What are you planting "new to you" this year?

digitS' said:
New? Oh, I don't know!! One part of it is that I'll need to see what is missing from the seed stash and whether I feel some resistance to having it out there again. So! I can handle tossing the old and try something new.

Donna, your Pink Beauty Amaranth sounds good. I am a baby beet fan which has such a short season here but have grown an amaranth for 3 or 4 years. The seed that was given to us by a friend. She didn't know what variety it is but I really think that it was an ornamental type. But then, they might all be ... beauties ;).

@Branching Out , Salpiglossis flowers are true beauties and have such interesting patterns to the petals. I had some problems with the plants distracting from the flowers. They sprawled across the ground and since they weren't very floriferous, that was the distraction. It may well have had to do with the limited sunlight where they were growing.

If you do a search on the Ethiopian kale for 2022, you will see my frustration with them. @Phaedra had much better performance from hers.

The seed availability of some new-to-me garden plants will be a deciding factor for choice. Have-to-haves will determine sources and then - what's being offered beside them? Please! Let it be something interesting ...

Steve :)
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Ethiopian kale (Brassica carinata) is what I tried in 2022. The growth is ok, but its flavor didn't impress me. I might directly sow them in a back-up patch but won't spend too much time on them.
 
I re-checked the site where I got it - which is a French language site - and the translate feature turns CP into 'French Pumpkin Squash'. But it does certainly look similar to RK, orange-red in a teardrop shape. Smallish.
 
We grew a Red Kuri cross last year that was exceptionally good. It has a forever home in our garden now even though it is a hybrid: "Sunshine" developed by the founder of Johnny's Seed, Rob Johnston. Red Kuri didn't do so well here, although it could have been the particular strain of seed that I had. It was just okay.

I understand the fellow at Siskiyou Seeds is de-hybridizing Sunshine. Yup! Here it is, Sundream. Currently at F5.
Good ideas have to start somewhere…this project started as a taste bud love affair with the excellent variety Sunshine (F1), a delicious orange skinned squash developed by Rob Johnston. With the dream of culturing this strain into an open pollinated variety, we offer this (F5) assession. Some limited variability is distinctly possible, but we have faith that the flavor of this productive and tasty squash is worth it. An heirloom of tomorrow in the making. OSSI pledged
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@meadow have you tried both RK and Sunshine? From what I understand, (and I could be wrong)...Sunshine is sweeter, where RK is nuttier?? I guess it would depend on your taste buds and preference...I'd be interested to know which is the more productive, too.​

 
donna13350 said:

@meadow have you tried both RK and Sunshine? From what I understand, (and I could be wrong)...Sunshine is sweeter, where RK is nuttier?? I guess it would depend on your taste buds and preference...I'd be interested to know which is the more productive, too.​

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Yes, I've grown both but not in the same year.

Sunshine was hands down the most productive, that is for certain. It and Tetsukubota were the most productive in our garden by far of any year I've ever grown squash.

Sunshine is a sweet squash. It makes fantastic 'pumpkin' pie and could have been a contender in our delicata trials last year.

Red Kuri really did not do well here at all. The flavor was just okay (I like all squash except for Spaghetti Squash). I really don't think the seed I had was a good representation of what Red Kuri is supposed to be.

I'm finding that small growers don't always produce a good crop. Candystick Delicata, for instance, is supposed to have certain characteristics, and I expected it to at least taste like a delicata... it didn't. It just tasted like a decent squash, nothing remarkable at all, and not a delicata flavor at all. I have no doubt that the same squash from a different grower would have been true to what Candystick is supposed to be.
 
meadow said:
Yes, I've grown both but not in the same year.

Sunshine was hands down the most productive, that is for certain.
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I grew both this year, and with our long, dry summer Red Kuri produced tiny fruits and Sunshine was, well, kind of a burst of sunshine with large fruits despite poor growing conditions. I can't really compare the taste as mine became soup, and I liked them both. However, once harvested I could not resist saving seeds from Sunshine, as they were so sturdy and attractive. It will be interesting to see what I get when I grow them out.
 
Johnny's would be in so much favor of seeing good things said about their Sunshine ;).

I have had ridiculous experiences with squash crossing but imagine that it could be well worthwhile. I should have been far more attentive to pulling them when the tractor guy spread seeds from the neighbor's "F2" volunteers into my squash patch. As it was, there were plants maturing fruit that were like gourds!. I allowed one of my volunteers to grow on another year. It was a vigorous C. pepo and I ended up with a dark green, oddly shaped pumpkin!

Nevertheless, with some garden space allocated and proper forebears, and I'm especially thinking C. maxima, it seems real possible to have something unique and worthwhile.

I'll have to have one of my tomato crosses. Honestly, it wasn't really mine. A gardener in a somewhat similar climate sent me seed he had saved. It never was what he said it would be and even evolved some in my garden. I wouldn't mind telling him that I forgive him ... because DW likes it. But, he has since disappeared from the forum. Maybe, his generosity was met with criticism from others that he gifted.

Steve
 
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