Candy, Red Candy and Super Star Sweet Onions

These are all day neutral varieties that grow exceptionally well in this region. It is not unusual for many of our gardeners to get softball size onions by mid August. They are sweet and store reasonably well.

Lettuce

Most leaf-type and romaines do well when planted in spring, but our all time favorite is buttercrunch. It tastes sweet when grown in spring, summer or fall. Try making lettuce wraps with this one. 

Greens for Salads

Mizuna and Osaka Purple Mustard will add zest and "personality" to any salad. They are as tasty as they are beautiful.

Big Beef Tomatoes

These tomatoes grow on indeterminate vines. They have a beef steak taste in an early maturing tomato. It is juicy and very meaty. Great as a slicer or on salads. Don't be surprised (if you grow them in hoop tunnels) to get over 100 ripe tomatoes before fall.

          

Mokum Carrots

These healthful carrots are some of the sweetest that Larry has grown. Mokum is earlier in maturing, tender, crisp and a bit sweeter than most. They are excellent eaten raw, in salads and as a juicer.

Cool Breeze Cucumber

It isn't summer until we officially have our first fresh cucumber salad. This variety is earlier and more prolific than any other we have grown. It is sweet, crisp and seedless. Enjoy in salads or use to make pickles. 

Premium Crop Broccoli

We love broccoli and it is considered to be a super-food (lots of vitamins). This variety is reliable and once you harvest the large head in early summer it will provide you with loads of delicious side-shoots until frost.

Chioggia Beet

This beet produces crisp leaves that when picked young are a tender delicious addition to most salads. The beet root when cut displays beautiful red and white concentric circles. 

Ambrosia Sweet Corn

This is an early season (75 days) sugar enhanced hybrid. We get excellent results without having to plant in isolation from other varieties.

     

Kwintus Pole Beans

This flat podded bean is one of the sweetest beans that some of our gardeners have ever tasted. It is only available through Park's Seed or Cook's. This one is well worth the space. Kids will gobble these up raw! For best results plant only after the ground has thoroughly warmed (around the first week of June for us in northern Colorado Springs).

     

Cherry Belle Radish

If you want radishes that are slow to get pithy this is the one. The white flesh is crisp, firm and mild. It is also an early maturer.

 Tyee Spinach

This tasty wrinkled (savoyed) leaf variety is disease resistant and is slower to bolt (go to seed) than most varieties. Higher yields can be obtained by having a longer harvest season.

Genovese Basil

This is one of the best tasting basils for pesto that Larry has found. It germinates easily and it grows great in a sunny window sill during the winter months. Plant in rich, well drained soil. Keep moist and do not let it dry out.

     

Mexibell Pepper

This bell pepper has a bit of heat and is great stuffed. Clean out the seed cavity, put extra peppers into a freezer bag and freeze for later use.

     

Cinderella Pumpkin

You will get about five 10 inch diameter pumpkins off one compact vine. They are good for carving and cooking. Their unusual shape is said to resemble the "pumpkin carriage" in  the fairy tale, Cinderella.

Table Ace or Table King Acorn Winter Squash

Great tasting winter squash produced on a compact bush plant. Stores well in a cool basement. 

Magda (or Lebanese)Squash

This light green bush zucchini type squash is a very prolific, tasty squash. Use it like you would any zucchini. Larry says it tastes better than any dark green zucchini.

    


Raven Hybrid Zucchini Squash

If you want a meaty, delicious early maturing (43 days!) zucchini on a very compact plant this is the one. It is said to be higher in vitamins than other zucchini. 

Inchelium Red Garlic

OK, this is truly one of the best discoveries of ours. This mildly pungent garlic has a wildly warm aromatic flavor that we could previously only enjoy in authentic Italian restaurants.

Sugar Ann Snap Peas

Since it only grows about three feet tall  (will still need a trellis) it is great for small space gardens.  It matures faster than the standard Sugar Snap (that typically grows 6 ft tall) and still has all the flavor and crispness.

Imperial Star Artichoke

Although it is hard to find as a plant, many local garden shops are starting to carry this cultivar of Green Globe. Be sure the label says, "Imperial Star". It is the only variety of artichoke that we got to produce in the first year. Since it may not make it through our winters this is important. 

Herbs that Bring in the Pollinators

We like to scatter our herbs throughout the garden. The ones here are especially good for attracting pollinators to the garden. Left to right: German Chamomile, Valerian, Dill, Oregano, and Calendula