Garden Duties: Grow List 2022

It's the beginning of February and the snow is falling hard. Whatever the climate, there is a limit to how much you can do in the kitchen garden. Most of us have looked through our seed catalogues and rummaged through our own seed inventory. This down time gives you the perfect opportunity to plan out your spring and summer season. It can be a bit overwhelming, but understanding how these vegetables are classified can help you organize your thoughts and map out a timeline to plant each seed or transplant.

This year I have mapped out what I will grow. I hope that this list will introduce you to new varieties and even inspire you to grow your own vegetables. Understanding the endless possibilities that can be grown in your own backyard is what makes gardening so exciting and never dull.

I would love to hear what you plan to grow this year in your gardens! Whether it be a new one to you or your old faithfuls that you grow year after year. Be sure to drop them in the comments section at the end of this article.

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Solanaceous Crops

These crops belong to the nightshade family, most these crops are perennials, but treated as annuals and are summer season transplanted crops. These seeds are started in mid February in zone 5b.

Peppers - Start seeds indoor in Mid February

Peppers are my favourite vegetable of all time, there are over 50,000 types in then world. How amazing is that? The amount of varieties you can grow are endless. The flavours have a heat scale and the sizes, shapes and colours are beyond our imagination.

They require a lot of heat, sun and time, making it slightly difficult to grow here in Nova Scotia, but I make it work. Sweet peppers take roughly 60-90 days, while Hot peppers can take up to 150 days. I don't have a long enough growing season to grow just any pepper, especially the bigger ones that take a long time to ripen. I mostly stick to smaller varieties that bush out and look like summer Christmas trees.

Peppers are what I live to grow. Last year was filled with jellies, salsas, sauces, pepper powders, and even freezing a bunch of leftover peppers! Looking forward to what this season will bring.

Brazilian Starfish

90 days, originated from Peru, domesticated in Brazil. Floral and fruity tones, unique star-shaped. Slow to yield, mine didn't come until November of 2020 and they were started in February, however, they amazingly prolific.

Ají Charapita

100 days, the North Peruvian pepper produces hundreds of hot, small, round peppers. They are hard to source outside of Peru, making them an expensive pepper. They have a distinct fruity, citrus aroma and is equal to the heat of a cayenne pepper.

Jalapeño

70 days, honestly needs no introduction.

Cayenne Long Thin

60-90 days, popular for drying and using as a spice

Chiltepin Wild Chile

80-95 days, an extremely hot pepper, 10-40x hotter than a jalapeño, making it perfect for seasoning pepper, grows wild and it protected in 3 national park.

Sugar Rush Peach

60-120 days, super sweet tropical flavours with the seeds bringing a smoky flavour. Complex heat in each bite.

Korean Dark Green

80 days, an heirloom from Korea, very spicy and hot, great for kimchi and other Korean dishes.

Lemon Drop

100 days, seasoning pepper from Peru, clean flavour, slightly citrus heat,

Buena Mulata

75-80 days, a very rare, stunning hot pepper ripening from purple to pinkish, orange, brown, then finishing off to a deep red.

Datil (new to me)

150 days, bursting with fruity, hot flavour. UP MY ALLY, as they are great for spicy salsas, sauces, and jellies which I live for. They are comparable to habanero types, but bakers creek claims that is more complex, sweeter and more fruity.

Jamaican Scotch Bonnet (new to me)

120 days, this pepper is fruity and full bodied. This variety is suited for long cooking times, meaning they are a great compliment to jerks and curries.

Habanero Orange (new to me)

95-100 days, super hot that ripens from dark green to peach-orange. Great used fresh or dried.

Tomato - Start seeds indoor Beginning of March

Determinates

Cream Sausage (new to me)

70-75 days, an elongated paste tomato that is creamy white to pale yellow in color. Sweet in flavour that is quite productive.

Little Bing

60-65 days, sets tasty fruits that ripen over a period of a few weeks. Best grown in containers.

Orange Icicle (new to me)

75 days, this tomato is sweet, rich and flavourful with strong citrus flavours. It grows to be an extra long paste tomato that is quite productive. Ukraine's finest tomato breeding.

Roma

75 days, needs no introduction, Roma is ideal for canning, making tomato juice and sauces,

Striped Roman

80-90 days, A perfect midsize beauty with brilliant colour, meaty flesh, and excellent flavour. This variety was developed by John Swenson.

Sunrise Sauce (new to me)

55-60 days, the small plants yield large amounts of 3-4oz orange tomatoes. They are easy-to-peel tomatoes are sweet and meaty, with a taste like traditional Roma. Ideal to make sauce or salsa.

