Plants available for order at wholesale prices until the end of February
We are now taking preorders for plants until the end of February. These will be available for pickup in Richland on Saturdays starting April 15th. This allows you to benefit from wholesale pricing and a larger selection of varieties than will be available for direct sale this spring. Further details in our Ordering and Delivery Information.
We will have onion starts available in bunches starting March 11th. The varieties will be the same as last year: Ailsa Craig, Copra, Red River, Red Torpedo, and, of course, Walla Walla. All of these perform well in local gardens and are highly recommended. You can read more about them on the varieties page.
The list of pepper plant varieties has been finalized for 2016, and contrary to expectation, it is longer than last year. Primarily this is because some of this seed needs to be grown out and saved, so some of these will have limited availability. Some of these are also being grown out for assessment, comparison, and breeding projects. Let me know if there’s something unusual on here that you want to reserve. Coming next: cold weather and early spring planting.
Aji Amarillo
Aji Dulce
Anaheim TMR
Ancho San Luis
Cherry Pick F1
Chiltepin
Chinese Giant
Fish
Fooled You
Ghost Pepper
Giant Aconcagua
Habanero
Jalapeno M
Jimmy Nardello
Liebesapfel
Mareko Fana
Moringa Pepper
Orange Sun
Ozark Giant
Pasilla Bajio
Peacework
Poblano L
Purple Beauty
Purple Jalapeño
Quad Giallo
Quad Rosso
Ta Tong
Tepin
Trinidad Perfume
Yellow Monster
Sunchokes for sale at the Mid-Columbia Market at the Hub
Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem artichokes, but they have nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes. I’ve played around with them in my propagation beds and eaten a few. They might taste a little bit like an artichoke in flavor, sweet and a bit crunchy when raw. They are better stewed or roasted for long periods to convert the inulin (soluble fiber which can cause gas).
A couple years ago I started selling the “Supernova” variety from Oikos. I put one or two small tubers in each gallon pot, and people purchased them after they started to get pretty big. One of these I transplanted into my garden, where it shot up like sunflowers and produced beautiful yellow flowers. They made nice bouquets on the kitchen table from mid-summer until late fall.
Sunchokes are quite hardy in our area, but ought to be lifted every year to harvest and thin them. In some parts of the country they can be invasive (too dry here, I suspect). I was busy, however, and never managed to get around to it that year. Last spring I was delighted to see a dense patch of them sprouting up in the same spot, and the display was even more spectacular than the previous year, although they tended to fall over on top of everything around them.
Finally, early this spring I managed to get out there with a small tray to dig up the tubers. The clump had remained only three to four square feet in size, but the tubers were stacked on top of each other almost twelve inches underground, and so densely packed that it would be more accurate to say that I picked them apart, rather than dug them up.
I soon had to go get a larger container. When all was said and done, I had 25 pounds of tubers, all from that one small pot. Although I have had sunchokes in controlled propagation beds, I’ve never stopped to look at just how rapidly these can reproduce in the ground. I’m going to have to take another look at different ways to prepare them for eating.
In the meantime, if you would like to try growing this unique edible/ornamental yourself, I’ll have tubers and eventually potted plants available for sale at the Mid-Columbia Market at the Hub.
I remember growing peanuts in my grandmother’s garden as a kid. They grew like little pea plants but had nothing to show for themselves except a few small flowers, low to the ground. In the fall, though, we’d pull up the plants, and like magic, peanuts would be in amongst the roots. It seemed to me that someone must have buried them there when I wasn’t looking.
These days I like to start them early before transplanting them out when the weather warms up. They are a long season crop, and although we have sufficient summer for them, I get a better harvest by starting them early.
This year I planted purple striped peanuts. I’m sure a few plants will make their way into your hands as well, if you watch for them to go on sale at the Hub, once the ground is warm enough to plant them.
As in previous years, we will have onion sets at the Mid-Columbia Market at the Hub/NW Food Hub on the corner of Goethals and Gillespie in Richland, starting Thursday, March 13th. They will be bundled in groups of 30+ for $2. This year we have three old favorites, and a new red which is recommended as a replacement for the discontinued Mars variety that was so popular.
Ailsa Craig
Said to be one of the largest growing varieties available, this is an open pollinated sweet onion. Copra
Hybrid yellow storage onion. Not as sweet as a sweet onion, but sweeter than most storage onions. Red River
Hybrid, sweet red onion. Should size up quickly and keep well for a non-storage onion. Walla Walla
Large, open pollinated sweet onion. This one needs no introduction.
2014 finds us a bit behind where we’d like to be, due to facilities and staffing complications. The good news is that we’ve finally got a preliminary list of tomato varieties, with more to follow very soon regarding peppers, herbs, and flowers.
This year we’ll be focusing on more solid, tested varieties from previous years, with fewer new and exploratory varieties in the mix. There should be something for every need in the list, but as usual, feel free to drop us a line, or add your comments below, if there’s something in particular you were hoping to see.
Your feedback is very important to us, as it helps to better assess what you’re looking for, what has worked or not worked well for you in the area, and how we can better help you find success in your garden. Stay tuned for many more updates in the coming weeks.
Here’s the pepper plant list for 2013. There are a few more varieties pending, but we’re about out of time to get pepper plants started this year:
Aji Dulce: A very mild habanero type pepper Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Chile): Hottest pepper in the world. ‘Nuff said. Gamba: Squat red bell pepper, recommended for cooking. Giant Aconcagua: Very long sweet pepper which we always eat before it turns red. Habanero: Very hot wrinkled orange pepper with a unique, citrusy flavor. Jalapeno M: A very mild jalapeno variety Jimmy Nardello: Very sweet long frying pepper, good eaten fresh, too. Kevin’s Early Orange: Early orange bell pepper Milord: Flavorful red bell pepper Orange Sun: Sweet orange bell pepper Red Cherry: Sweet, thick-walled small pepper that I grow mainly to snack on. Super Heavyweight: Large yellow bell pepper Super Shepherd: Very sweet red italian pepper
As always, let me know if there’s something you’re looking for. The last wave of late peppers will be planted very soon.