A Complete List of What I'm Growing In My Vegetable Garden | 2021
I can hardly believe that we're here again - me, giving you a complete list of what I'm growing in my vegetable garden - you, enthusiastically dreaming of your very own vegetable garden and what you'll incorporate in this coming season. Maybe you love some of my choices. Maybe you hate them. But here in zone 7b of Washington state, these are varieties that I've found to do well with our high-desert climate.
The 'complete list of what I'm growing in my vegetable garden' post from last year was a very helpful resource for a lot of readers (if emails are any indication), so what the heck. I've got nothing better to do. There's no cow to milk. Or kids to feed. Or stale laundry from three days ago in the washing machine that needs to be rewashed. Let's do this!
First up, let it be known: I'm a grown-up. I ordered my seeds already. I organized my seeds already. Can you believe it? I still can't. Procrastination usually gets the better of me. NOT THIS YEAR! Oh no.
Disclaimer: I more than likely forgot a thing or two. I'll also likely just grab a packet of who-knows-what at the nursery when I'm there grabbing pots of lavender and sweet woodruf. But still. These are the bones. (Scroll down for a few gardening tips as well).
If you'd like to watch a video about how I organized my seeds to prevent mold and disorder like an actual adult, you can do that right here:
Now onto the seeds! (Just like last year, this complete list of what I'm growing in my vegetable garden doesn't include herbs or flowers... so I guess it's not complete... just a list then... go me.)
Arugula:
Arugula OG
Artichoke:
Colorado Star
Tavor OG
Bean:
Rocdor (yellow-wax)
Northeaster (flat green)
Capitano (flat yellow)
Dulcina (round green)
Borlotti (dry)
Beet:
Avalanche
Touchstone Gold
Cylindra
Broccoli:
Burgundy
BC1611
Arcadia F1
Brussel Sprouts:
Churchill
Diablo
Dagan
Cabbage:
Storage No. 4 (green)
Ruby Perfection (purple)
Alcosa F1
Deadon F1
Carrot:
Bolero
Cauliflower:
Amazing
Celery:
Cutting Celery
Chard:
Bright Lights
Collard:
Champion
Corn:
Colored Upright (broom)
Anthem XR (sweet)
Cucumber:
Striped Armenian
H-19 Little Leaf (pickling)
Adam Gherkin
Eggplant:
Dancer F1
Galine F1
Fennel:
Grosfruchtiger
Lettuce:
Vit
Premium Greens Mix
Newham
Cegolaine
Rosaine
Kale:
Redbor
Red Russian
Leek:
Tadorna
Okra:
Jambalya
Onion:
Patterson (yellow storage)
Nabechan (green)
Purplette (purple, fresh)
Redwing (purple, storage)
Parsnip:
Albion
Pea:
PLS 595
Avalanche
Sugar Ann
Pepper:
Biquinho Yellow
Escamillo
Carmen
Mad Hatter
Round of Hungary
Red Flame
Radish:
Easter Egg II
French Breakfast
Crunchy King
Spinach:
Seaside
Bloomsdale
Red Tabby
Squash:
Butterscotch PMR
Goldmine
Ornamental Gourds (mixed)
Winter Luxury
Long Island Cheese
Tomatoes:
Sun Gold
Cherry Bomb
Striped German
Cherokee Purple
Amish Paste
Brandywine
Tiren
Tomatillo:
Super Verde
Turnips:
Hakurei
Watermelon:
Ocelot
I want to make myself a few notes on this year's garden as well, as I all too often (like many overzealous gardeners) rush off the starting line only to find myself not finishing the race well. Gardening is certainly not a race. It's also not a destination. Thus, I'd like to remind myself (and all who may find it helpful):
We musn't start before we should. Last year I had a major pepper disaster because I insisted on starting them indoors 12 weeks before the last frost instead of the 6-8 the seed company suggested. The result was peppers that were starved for heat, food, and sunshine long before it was safe to put them out into the still-cold soil. The harvest suffered and I'm forever ashamed.
Only bite off what you can chew. While I, like many gardeners, enjoy the thrill of the harvest, all too often I find myself so overwhelmed with the weeding and work to be done that crops sit in the ground too long, space isn't rotated or utilized to it's potential, and ultimately - things get wasted. The gardeners heart, also, is often so burdened with everything that needs to be done that the fun is sucked out of the entire experience. Overwhelm is a fun sucker.
Focus on small improvements. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your dream garden. The gardens I aspire to - those of Monty Don and Tasha Tudor, for example - have been being formed for decades. The result is a garden that is comfortable in its skin and confident in who it is. That's the garden that I hope for but getting to that point takes time. In regards to the vegetable garden, this often means choosing just a crop or two to focus on improving each year.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Only grow what you really love to eat. There is simply no point to waste time or valuable garden space on vegetables that don't make your skirt fly up. Life is too short to grow rutabaga.
As we build out our brand new market garden this year, I look forward to sharing the process with all of you! This is going to be year of the garden!
I proclaimed that myself.
And Amen.
Complete List of What I'm Growing In My Vegetable Garden | The Elliott Homestead