One of my paying gigs is writing (and some photography) for a new gardening magazine called Garden Making. This last week, the magazine celebrated a year in publication with four issues in print. That is no small feat for a specialized print magazine, on the topic of gardening (in Canada, no less), in the age of screen versus print reading, and IN THIS ECONOMY. Big congratulations to the Fox family who are working together to grow a quality gardening publication one issue at a time.
My article in the latest issue, called A Perpetual Feast is on growing a perennial food garden and includes a bit of background as to how I stumbled away from the annual vegetable model (aka the Scorched Earth approach) while experimenting in my community garden.
I have written three other articles for the magazine all on the topic of food gardening. The topics I have covered so far include: A profile of 5 of my favorite unusual vegetables, 6 edibles that thrive through the cooler months, and an in-depth piece on growing garlic that includes a few unusual types of garlic that are seldom written about.
The magazine has agreed to give away a one year subscription to one of you. Just tell us in the comments about one interesting edible you are growing or hope to grow next year and I’ll pick someone at random on Friday.
UPDATE: The winner is Kathi from Toronto.
Please keep telling us about the edibles you are growing or hope to grow. Your stories are great!
I’m actually hoping to grow hops for the first time next year. Perhaps that’s considered a ‘drinkable’ rather than an edible?
Last winter I tore out our second bathroom and turned it into a beer brewing room for my husband as a surprise because he’s been wanting to brew his own beer for a really long time but we didn’t have the space. Now he brews his own beer and we just landed a double-size community garden plot down the block so I’d like to use some of the space to grow hops for his beer.
I’m also hoping to grow more carrot types this year. Last year we grew 4 different kinds of carrots, but I’d like to put in about 10 different types next year. And pickling cucumbers.
The new magazine looks fabulous!
I’ve grown both goji berries and passion fruit in my Seattle garden. My crop yields haven’t been big with either so far. The Passion fruit must be potted so I can protect it sufficiently when we have freezes, and I did keep the goji berry in a pot this year as well. Next year, I plan to put the goji in the ground and push both plants extra hard during flowering to try to maximize yield.
I will not be growing 50+ tomato plants again like I did this year; it’s mid-November, and I’m still drying and freezing them as they ripen. It’s great, but a bit off balance from the rest of our crops.
Andrea: You can eat (steam) young hops shoots! Definitely an edible.
I’m growing Romanesco Broccoli for the first time. I love the swirling patterns green patterns it makes.
I hope to have some spinach and bok choi growing under lights by the new year, just to see if it can be done. I had some modest success this past summer, my first season gardening, so I’m not expecting much from my indoor grow up, but it’ll be a fun experiment!
@Andrea: I guess this doesn’t count for the purposes of the contest, but I was also hoping to grow hops next season on my balcony for decorative purposes. Where will you be getting your rhizomes? I found an amazing how-to manual at the Crannóg Ales Web site (http://www.crannogales.com/HopsManual.pdf). True, it’s addressing people trying to grow hops on a larger scale, but is still full of helpful information.
I REALLY want to grow a pawpaw tree but I think I’m too far north in Peterborough. I am going to try groundcherries and fiddlehead ferns though.
This year was my first year in a new house, so I concentrated on putting perennial fruit in the back yard–two kinds of blueberries, two kinds of strawberries, thornless blackberries, and two kinds of apple trees which I bought as whips and planted against a fence to be espaliered.
Next year it’s time to work on other kinds of perennial food crops–probably onions, and I want to experiment to see which kinds of kale will do well here in Philadelphia.
Well, I’d love to take my chance at winning a subscription. We had an interesting year in the garden this year. We live in a coastal zone just south of San Francisco. While much of the Bay area can experience hot, sunny summer days, where we live in Daly City can experience fog 6 out of 7 days a week. (On the 7th day it rains.) I took a shot at a number of edibles this year. I planted artichokes, cabbage, lettuce, corn, mint, eggplant, cucumbers, and strawberries. Unfortunately, the only items that were successful were the artichokes and the cabbage. Man, those cabbages were BEAUTIFUL. I had one surprise one morning. It seems I also planted a mystery plant in the strawberry planter. Next year, I will take a shot at this mystery plant, and make sure I give it a better location.
