New For 2017

I've found a way to spread out, using a deep mulch no till gardening method BTE), so the sky's the limit on what I can plant. Also, our sweet granddaughter is a dietary specialist and creative cook, but has no time to tend a garden, so I will be growing some exotics for her, too. Here's what came in the mail yesterday (and I'm just getting started :

Blue Speckled Tepary Bean -- I chose these because they're drought and heat tolerant. Says the flavor and texture are "deep, meaty, and dense." It says they're much higher in fiber and protein than other beans.

Top Mark Melon: Vigorous vines well adapted to tolerating heat. Resistant to mildew and scab.  I'm determined to find something the weather and I can't kill.

Organic Navajo Yellow Melon -- again I picked it for heat and drought tolerance. Supposed to keep well, but no mention of taste. Last year I planted several varieties and only got one small marginal fruit. Gotta try something new this year.

Dundale Pea -- drought tolerant, not fussy about soil type, and laughs at extreme weather situations. Amazing nitrogen fixer, so if we don't like it, we'll just call it fertilizer, feed it to the chickens, and move on.

Organic Northern Delight Tomato -- cool tolerant for our cold nights. Salad size. High yields, fast growing. No other info. Still searching for a tomato that can survive our summers.

Striped German Tomato: I picked this one because someone here in Redding grows these successfully. Big (1-2 pounds) colorful, complex flavor, almost fruity. 

Organic Purple Tomatillo: This is a surprise for our Granddaughter. Hard to find purple for salsa (which I don't eat) but she will be thrilled.

Sounds like a fun group of plants to give a whirl, CN!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Sounds like a fun group of plants to give a whirl, CN!

I just found out I can grow artichokes here, too. I wonder if they're as cute as pineapples.

It seems like every year has at least a few experiments happening.
This years:

~ Eggplant. I have tried it in the greenhouse and it never thrived and I only got a few fruit. This year I have 4 varieties to try, Diamond (OP), Early Black Egg (OP), Fairy Tale (F1), and Black King (F1). I bought them from a local nursery in hopes that they had had enough feedback over the years to make reasonable variety choices. I have a tall cold frame for them and I suspect they will spend the summer in W-o-Ws.

~Zuccini. DH loves zuccini but not so much the other summer squash. Naturally I can grow the others but no luck with zuccini. So this year I have three varieties of zuccini to try, Cocozella (OP), Black Beauty (OP), and Green Machine (F1). I made them their own compost berm and covered it with black plastic.

~ Deep mulch area for the broccoli and brussel sprouts and red cabbage. So far I have learned that the cover for the bed must not touch the plants when there is frost, and for that to be so I needed to heap the mulch higher or lay sideways cages to hold the cover off them. Leaves that reached up are burnt from the frost but not the grow tips so I think we will be ok.

Nocking on wood......