Crop List for 2014!

After a long hiatus, I’ve decided to re-launch Captive Roots for the 2014 season! The garden already loves the heat and sunshine we’ve been getting this summer, and we just harvested our first batch of chard the other day! My goal for the summer season is to update the blog 2-3 times per week, so check back often!

Here is the list of crops for the 2014 season:

Peppers

Variety	Number of Plants	Container Size
Cayenne	2	5 gallon
Jimmy Nardello	3	2 plants in one 7 gallon, 1 w/ an extra hot paprika in a 5 gallon pot
Hot Paprika	5	4 in a 12 gallon pot, 1 w/ the extra Nardello as mentioned above
California Wonder	2	7 gallon
Poblano	2	6.5 gallon
Thai Chili	2	5 gallon
Black Hungarian	3	6.5 gallon
Orange You Sweet	2	5 gallon
Cute Stuff Gold	2	5 gallon
Lipstick	2	5 gallon

Of these pepper varieties, I have grown California Wonder and Poblano, both of which produce heavily and do quite well in containers. The other 8 are new to me!

 Tomatoes

Variety	Number of Plants	Container Size
Chadwick Cherry	2	7 gallon
Emerald Evergreen	2	12 gallon
Blue Beauty	2	12 gallon
Roma	2	12 gallon
Rutgers	2	12 gallon

Of these tomato varieties, the only one I have grown before is the Roma. I did have one evergreen plant in a mixed seed pack a few years ago, but I’m not sure if it was this exact variety (which is why I would never buy a mixed seed packet again!)

I am especially excited to see how the Blue Beauty turns out! Look for updates on those throughout the summer. 

Blue Beauty tomato on 7/2/14

 Cucumbers

Variety	Number of Plants	Container Size
Sikkim Cucumber	3	7 gallon
Marketmore Cucumber	3	7 gallon
Lemon Cucumber	3	6.5 gallon

Cucumbers have always been one of my favorite crops to grow. There is nothing like a crisp homegrown cucumber on a fresh salad! However, as you probably know if you’ve read the blog before, I have been fighting powdery mildew each year and each time it is more virulent than the last. Typically cucumbers last until late July/early August before they are completely killed off. Last year I was able to keep them alive until mid-August by using the milk/water combo. However, this year I switched away from Straight 8 (which apparently is one of the most susceptible to powdery mildew) and to the Marketmore, which is a resistant variety.

I’m excited to see how the Sikkim comes out. I was looking through the Baker Creek catalog and saw this bizarre, brown, almost football shaped cucumber and said “I have to try that!” I have no idea how it will do with the mildew or how well it will produce, but the plant is huge already and has a ton of flowers, so I should get a bunch!

Sikkim Cucumber on 7/2/14

 

Eggplant

Variety	Number of Plants	Container Size
Long Eggplant	2	6.5 gallon
Black Beauty	1	5 gallon

Last summer these long eggplants produced like crazy, and the Black Beauty is always an amazing plant. They produce huge eggplants that stay tender and delicious.

Cooking Greens

Variety	Number of Plants	Container Size
Kale	3	6.5
Perpetual Spinach (chard)	5	6.5
Rainbow Chard	5	6.5
Rainbow Chard #2	5	6.5
Kale #2	4	7 gallon long box

We use cooking greens several times a week, so we grow a lot. This number of planters allows for 2 people to eat greens from the garden 2-3 times a week without running out or depleting the plants too much.

Of these, the perpetual spinach is a new one to us. We just had it the other day and it was delicious! It is a variety of chard, but looks and tastes a lot like spinach. Look for an in-depth post about this neat cooking green in a couple of days!

Our first kale harvest of the season!

 

Herbs

Basil	Oregano
Catnip	Thyme
Rosemary	Dill
Sage	Tarragon
Chives	Mint
Parsley	Cilantro

The herbs are one of the most utilized parts of the garden, as I typically use at least one type of herbs every night when cooking dinner, and often use several. All of these herbs take up very little space (aside from the basil and oregano, which I am growing in 7 gallon boxes in order to dry at the end of the season for winter). If you just wanted enough basil to use from time to time, 3 plants would be plenty.

Basil (and the garden hose!)

 

Flowers

Petunia	Coxcomb
Marigolds	Button Zinnias

I love petunias, so I always start a bunch from seed. These flowers really brighten up the porch! All stay fairly small and are well suited to containers.

Zinnias and marigolds

 

Citrus Trees

Meyer Lemon

Lime

These trees were purchased last fall and spent the winter inside. Neither was particularly happy about doing so, and they are just starting to leaf out and look better now. Look for citrus specific posts in the near future!

 Reading this list, it is amazing how much you can fit into a small space. Our porch is 24 feet long by 8 feet wide, and these plants occupy the outer rim of the entire porch, aside from right against the house, where we have our chairs and a small outdoor table. This leaves the entire middle of the porch open, and we typically have plenty of room to enjoy the porch without feeling like plants are right on top of us. In fact, the green wall provides a great deal of privacy during the summer!

Once this garden gets going, we don’t need to buy herbs, cooking greens, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, or peppers until fall. This year I’m hoping to freeze and dry the peppers (depending on variety) so that we can enjoy them all winter as well.

Until next time, happy gardening!