Boy, the strawberries were surprised to find a brussels sprout plant growing next to them.
KJB
i have planted spinach, chard (still growing from the summer), parsnips, and beets. Hopefully they make it through the cooler months here in the pacific northwest!
I have a habit of picking up any new gardening magazines that I see and I was pleasantly surprised to see you in Garden Making!
This year I started growing a few varieties of strawberries with great success. I started the alpine ones from seed (which were surprisingly easy!). Not the most interesting thing to plant, but was definitely the tastiest thing from the garden! Next year I’m hoping to expand the edible garden with more berries (blueberries, saskatoons, blackberries and raspberries).
I have a VERY small yard (I live in a townhouse). I tried a couple of herbs, and a tomato plant this year. Hoping to branch out and plant more veg this year – squash, peppers, cucumbers, etc. in addition to all the herbs.
I love that photo and it’s urban feel with the graffiti in the background. Surrounded by plants even the graffiti looks beautiful.
I am hoping to plant some raspberry bushes next year. We have lots and lots of blackberry bushes, but I prefer raspberries so I want to find a place for them.
In the short term, I want to get kale in our garden. I just (finally) pulled out our tomato plants and once the zucchini is done (it’s holding on!) the kale is going in there. (We only have a small yard and I’m trying to rotate my crops!)
I put in a few fruit trees and bushes this year, plum, apricot, blueberries, raspberries. I would like to add a few more next summer. I also plan to start asparagus, another rhubarb, more sunchokes, horseradish and a few other perennial veggies.
I also plan to mix annual edibles into my perennial flower gardens. Artichokes, rainbow chard, scarlet runner beans.
This will be my third year gardening and i feel much more confident this time around.
We planted some starts for blueberry & huckleberry bushes last spring and I am hoping that we will actually see some fruit from them next year!
Oh, how cool! I didn’t know this magazine existed. Looking forward to seeing it. Since I’m gardening in Newfoundland, anything other than a turnip is unusual. I’m going to give rat tail radishes a go next year, and ground cherries, and some of the more hardy eggplants… we live in hope, right?
Carrie S.: That’s me standing behind my community garden plot.
The unusual edible I’m most excited about right now is the Naranjilla I’m overwintering! It just started flowering last week – I’ve picked the flowers off, hoping it will stay strong through the winter under my basement florescent lights and give me lots of fruit come spring – can’t wait to eat one!
I’ve got Hinona Kabu turnips growing in my garden now for the first time, and yummy Fuyu Persimmons ready for harvest.
Meighan: That’s so exciting! Have you posted pictures? I dug mine up and brought it indoors. It was never happy where I had it and is starting to come back with new growth. The thorns are crazy — bigger than I remembered back when I collected the seeds.
I’m giving pepino melon another shot. My first attempt failed when a sudden, unexpected heatwave (and the loss of a neighbors tree) fried my poor plant. So far, so good. The few fruits this year were very tasty.
Although not super original in some parts of the country, I’m in Newfoundland and I’m very excited about this damson plum tree that a friend gave me. I planted it this fall in our “tree-less” mini yard and hope that the little one will give me yummy fruits in a couple of years.
Also, this year I planted some varieties of heirloom tomatoes that I got from here: urbantomato.blogspot.com. They did so well that I plan to plant a bigger number and more varieties this spring. Anticipating a tomato fill summer :)
I just moved to New Haven, CT so I had to say goodbye to my old garden. I’m currently prepping the new place and setting up the functionals (fencing, compost bed). I haven’t started planning for the new garden’s citizenry yet, but I’m considering working with asparagus this year – it’s a new thought! I’m also considering keeping a container herb garden hanging on the front fence, with a sign that invites passersby to collect an herb or two for their dinner! We have a dog park about 50 yards from our front door, so we get lots of people walking about. :)
I haven’t taken any photos of it recently – I’ll let you know when I do! I should have photographed the flowers, they were pretty. It needs to be repotted again, but I’m scared of the thorns, they keep getting bigger and more threatening!
