My Favorite Varieties - 2015 Summer Garden

Romanesco zucchini

Variety is the spice of life, right? With that in mind, I thought I would share with you my favorite varieties from our summer garden. I tried several new varieties this year and many of them were hits! Maybe you will find something new to try next year.

I think the most shocking winner for me was the Romaneso zucchini. I am not a lover of zucchini, but this type has won me over with its delicately crisp texture and sweet flavor. Everyone who tried it said the same thing, "This is the best zucchini I've ever tasted." With raised longitudinal ridges, it creates beautiful gear-shaped slices. I love it lightly sauteed in butter and sprinkled with tarragon.

The tomatoes always steal the show in the summer garden. I grew 12 varieties and my favorite was Black Krim. This is a hearty, robust, flavorful tomato.

Black Krim tomato

One look at the deep color and you can just imagine the rich complex flavor. It tastes how it looks.

Black Krim tomato

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato is light and fruity. This was my most prolific grower. The fruit is incredibly sweet, and when the sun hits it the bright orange color glows. It has a pink blush at the bottom too, making it even prettier.

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato

What a treat it was to share my Black Krim and Pineapple Hawaiian with my dear friend, Jane, on our little get away to Ventura Beach. This is why we put up with the traffic to live in L.A. One hour in the car and we are at the beach, at the ski resort in the mountains, in the desert, or in farm country.

The tomatoes were fabulous with pita chips and red pepper hummus, topped with fresh tarragon and basil.

When I bit into my first Red Pear Abruzzese tomato, it finally made sense why tomatoes are considered a fruit. By far the sweetest tomato I have ever eaten, this one is like candy.

Red Pear Abruzzese tomato

Red Pear Abruzzese tomato

Out of the 12 pepper varieties I planted, my favorite are these Italian heirlooms. Quadrato Rosso D' Asti is a red sweet pepper which is deliciously flavorful with a slightly spicy finish.

Quadrato Rosso D' Asti bell pepper

Its yellow cousin is Quadrato Giallo D' Asti. Isn't it beautiful? It's also crisp, sweet and tasty.

Quadrato Giallo D' Asti bell pepper

This little melon is not much to look at, but it is fantastic. Sakata's Asian Melon is a small crisp melon that is intensely sweet with a hint of cucumber flavor. I will grow this one every year.

Prosperosa eggplant is stunning with its embre effect. The plant was a prolific producer and its upright growth habit takes less room than my spreading Kamo eggplant. 

I purchased all of my seeds from Annie's Heirloom Seeds. (I am not compensated by them in any way, I am just a customer.) One thing I like about them is they have collections of seeds which makes trying new varieties easy. This bush bean collection was just fabulous. They call it "Annie's Rainbow Beans" and it contains Contender, Golden Wax, Royal Burgundy, and Dragon's Tongue. 

And finally there are the Cosse Violetta pole beans. With flowers this pretty, and pods that are striped then mature to a deep violet, these are a stunning (and delicious) addition to the summer garden.

I hope you are inspired to try a new variety next year. Now I am off to start looking through seed catalogues for unusual additions to try in my winter garden. 

Oh, the possibilities!

A Tasty Rainbow of Bell Peppers

Chocolate, yellow, red, orange and green...the prettiest peppers I've ever seen. Please understand, I may be biased since these are my little gems, lovingly grown from seed starting way back in February. Peppers do take time to grow, so when they are finally ripe, it is such a joy!

My husband made robust ropa vieja using the peppers. It's a Mexican dish of stewed beef featuring bell peppers. Before they were cooked, the bells had to pose for some photos.

Chocolate Bell, Quadrato Giallo D' Asti (yellow), Quadrato Rosso D' Asti (red), Orange Bell, California Wonder Bell

Chocolate Bell ripens to a deep brown. It is large with thick flesh which is sweet but has no chocolate flavor. The name alludes to the color which is definitely a chocolate brown.

Quadrato Giallo D' Asti is an Italian heirloom with the most delightful bright yellow flesh. It is a stunning plant, the sunny yellow makes a brilliant contrast to the deep green foliage. With light and crisp flesh, it might be the sweetest of my bells.

Perhaps my favorite variety this year is the Quadrato Rosso D' Asti which is the red bell. This Italian heirloom is producing numerous lush peppers of a deep red. The flesh is crisp and very sweet with a hint of a spicy finish. 

I love seeing peppers ripen, transforming colors like a chameleon. 

Quadrato Rosso D' Asti. One plant with peppers in various stages of maturity.

Orange Bell is perhaps the prettiest one in my garden. In the sunlight, this vibrant orange pepper simply glows. Deliciously sweet, it adds a pop of color to meals from stews to salads.

Lovely Orange Bell, the belle of the garden.

And finally there is California Wonder. This green pepper is a longstanding favorite for its thick flesh and boxy shape. It is the classic bell, and it's perfect for stuffing.

My bells, they are a tasty rainbow!