Great Gardens 2009 and 2010--King's Grant Farm vegetable seed experiences

We are often asked about which seeds we plant for our King's Grant Farm vegetables. This is the linked a page for what worked in 2009 and what did not; and a list of what we plan on ordering for 2010's season.

Here are some ground rules for our orders: Certified Organic when possible. Small batches. Many seeds are saved from the previous year's crops. When ordering, we purchase from FedCo in Maine, Peaceful Valley in California, High Mowing Seed Company in Vermont, and Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. Each has a good Web site. Prices vary a lot and some companies have crop failures, so it helps to shop around.

We start our seeds, for the most part, under cover (inside, in homemade soil blocks using Henry Homeyer's soil block recipe). We are careful about hardening off and acclimating the seedlings to the prevailing weather. We use active crop rotation, follow rules about which plants follow which (according to the previous season's nutritional needs); and use companion planting, when practical. We raise our plants organically. Our natural soil pH is between 5.8 and 6.5, so we are, like much of New Hampshire, on the acid side of the pH scale, which accounts for our great blueberries!

Our soil's organic matter--that natural compost, beneficial microbes, and good fertile stuff that lives beneath the top layer--is growing every year. We'll report on our levels later in the season, and are hoping for a minimum of 5%.

At King's Grant Farm, we use a combination of framed raised beds, in-ground raised rows, and pots. Pots are mostly used for herbs. Our high bush blueberries are quite old; and the same goes for our apple trees, our rhubarb,and our brambles.

In 2009, the dreaded cool, wet, blight-infected season, we had luck with the following:

1. Bull's Blood beets from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Certified organic. 58 days to maturity. We planted in raised beds and did an early season planting and a late season planting. The early season did beautifully, with great tasting beet roots. The late season's roots were smaller, but the leaves were dark, crisp, and extra shiny--almost glossy. Better leaves in the late crop.

2. Bloomsdale Long-Standing spinach from Seed Savers. Glossy leaves, great clusters, mild tasting, and quick growing. Amost 100% sprouting. We planted an early season and late season crop and both did well.

3. Tendergreen garden bean from Seed Savers. Not available this year. Grew abundantly in bush style. Prolific producer. Taste was excellent. Strong plants fought off the bugs on their own. I saved some, so I will plant again in 2010.

4. Mammoth melting peas from Peaceful Valley. A 62 day maturing pea. Just did superbly, sharing the same bed as some lettuces. A great saver, if you keep some of the late pods on the vine. Did well in partial shade.

5. Dragon's tongue beans, a Dutch wax bean with cream colored pods with thing purple stripes. Wide and extremely crisp. It habits to bush and matures in 55 to 60 days. Compact plant that did quite well in my soil. Blanched and froze most of what I did not eat. A beautiful bean, if that matters much to you!

6. Rutgers tomatoes--a Jersey slicing tomato--is an old standby that my grandfather planted. Introduced in 1934 by Rutgers University, this tomato was a commercial workhorse, since it packed and shipped well. Over the years, it had lost its flavor as well. But in 2007, the university put some seeds on the market that had, they claimed, renewed flavor and juiciness. Despite the blight, they grew well, intermixed with Sweet 100s (cherries), in raised beds. They are sitting nicely in cans in my pantry at the moment!

7. Green Sprouting Calabrese broccoli was a bust in 2009. The plants were vigorous. The leaves huge. The roots were strong and healthy. But no flowers--which in the case of broccoli is the heads that we like to eat. My soil in this part of the garden was on its second year of transition to highly organic composition (from decades of hard, compact, clay-like consistency), and may have been over-amended with nitrogen, causing the leaves to look like elephant ears.

8. Long Island Improved Brussels sprouts were also a bust in 2009, much unlike their fabulous production in the 2008 season. They were planted, admittedly, next to the broccoli, so I am assuming that the soil composition had much to do with the stunted growth.

9. Romanesco broccoli, and Italian variety, was interplanted with the Calabrese and the Long Island Improved, and also did poorly in 2009.

10. National Pickling cukes were fabulous. Purchased from Peaceful Valley, they were planted in hard-sided raised beds using a trellis. They matured well before their stated 52 days and yielded plenty of cukes for sweet pickling and small raw sandwich slices. More hardy than I have remembered in the past. A good producer for my NH soil.

11. Detroit Dark Red beets were also planted in 2009 and yielded nicely flavored, well-rounded, deep burgundy beets that were used mostly as bakers and boilers for consumption. They start to mature within 60 days and did a fine job this last year. I also got them from Peaceful Valley.

12. Rainbow Silverbeet--a Swiss Chard with vibrant color and flavor--did well, sprouted early, was hardy throughout the season, yet had medium-sized leaves. I cut them frequently throughout the season and they lasted until the snow fell. But the leaves never got too large, which was fine for me. I got these from Fedco.

13. My zukes were Black Beauties from Seed Savers. Standard summer zucchini did extremely well in 2009 and did not get its powdery coating in its leaves until very, very late in the season, despite 2009's moisture and humidity. Not too seedy (unless they got to the giant stage), and not insipid tasting. Nice, tight glossy skin that was flavorful and not too thick. Great flowers to stuff and fry. I'd do this variety again and again and again!

14. I planted a standard yellow crook neck squash in 2009 that I cannot remember; nor did I take notes in my garden journal about the types I planted. But they did well next to the zukes and were a nice, mild yellow color with good, firm flesh and not too many seeds.

15. I also planted strawberry plugs in several beds and by the time the season was ending, they were still sending out runners and had another round of small white flowers. Healthy and hardy, I pinched off any early fruit so that more of the plants' energy could be director toward their root systems. A light balanced N-P-K feeding mid-season was all that they got. Planted in a nicely composted bed and then, contrary to some gardeners' views, I tucked them in for winter with some nicely dried straw.

16. Fall 2009 planting of garlic was a fun process. I planted lots and lots of hardneck organic garlic seed that I got from Peaceful Valley, and will let you know how they come up in the spring. I ordered a German porcelain hardneck variety that was noted for its ability to withstand and thrive in our colder climate.

17. In the herb class, I had great luck in 2009 with Genovese Basil, standard dill, English thyme, nine year old chive clusters, and classic sage. Forget the Russian tarragon--it has little oil on its leaves so the culinary essence is dry and limp. Try French tarragon instead, like I plan on doing in 2010.