I’m planning on letting some of my garlic produce bulbils, and then spend the next two seasons growing garlic from the bulbils. Mostly, it’s just to see what happens – there appears to be little documentation out there on growing garlic this way.
Not too unusual but growing basil in my grow box and hydroponically my office to fill my need for fresh basil for omelets over the winter.
Matt: I am doing the same. It’s a totally viable and very cheap way to grow garlic (you get so many from one seedhead)… just takes a lot longer.
This year I planted celery for the first time. It was semi-successful; great yield yet seemed to be bitter (hot summer?). Next year I plan to add garlic.
I moved this year so I didn’t get a chance to grow much. I’ve always wanted to grow my own popcorn! Hard to do in an apartment though…. I do have a little three foot by four foot patch of dirt by my front door that I planted strawberries in this year. Totally worth it.
Great photo with the article! This past summer was my first without a garden and growing everything in containers on a deck. I also grew strawberries from seed which was easier than the books/magazines said. The New Zealand spinach, which I tried because of the extreme heat in the city, was so-so. The taste was ok but the leaves were somewhat hairy. Next year I plan to add Swiss chard and edamame (soybeans). I wish my deck could support more weight!
Next year I am hoping to grow some of those autumn squash–the kind everyone has that are orange, green, and white striped and look great in piles!
Wow, that article sounds really interesting. I wish there was a link to the article! Congrats to you and GardenMaking for work well done.
I’m growing a ground cherry called pineapple tomatillo. It really does taste a lot like pineapple. I’m not a huge fan of the flavor, but customers at the farmer’s market love them!
I have six blueberries in containers, thirteen thornless blackberries in containers, and this Spring I plan to put 48 asparagus plants in sixteen containers. Have a great day, Jim.
I’m still trying out a lot of basic stuff but I felt like horseradish was a different one. I had to move it at one point since, I had an indeterminate tomato go feral on me, and when I did a bunch of little ones sprouted up where it had been! I am also trying a black russian tomato, yellow round cukes, and round zucchinis. I figure the round zucchinis will be great for scooping out and baking in!
I have so many ideas and different plants I want to try this year.I know for sure that I am going to plant Mexican Sour Gherkins and ground cherries also some yellow tomatillos. I have a long winter ahead of me as i need to redesign my garden area…wanna come out to California Gayla and give me some help and direction?? I know you dont have enough to do with your own new home/garden…lol
I moved this year so the garden was a continuation of the usual in containers, but to spice things up a little I planted some purslane (which is lovely as a ground cover and fantastic in a salad) to make the flower garden’s more edible. I really enjoy lemon cucumbers (2nd year growing, first year of success). I also inherited a quince bush. hoping to learn more about that next year and try not to kill it by chopping it back in the summer (like we did this year).
I’m hoping to grow a variety of heirloom tomatoes in my *limited* patio space… I love love love a home grown tomato!
I would like to start by saying how much I love your blog. I’m not trying to be a brown-noser, but you are one of my gardening heroes.
My boyfriend, cat and myself live in a one bedroom apartment. Luckily for me it is on the ground level and the management here allows me to plant around my concrete slab porch, as long as I keep it within reason. This year I built a small raised bed and stone bordered herb garden. I didn’t plant anything too out of the ordinary, just some Cherokee Purple tomatoes, eggplant, swiss chard and some basic kitchen herbs. The weather here in Illinois has turned and I replaced the summer vegetables with Sweet Valentine lettuce, Tatsoi and Sputnik arugula.
Next year I am planning to really up my game. I am going to acquire two community garden plots. In one plot I plan on doing a “three sisters” style planting. In this I will include Rainbow Inca sweet corn, strawberry popcorn, Papa De Rolla pole beans, purple podded pole beans, a vineing zucchini, and some kind of funky pumpkin. The other plot will be a Mediterranean veggie garden consisting of multi-colored sauce tomatoes, eggplant, fennel, onions and whatever else strikes my fancy.
