Success Stories

2009 was a tough year for gardeners in Roswell, GA.

Excepting the ten-day deluge in late September, we had only nine days of good, ground-soaking rain this summer. And since there are only two or three other vegetable gardens within half a mile or so of my house, it quickly became the preferred “soup kitchen” of every moochin’ rabbit, squirrel, squash bug, cucumber beetle, hornworm, earworm, Mexican bean beetle, aphid, vine borer and cutworm in town. I’ve even found deer tracks in the “back forty,” for the love of God!

Critters and droughts notwithstanding, Maggie and I pulled in quite a bit of chow from our 3600-square-foot patch. The following is a list of cultivars that did especially well, despite the adverse growing conditions.

Winter Squash: “Burgess Buttercup,” “Sweet Lightning*,” “Bush Delicata.”

Summer Squash: “Early Golden Crookneck*,” “White Bush Scallop*,” “Greyzini,” “Cocozelle,” “Butterstick Hybrid*,” “Burpee Golden Zucchini*” “Fordhook*”

Gourds: “Bottle,” “Italian Edible Gourd,” “Autumn Wings,” “Spoon,” “Ornamental Mix”

“Luffa*,” “Thai Angled Luffa”

Cucumbers: “Picklebush*,” “Sumter*,” “Marketmore,” “West India Gherkin”

Beans: “Masai,” “Bush Romano*,” “Chinese Yard-Long*,” (Burpee’s mung beans also did very well.)

Eggplant: “Turkish Orange”

Peppers: “Anaheim,” “Habanero,” “Hungarian Black,” “Red Cherry*,” “Jalapeno TMR*,” “Poblano”

Corn: “Early Sunglow,” “Ornamental Indian*”

Tomatoes: “Rutgers*,” Super Sweet 100*,” “Yellow Jubilee”

Okra: “Clemson Spineless*”

Kale: “Vates,” “Nero di Toscana”

Lettuce: “Royal Oak Leaf,” “Ruby Sails*,” “Salad Bowl*,” “Prizeleaf,” “Little Caesar”

Other: “Roquette” arugula*, “Kyoto” mizuna*

Many of said are consistent performers, as indicated by the asterisks.

When I say “consistent performers,” I mean cultivars that have yielded abundantly for five or more consecutive seasons. These consistent performers are the varieties I plant every year, whether or not I plant very much else.

This year, as I’ve noted, was especially difficult. We had yet another April frost and received only nine days of real rain (not counting a ten-minute sprinkle here and there) all summer. This prolonged drought, combined with the extreme heat we experienced, caused many of our crops to drop their blossoms, thereby reducing overall yield.

The dearth of water drove the bugs to desperation: so much so that even weekly spraying didn’t deter them. The insecticides we applied killed them in droves, but they just kept coming. We often had to resort to handpicking to keep their numbers down. Even our usual companion-planting strategies were largely ineffectual: the creepy-crawlies were so desperate for food and water; they completely ignored plants that usually repel them.

The cultivars I’ve mentioned impressed me with their ability to produce under such horrid conditions. I’d unreservedly recommend any of them to home gardeners – especially those unfortunates trapped in drought-plagued North Georgia.

I hope this article proves useful to someone.

Our favorite suppliers:

Livingston Seed Co., 830 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212

Ferry-Morse Seed Co., P.O. Box 1620, Fulton, KY 420419 (www.ferry-morse.com)

Botanical Interests, Inc., 660 Compton Street, Broomfield, CO 80020 (www.botanicalinterests.com)

Pinetree Garden Seeds, P.O. Box 300, New Gloucester, ME 04260 (www.superseeds.com)

Burgess Seed and Plant Co., 905 Four Seasons Road, Bloomington, IL 61701 (www.eBurgess.com)

R.H. Shumway’s, 334 W. Stroud St., Ste. 1, Randolph, WI 53956-1274 (www.rhshumway.com)

Totally Tomatoes, 334 W. Stroud St., Randolph, WI 53956 (www.totallytomato.com)

W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 300 Park Avenue, Warminster, PA 18974 (www.burpee.com)

J.W. Jung Seed Co., 335 S. High St., Randolph, WI 53957-0001

Comments

[Rebecca]

I've been checking Green Hell every now and then to see if you were back - glad to see that you are. I thought I'd forgotten how to laugh, but you reminded me - many thanks :)

Great work in your garden, especially under such tough conditions. I don't have a garden yet, but I will certainly be trying your recipes.

Best wishes for better times to you and Maggie (we met at BBQ '08).

[Dave]

Thanks, Rebecca.

If you do start a garden, feel free to email me for pointers anytime.