating the need for bug sprays and added toxins on our food. We are not “organic” farming or growing, but we are growing naturally, responsibly & as sustainably as is possible.
We are currently converting portions of our just larger than 1 acre property to growing space. I would estimate that only 25% of our land is truly capable of growing produce. Learning to process and preserve our bounty is another challenge I have ahead of me.
In previous years we’ve planted a wide variety of vegetables and flowers, but we don’t usually have a lot of luck. In 2008 we scaled down our efforts and continued amending the soil and had a much better go of it. We even managed to grow a few rows of corn, in addition to strawberries, bell peppers in red and green, cucumbers and two varieties of sunflower seeds.
2009 was even better! We expanded our gardens to almost double their size, and got to try a large variety of plants. Unfortunately it was a REALLY rainy year and myself and others had a difficult grow season. We did manage to grow our first pound of black beans, at LOTS of strawberries & sweet potatoes. We put up only around 9 pints of pickles, but it was something. We had so many roma tomatoes that the chickens dined on them regularly and I enjoyed MANY fresh leeks from my own garden. Green beans are fun to grow, but we don’t like them fresh or frozen.. so if I grow them again, we’ll can those in pints. Almost all vines died... pumpkin, watermelon, cantelope, winter squash... not sure but I blamed the rain.
2010 will include re-lining our driveway to allow for grape arbors, and fencing off a serious garden space and expanding with as many raised beds as we can. In addition to that we will be constructing a 4 season grow house, so that we may keep up our personal demands all year for spinach & lettuce varieties. We will also be selling extra produce, veggies & more at the local Farmer’s Market on Saturdays throughout June, July, August & September. Learn more about our 2010 Farm Stand. We’re considering our first ever CSA program and may take on a couple of families and see how it goes. It would be the most wonderful thing to be able to feed mine and other local families with healthy food to nurture their families.
To See Current Photos (and old photos too from 2009) check out my Picasa Gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/dawnonthefarm.com/FoodGardens#
New Varieties for 2010
I’m so excited each year to try something new. This year I’m trying to add some color with unusual varieties that I have yet to try myself! I believe they will all be very good & yummy and I look forward to eating them.
Basella Rubra or Malabar Spinach also known as a Red Vine spinach, Red Stem Spinach. Should produce well through the summer heat and look beautiful while producing a quality salad green. It is unusual in that it has the red stems, as well as the fact that it is a climbing variety and additionally a semi-succulent. It’s high in soluble fiber, Vitamins A & C, Iron & Calcium. Perfect for salads which protects the red stems which otherwise fade to green with cooking. Mostly popular in Asian diets, and becoming more popular here in the Americas.
Italian Leaf Lettuce “Lattuga Rossa a Foglia Riccia da Tavolo” - The name is certainly a mouthful and I can only hope the taste is too a mouthful of goodness. Salads are important in our home and a variety of ingredients make it possible to eat salad almost every day without ever getting bored! I don’t know how anyone could look at these leaves and not get excited about adding them to their salads. Used as a leaf lettuce, which means we should be able to keep a steady supply ready for the picking.
Purple Broccoli - A British Summer variety. It doesn’t require a winter chill to produce and will continue to produce tender spears if picked frequently. I will be experimenting with which season works best with this variety as our seasons are a bit different than that of our British counterparts.
Golden Beets - Beets are SO good for you and this golden variety apparently has a more mild flavor and perform excellently when pickled. The greens can be used and often are used in salads. I’m a new beet eater so am really looking forward to adding these to my beet choices.
Calliope Eggplant Hybrid - I don’t even eat eggplant, but when I saw these GEORGOUS little globes of goodness I just couldn’t resist! They say they are perfect for potted gardens, small spaces and I really just had to have some. They are less bitter then traditional eggplant and are very small only a few inches across. Apparently eggplant contain Vitamins E & K and are high in potassium, folate and magnesium, which in my book makes them a nearly perfect vegetable!
Red Rubin Basil - Color at it’s best! This is a vibrant purple that I couldn’t pass up!!! Look at some of these pictures from Google Images and see for yourself! I’m going to be planting this everywhere throughout our property in every garden space I can find because it’s beautiful. The taste should be strong and the leaves should just be beautiful inside of jars of oil or vinegar. A combination of this & our common green variety will make a LOVELY dried blend, and I cannot wait to make purple pesto!
Well... that is an overview of some of the more unique vegetables & plants I’m trying to grow! I hope it inspires you to look high & low for something new & unusual.
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