Eat Your Yard: Heirloom Vegetables and Fruits
If you've always stuck with the standard hybrid fruit and vegetable varieties available at the big box stores, you're missing out on a world of flavor and color.
You can find heirloom tomatoes in nearly every color of the rainbow, with tastes that are just as varied. Some are even streaked or fuzzy like a peach. TomatoFest is a good place to start to find some of these interesting varieties.
Peppers are, perhaps, even more varied. Standard bell types come in nearly every color of the rainbow. "Bull's Horn" types are long and narrow, and generally sweeter and more prolific than bells. Hot peppers range from mild varieties with almost no heat, to the bhut jolokia, which is, at three times the heat of the habanero, the hottest pepper in the world. The range of colors, exotic shapes, and varied flavors offered by suppliers such as Pepper Joe's will definitely add interest to both your garden and dinner plate. You can also try growing ornamental peppers for their beautiful fruits and foliage. Some varieties offer variegated leaves or striped fruit, and many are also edible.
But why stop with these two popular vegetables? Try purple cauliflower and creamy beans streaked with rose. Luscious Charentais melons are just one of the many aromatic and delicious heirloom vines you can grow.
Heirlooms can help you save some money, too--because unlike hybrids, seed can be harvested for use year after year. And once you have a good amount of even a few varieties, you can join one of the many seed trading communities on the web, such as GardenWeb's Seed Exchange, and trade for just about anything else you could want.
Put in a little bit of effort to find some less-common but beautiful, delicious heirloom offerings, and you may never grow hybrids again!
You can find heirloom tomatoes in nearly every color of the rainbow, with tastes that are just as varied. Some are even streaked or fuzzy like a peach. TomatoFest is a good place to start to find some of these interesting varieties.
Peppers are, perhaps, even more varied. Standard bell types come in nearly every color of the rainbow. "Bull's Horn" types are long and narrow, and generally sweeter and more prolific than bells. Hot peppers range from mild varieties with almost no heat, to the bhut jolokia, which is, at three times the heat of the habanero, the hottest pepper in the world. The range of colors, exotic shapes, and varied flavors offered by suppliers such as Pepper Joe's will definitely add interest to both your garden and dinner plate. You can also try growing ornamental peppers for their beautiful fruits and foliage. Some varieties offer variegated leaves or striped fruit, and many are also edible.
But why stop with these two popular vegetables? Try purple cauliflower and creamy beans streaked with rose. Luscious Charentais melons are just one of the many aromatic and delicious heirloom vines you can grow.
Heirlooms can help you save some money, too--because unlike hybrids, seed can be harvested for use year after year. And once you have a good amount of even a few varieties, you can join one of the many seed trading communities on the web, such as GardenWeb's Seed Exchange, and trade for just about anything else you could want.
Put in a little bit of effort to find some less-common but beautiful, delicious heirloom offerings, and you may never grow hybrids again!