Starting at the top, my number one pick for tomatoes this year is…

#1. Sweet Cluster

I like to eat my tomatoes like apples and this is the perfect variety for doing just that. They are the perfect size – about the size of a lightbulb, but a very nice round shape. They also produce like mad! They produce in clusters (thus the name) of about six or more tomatoes. These are hands down my favorite tomato of 2009.

#2. Sweet 100

Now this ranking may be a little skewed. I love cherry tomatoes and this was the only variety that I planted this year – so it automatically makes it into the top by default. The flavor was good, but I think I have had better cherry tomatoes (just not this year). I do have to say I was impress with their production though – lots of long trailing clusters.

#3. Lemon Boy

I do have a thing for the slightly unusual when it comes to gardening, so yellow tomatoes certainly have an attraction for me. But I do really like the flavor and texture of the lemon boy tomatoes. This is one that I’ll be planting on a regular basis in years to come.

The Others

The rest of these were fine and good. All of them were quite edible, but they weren’t anything really special. They were “just tomatoes”. So in no particular order…

Brandywine – There were kinda fun because they grow very large. I sliced one up for lunch and I hardly had room on my plate for anything else. This is what you want to grow if you want to out-grow your neighbor.

Beefmaster – Mine were pretty ugly looking. Quite bulgy, like someone was trying to fit two tomatoes into one skin. Still tastes good though. Can’t tell its shape when you turn it into salsa…

Better Boy – This is your all-round average, all-purpose tomato. It’s nice. It’s good. Not much else to say about it.

So that’s my tomatoes of 2009. I’m ready to start planning for 2010, so if you’ve got some favorites that you’re willing to share – leave a comment!

The one thing I didn’t (and still don’t) like about peas is trying to pick them when the plant is wet with dew or last night’s rain shower, and the plant, for one reason or another, is off the fence and on the ground. Then you’ve got to pick the cold, wet, muddy things. Wouldn’t it be nice to somehow avoid all that?

Well, last spring I had an idea. I had seen in a seed catalog a new variety of peas – Greensage. This variety, as the catalog said, was “a semi-leafless vine that makes the pods easier to see and harvest and produces a more upright vine.” These Greensage Peas might just be the answer to my problems.

So, that spring I planted three varieties of peas – Homesteader, Green Arrow, and Greensage – in equal amounts. The results? Well, take a look…

The plants were very viney, and the stuck very well to the chicken wire fence that I had put up for them – even in heavy winds and hail. The Green Arrow and Homesteader had a much greater tendency to fall off the fence in those situations. Due to the lack of leaves, the pods were much easier to see, but the massive amounts of tendrils made picking almost more difficult, as some pods were stuck behind a jungle of entangled tendrils.

When compared with the Green Arrow and Homesteader, the Greensage pods were quite small and we didn’t enjoy the taste of the Greensage peas as much.

So make your conclusions as you will. It really depends on what’s most important to you. If your space is limited, Homesteader certainly gives the best yield. If you’re concerned about keeping the pods out of the dirt, the Greensage is the way to go.

As for me, I’m sticking with the Green Arrow and Homesteader. But I have heard good things about Mr. Big peas… Perhaps next year.

If the hot peppers grew ok, could the large sweet bell peppers grow here as well? Why not give it a try. So this spring I decided to try my hand at growing some sweet bell peppers from seed.

The three varieties that I decided to try were the Early Prolific, Fat ‘N’ Sassy, and Blushing Beauty. And I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they grew.

I started them in my office (since I don’t have any better indoor growing area) under fluorescent lights that I had bought for that purpose. On April 29th, after several weeks of growing indoors, I transfered them outside to my high tunnel coldframe. I think that was a little too this year – both my peppers and my tomatoes were stunted severally due to the late coldness this spring.

But by and by they grew, and before long there were several large, beautiful bell peppers waiting to be picked. They had a relatively short growing season, but still managed to average about four fruit per plant.

Of the three varieties, I think I liked the Early Prolific the best, though the Fat ‘N’ Sassy weren’t far off. Blushing Beauty was a little small for my liking – but the flavor for all three was great. Next year, I think I may replace Blushing Beauty with Super Heavyweight. But that’s another post for another day.

If you’ve never tried growing bell peppers, give it a try. They’re certainly no more difficult than tomatoes, and they’re sure to taste way better than anything you buy in the grocery store.

Parmex

In the first year I had my square foot garden, I tried this little fellow. The seed package had a picture of little golf ball like carrots, so I thought they would work great in my square foot garden, seeing as the soil in it is only six inches deep. I found the flavor to be a little lacking – not as sweet as your traditional carrot. They were also pretty awkward to peel, since they are so small. Overall I found them pretty useless. True, they were unique, but I don’t think I’ll grow them again.

Rating

For being too small to be useful, and lacking in flavor, I give the Parmex Carrot just 1 out of 5.

Scarlet Nantes

In 2006 my carrots grew very large. I’m not sure if it was the weather or the varieties I grew. Perhaps it was a combination of both. The Scarlet Nantes (pictured below on the right) was a pretty average carrot. It had good flavor and a cylindrical shape. Good for fresh eating (easy to make into carrot sticks).

Rating

For being an average carrot, I give the Scarlet Nantes 3 out of 5.

Red Danver

This carrot (pictured in the previous picture on the left) was also a pretty average carrot. Most of our carrot eating was done right out of the garden, but my wife did cook the occasional carrot. Conical in shape and with a little bit nicer core flavor than the Scarlet Nantes, the Red Danver was my preferred carrot in 2006.

Rating

For being a little bit better than average, I give the Red Danver 4 out of 5.

Purple Dragon & Purple Haze

This past summer I planted two purple varieties of carrots – Purple Dragon and Purple Haze. I neglected to get any good pictures of them, but these are some pictures I found on elsewhere on the internet. The Purple Haze (pictured on left) had a very thin, purple-ish, almost dark pink skin with a very bright orange/yellow center. It didn’t have great flavor, although it was a little better than the Purple Dragon. Although it was a novelty to have a purple carrot, once you’ve peeling them, the Purple Haze carrots had no purple left to them. They looked like average carrots and tasted worse.

The Purple Dragon carrots (pictured above) had a much darker skin that was much thicker as well. You could peel the carrots and it would still be purple. This was a very cool carrot to put in salads and the like. However, it was not good to cook with anything else, as it would turn the water (if boiled) and anything else with it (like potatoes) purple – or rather an ugly black color.

Rating

For being a novel idea, but not all that useful, I give both purple varieties 2 out of 5.

Sweetness III

Sweetness III is a very nice carrot. Very crisp, juicy and sweet. Again I have to resort to internet photos (and it isn’t a great picture), but I’ll be planting them again so perhaps I can update the photo next year. Good size, nice to peel – I can’t say enough good things about them.

Rating

For a crispy carrot with great flavor, I give Sweetness III 5 out of 5.

The berries were great to eat fresh, or put on ice-cream. My two year old daughter had no complaints either way! In fact, she liked them so much, she’d even pick them well before they were ripe! I can certainly say without a doubt that I will continue to grow these beautiful strawberries.

I give the Fort Laramie Strawberries a solid 5 out of 5.