What We're Growing for 2018
We did it! We've went through all of our seed catalogs and have chosen the special veggies that we'll be growing this year! We chose varieties based on taste, production, disease resistance, and climate. A bunch of these are new to us, so I'm hoping we'll find ones that work great for out specific growing conditions.
We're expanding a bit more into staple and cover crops in aims of supplying more of our calorie and protein needs and soil fertility. We'll be adding an extra 40' x 40' growing plot, over half is occupied by large pines, the top soil is thin and very sandy, this will be challenging on all levels, but so worth it.
We will be growing a lot more legumes this year as well. Most of our current growing space has been intensively planted with nitrogen sucking veggies, and we'll be letting these areas rest and rejuvenate a bit by growing beans and peas. This will not only add nitrogen to the soil, but will also provide a lot of protein—essential for a vegetarian family. We've noticed more disease hitting these areas too, so it's about time for a good rotation.
There are a bunch more seeds not listed that we have saved from last year. @kokibyivana will be posting a list of all the herbs, flowers, and perennials we'll be adding to our happy community soon, so stay tuned for that one.
Staples
Golden Giant Amaranth | Red Faro Quinoa Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|---|
Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Good Mother Stallard Bean Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Cherokee Trail of Tears Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Brown Lazy Wife |
Brassicas
Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Glory of Enkhuizen Cabbage Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|---|
Kalibos Cabbage Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Waltham 29 Broccoli Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Corn
Buhl Sweet Corn Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Strawberry Popcorn Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|
Cucumbers
Chicago Pickling Cucumber Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Early Fortune Cucumber Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|
Leafy Greens
Little Gem Lettuce Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Crisp Mint Lettuce Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|---|
Garnet Rost Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Arugula Green Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Tatsoi Green Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Mizuna Green Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Bloomsdale Spinach Photo from Seed Savers Exchange | Nobel Spinach Photo from Seed Savers Exchange |
Legumes
Purple Podded Pole Bean Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Chinese Mosaic Long Bean Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|---|
Sugar Snap Pea Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Pea, Champion Of England Photo from Seed Savers Exchange | Pea, Extra Early Pedigree Photo from Seed Savers Exchange |
Onions
Alisa Craig Onion Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Southport Red Globe Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|
Peppers
Cayenne Long Thin Pepper Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Craig's Grande Jalapeno Pepper Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|---|
Carolina Reaper Hot Pepper Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Poblano Pepper Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Healthy Pepper Photo from Seed Savers Exchange | Napoleon Sweet Photo from Seed Savers Exchange |
Cubanelle Sweet Pepper Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Ozark Giant Pepper Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Pumpkins
New England Sugar Pie Pumpkin Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|
Tomatoes
Rose De Berne Tomato Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | German Johnson Tomato Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|---|
Black Krim Tomato Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Amish Paste Tomato Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Black Prince Tomato Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Bonny Best Tomato Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Roots
Detroit Dark Red Beet Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Cylindra or Formanova Beet Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
---|---|
Kyoto Red Carrot Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds | Black Nebula Carrot Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Muscade Carrot Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds |
Cover Crops
Spring: Peas and Oats Mix Photo from Johnny's Selected Seeds | Fall: Fall Green Manure Mix Photo from Johnny's Selected Seeds |
---|
What varieties are you excited about growing this year? Have you had experience with any of the veggies listed above? Let me know in the comments!
AWESOME array of produce!
I am going to try the little gems myself but have found the seeds are quite expensive. But I'll find a way
Lettuce seed is the easiest to save, rarely cross pollinates, so I'm hoping to save quite a bit this year. This will save me quite a bit next year.
I will have to check more into the cross-pollination and propagating also. I have wanted to learn more about it to begin with so I guess this gives me more motivation
Right on! Saving seed is a big goal for me in 2018. I've casually saved seeds before: cilantro, pumpkin, lettuce, cucumbers, corn, and beans to name a few. But I wasn't really cautious when it came to cross pollination. I'll be taking it more seriously this year, as the garden expands, the seed costs really ad up. I'll be posting my seed saving journey on steemit for all whom are interested to follow along.
YES! Same here.. a more casual approach. But this year has taught me more about gardening then I ever knew possible and I want to continue on the path of knowledge and expanding my capabilities.
love it! that's the amaranth that self-sowed so easily for us. Good luck with providing your own staple crops. And your lettuce/salad/greens categories have me drooling over here with the vibrancy! XO
Wow there are some veg that I did not know had a species like that. ie. carrots black ish. Some of these things I did not know existed. It is interesting to see the variety of stuff you can grow in world of climate differences. Thanks for the education my friend
Baker Creek Heirloom seeds reposted this article of facebook. Excited that steemit is being talked about/used. I am super excited about steemit. I also love baker creek seeds, i buy a good amount of my seeds from them.
A veritable smorgasbord of vegetable loveliness.
I'll be round after you harvest!
;)
Happy growing.
xox
Hi, it's nice to see another Michigander on Steemit!
Same here! Michiganians are EVERYWHERE here!
Cool! I'm in the Detroit area.
I am north of there.. about an hour and half in good weather. There is another homesteader in the Metro area too- we're trying to figure out a time to meet up in the spring time when travel conditions are better.
I grew up in Warren.
Hey! Yeah, I think there are a lot more of us than I realized as well.
Good on ya for getting your seeds figured out now. January is the best time to order seeds and mail order trees before the companies start selling out of in demand products.
Yeah, it's crazy. Seed Savers is already sold out of a few organic varieties. It seems to happen earlier every year, especially with potatoes.
Well I guess this also a good sign. At least more and more people pay attention to buy their seeds from good sources and start growing their own food.
Maybe January isn't the best month if they are already selling out!
What delicious photos :-)
i am in love with all these vibrant colours, and i am so excited to get to watch everything unfold here online!!!
good luck with seed saving, too. i let one lettuce plant go & i will be finding out what happened with those in a couple of weeks when i stick 'em in the dirt.
my crop is tourists. we grow them in all nationalities.
well we do grow coffee, rasberries, jocote, chan, several mints, tons of lemongrass and purple basil.
i love the look of you selection. harvest yum.