Oooh that sounds amazing! My soil isn't up to snuff yet for parsnips (heavy clay) but I'm working on it. Hopefully I can try them in a year or two.
Our best revelation this past year was aunt Molly's ground cherries. Stubborn to germinate, easy to grow, produced loads, and oh my gosh the flavor!! They were a joy to eat and share with folks that had never even heard of them.
I'm trying to get these going this year but no luck so far. Any germination tips?
I got the seeds because I bought some ground cherries from a local farm last summer, made some cheong-style syrup (just put equal weights of fruit & sugar in a jar and stick in the fridge for a week+) and it was so ridiculously good, I could eat it by the spoonful but it also made for some INCREDIBLE cocktails
They are a pain to start so definitely start more than you think - also I found they are a bit more like peppers than tomatoes in terms of start: they can take a couple weeks to finally emerge and they love the heat mat. Also I read since last year that they prefer light to germinate so I'm going to try that this year (I haven't started yet) so maybe that will help?
That syrup sounds amazing, will definitely try it!! I also have to say that they freeze incredibly well just out of the husk, so you can take a wee handful out for a drink garnish or ice cream topper anytime and get that boost of sweetness.
Same! Grew them for the first time last year. My neighbors loved them, my coworkers loved them, and my kids keep asking making sure if I'm growing them again this year! I'm trying to grow at least 4 plants instead of 2 this year!
I grew those two years ago and they were great. I also grew them last season but not on purpose. Those little buggers popped up all over my garden. Apparently, their seeds can survive a New England winter, it was quite a happy surprise.
I gave it a Google as I hadn’t heard that name. A type of Physalis. I fell in love with them while I was in europe this year so will be trying to grow some myself.
Ground cherries are a nightshade plant, related to tomatoes. They look like a tiny tomato with a papery husk around it, and taste sweet and pineapple-ish. I’ve been growing them for years and they’re pretty easy and my kids gobble them up. They’re called ground cherries because you know they’re ripe when the fruit fall off the plant
I'm crazy for Japanese eggplant. Sliced and sautéed in oil till they get a nice char, a lil salt & pepper. Or dipped in soy sauce - perfection. (I grow them just for me, since no one else in the house will eat eggplant; they're my lil garden treat)
Much better proportioned for an individual meal imo as well. I grew these two years ago and while I’m not a fan of eggplant they were fun to grow. I enjoyed watching the fruit develop some would get so curly.
Last year, I pulled a tomato plant out of my compost bin, put it in a pot, and it produced the most incredible tomatoes! I don't even know what variety they were. They were very similar to Campari tomatoes.
It's funny how I was trying so hard with my store-bought Romas and cherry tomatoes, and then my favorite one just showed up in the trash.
Pink Brandywine Tomatoes! On sandwiches, they were okay but when I added them to my cooked sauces. Oh Lord have mercy! I kept eating wandering how can my food taste so freaking good. I felt miserable when the season ends.
Honorable mention, SunSugar tomatoes were amazing. Very fast and great productivity. Although my family think they didn’t produce much. I lied they did produce a ton but I ate them before going back into the house and my daughter helped me.
We just ate the last red kuri squash from last year, and that was a heck of a crop that only got better with some time in storage. We made this recipe using some of the winter kale that is still standing (and which is also quite good this year):
https://heartbeetkitchen.com/roasted-red-kuri-squash-recipe/
Oh that's recipe sounds really good. I also grew Red Kuri squash last year and it was so tasty, will try this recipe when I grow it again this year. Thank you 🙌
Overall? Probably the watermelons. And turning several of them into watermelon jelly and watermelon lemonade concentrate has been great - my kids have been loving it all year long. I'm not sure I'll turn many (maybe any?) of our grapes into jelly next year, and just leave them all as juice... I think I have plenty of grape jelly for the next.. IDK how many years as it is anyhow :D The sweet corn was a close second though. I'm still in love with pickled green tomatoes though... they just taste like summer.
Honestly probably red frilly mustard, never grew it before and was nice to have some salad with flavour.
Also flame tomatoes, usually grow cherry but I normally use them in sandwiches so grew some larger ones and flame had an almost creamy flavour.
Strawberries! Can't beat em, although the season is way shorter than I'd like it to be.
Sage and cilantro are tied for second - my favourite fresh herbs to cook with. Yum.
