What veg or fruit will be new for you next year?

I had to downsize because I don't have much room here at the house and my health is a bit more restricting these days. I will have to garden smarter.

Will you plant smaller amounts of the same things, or cut out some of your crops?

A bit of both and I am also going to lean more toward compact plants.

ditos & cudos on this thread terri...I think the majority of us would agree that trying something new each year adds an element of excitement in looking forward to next seasons plantings. Each year I make a list of new things to try and although I don't always get to them I save them for another season. I too had thought about ground cherries last season, but something I read made me change my mind. Like darius I want to try planting some sweet potatoes this next season. The two northern varieties (Beauregard and Georgia Jets) which gardador mentions are on my list. I recall my mother inserting three toothpicks around the cener of a single sweet potato and partially submerging it in a jar of water which was placed in an easterly facing window. From this one plant she grew the required sweet potato slips for our garden.

Since we have such a short growing season I have designated one 4' x 8' rasied bed which has been dug down an extra four feet giving me more than a five foot working depth for planting the sweet potatoes. The bed is currently filled with well aged and composted cow manure and straw. I have been using this bed for raising night crawlers and will continue to do so as well as planting about six slips of sweet potatoes. I use three heavy old glass window frames for night and cold day covers which will allow me to start the slips maybe a month early. Have no idea if this will work but new garden challenges are always exciting. Any thoughts on this are welcome...

morgan

Wow, Morgan... that's a really DEEP bed. How deep do SP roots go?

When I was a kid we used to do SPs in the jar with the toothpicks but it was just for a fun and pretty plant. What is a slip? I have never grown SPs.

If you have chipmunks keep an eye on your sweet potatoes. I kept wondering why chipmunks were making such a racket every time I got near the sweet potatoes. When I dug them up I discovered that 1/8 - 1/4 of the top part of the potato had been eaten. The ones that I got to eat were delicious.

I'm thinking of trying a new variety of raspberry to replace Heritage that doesn't produce that much for me. I've been thinking about black currants because they're nutrient packed.

To those who are thinking of cutting back; just think about weeding while you're planting. That usually helps me.

Cajun ~ if you break off pieces of the plant that is growing from that sweet potato that is suspended by toothpicks in a jar, the pieces can be rooted easily in soil. Those are your slips or new plants to grow from.

Do you break them off right by the tater?

First I let them vine and then made cuttings where there were joints to root. Then I would just break them off at the tater and left it sitting in water, it would sprout more growth. Pretty interesting...

They make beautiful house plants with their flowing vines. Thanks for the info. I may just give it a try in Spring.

They are pretty. I started mine earlier in winter last year and let it vine for a while before taking cuttings.

What other herbs are you wanting to try this year? I ask because I love them too.

Lot's of different basils, rosemary, thyme, sage, morjoram. I'm sure there are lots of others I have never heard of. One of my rosemary plants is down cellar. I hope it makes the winter.

Herbs sprout easily and are fun to grow and use. I had an Epazote plant last summer and it looks like I will never be without that plant forever more! Seedlings are popping up all over.

I'm going to have to looke at epazote. What is it exactly? I've seen it called for in a few new recipes lately. What does it taste like?

I don't know if this is what podster is growing, but here's a link to epazote.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Epazote+photo#focal=590b5a4801eb410440b795666e868fac&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.underwoodgardens.com%2Fimages%2FEpazote.jpg

I read one article that said it is poisonous in large amounts!

I have never heard of it. I want to grow Stevia.

I'm TRYING to grow Stevia, but I can't get it to germinate.

I think mostly we're going to be trying new varieties of the same plants. The other half of my household may have some winter squash, so that one would be completely new to us, but it's not all that revolutionay in general.

I think sustainable irrigation will be the big adventure for 2011. (And we have several neighborhood projects going - that's probably really where more of the time goes...)

I'll jump in asking for Stevia help. I think Lowe's had some plants last year but I didn't get any.

I've grown Stevia twice from seedlings and they have done well but they are annuals in my climate. I understand that if they flower they will then die back. I have not been successful thus far growing them from seed. I did harvest leaves this summer and dried them.

Epazote leaves (fresh or dried) are used to season beans and other Mexican dishes. As it has a strong odor ~ rather like kerosene, I don't think anyone would overuse it in cooking. It is also reputed to be a carminative, preventing gas when cooked in foods like beans.

The flowers and seeds can be toxic, as is the essential oil from the plant. The seeds can be used for intestinal worming but that is where caution is required by someone far better educated than I am. As a result of that use, the plant is commonly called wormseed.

