THE LIST 2010

Here is the exhaustive, painstakingly vetted garden list for 2010. In addition to these, we'll also be planting as many herbs and wildflowers as humanly possible. And don't forget our blueberry bushes, golden raspberry canes, asparagus crowns, and hazelnut, cherry, and apricot trees. Seriously, am I going to have to plant all of this crap myself? [Kate: Most likely, since I will be massively pregnant.]

• BASIL, Thai Queenette - This one seemed to do well last year.
• BASIL, Holy - Trying out seeds from Baker Creek this year. I also brought some seeds back from a bunch of basil we used in my Thai cooking class, we'll give em a whirl.
• BASIL, Genovese - The old standby. We get a few seedlings from Well-Sweep Herb Farm every year.
• BEANS (BUSH), Tiger's Eye - We never got to plant these last year because of our move. Here we go again...
• BEANS (BUSH), Jacob's Cattle - We ordered a whole lotta beans from Fedco, looking forward to trying them out.
• BEANS (POLE), Garden Of Eden - More unplanted holdovers from last year.
• BROCCOLI, Blue Wind - We had good results last year with this variety so we're going to give it another go.
• CARROTS, Muscade - We planted some last year but never got to harvest them.
• EGGPLANT, Turkish Orange - This will be a new variety for us. These are small eggplants that are best harvested prior to turning orange.
• EGGPLANT, Ma Waeng - I'm excited about this one. These eggplants are pea-sized and impossible to find even at the Asian market. They're good in lots of SE Asian dishes and freeze well.
• GROUND CHERRY, Aunt Molly's - This is another one I've been meaning to try for the last couple of years. I finally overcame Kate's inexplicable lack of enthusiasm.
• GREENS, Siamese Dragon - This is a Baker Creek mix of Asian greens that we've had since last year.
• LEEK, Bleu de Solaise - This leek showed great promise last year, although we didn't get to try it.
• LETTUCE, Val D'Orges - We actually got to harvest this one last season, a nice butterhead for my little butterhead.
• LETTUCE, Arugula - Can't get enough of this stuff!
• MELON, Charentais - One of our biggest goals this year is to finally grow some decent melons. We've never had enough sun before to do it. Charantais is a nice classic European musk melon.
• MELON, Sun Jewel - This is a Johnny's hybrid type that also looks like a winner. It's a banana-shaped Asian style. Might as well try two different varieties and compare the results.
• ONION, Walla Walla - The best sweet onions around. We couldn't find seed last year and went with transplants instead. We've tracked the seeds down this time, so look out.
• ONION, New York Early - This looks like a good keeper onion, which we never seem to have enough of.
• PARSLEY, Flat Leaf - Another yearly Well-Sweep purchase.
• PEAS (POLE), Sugar Snap - Always a favorite. Nothing beats fresh-picked snap peas, and this is the best variety we've found.
• PEAS (POLE), Green Arrow -We're also looking forward to having some fresh shell peas this year--another delicacy that can't be found at the grocery store.
• PEPPERS, Aji Dulce - Arguably Kate's favorite peppers, these taste like habaneros but have virtually no heat. For big babies.
• PEPPERS, Bird's Eye - These are the tiny red peppers ubiquitous in Thai cuisine. Hot but not brutal, fruity and versatile.
• PEPPERS, Cascabel - We grew these a couple of years ago, and they were quite unique. Very prolific and easily stored. I couldn't find the seeds in any of the six (yes, six) catalogs we ordered from so i'm going to try to use seeds from a package of dried peppers from Penzey's.
• PEPPERS, Golden Treasure - A thin-walled, orange sweet frying pepper.
• PEPPERS, King Of The North - Thick-walled and sweet, this is one of the shortest season bell peppers available.
• PEPPERS, Lemon - An intensely fruity, moderately spicy South American variety, this is an old favorite originally obtained from Burpee four years ago. The seeds we're using are the longest-running strain of any seeds we've saved.
• PEPPERS, Thai Burapa - Standard pepper used in red Thai curry paste (in dried form). Easy to dry but quite useful fresh, either green or red, in all sorts of Asian dishes.
• POTATO, La Ratte - Fingerling variety, demanded by Kate. [Kate: You could have described them as creamy-fleshed, buttery, versatile, and used by generations of French chefs.]
• POTATO, Carola - Toted as an all-around outstanding potato. We ordered all of our potatoes from Fedco this year.
• SCALLION, Evergreen Hardy White - Another indispensable allium. 'Nuff said.
• SHALLOT, Ambition - We blow through shallots like water, often substituting them for onions. Like scallions, we really can't get enough of them. You could say, we're feeling more AMBITIOUS than ever! HAHAHA [Kate: Fortunately, I would never say that.]
• SQUASH (SUMMER), Lemon - This Baker Creek yellow summer squash looks intriguing and has some rave reviews, not to mention a supposed compact habit. A nice alternative to zucchini.
• SQUASH (WINTER), Golden Delicious - Another Baker Creek selection, this squash is alleged to rival the buttercup in pure awesomeness.
• SUNFLOWER, Irish Eyes - This will be our first year growing sunflowers, as we were brutally thwarted last year by anemic sunlight and the oft-mentioned move.
• TOMATO, Nyagous - We had some really good results with both Nyagous and Isis a couple of years ago. Two years ago, we were devastated to lose most of our crop to blossom end rot. Last year was a bust, not to mention the ravages of the late blight pestilence. This year is going to be our year for tomatoes. It just HAS to be! Oh yeah, Nyagous is a purplish red medium sized tomato good enough to eat all by itself.
• TOMATO, Isis Candy - Another favorite, this cherry variety is incredibly sweet, almost and indulgence.
• TOMATO, San Marzano - This is the renowned paste tomato of yore, popular in Italy. We've gotten some underwhelming results in the past but are looking forward to a better experience this year. We're going to be using the seeds we saved from Genesis Farm two summers ago.
• TOMATO, Gold Medal - This is the only new tomato we'll be growing this year. As with the Nyagous and Isis candy, Gold Medal comes from Seeds Savers Exchange. We figured we could use some color in the tomato section so we went with this early-yielding golden variety.