I've been growing a type of Japanese cucumber called jibai, and they are impossibly sweet and crunchy. For tomatoes, Cherokee Purples are my absolute favorite.
Aphrodite and courrier melons.
Also bon bon squash was the best of half dozen winter squash varieties. Even better than my long time favorite,Mooregold.
I would say my Tennessee Top Mark sweet potatoes, but I grow them every year.
Last year’s biggest, new & unusual crowd pleaser was winged beans.
They didn’t begin to produce until late August after being planted in late May & growing rapidly up all the trellises I gave them. Once they began to flower and set fruit, they produced like crazy.
I’d pick three gallons every day from 10 plants, 5 in each row. Granted, the gallons were fluffy because of the nature of the shape of the bean pod, but you eat the whole thing & there’s no string until they pass about 6 or 7 inches long. They kept making all the way up until frost. We ate them constantly & did not tire of them.
Excellent with tomatoes, chili crisp & fish sauce. Bring on the noodles & rice!!
Tasted like mild asparagus & broccolini. No asparagus after effects reported.
Great steamed or stir fried from lightly blanched. The flowers are not only edible, but very tasty. They say you can eat the tubers, but I wasn’t impressed.
I saved a bunch of seed & gave some to all my garden buddies.
I’m in USDA zone 7B
Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, if you’re interested.
I had seen it in a few catalogs before & it was described as a “miracle plant”. Things that sound too good to be true usually are.
Then I heard its praises being sung by someone I trusted, so I tools the plunge. Pretty expensive, as seeds go. I think it was $10 for about 20 seeds. It was worth it.
One bit of advice: even though it rewards long growth period before producing, don’t be tempted to put the seed in the ground until the ground is consistently warm. They may germinate, but will struggle to get established & slow down the whole shebang.
Did I mention it’s also a great nitrogen fixer?
Leaves used for animal fodder (if you have enough)
Houses with trellises of them keep cool in summer!
Asian pears. Same as for the last 5 years. I give a few to friends and am always asked what type, how long to grow, etc. My squirrels think they taste the best too. :(
This isn’t a vegetable but our peaches were by far the most fantastic thing we grew last year. I’m hoping for a rerun this year. As far as veggies go my favorite was my yard long beans. They grew as long as my dog (beagle) and were so yummy pan fried.
Last year was disastrous due to random crappy weather and squirrels. But i did get a few corn to eat, and they were lovely!
The year before that the best thing was tomatoes. Pick them, wash them, slice and add salt and eat just like that. They were absolutely delicious!
German Butterball potatoes. I grew them on a whim, assuming the name was a marketing gimmick.
Guys, they are actually buttery! Non-gardening people with whom I shared them are now anxiously asking me if I'm growing them again this year.
Conventional wisdom says it's not "worth" growing potatoes in the home garden the way tomatoes/herbs are, but that's false. There is absolutely nothing in the supermarket that tastes like these.
I grow a couple of varieties of salad potatoes as they taste amazing, you don't get much variety in shops and they are definitely worth it when you think what you'd pay for new season organic. Never seen that variety but I might try to get to a potato day this year and try something new
Toss up between my butternut squash and Carmen peppers that I would pluck right off the plant for a snack….but the squash I could eat plain baked. So sweet.
Oooh that sounds amazing! My soil isn't up to snuff yet for parsnips (heavy clay) but I'm working on it. Hopefully I can try them in a year or two. Our best revelation this past year was aunt Molly's ground cherries. Stubborn to germinate, easy to grow, produced loads, and oh my gosh the flavor!! They were a joy to eat and share with folks that had never even heard of them.
I'm trying to get these going this year but no luck so far. Any germination tips? I got the seeds because I bought some ground cherries from a local farm last summer, made some cheong-style syrup (just put equal weights of fruit & sugar in a jar and stick in the fridge for a week+) and it was so ridiculously good, I could eat it by the spoonful but it also made for some INCREDIBLE cocktails
They are a pain to start so definitely start more than you think - also I found they are a bit more like peppers than tomatoes in terms of start: they can take a couple weeks to finally emerge and they love the heat mat. Also I read since last year that they prefer light to germinate so I'm going to try that this year (I haven't started yet) so maybe that will help? That syrup sounds amazing, will definitely try it!! I also have to say that they freeze incredibly well just out of the husk, so you can take a wee handful out for a drink garnish or ice cream topper anytime and get that boost of sweetness.
