I have a long list of things learned this year about vegetable growing. But I thought I'd share say, about 3!
1. Planted grey zucchini for the first time. Besides being early, (45 days) is very prolific all season and doesn't seem to get any disease. No powdery mildew (and it's been a wet year) and still getting zucchini as of Oct. 12.
2. Planted silver queen corn for the first time. Did really well, love the 9 foot stalks! Will do again, along with Ambrosia.
3. Though I would like to be completely organic, used some ammonium sulfate as a fertilizer this year for the first time lightly on the whole garden once, and then a little extra later on corn and onions. Helps with our alkaline soil here too.
4. Discovered Candy onions. I started them from seed. Most are softball sized! Could not believe it.
Sorry that's 4 things! I could go on and on. Several of those things I mentioned came from this forum. Thx!
Anyone care to share what they learned this year?
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KitchenGardener
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Taiji
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Of course, I can't really say that it never gets powdery mildew, just that here this year in this location it didn't. I hope that is always the case.KitchenGardener wrote:Ooh, thanks for the tip on grey zucchini - I feel like I devoted the second half of the summer to fighting back the powdery mildew so nice to hear about one that isn't susceptible.
1. Planted Red La Soda potatoes for the first time, wondering that universities in the Southeast say it's most common in the Southeast and universities in the Southwest say it's most common in the Southwest! My gardens are in neither location. Record 90°f+ heat hit in early June. The Red La Soda produced real well and much better than other varieties that have done well in past years.
2. Set out tomato plants as usual, in May. After record early June heat, it nearly froze. Frost was on the roofs of buildings near one garden, frost on lawns near another. High temperatures to nearly 100° came right back at the end of June.
a. Have suspected that yellow shoulders on tomatoes are caused by excessive heat during fruit formation, confirmed that by reading what horticulturalists have to say about the problem.
b. Knew already that cold weather during flowering causes catfacing of fruit. Although it was not a terrible tomato season, the fruit had both problems this year.
3. Set out Goddess cantaloupe for 4th year in May. Despite the whiplash June weather that killed my watermelon plants (again!), Goddess came through just fine.
Steve
2. Set out tomato plants as usual, in May. After record early June heat, it nearly froze. Frost was on the roofs of buildings near one garden, frost on lawns near another. High temperatures to nearly 100° came right back at the end of June.
a. Have suspected that yellow shoulders on tomatoes are caused by excessive heat during fruit formation, confirmed that by reading what horticulturalists have to say about the problem.
b. Knew already that cold weather during flowering causes catfacing of fruit. Although it was not a terrible tomato season, the fruit had both problems this year.
3. Set out Goddess cantaloupe for 4th year in May. Despite the whiplash June weather that killed my watermelon plants (again!), Goddess came through just fine
.Steve
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Taiji
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Universities in the northwest probably say don't believe anything that comes out of those southwestern and southeastern universities! I've been planting an unamed potato that I get from WM the last few years that they just call "early red potato" . It does really well too, even when hit by frost 2 or 3 times. It doesn't bloom. Hope they keep having those cheap early red potatoes.
What did I learn this year?
1. I discovered Komatsuna. It was in a planting of a local mesclun mix. I did not know what it was at first and I thought it would be bitter. But, I love it in soup and stir fries and it wasn't bitter, even when I ate it pretty old.
2. I learned that I need to check my sprinkler more often than once a year. I accidently pulled out a sprinkler wire when I weeded around the manifold and one of the valves was leaking. No wonder the plants were shrinking, the soil was getting hard, and the weeds were taking over.
3. People actually like lettuce, bean, and beet starts . I added them to the list of herbs I sell at the monthly sales and they were well received. Next year I am going to try to introduce more container vegetables like compact and mini tomatoes.
4. There really is truth to one year of seeding = seven years of weeding.
I am turning to Round Up to clear the paths which are hip high now. Otherwise I will have to hire a yard cleaner.
5. Now that I have hardly anything growing in the garden, I realize how much I depended on it to round out my meals.
1. I discovered Komatsuna. It was in a planting of a local mesclun mix. I did not know what it was at first and I thought it would be bitter. But, I love it in soup and stir fries and it wasn't bitter, even when I ate it pretty old.
2. I learned that I need to check my sprinkler more often than once a year. I accidently pulled out a sprinkler wire when I weeded around the manifold and one of the valves was leaking. No wonder the plants were shrinking, the soil was getting hard, and the weeds were taking over.
3. People actually like lettuce, bean, and beet starts . I added them to the list of herbs I sell at the monthly sales and they were well received. Next year I am going to try to introduce more container vegetables like compact and mini tomatoes.
4. There really is truth to one year of seeding = seven years of weeding.
I am turning to Round Up to clear the paths which are hip high now. Otherwise I will have to hire a yard cleaner.
5. Now that I have hardly anything growing in the garden, I realize how much I depended on it to round out my meals.
If someone has not enjoyed the heavy stems (midribs) of bok choy leaves, komatsuna is a good alternative. It's a good choice whether a gardener is or is not a fan of bok choy 
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I have never cared for the stems of Swiss chard. I discovered chard Verde da Taglio. It is, however, virtually indistinguishable from "perpetual spinach," that I have grown before. It seems to me that Americans should be able to do better than this non-spinach's name. Verde da Taglio means "cut greens," as best as I understand - so, I'm not necessarily suggesting that one either.