Seeing as how my little porch garden will be freed up, I have decided to do an ornamental medicinal and culinary herb garden. Some of the more interesting herbs I plan on growing will be feverfew, Mexican mint marigold, and Amethyst Improved basil. I also plan on growing edible and cut flowers with a rock and roll inspired palate of black, white, hot pink and blue. Some of the flowers I will be including will be black hollyhocks, Blue Boy bachelor buttons, and Night and Day nasturtiums. The crowning jewel to my porch garden will be Chinese Red noodle beans grown up the support beam of my porch.
I’m sorry to babble on so long about this, but, it is my favorite subject!
While not extremely unusual, we have been growing currants, and getting quite a crop. They fell out of fashion a few years ago, but when we sell them at our farm market, folks get quite nostalgic and have fond memories of older relative who grew them.
This was my first year with a garden and so while I had ferns and ferns and ferns of asparagus I can’t wait til next year when I get the actual asparagus! Same for my broccoli and cauliflower!
I have grown potatoes in bushel baskets for the past 2 years. I love the no dig method of harvesting them at the end of the season. I also grow Egyptian Walking Onions … such fascinating plants to watch grow (and photograph) and you can even eat the little bulblets.
This year I tried Lemon Verbena – I will definitely be growing more of it! Herbs are the greatest. The most interesting thing I’ve tried to grow is peanut – that didn’t work out so well…
The most wonderful thing I will be growing in my garden next year is my kids, but I guess that doesn’t count as an edible. ;-)
So I will put my name into the hat with my wish for an end to my Potato Curse, along with some blackberries and blueberries from plants received and/or purchased this year and last (the blueberries flowered but didn’t fruit, so I bought another bush to keep it company).
One of my favorite vegetables, which self-seeds in the garden each year, is orach (Atriplex hortensis). It comes in pearly colors, from pinky-purple to blue-green, and has succulent, tart, slightly salty (!) leaves, for eating raw or cooking with. It starts out with the stature and tenderness of spinach, then rockets up straight and tall, and looks fabulous all the way till frost, when it has these heavy drooping mops of seeds…
Gayla, your article sounds so interesting! But I guess it is not available in the US?
I successfully grew quinoa from grocery store-bought grain. I suspect the yield could have been better, if the soil was not so poor, but I was still pleased.
I have a 2yr old Meyer lemon tree grown from a store bought lemon’s seeeds and ginger from grocery story ginger (gorgeous plant). Most unusual for color was black/purple bell peppers.
I’m trying grains this year in the front yard: blue wheat, multi-colored quinoa, millet…I planted garlic out there a few weeks ago. I grew a Big Mac pumpkin in the front yard this year, but it was stolen before Halloween. If there’s dirt, I’ll plant something in it.
I recently moved from a condo in Toronto to a house in the suburbs. I tried my hand at container gardening on my balcony of the condo with limited success, so when I moved I was so excited to finally have a yard. It’s taken some detective work to figure out which of the existing plants produced edibles, and what to do with them. So far I have identified flowering quince, fiddlehead ferns, and mint to name a few. I tried my hand at vegetable gardening this year and learned quite a few lessons. Next year I’m hoping to grow tomatillos (green tomatoes) and serrano chiles in order to perfect my guacamole. My adventures in gardening this year have especially taught me that there’s so much more I need to learn!
I live in Palo Alto, CA and planted some snow peas a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never grown them before, but heard they tolerate cooler temps well. We’ll see how the experiment progresses!
They are so lucky to have you!
I’m so glad I can participate (since my heirloom tomatoes all met their untimely demise in the non-existent Spring and 2 weeks of Summer we had here (*sigh*) thanks to La Nina); right now I’m growing 5 kinds of lavender, one very hardy rosemary plant and some honeydew sage (which is just incredible and thankfully thriving); in 2011 I’d like to plant, you know, everything, but my shortlist is this: am hoping to get heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers and green onions in the ground (for the humans); lettuce and carrots (for the alpacas and chihuahuas — and humans).