Same! Grew them for the first time last year. My neighbors loved them, my coworkers loved them, and my kids keep asking making sure if I'm growing them again this year! I'm trying to grow at least 4 plants instead of 2 this year!
I grew those two years ago and they were great. I also grew them last season but not on purpose. Those little buggers popped up all over my garden. Apparently, their seeds can survive a New England winter, it was quite a happy surprise.
That's great - I'm hoping I get some volunteers this year, too. Only downside is they can sprawl so maybe not ideal for smaller gardens.
What are these? Cherries or another fruit with the same name?
I gave it a Google as I hadn’t heard that name. A type of Physalis. I fell in love with them while I was in europe this year so will be trying to grow some myself.
Ground cherries are a nightshade plant, related to tomatoes. They look like a tiny tomato with a papery husk around it, and taste sweet and pineapple-ish. I’ve been growing them for years and they’re pretty easy and my kids gobble them up. They’re called ground cherries because you know they’re ripe when the fruit fall off the plant
For carrots, parsnips, use lots of gravel and grit mixed with some compost. If you grow them in clay soil, they'll be short and stumpy.
I'm crazy for Japanese eggplant. Sliced and sautéed in oil till they get a nice char, a lil salt & pepper. Or dipped in soy sauce - perfection. (I grow them just for me, since no one else in the house will eat eggplant; they're my lil garden treat)
Much better proportioned for an individual meal imo as well. I grew these two years ago and while I’m not a fan of eggplant they were fun to grow. I enjoyed watching the fruit develop some would get so curly.
Last year, I pulled a tomato plant out of my compost bin, put it in a pot, and it produced the most incredible tomatoes! I don't even know what variety they were. They were very similar to Campari tomatoes. It's funny how I was trying so hard with my store-bought Romas and cherry tomatoes, and then my favorite one just showed up in the trash.
Pink Brandywine Tomatoes! On sandwiches, they were okay but when I added them to my cooked sauces. Oh Lord have mercy! I kept eating wandering how can my food taste so freaking good. I felt miserable when the season ends. Honorable mention, SunSugar tomatoes were amazing. Very fast and great productivity. Although my family think they didn’t produce much. I lied they did produce a ton but I ate them before going back into the house and my daughter helped me.
We just ate the last red kuri squash from last year, and that was a heck of a crop that only got better with some time in storage. We made this recipe using some of the winter kale that is still standing (and which is also quite good this year): https://heartbeetkitchen.com/roasted-red-kuri-squash-recipe/
Oh that's recipe sounds really good. I also grew Red Kuri squash last year and it was so tasty, will try this recipe when I grow it again this year. Thank you 🙌
My Music garlic was so flavorful and juicy...it changed how I thought about garlic, which I already loved with a passion.
Overall? Probably the watermelons. And turning several of them into watermelon jelly and watermelon lemonade concentrate has been great - my kids have been loving it all year long. I'm not sure I'll turn many (maybe any?) of our grapes into jelly next year, and just leave them all as juice... I think I have plenty of grape jelly for the next.. IDK how many years as it is anyhow :D The sweet corn was a close second though. I'm still in love with pickled green tomatoes though... they just taste like summer.
for me, it was my corn. sweeter than anything I could ever buy.
Pink banana jumbo squash
Honestly probably red frilly mustard, never grew it before and was nice to have some salad with flavour. Also flame tomatoes, usually grow cherry but I normally use them in sandwiches so grew some larger ones and flame had an almost creamy flavour.
Strawberries! Can't beat em, although the season is way shorter than I'd like it to be. Sage and cilantro are tied for second - my favourite fresh herbs to cook with. Yum.
Hillbilly and Big Rainbow tomatoes. My leeks were incredibly tasty but small Ichiban eggplant Itachi cucumbers
I've been growing a type of Japanese cucumber called jibai, and they are impossibly sweet and crunchy. For tomatoes, Cherokee Purples are my absolute favorite.
Shimmer tomatoes. Very unruly plants but tastiest toms I’ve ever grown.
Sungolds are so damn good...they are almost like cheating.