We could just call them beet greens. I grew white beets for the first time in 2016, also. Except that they developed rather huge roots, the leaves tasted like Verde da Taglio!
Growing red beetroot, yellow beetroot and white beetroot at the same time led me to decide that I like red beets best. And, yet!!! Baby beets with the leaves are a dinner favorite. Green beet leaves retain that good flavor well. Perpetual spinach - Verda da Taglio chard - white beets, one of these should be included, every year!
Steve
.I have never cared for the stems of Swiss chard. I discovered chard Verde da Taglio. It is, however, virtually indistinguishable from "perpetual spinach," that I have grown before. It seems to me that Americans should be able to do better than this non-spinach's name. Verde da Taglio means "cut greens," as best as I understand - so, I'm not necessarily suggesting that one either.
We could just call them beet greens. I grew white beets for the first time in 2016, also. Except that they developed rather huge roots, the leaves tasted like Verde da Taglio!
Growing red beetroot, yellow beetroot and white beetroot at the same time led me to decide that I like red beets best. And, yet!!! Baby beets with the leaves are a dinner favorite. Green beet leaves retain that good flavor well. Perpetual spinach - Verda da Taglio chard - white beets, one of these should be included, every year!
Steve
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Gary350
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I learned if I plant my tomatoes so they get full direct sun in the morning when temperature is cool until 12 noon then full shade the rest of the day when it is hot and 100 degrees the tomato plants do much better. For years I though my tomatoes were getting blight about 2nd week of July but the real problem is the hot sun and 100 degree temperature all day is killing the plants. Tomato plants in TN only need 4 hours of direct sun light in the morning. Sun dehydrates the plants and tomatoes too. Make sure plants are in the shade during the hot part of the day, plants do better, tomatoes grow larger.
I learned Zucchini squash is a much harder plant than yellow squash. I like them both. I think I will plant only Zucchini next summer.
I learned Zucchini squash is a much harder plant than yellow squash. I like them both. I think I will plant only Zucchini next summer.
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pepperhead212
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imafan, Komatsuna is a favorite green of mine, too, and I also discovered it by accident in a packet of seeds of Asian greens, from Bakers Creek, when they first started out. That, and Shogoin, were two things that they, and nobody at that time, sold seeds for, and before the Internet, as we know it, it was not easy to identify them! Fortunately, they showed up a couple of years later. And, if you like Komatsuna, you may like senposai - a cabbage Komatsuna hybrid, which grows even larger, and is even a little more heat resistant than even the best variety of Komatsuna. Unfortunately, the best variety of Komatsuna that I have found for heat resistance - kojisan - is no longer available, and no others that I have grown have had the heat resistance. Another variety - Summer Fest - sounds good, and I will try that.
I didn't really find any new keepers this season, as far as veggies go, but I did find a new herbal variety - Red Oaxacan Epazote. I'll find out in the spring if it re-seeds itself, as the green does in my region. I grew some in my hydroponics, starting in October, and it grew so out of control that I may harvest all of it, salt layer it to use in the off season, and pull the plant, to make room for something else. One good thing about this is that there are no pests on it at all indoors, while every time I tried to grow the green indoors, spider mites would appear out of nowhere, and I'd have to remove the plants each time.
I didn't really find any new keepers this season, as far as veggies go, but I did find a new herbal variety - Red Oaxacan Epazote. I'll find out in the spring if it re-seeds itself, as the green does in my region. I grew some in my hydroponics, starting in October, and it grew so out of control that I may harvest all of it, salt layer it to use in the off season, and pull the plant, to make room for something else. One good thing about this is that there are no pests on it at all indoors, while every time I tried to grow the green indoors, spider mites would appear out of nowhere, and I'd have to remove the plants each time.
I had epazote, before. I don't know the variety, but while it does not have a flavor (thank goodness) once you cook it with the beans, it smells like gasoline and looks and behaves like a weed. It reseeded in the herb garden.
I grew the purple leaved Komatsuna and regular green one and they both came through fine in summer. Although, this year, we did not get as hot and with all the storms, it rained a lot in the summer time. We only got to around 90 degrees around August but most days was the usual high 80's. Komatsuna did fine with that and it was not bitter. Where I plant it, it is surrounded by other plants so the soil stays relatively cool and it is on the west side of the house so the shadow from the wall keeps the sun from hitting it in the afternoon.
https://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_komatsuna.html
I saw some perpetual spinach at Walmart today, it looked like chard but it also looked like something the snails would like too. It might be worth trying though, once I can get the weeds out of my garden.
I grew the purple leaved Komatsuna and regular green one and they both came through fine in summer. Although, this year, we did not get as hot and with all the storms, it rained a lot in the summer time. We only got to around 90 degrees around August but most days was the usual high 80's. Komatsuna did fine with that and it was not bitter. Where I plant it, it is surrounded by other plants so the soil stays relatively cool and it is on the west side of the house so the shadow from the wall keeps the sun from hitting it in the afternoon.
https://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_komatsuna.html
I saw some perpetual spinach at Walmart today, it looked like chard but it also looked like something the snails would like too. It might be worth trying though, once I can get the weeds out of my garden.