Indeterminates

Green Zebra (new to me)

75 days, beautiful deep lime-green stripes, very rich tasting, sweet with a sharp bite to it. Around 3 ounces and has excellent yields. Baker's Creek Seeds says it's a favourite among high-class chefs, speciality markets, and home gardeners.

Lemon Boy

72 days, unique variety yields a generous bounty of eye-catching, low-acid medium-sized tomatoes with lemon coloured flesh.

Mingle Mix (new to me)

65-70 days, grape tomatoes in a hue of colours - red, gold, yellow, and chocolate. High yielding with a sweet flavour, crack resistant and it is suggested to grow six or more plants for the best colour range.

Marzito (new to me)

50-55 days, these are perfect for all occasions. They are elongated and resemble a smaller version of a Roma tomato. Firm, sweet and rich in flavour. Best grown with a trellis or cage.

Corn - Direct seed in late April

My interest in growing my own corn is not just for the fun summer time corn on the cob, but to actually use the kernels to pop my own fresh popcorn. It's best if seeded directly into the garden, in good, rich, well-drained soil, right around the time of the last spring frost.

Fisher's Earliest Sweet Corn (new to me)

70 days, grows in the cool and harsh conditions of the state of Montana. This sweet corn grows 5-6 foot stalks bear one ear per plant and have 10-12 row with a golden hue. They are sure to please .

Damaun KS Super Sweet Corn (new to me)

85 days, they are not only sweet but have that old fashioned corn flavour. Our sweetest variety, perfect for fresh eating, canning, and freezing.

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Root Vegetables

These crops have a fleshy underground structure and are direct seeded winter season crops.

Carrots

This is the year of the carrot, I have purposefully bought over ten types of carrots to try and find some amazing new varieties!

Amarillo (new to me)

75 days, good for a summer to fall crop. They are crunchy, full of juice and packet with Vitamin C.

Berlicum 2 (new to me)

80 days, good tender, deep orange in colour, long with typical flavour found in European markets.

Cosmic Purple

60 days, beautiful purple flesh on the outside and orange flesh on the inside. The roots are spicy and sweet-tasting.

Dara Flowering (new to me)

Queen Anne's lace is the familiar wild form of carrot. These beautiful white flowers change to soft pink and finish in a rich rose-purple. They produce a large number of flowers over the season. They reach up to 4 feet tall.

Jaune Obtuse du Doubs (new to me)

75 days, a classic French variety - named after the Doubs River which flows through France and Switzerland. A lovely golden yellow, suitable for harvest in the fall and taste like orange juice when made into juice.

Koral (new to me)

75 days, a nutrient dense: extremely high in Vitamin A! This variety of carrot is productive, deep orange, 8-9 inches long, and resistant to splitting.

Little Fingers (new to me)

55 days, like the name suggest a sweet 3-6 inch carrots are great for snacks. Developed in France for canning and pickling.

Longue Rouge (new to me)

French Heirloom with a rainbow body, with constantly sweet and with good carrot flavour.

Lunar White (new to me)

75 days, white flesh is very mild, delicious, with a small core. Used to be very wildly grown in the Middle Ages - now rare to find.

Nante Scarlet

68 days, one of the most popular carrots.

Parisienne (new to me)

55-70 days, according to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds they are 2-3 times higher in Vitamin A then any of carrot they tested! They are small, round with elevated flavour.

Rainbow Blend

60 days, distinct sweet flavour with atomic red, bambino, cosmic purple, lunar white, and solar yellow.

Beets

Nothing I love more than pickled beets. I have to gained a massive appreciation for them over the years.

Chioggia (new to me)

60 days, white and red rings with a very sweet flavour. Green leaves are perfect tossed inn a salad.

Early Wonder

53 days, producing a smooth flattened globe with a red blood interior.

Ruby Queen

55 days, one of the best varieties for garden fresh beets and most popular for canning in the Northeast.

Touchstone Gold

55 days, sweet flavour, bright yellow flesh that stays yellow when cooked.

Radishes

Undervalued crop - small but mighty, I'm going to be roasting these this year.

Cherry Belle (new to me)

21 days, crisp and delicious with a red skin and tasty white flesh.

De 18 Jours

18 days, unbelievably rapid yields. fresh, crisp and juicy.

Early Scarlet Globe (new to me)

23 days, the basic radish - a classic since 1888. The one we all know.

Easter Basket Mix

This mix consist of 15 different heirloom varieties.

French Breakfast (new to me)

24 days, the pre-1885 French Heirloom; traditional shaped with a crisp, mild & spicy flavour with a red top and a white bottom.

Turnip

Trying to find a tasty turnip is proving to be difficult. Hopefully this one hits the spot.

