Be an Adventurous Gardener: Try These 5 Seeds

Today I officially opened up the seed drawer to start my seeds for this season.  As I finger through the seeds, I murmur to myself, “nope not growing that again” or ” wow, I really liked growing that seed.”  As many of you know, I am a pretty adventurous gardener in the seed growing department but last year I really upped the stakes.  I grew peanuts, popcorn, a ton of different beans, luffa, and much more in zone 6.  So are you ready to take my lead and become an adventurous gardener too?  Read on to see what I grew and why you might want to grow these seeds too.

Curious who got kicked off the island?  Who gets another day to survive?

I thought you would be.

I will chronicle one by one some of the usual things I grew last year to aid you in deciding what to grow. Just so you know, I grow all the usual suspects:  peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, lettuce, etc.  But I do like a challenge.

Boy do I like a challenge.

Okay, let’s call a spade a spade.  I thrive on the challenge.

FYI, I am simply giving you a brief description of  each of the plants.  Lookout for future detailed posts about each plant.

{So if you don’t subscribe to my newsletter, subscribe HERE so you don’t miss the detail 411 on each of the plants.  But, read the entire article first!}

Join Me and Become an Adventurous Gardener!

Let’s go!

Growing Peanuts:

Yes, Virginia, you can grow peanuts in zone 6.  I grew Northern Hardy Valencias peanuts from Fruition Seeds. This seed company specializes in growing seeds that can make it like Frank Sinatra in the northeast.  (Anyone singing with me– “if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere….New York, New York.”)

Well, those Fruition seeds can make it in my climate.

When I successfully grew peanuts, well, you can just imagine how I felt.

Peanuts are legumes that grow in the ground.  You harvest them after a frost.

I  moved these plants since at first I forgot that I sowed them among my white beans.  It definitely hurt my yield.

Why did I move them?  The white beans would have killed them.  Beans will kill anything even if the seed packages says they are bush beans.  They are climbers and they smother plants.

When I harvested the peanuts, it felt like Christmas.  I couldn’t wait to see how many peanuts I grew.

Unfortunately, my yield was small but heck, I live for another gardening year.

Will I grow again?  You betcha.  You can buy the seeds HERE.

Growing Strawberry Popcorn:

I am a true sucker for pictures on seed packages.  Pink popcorn ears were just too adorable to pass up.

Except…

No one told me what a *b* it would be to take those darn kernels off those adorable ears–especially if you don’t let them dry on the stalk.

Pink popcorn only grows about five feet tall and you generally leave the ears on the stalks to dry.  I tend to hyperventilate when growing corn since I have a raccoon problem.

And I have an electric fence.

They are smarter than humans.  I swear.  (Or they just like messing with my head all the time.)

Raccoons love corn–especially sweet corn.  But either the electric fence stopped them or they just don’t like popcorn.

If I grow  this popcorn again, I would definitely leave it on the stalk until it dries.

Okay, but aren’t these small corns just so darn cute?

Can you blame a gardening girl?  Just in case you want to grow them, get the seeds HERE.

Growing Tiger Eye Beans

What an outstanding bean.  I love its taste and it was so easy to shuck.  The pods were enormous.  But the Mexican bean beetle thought it was a darn nice plant too.

It is nice to know that this beetle and I have similar taste.

They wrote me a note and said please grow again. The leaves are so big and lush.

Those darn beetles will eat you out of bean leaves in a heart beat.

If it is yellow and looks like a lady bug, get the soapy water and get rid of it. (And his or her friends. And the babies too.)  Read HERE on the Mexican bean beetle.

(*sign*)

Will I grow again.  You betcha.   You can buy the seeds HERE.

Growing Luffa:

I got a Luffa!  You would have thought I won the lottery.  I even had a whole video on how to peel a luffa but the camera wasn’t on for some reason.  (*Don’t ask.*)

Luffa is a squash which needs a long growing season.  You need at least 100 days to grow this plant so I started my seeds inside.

Plus, you need a very long fence or trellis since the vine literally grows 20 feet!

I really needed another 20 to 30 days extra before a killing frost since I had at least 20 luffas growing.  They never reached maturity.

I didn’t realize that I could eat the immature ones.  Anyone eat an immature luffa?

Pictured above is the outside and inside of the luffa.

So cool.

Oh, only one really made it although you see three pictured.  The other two were just too soft.

Will I grow again? You betcha.

You can buy the seeds HERE.

Growing Okra

Sometimes I think I grew up in the South in a past life. (Perhaps as Scarlet O’Hara’s gardener.)

I grow collard greens, sweet potatoes, sorghum, black eye peas, and now okra.

And sometimes the words, “y’all” might slip from my tongue.

I bought Clemson Spineless 80  Okra seeds and planted them later than I should have.  They didn’t grow very much until it got really hot.

Okra loves heat.  So, I thought.  It always looked wilted in the heat despite adequate watering. Every forum that I visited listed a variety of possible fungus or viruses to cause the wilting.  My plant had none.

Maybe planting it among my white beans which I worked hard to keep them away from the plant hurt it?  Who knows.

The minute it turned cooler the plant perked up but only produced one stink’in pod.

One.

But the flowers were so pretty.  I swear I have a picture of the flower buried among a zillion pictures of my plants.  I had to use another photographer’s photo instead.

As you can see the flower is similar to a hollyhock’s flower.  Okra is a member of the same family as hollyhocks and marshmallows.

Will I grow it again?

You betcha.  You can buy the seeds HERE.

Just a word of caution.  This plant needs room.  It grows about four feet tall and wide.

What’s on store for this year?

I am growing more herb plants this year for Anna Lee Herbs.  If I see something that sparks my interest at the Philadelphia Garden Show, I will probably buy that “shiny new penny” seed.

Not feeling as adventurous as me?  Consider growing these easy  vegetable seeds.  And here are my seed company picks.  I get most of my seeds at Botanical Interests.

Join the Conversation:

Are you an adventurous gardener?  What will you be growing this year?

Disclaimer:  There may be affiliate links in this article.  You never pay more for any item and the money Green Talk receives helps with my plant addiction.  Thanks for the loyalty.

Photo of the Okra by SaraSmo.

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