New Vegetables For Warm Weather

Congratulations! You started a pandemic Victory Garden in 2020. And, you kept it going in 2021. Now, it’s 2022 and, if you’re anything like the madman, you are ready to try some new vegetables. Perhaps you just want to go beyond tomatoes and cucumbers.

Well, the madman has a couple of suggestions that aren’t totally off the wall like so many of his ideas are. The good thing about these suggestions is that the plants come from warm climates so it’s not too late to start them this season.

Try A Mallow

The madman’s first suggestion is to plant a member of the mallow family – Okra. Our first attempt at growing Okra was a total disaster. Actually, the growing wasn’t a disaster-they grew fine. The disaster came in the eating. We had no idea how to harvest them or how to cook them. As it happened so often in our early years of gardening, the madman planted things that struck his fancy, and we didn’t have google to help us sort them out. The Okra pods were tough, stringy and downright awful. So awful that it took many years to try it again.

With so many other plants to experiment with, you may be wondering why we even tried Okra again. Of course, it’s a long story, but here’s the short version. We have mentioned our involvement with the Focus Garden in Haddam. During a garden-planning meeting one winter, Okra entered the discussion and was quickly pooh-poohed by the madman who asked, “Who in their right mind would grow Okra? How about Eggplant instead?” Since the produce went to area food banks and soup kitchens, we all decided to ask them what they would prefer. The response mortified the madman. According to the agencies, no one wanted Eggplant, but Okra would be most welcome. As it turns out, Jamie knew how to grow it and when to harvest it.

Native Of The East

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is a warm-weather crop – actually it is native to the tropics of the Eastern Hemisphere, getting any more exact than that results in a good argument among plant historians. It found its way to the Americas through the slave trade and is a staple in southern cuisine.

The plant is fairly easy to grow, as long as you don’t rush the season. It likes warmth, so don’t even consider planting it in your garden now – wait until the June sun has warmed the soil and evening temperatures are in the 60˚s. If you are going to try this vegetable, soak the seeds overnight to speed up germination. Once the seedlings are growing, make sure you provide plenty of water. By mid-summer, you should notice some very beautiful flowers. The pods will be quick to follow, so keep a good eye on them. Pick them when they are 2” long. Our early mistake was letting them get too old. Once we learned from Jamie when to pick them, our view of this vegetable changed dramatically.

Beautiful Flowers

Almost better than the taste of the fruit is the beauty of the plant. The mallow-type flowers are stunning and easily attract pollinators. One plant can produce 20 pods per week with no problem, so keep this in mind when you plant.

If you absolutely hate Okra, and there are plenty of you out there, you may want to grow it in your flower bed as an easy alternative to a Hibiscus. Our experiment with Okra this year is that we are going to plant some seeds we saved ourselves. Of course, we will plant some commercial seed just in case; we don’t want to be without this vegetable.

Another Warm Weather Choice

If you have a bit of extra space in your garden, the madman has another suggestion. Try Sweet Potatoes, another warm-weather vegetable. Before we tell you about it, we do have to explain the difference between Sweet Potatoes and Yams. In our part of the world, the names are used interchangeably, but most of us have probably never seen a Yam.

Yams (Dioscorea rotundata, D. alata) hail from Southeast Asia. The plant is a monocotyledonous vine more related to a Lily than to anything else. It requires extremely warm growing temperatures and a super long growing season, between 6-11 months – a climate the madman can only dream about. Typical Yams are somewhere between 2-6 feet long and weigh 11-33 pounds. Their dark skin resembles tree bark. According to one source, Yams are toxic when uncooked. And I always thought Yams were just big Sweet Potatoes.

Native Of The West

Sweet Potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) actually belong to the Morning Glory family. They are native to Central and South America. Native Peruvians cultivated Sweet Potatoes as early as 750 BC. Spanish explorers discovered this vegetable and Christopher Columbus brought the Sweet Potato back to Europe on his fourth voyage. From there, its popularity spread throughout Southern Europe, and it eventually worked its way to Virginia with the colonists. As a warm-weather crop, it couldn’t survive northern climates, but it was widely grown in the south. Thanks to the efforts of plant breeders, we now have varieties more suited to our Connecticut climate and lately we have had success with this root crop.

Slips Not Chunks

Unlike Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) which are planted from chunks of whole potatoes, Sweet Potatoes are grown from slips which are basically immature vines. You may find slips in your local garden center, but they are usually ordered from on-line sources or from seed catalogs. Remember, they are very sensitive to chilling so wait for the soil to warm up in June. They do best in a light soil with a pH around 6.0. The madman’s favorite variety is Beauregard which is easy to find.

Protect Those Vines

Plant the slips deep with just the tips above the ground and water well. Water is especially important during the first month, but don’t treat them like a Cactus after that month. Keep in mind that big tubers require healthy vines. And our four-legged friends of the rabbit and deer variety love to snack on those vines. As we’ve mentioned before, the madman uses a variety of critter deterrents.

Last year was our best Sweet Potato year ever. We used fishing line, Irish Spring soap, CDs hanging from posts, garlic plants and commercial garlic clips. But the madman thinks our most effective deterrent was the chicken-wire garden cloche system. It protected the vines when they were the most vulnerable. By the time the vines grew out of the cloches, the rabbits found them too tough, and the deer found them unappetizing.

Our Sweet Potato experiment this year will be to try to produce our own slips. We may have just enough time to do it now. We have taken a few of our left-over Sweet Potatoes and placed them in a pan with moist potting soil. The pan was then placed on an 80˚ heat mat. The idea is that these tubers will produce roots and shoots of their own. When the shoots are a few inches long, the madman will carefully break them off and put them in warm water, so they form roots of their own. By the time they root, it will be warm enough to plant them in the garden.            

It’s been a cold spring, but it looks like we can switch over to lemonade today – after all it is safe to plant our tomatoes. But first, the lemonade.