I would love to try my hand at persimmons. There were a few growing wild near my grandmother’s farm and we tasted them when they were ripe. Kind of sentimental for me. : )
next year,sigh,
I look forward to tomatoes of every color & stripe
I’m sticking to containers at the moment, as I have a small basement apartment. I’ve had the pleasure of growing shiitake mushrooms inside this year, where they seem to out-compete the other houseplants who can’t stand the dim light. Of note, I have some outdoor containers with various edibles that are native or well suited for the shady forest-like setting here in Portland. Included are gooseberries, wild ginger, wild strawberry, sword fern (for the fiddles) and Oregon grape, which produces fruit for jams. My last perennial container has a dwarf blueberry and cranberries draping over the side. Looking forward to future housing that will give me more room for the expanding forest garden.
Oh, and choose me, choose me, choose me!
I will defiantly look for this magazine when i go to chapters next time :)
Right now the weather is not helping the growing of things, but i have garlic and oregano growing. Next year i hope to have peas, lettuces, carrots and different edible flowers growing. Maybe potatoes but i have little space so i will have to see. Wish me luck
This year was the first time gardening for me. I was successful with cherry tomatoes, potatoes and jalapenos.
Next year I want to branch out to lettuce and raspberries. Maybe not terribly original, but I’m in Yellowknife. We shall see…
We are getting a pear tree!!! So so so excited!
I’m so happy to find your site! I’m a bit of an edible obsessed gardener. This summer, I grew 130 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, 35+ varieties of heirloom peppers. Currently, I have 11 varieties of heirloom lettuce growing the in potager, eight varieties of garlic in the big kitchen garden, fraise des bois still blooming in pots in the front (I’m hoping for a small harvest for Thanksgiving!), and herbs galore. I adore your mudroom/turned greenhouse and look forward to reading more of your site!
This past summer, I planted big daddy peppers, it was exciting to see them grow so big. Would love to try planting eggplant next summer.
Hello.
I am Japanese people living in Japan.
The United States, Britain, France, and Spain
New Zealand and Australia, etc.A beautiful garden of a usual house is a yearning. However, there is a garden also in Japan. It introduces the autumn of the book of today on my site. It is scenery of the country in Japan. Please come by all means.
Thank you.
It’s winter in Edmonton! I’m growing basil. Indoors.
I live in a ground floor condo and at the end of summer after reading your latest book decided to try my hand at a small winter veggie container garden and planted spinach, swiss chard, cabbage and lettuce all of which are thriving. In my enthusiasm to get a head start on my garden next year I purchased 3 large used planters full of soil that I found on Craig’s List and put them in my underground parking garage until next Spring. There were a few plant tags in the soil but no plants so I thought nothing of it. A week later I noticed something sprouting in one of the containers. Much to my surprise it had previously been planted with radicchio which is a perennial. The next day I noticed another plant. The following week 2 more plants appeared. I have transplanted them into a patio container planted with spinach and covered them with a small plastic greenhouse umbrella (another great Craig’s List find). While I wait for harvest time I’ve been browsing seed catalogues, re-reading your book and planning my edible garden for next year which will definitely include more perennial veggies.
I want to grow Romanesco! And can I just say, I’m so glad you write for a print magazine – I’m slightly addicted to the Internet, but it’s a poor substitute for print.
I am growing a great crop of white eggplant from one plant here in Las Vegas. I have started brussels sprouts from seeds and hope to do better than last year when the bugs totally took over my one beautiful stalk of sprouts. My yellow bell pepper plant has done really well this year. Sorry, I got excited and mentioned 3 things, but it’s fun seeing what will grow in the desert! I love both of your books and just bought another set as a birthday gift for a friend.
I have quite a few new unusual edibles planned for next year, but I guess the one I am most excited about is my fuchsia – it’s a variety that’s supposed to grow lovely tasty berries (they’re all edible, but many aren’t very nice!).
