oh the vegetable i will grow

some of the veggies and varieties that i will be growing this year.

beans: this is the first year i will grow beans, and i intend to grow pole beans so that i can trellis them. i am going to grow: blue lake pole, scarlet runner beans, and violet queen. i've been unable to find any yellow or wax pole beans, pole bean seeds have been really difficult to find in this small town, i bought most of mine in portland at The Portland Nursery.

i'm going to grow them with nastirtums below them, sunflowers behind them, and dill to their left. these are all considered companion plants. (This site is a good, and wordy, resource for companion planting.)

cucumbers: lemon. lemon cucumbers. none others, these are my favorites. i am trellising them also, and i may grow the yellow straight-neck squash (early prolific straight-neck) that i am growing with it, as it is also a vine. i am hoping to plant camomile around it, sunflowers behind it and dill next to it.

sunflowers with nastirtums growing up them? or sweet peas? sounds interesting... fennel will go up in the front yard, with japanese anenome and phlox. the front gets full sun, so there's lots of options.

squash: early prolific straight-neck yellow squash, a vining variety, grown with the cukes. baby round zuchini, a bush variety, will be grown next to a bush delicata (yum!) most nastirtums, more dill, marigolds. bi-colored golden sage, oregano, thyme and cilantro will all be nearby. a vining butternut squash called Waltham as well.

the tomatoes are one of the best parts. its been so hard for me to decide which varieties to grow, because i just become enamoured with the colors and flavors and all the choices.

so far i know that this year there will be: green zebras—which are consistently my staple. i love them and they make amazing salsa; old germans—a yellow and red meaty tomato that looks really interesting; and cherry tomatoes: sun gold (orange), black cherry (deep purpley black), gardener's delight (super tasty red) and green grape (green, striped, spicy). the small ones i will be growing in half wine barrels on my porch, two plants per barrel and i think the color combinations will turn out very fun. i also want to grow at least one other tomato variety, either early girl or late keeper (unless something else tickles my fancy) and a paste tomato as well, mainly for drying. this summer i may be able to dry them outside, with the hot summers we have. that will be lovely and very cheap.

they will be grown with basil and parsley in their bed.
i'll have more tomatoes than i will know what to do with.

i don't like egplant but i'd like to grow one called rosa bianca.

there will also be celery, kohlrabi (vienna purple & white), lots of salad greens. (black seeded simpson, oak leaf, red sails, mesclun blends, mustards, arugula, mizuna, red-leafed varieties. i wish i had luck with mache, thus far—none.) purple haze carrots (my favorite), radishes (early scarlet globe, icicle, watermelon).

speaking of melons, there has been a request that i grow some, even though i don't eat them. and i will admit that the climate here is perfect for it. so i think i will do it. after looking at them, i think i would like to grown: golden midget, orangeglo, and tigger. however, i am not sure if i'll be able to find seeds for any of them.

if you can't tell, color plays a big part in what i grow.
i want my food to be colorful, i like salads that look like rainbows.

......my anticipation continues to grow. my hands itch to dig into the ground, lovingly look after my jungle of edibles.