This link has some photos and information I had saved. http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/297293/

Lisa ~ there have been studies on germinating Stevia seeds. As I recall the darker the seeds, the better the germination. You will have to experiment.

Realbirdlady ~ would you please elaborate on sustainable irrigation?

Pod I read the same thing. I think I'm going to reorder seeds and try again. I have had the heat mat and lights in my bedrooom since the end of August. I was hoping to have some ready to sell by spring. :( The Lemon Grass germinated fine so I'm going to reorder Stevia seeds and try again after the Holidays. The Stevia seeds can take forever to germinate so I'm trying to figure out when I should give up on this batch?

Lisa ~ if you want to read the Stevia germination study it is the third entry here http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/160798/
I know your scientific mind will interpret it better than mine ~ lol

Thanks I may understand the study but that may not help the seeds germinate lol

When you get it figured out, LMK. I have some seed.

Cajun ~ what color is your seed? Seems like I read there is one from a specific country that is darkest and germinates best.

Medium to dark brown with white fluff on the end.

White fluff sounds like they were freshly harvested. I will be curious to know how they do for you.

I was planning on planting them in a container in Spring but I need to do a bit of reading to figure out how big of a container I need.

podster, thanks for that tip on what to do with sweet potato slips. I recently found a sweet potato in the kitchen closet which the wife had purchased several weeks ago and decided to use it to grow some slips. It's possibly too soon to be doing this, but I wanted to see what would happen..

darius, I don't know how deep sweet potato roots will grow but certainly not five feet. When I frist set this raised bed up I filled it with horse manure and composted it. The next spring I tossed in about six red potatoes and got a pretty decent crop. The next season I tried asparagus but that was a bust. This season I emptied the bed and refilled with some well aged cow manure and straw. I have been adding Canadian nightcrawlers and European nightcrawlers to this bed along with chopped up refuse from the fall garden (rotted squash/cukes/potatoes/tomatoes) which didn't make it. The bed is covered with three heavy duty window panes and come spring I thought I might try some early plantings of those sweet potato slips. It's just an experiment so nothing to loose.

You can let it grow and vine and enjoy the pretty plant till time to cut slips. I did that with one I started about this time of year last winter. Please let us know how the sweet taters do for you in MT.

I am following this thread and trying hard not to be tempted with new and different vegies. I am trying to narrow it down and limit my space too. Shouldn't be reading this I guess.

I wonder if anyone has tried winter sowing the stevia seeds?

Thanks for the info on epazote. I think the Food Network recipes may be including it as a fad or something. It might be interesting to grow, I'll have to think about it. But I think I'll stick with the same Mexican bean recipes I've been using and leave out the epazote. Kerosene just doesn't sound appetizing to me. Maybe once I know a little more about it.......

mraider3, those sound like some really good veg beds to me!

I see that Sand Hill Preservation has an extensive list of sweet potato slips they sell. I have ordered their catalog.

I know for sure that I will not plant BROCCOLI RAAB ever again !!
They taste like Mustard greens and very bitter. puh puh ....
It seems that I can grow very well only something I don't like ... yuk !!

This message was edited Jan 7, 2011 5:09 PM

LOL @ drthor's comment!

I will try growing Mucho Nacho jalapenos for sure. I would also like to get some grape vines going as well.

I tried Broccoli Raab last year and it didn't do well. Does it taste like mustard and not broccoli. I don't like mustards.

Wow--I love this thread. First, I so-o-o envy those of you that can grow sweet potatoes and melons. I am baking sweet potatoes right now, but, alas, they are not my home grown.
We did have fresh picked Brussels spouts last night, though. The grass is greener syndrome, I guess. But, really, I would love to try sweet potatoes. Our soil would be perfect for sweets, except there is not enough the heat. Same for stevia.

I tried the rat tail radishes once and decided I do not have enough room for them. They tend to take over, but to each his own and different soils, etc.....
I love trying new things but haven't a clue this year. Will post when I find something new I want to try. Happy Gardening Everyone and Happy New Year.

I'm trying Charentais melons again this year after no luck with them about 10 years ago. I didn't know they could be trellised - that will save space for something else! I'm so glad I found this thread! My novelty plant for this year is the Mexican Sour Gherkin - it just looks like fun:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/108943/

JSkrypt, I remember a really good thread some time ago regarding the Charentais melons, trellising them, and correctly pruning them. It was a really good thread and linked to several sites with good directions on pruning. Those Mexican Sour Gherkins do look fun!