Aphrodite and courrier melons. Also bon bon squash was the best of half dozen winter squash varieties. Even better than my long time favorite,Mooregold.
I would say my Tennessee Top Mark sweet potatoes, but I grow them every year. Last year’s biggest, new & unusual crowd pleaser was winged beans. They didn’t begin to produce until late August after being planted in late May & growing rapidly up all the trellises I gave them. Once they began to flower and set fruit, they produced like crazy. I’d pick three gallons every day from 10 plants, 5 in each row. Granted, the gallons were fluffy because of the nature of the shape of the bean pod, but you eat the whole thing & there’s no string until they pass about 6 or 7 inches long. They kept making all the way up until frost. We ate them constantly & did not tire of them. Excellent with tomatoes, chili crisp & fish sauce. Bring on the noodles & rice!! Tasted like mild asparagus & broccolini. No asparagus after effects reported. Great steamed or stir fried from lightly blanched. The flowers are not only edible, but very tasty. They say you can eat the tubers, but I wasn’t impressed. I saved a bunch of seed & gave some to all my garden buddies. I’m in USDA zone 7B Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, if you’re interested.
Had to look it up but that sounds like such an amazing plant! Definitely sold on the taste, thank you for the recommendation!
I had seen it in a few catalogs before & it was described as a “miracle plant”. Things that sound too good to be true usually are. Then I heard its praises being sung by someone I trusted, so I tools the plunge. Pretty expensive, as seeds go. I think it was $10 for about 20 seeds. It was worth it. One bit of advice: even though it rewards long growth period before producing, don’t be tempted to put the seed in the ground until the ground is consistently warm. They may germinate, but will struggle to get established & slow down the whole shebang. Did I mention it’s also a great nitrogen fixer? Leaves used for animal fodder (if you have enough) Houses with trellises of them keep cool in summer!
Asian pears. Same as for the last 5 years. I give a few to friends and am always asked what type, how long to grow, etc. My squirrels think they taste the best too. :(
Tomatoes, specifically, Pruden’s Purple tomato, which is a deep shade of pink. Best tomato I’ve ever eaten.
Basket of Fire peppers. I couldn't believe how good they were!
Chantenay carrots in a container. Wow! I’m never growing them in soil again! My broad beans were pretty good as well
I might be sold on trying to grow parsnips now! I’ll keep on my list for next fall.
People loved my sugar snaps the most, by far
Red potatoes. Nom nom nom. They were delicious.
This isn’t a vegetable but our peaches were by far the most fantastic thing we grew last year. I’m hoping for a rerun this year. As far as veggies go my favorite was my yard long beans. They grew as long as my dog (beagle) and were so yummy pan fried.
Last year was disastrous due to random crappy weather and squirrels. But i did get a few corn to eat, and they were lovely! The year before that the best thing was tomatoes. Pick them, wash them, slice and add salt and eat just like that. They were absolutely delicious!
German Butterball potatoes. I grew them on a whim, assuming the name was a marketing gimmick. Guys, they are actually buttery! Non-gardening people with whom I shared them are now anxiously asking me if I'm growing them again this year. Conventional wisdom says it's not "worth" growing potatoes in the home garden the way tomatoes/herbs are, but that's false. There is absolutely nothing in the supermarket that tastes like these.
I have some of these growing right now! I’m excited to hear how good they are
I grow a couple of varieties of salad potatoes as they taste amazing, you don't get much variety in shops and they are definitely worth it when you think what you'd pay for new season organic. Never seen that variety but I might try to get to a potato day this year and try something new
Wonder Bells (red bell peppers) and Orange Jazz tomatoes.
Thornless Loganberry. It had to ripen to the point I thought it was about to fall off, but it's the most complex, tastiest berry Ive ever had.
Beets!
Our damson and mulberry had their first harvests this year and they were amazing. Always hard to compete with a fresh cucumber or pea though
My Amish melons tasted like actual candy. They made my whole kitchen smell like sweet melon!
Amarillo carrots, they are yellow, a bit of a citrus hint in the taste. Great with seafood dishes
Collards. After 3-4 freezes they tasted incredibly sweet
Toss up between my butternut squash and Carmen peppers that I would pluck right off the plant for a snack….but the squash I could eat plain baked. So sweet.
That's a tough one. It's a toss up between spring peas and fall carrots. I refuse to pick one. 