Nagasaki Akari Kabu (new to me)

50 days, traditionally grown in Nagasaki, Japan. This turnip has a plum to wine colour skin, crisp flesh. Great for pickling or eating raw.

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Pea and Beans (Pod Vegetables)

Belong to the Pea Family, these crops are legume vegetables and are directly seeded.

Soya Bean, Chiba Green

70-80 days great for eating fresh out of the pod, canning or freezing. Who doesn't want home grown fresh edamame? I do!

Soya Bean, Tanker Edamame (new to me)

80 days, premium soy bean from Japan. It has superior flavour and vigorous growth habits.

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Cucurbit Crops

Belong to the Gourd family, these crops have tendrils, fleshy fruit and are direct seeded summer season crops.

Pumpkin

Baby Boo

100 days, miniature white pumpkins, really cute, amazing for decor.

Early Sugar Pie

90 days, the premier pumpkin for eating and favourite for pies, sugary-sweet flesh that's big on flavour.

Jack Be Little

105 days, grows to about 3" in width, plants grow on average 12 per vines and beautiful for decoration.

Squash

Baby Blue Hubbard (new to me)

90-100 days, Hubbard-shaped fruit, yellow-gold flesh that is sweet and of excellent quality. Semi-bush vines are easy to handle.

Honeynut Butternut

85 days, higher yielding than traditional butternut squash.

Musquee De Maroc (new to me)

90 days, round-to-bell-shaped fruit and warted very attractively, incredible variety from North Africa.

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Salad Vegetables

Salad Greens does tend to denote leaves that are eaten raw.

Lettuce

Cosmic Crimson Mix

Baker Creek has selected their favourite anthocyanin-rich varieties to make the most colourful salad blend possible.

Merlot

55 days, darkest red lettuce, wavy to frilly leaf, excellent bolt resistant, good cold tolerance for a late fall to winter crop.

Merveille Des Quatre Saisons

48 days, crisp and tender. This can be grown almost all year round, the leaves have a reddish colour.

Mesclun Salad Mix

45 days, a mixture of different salad greens with exotic colours, textures and flavours.

Paris Island Cos

66 days, originally introduced the 1951, super uniform, upright leaves, and perfectly folded centres.

Rouge D'Hiver

Colour varies from reddish-bronze to deep red to dark green bases. This variety does particularly well in cool conditions. Baby or full size.

Tom Thumb

60 days, heirloom lettuce that dates back to 1850, small cabbage-like green heads, very tasty.

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Bulb Vegetables

Belong to the Alliaceae family, these crops grow just below the surface and produce a fleshy bulb, and a leafy shoot above ground.

Onions Sets: Red, Yellow and White

Onion, Tokyo Long White Bunching

65 days, tender and tasty, also known as green onions or scallions. No introduction needed.

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Herbs

You can't not grow herbs in a garden. Do it — grow it all.

Basil, Red Rubin

Combines ornamental appeal and compact growth-habit, smooth flat, reddish-leaves, great for flavoured vinegars and unique salads.

Basil, Siam Queen Thai

This is a must for curry and all Thai cooking, beautiful flowers, very tasty.

Basil, Dark Purple Opal

A beautiful and ornamental variety, deep purple.

Bee Balm Lemon

An annual, lemon-flavoured variety, superb tea plant.

Chives

A perennial, spiky onion-flavoured foliage and blooms.

Coriander/Cilantro

Sharply flavoured leaves (cilantro) and aromatic seeds (coriander)

Dill, Bouquet (dwarf)

An annual, feathery foliage, an essential ingredient in pickles, foliage is used to flavour salads, sauces, soups and more.

Lavender

A hardy perennial, rich fragrance, delicate flowers, and silvery-green foliage.

Lemongrass

A quick growing herb can be grown indoor or outside, widely used a culinary herb, can be dried, powdered, or used fresh.

Mint, Marvellous Mix

80 days, a perennial, ranges from spearmint, peppermint to even apple mint. Its quite invasive and belongs in the herb bed or in a contained location.

Parsley, Italian Flat Leaf

Slightly richer flavour then curled parsley and are used for its flavour as a garnish.

Rosemary

86 days, a tender perennial, shrubby evergreen may be used fresh or dried.

Sage

75 days, a hardy perennial, attractive silvery-green leaves with spiky purple blooms.

Thyme

85 days, a perennial that boast strongly scented leaves with a clove-like fragrance.

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Well just like last year, that's a long list

It's going to be an interesting gardening season. I have a little more responsible this year and less space. It will be challenging — but I am up for the challenge. Trying to juggle a new puppy around the yard, making sure he doesn't dig or eat anything he isn't suppose too. Also try make the most of my backyard space with only having one garden bed at my parents.

What are you planning on growing this year? I'd love to see it and hear about it!

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