Purple Carrots: I do not particularly like carrots, I grow them for my mother to eat (she loves raw carrots), for juicing (health benefits, not taste), and to use in stews (they are easy to freeze and store). My mom's opinion on the purple carrots was that they were not as good raw as the orange varieties I grew. She said they were not as sweet, and had a stronger carroty flavor. Reading up on the domestication of carrots, it would appear that the purple colored variety is less domesticated than the oranges and yellows. However, I found that in the garden the purple variety grew twice as fast as the orange, which is probably due to their more primitive nature. wink. In the future I will plant a small area of the orange, sweeter varieties, for momma's fresh eating. And then do a larger area in the purple as the sweetness is less of a factor for juicing and cooking.
Purple Haze Carrots mixed with orange varieties
Apollo Broccoli: This was the best variety of Broccoli that I have ever grown and/or eaten! I could pick enough sprouts for dinner for two people every three days. The flavor and the vigor of this variety was phenomenal. It broke my heart to pull them this weekend, but with the warmer temps, the sprouts were going almost straight to flower anyway. In the future, I will not waste time or space on any other Broccoli variety for eating.
Apollo Broccoli covered in shoots
Romanesco Broccoli: I was intrigued to try this variety as it looks really cool, and is pricey to buy in the grocery stores, if you can even find it. This variety of broccoli is not vigorous... at all. I waited all winter, watching these plants grow...ever...so...slowly. Finally, I was rewarded with those beautiful, geometric, chartreuse Romanesco heads, and they were delicious...but very small. In the future, I will skip growing this variety unless I have a bed with nothing else planned....and time on my hands.
Head of Romanesco Broccoli about 4" across
There is no denying that this is one pretty vegetable
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage: This variety of cabbage, despite being an early variety, seemed to take forever to form heads. Although this may be attributable to how warm the winter season began. Then in early February the heads were looking really good and ready to harvest. On a Friday I walked through the garden planning to pull the heads the next day. Saturday morning I walk out to find one of the heads had split. This never happened with Flat Dutch. The Flat Dutch, which is supposed to be a late variety, formed heads earlier and I could leave those babies in the garden forever without them splitting. In the future, go back with Flat Dutch for cabbage.
Beautiful heads of cabbage one day
Split cabbage head the next
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