Warm Weather Veggies

Vegetable gardening is in full swing and the weather has been cooperating nicely. We still have plenty of fresh plants ready to go in the ground—here are some suggestions to round out your edible collection:

1. Cucumbers

‘Marketmore’ provides long (8–9 inch) deep green cucumbers with nice smooth skin and creamy white flesh. This variety is good for slicing and pickling.

‘Burpless’ also sets long green fruits, but with a thinner skin and crisp white flesh that has a refreshing sweet flavor. We like this cucumber for salads and pickling.

‘Pickling’ is appropriately named: short squat fruits have thick, bumpy skin to efficiently absorb pickling brine. Get the jars ready.

All of the cucumbers mentioned above come in the flat 1801 deep.

2. Eggplant

‘Ichiban’ produces an abundance of 10-inch long, slim purple-black eggplants. This variety has a thin skin and sweet, mild flavor so it’s a popular ingredient in many gourmet dishes. You’ll be harvesting well into fall.

‘Hansel’ has fruits that are tender and non-bitter with very few seeds. Whether you pick these eggplants when they’re 3 inches long or 10 inches long they’re still just as sweet and tender. Plants reach no more than 3 feet tall so they work well in containers. 

‘Ichiban’ and ‘Hansel’ are both available in the flat 1202 deep. We also have classic eggplant in the flat 1801 deep size.

3. Peppers

‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ is a hot yellow pepper with 6-inch long tapered fruits. This pepper is medium hot—sometimes we use it as a jalapeno substitute. It’s popular for canning and pickling.

‘Big Bertha’ has giant bell-shaped peppers with thick walls and a crisp, sweet taste. It’s delicious no matter how it’s prepared, raw or cooked. 

‘Better Belle’ is an heirloom variety with large bell-shaped green peppers that mature to red. They have a sweet crisp taste and are good for stuffing or pickling, or to toss in salads and salsa.

‘Red Knight’ and ‘Golden Summer’ are two other sweet, crisp bells that are red and yellow, respectively. If you’re looking for heat, we have the extremely hot ‘Habanero Orange’ and the fire-inducing ‘Ghost’, widely considered to be the world’s hottest pepper. You’ve been warned.

All of the above peppers are available in the flat 1801 deep. We have many other selections available in assorted sizes, including a Mixed Pepper Assortment in the flat 306 basket pack and the single six-pack basket.

4. Squash

‘Dixie’ is a yellow crookneck variety. It produces high yields of uniform, shiny yellow fruits consistently. We also have classic sweet summer yellow squash and three varieties of zucchini, including ‘Spacemiser’ which takes up 1/3 less space than the typical zucchini plant. All are available in the flat 1801 deep.

5. Strawberry

We mentioned the beautiful ‘Frisan’ last week for Mother’s Day—it looks as good as it tastes, with pretty pink flowers and sweet red berries. Keep this trailing selection in containers and hanging baskets close-by, within easy reach for snacking. It comes in the 10-inch hanging basket. 

6. Watermelon

‘Sugarbaby’ sets melons that are just the right size to fit in the icebox. An abundance of 6–10 pound fruits are produced on compact vines. The flesh is sweet and deep red, while the rind is nearly black. 

‘Crimson Sweet’ produces 21–25 pound oval-to-round fruits. The melons have brilliant red-colored flesh and a sweet, crisp taste. Rinds are striped medium and dark green. 

‘Sugarbaby’ and ‘Crimson Sweet’ are available in the flat 1801 deep. 

We have many more prime edibles available in assorted sizes. For the complete lineup visit the Availability List section of our web site.