12/12/12 -- Let's Do 12 New Plants!

On this unique date, let's use it to think about 12 new varieties of vegetables/fruit (today), 12 new varieties of annuals (week of Dec 17), and 12 new types of trees or shrubs (week of Dec 24) for our landscapes.

12 New or Different Vegetables or Fruits to try in 2013

1. Sprouting broccoli
2. Shell beans -- I know that beans are one of the cheapest things in the store, but you can't buy Vermont Cranberry beans or Pawnee shell beans at the grocery.
3. Carrots -- if you think you know what carrots taste like, grow them yourself and be amazed! Try different varieties like 'Purple Haze' or 'Atomic Red'.
4. Popcorn or cornmeal corn (why not?)
5. Eggplant -- there are more uses for eggplant than you think, so try it.  They are beautiful as well, varying shapes and sizes.
6. Snap, snow, or shelling peas -- easy and done by the end of May. Pretty flowers
7. Fall bearing blackberries &/or raspberries -- Prime ARK 45 (black), Caroline or Heritage (rasp). Easy pruning.
8. Snacking peppers -- they're small, colorful, and extremely sweet. Johnny's Seed calls them 'Lunchbox Peppers' 
9. Blueberries -- soil test first but they are super healthy and easy to grow once soil conditions are correct.  New pink varieties like 'Pink Lemonade', 'Tophat' for containers (oh, and you'll need two varieties)
10. Garlic -- so easy, just do it.
11. Cilantro -- either the flat leaf that looks like parsley or try 'Delfino'
12. Corn salad or mache -- this was Thomas Jefferson's favorite green. Grow it and see why.

Mache (from Johnny's Seed)

Pawnee shell bean (from Seeds of Change)

Orient Charm (from Johnny's Seed)