Growing strawberries isn’t unusual, but growing them in a chiminea is, I think. You can see what I did here:
http://behindthefence.net/2010/10/04/how-to-grow-food-in-a-fire-pot/
I’m going to grow okra next year. Not so interesting, but a big leap for me since I can’t stand to eat it. However, I think it’s a love;y plant and I found a variety called “Hill Country Red” that pays homage to where I come from (the Texas Hill Country). Plus, being a southern gal, my garden would seem lacking without at least one okra plant, and my family loves it. So, I guess I will enjoy the pretty flowers for the season and then make plenty of pickled gifts for holiday sharing. :)
I’m excited to read your article. I’m a beginner gardener; nothing I’m growing is unusual. We moved into a new place a year ago, so I’m excited to see how our strawberries will do next year, as well as container herbs I brought in for the winter.
We’re trying to overwinter some tomatoes that sprang up late this fall from some mulch we put around our citrus trees. It is the Deep South, so it’s not that much of a long shot. We’d also like to get more squash but this party of the world is crazy with squash borers. We don’t use chemicals so it mostly requires surgery on the stems. That’s a lot of work. We’re going to try to cook the little buggers in the ground this spring.@Andrea: Excuse me. I have some work to do in our second bath.
I have a 5 foot flowering “Christmas Loquat” that I hope will bear fruit in a south facing window. Found it at an orchid greenhouse that also accepted other oddities with their orchid shipments from Asia.
I’m growing pepino dulce, an ancient Andean fruit. The plant is gorgeous, and looks to be evergreen. It should do well in our temperate climate, but so far I have lots of foliage, the plant has gotten huge, but alas, no fruit! I might cap it to provide more heat.
This looks like a beautiful publication. It’s exciting to see it thrive, just like community gardens and gardens are thriving everywhere (IN THIS ECONOMY- had to say it!)
I’m so busy I’m slowing down in the garden out of respect to the edibles, they deserve ample attention and I don’t have much of it. I’m going to grow low maintenance heirloom bell peppers next, and focus my attention on ONE determinate tomato. Unless more free time comes.
P.S: I’m enjoying the photos of your new home on flickr. It’s beautiful already!
It’s been so interesting to read all of the comments so far! Next year I’d like to coax my flying dragon and satsuma oranges into producing fruit. They’ve been in the ground for a couple years but I haven’t fed them or anything, so I’d like to give them the attention they deserve (and reap the benefits!)
I’d also like to harvest and ferment some tea from my Camelia, but with a little girl on the move these days it might be a couple more years before I can do such an experiment.
I’m going to have to pick up that issue; full year gardening is something I’m getting increasingly interested in.
I don’t know if it qualifies as interesting or not, but we absolutely adore garlic in my house, so we’re growing 9 kinds and will be having a big garlic taste-off once they’re all ready. The wait is excruciating!
I am growing Sandia and Chamayo chiles indoors. I bought the seeds from Native Seed Search because they are both grown locally in my home of New Mexico. I have not grown indoors before but so far so good with the help of my trusty sidekick, Growlight. I am so happy to finally be able to have a garden year round, however, my husband is so sad because his mancave has proven to be the perfect place for the new indoor garden.
Allison: I think that qualifies as interesting… and fun!
Lori: You’ll love growing okra. They’re beautiful plants.
Dee: Looks great!
Patti: Mention as many things as you like.
Zoe: I’m not sure if the mag is in stores in the US but I know they sell to US subscribers.
My husband and I just bought a house out in the country, Central NY to be exact. I am originally from SC so its neat learning about the different plants that thrive at different times up here. This year we planted zucchini, butternut, pumpkins, watermelons, beets, scallions, tomatoes, peppers, pattypans, and sweet peppers. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of it due to powdery mildew(?) but I did try to save what I could. The tomatoes were scrumptious. Next year I want to expand and try some perennials such as raspberries, ect. My hubby is a chef and he wants to do some kohl rabbi, artichokes, sweet corn, and a few others as well! I am excited. Even though this year was a flop, I am not giving up.
I am just dying to get a fruit tree in on my property. I bought the house just over a year ago and since then have been step by step converting the entirely grass yard back to gardens. In the process, I’ve stumbled upon what were without a doubt once garden beds (complete with old bulbs desperately trying their best to stick their heads up through thick turf). The neighbors all cringe at seeing me “ruin” perfectly nice grass, but I feel the same way about grass as I do ornamental trees. Why spend time and energy caring for something with so little return – when you can simply care for something very similar and get a nourishing yield of edible food. Preach it, sister!
I live in NW Oregon (USDA Zone 8, barely), but I’m trying my hand at some semi-tropicals, like pineapple guava, Meyer lemon, kaffir lime, and even a dwarf Cavendish banana. Here’s hoping with a little greenhouse action, I’ll get some fruit…someday!
We love to grow Egg plant!Oh Please pick me! My mom would love this mag. She grows a little garden of flowers and veggies every year.It makes her so Happy and helps her to relax.
I admit that I’m not adventurous when it comes to growing cool plants in my garden. Gardening in zone 2 and now in zone 3 in clay soil is most of the reason not to venture beyond the tried and true. But this year I’m planning to grow an Actinidia arguta vine from seed. Now that winter has arrived I will sow the seeds in a tray and put them outside. They need a cold period of 2-3 months, hopefully longer is ok :)
On the balcony, a Duke Blueberry bush was the interesting edible of choice this summer. Nice, sweet berries throughout July and August. I’ve moved the plant indoors as it’s loaded with new buds right now, poor thing. Next summer I’m going to add prairie-tough Saskatoons.
I live in eastern Ontario and am amazed that I have not heard about this Canadian gardening magazine. Next summer, I want to try to grow pumpkins again; there is nothing more special that having your own pumpkin for Halloween.
I scattered edible wild flower seeds in a small corner of my plot this year, and was amazed at how much I enjoyed their presence in the garden among the vegetables. They were interesting to me (especially the ambiguous pink/blue borage), and certainly to the insects that lingered throughout the season!
I bought some seed garlic this year and am growing it instead of buying some at the grocery store.
Over the course of this year, I’ve started a number of edible things under my skylights at work (the wild marjoram went gangbusters), but the most interesting were the “found” pomegranate seeds. The plants are about nine months old and just starting to get woody. They’ll want their first cut this coming spring to encourage branching.
It’s quite the experiment, though, since I’m in Wyoming, where these will not be able to live outdoors. I’m hoping I can coax them to fruit in containers. Not that there’s any guarantee that seeds from store-bought fruit will produce fruiting plants in the first place, but apparently they don’t like to be cooped up, either. I’ll know in another 2-4 years.
In the meantime, my coworkers are enjoying watching them grow.
Summer is not here quite yet, but New Zealand spring is mild and the corn is already a foot tall. My edible-garden philosophy is to only plants things that are hard to find or expensive (golden beets, romanesco cauliflower, red brussel sprouts) or things that I can never get enough of (berries, tomatoes, rhubarb that grows almost year-round here). I have planted five different kinds of raspberries this year, and a blood orange tree – I am reeeeally looking forward to seeing how those grow. And perhaps the most interesting mystery will be to discover just what kind of plums are growing on the two trees at the back of the yard… right now they look more like olives!
Just in case, I’ll add that if the distribution of the magazine is limited to Canada, I’m happy to pay for the extra postage for the antipodes :)
I’m going to try ground cherries next year. We had them in our CSA box and they were a huge hit.
Hello.
It is a very wonderful site.
I am introducing beautiful autumn of Japan.
As for the scenery of the country, the mind is healed.
Please come by all means. We will wait.
Thank you.
Right now I have some bucket sweet potatoes growing, I’ve never done it before, and as far south as I am (Texas) the green portion is still thriving. I’m very eager to dump those buckets though! They’re getting really heavy!!! I’d like to grow purple potatoes next year, I think it could be really fun!
Wow- I just loved reading everyone’s comments for this- Now I’ve added a whole host of things I want to try! But, my original thought was purple runner beans, because I read somewhere that they turn green when you cook them and I think that will really wow my five year old! I hadn’t spotted the magazine before this- it looks like a goodie, and the fact that it is Canadian- even better! I’ve got my fingers crossed to be a winner.
An edible plant that I would like to experiment with growing next year is Elderberry. I took a workshop this year on collecting the fruit, putting it through a blender to separate the pulp and seed. It is a native to my area, the West Kootenays of BC.