An article in the Guardian caught our eye with the alarming headline ‘Vegetables are Losing Their Nutrients’. It begins with the findings in a 2004 University of Texas study showing dramatic declines in the nutrient content of 43 foods, mostly vegetables, between the mid and late 20th century: green beans have seen a nearly 50% drop in calcium, while asparagus has lost almost half its Vitamin A content.
Vegetables
New In Store April 23 2004
The Peppers are Coming!
This week it’s too early to plant peppers outdoors, but if you can protect them until the soil and air have warmed up, come and shop our first round of Pepper Starts! Lots more tomatoes are here, too!
Also many culinary and medicinal herbs, flowering annuals and perennials, shrubs, trees, berry bushes and fruit trees!
Pepper Starts 2024
HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS 2024 PEPPER STARTS
SPICY PEPPERS
Anaheim |
Adaptive Early Thai |
Aji Cristal |
Ancho Poblano ‘Bastan F1’ |
Big Jim Anaheim |
Chimayo |
Czech Black OG |
Early Jalapeno |
Fish |
Hot Red Cherry |
Hungarian Hot Wax |
Jalapeno TAM (milder) |
Korean |
Lemon Spice Jalapeno |
Long Red Narrow Cayenne |
Caribbean Red Habanero |
NuMex 6-4 (milder Anaheim) |
NuMex Sandia |
Pasilla Bajio |
Mosco (Pueblo) Mirasol |
Purple Tiger |
Santa Fe Grande |
Serrano Tampiqueno |
SWEET and MILD PEPPERS
Aurora |
Biquinho, red |
Italian Pepperoncini |
Lanterna Piccante |
Shishito |
Aconcagua |
Buran |
California Wonder |
Cambuci |
Cubanelle |
Golden Treasure |
Gypsy Queens |
Habanada |
Healthy |
Jimmy Nardello’s |
King of the North |
Carmen F-1 |
Marconi Red |
Mini Belle |
Purple Beauty |
Sheepnose Pimento |
Sweet Chocolate |
Sweet Pickle |
Sweet Red Cherry |
Yankee Bell |
Tomato Starts – 2024
HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS 2024 TOMATO STARTS
“Anasazi” |
Aunt Ruby’s German Green |
Beam’s Yellow Pear |
Better Boy hyb. |
Big Rainbow |
Black from Tula |
Black Krim |
Brown Sugar |
Black Sea Man |
Blush |
Burrell’s Special |
Bush Early Girl |
Carbon |
Carmello hyb. |
Cascade Village Blue |
Cherokee Purple |
Chianti Rose |
Chocolate Cherry |
Cosmonaut Volkov |
Early Girl Hyb. |
Flaming Burst |
Floradade |
Garden Peach |
Glacier |
Gold Medal |
Gold Nugget |
Green Zebra |
Isis Candy cherry |
Japanese Blk Trifele/Black Truffle |
Jaune Flamme |
Juliet hyb
Large Red Cherry |
Maglia Rosa |
Martino’s Roma |
Matt’s Wild Cherry |
Mexico Midget |
Moskvitch |
Mountain Delight Hyb |
Native Sun |
Orange King |
Paul Robeson |
Peacevine cherry |
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye |
Pink Brandywine, Sudduth Strain |
Pink Bumblebee |
Principe Borghese |
Pruden’s Purple |
Red Robin |
San Marzano II |
Sasha’s Altai |
Striped German |
Stupice |
Sun Gold hyb |
Sunrise Sauce |
Super Sioux |
SuperSweet 100 hyb |
Sweetie |
Tasmanian Chocolate |
Taxi |
Thessaloniki |
Tidy Treats hyb |
POTATO, ONION & ASPARAGUS STARTS – 2024 Newsletter
POTATOES
Yellow Finn, Purple Majesty, Harvest Moon, and Norland Dark Red.
ONIONS –
Patterson Red, Redwing, Walla Walla, Ailsa Craig, Red Long of Tropea, Red Geneva, Gladstone, Borrettano, Dakota Tears, Bianco di Maggio.
ALSO, Leeks and Shallots.
ASPARAGUS
JERSEY KNIGHT (roots, 5 per bundle)
All male hybrid with big spears. Does not make seed, so doesn’t become weedy. Best selection for dense clay soils. Very productive and disease resistant. Hardy to Zone 2.
PURPLE PASSION (roots, 5 per bundle)
Beautiful deep burgundy-colored spears with high sugar content, delicious, tender, less fibrous, great in raw salads.
Onions on the Way!
We just received word that our onion plants were shipped today and should arrive and be ready for sale by Friday or Saturday! We’ll be offering onion plants in bundles of approximately 60 to 70 plants, and half-bundles of approximately 30-35 plants.
Summer Garden Beet Salad Recipe
from Mitten Lowe at Journey to Wellness
I love beets and beet greens for how grounding and nutritious they are – providing folate, dietary fiber, manganese, potassium, iron, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and more! This wonderful garden beet salad is a perfect way to utilize all parts of the beet plus it’s versatile and so incredibly satisfying.
GARDEN VEGGIES & HERBS – 2024 Newsletter
GARDEN VEGGIES & HERBS
We’re bringing you a fantastic selection this year!
ARTICHOKE: Imperial Star
ARUGULA: Wild, Astro (spring), Ice Bred (fall)
ASIAN GREENS: Tat Soi, Joi Choi, Pak Choi, Red Giant and Miz America Mustards, Shiso and more!
BROCCOLI: Fiesta, Nutribud, Solstice, Broccoli Raab, Piracicaba
BRUSSEL SPROUTS: Speedia
CABBAGE: Golden Acre, Red Acre
CAULIFLOWER: De Purple, Snow Crown
CELERIAC: Brilliant
COLLARDS: Georgia Southern and 4 more!
CUCUMBERS: 10 varieties including Lemon, Marketmore 76, Armenian, Nat’l Pickling, Silver Slicer, and more!
KALE: Rainbow Dinosaur/Lacinato, Red Russian, White Russian Blue Curled Dwarf & 4 more!
LETTUCE: Several varieties of each type – Leaf, Butterhead, Romaine, Oakleaf, Batavian, Dwarf, Mixed, Mesclun
RHUBARB: Glaskins Perpetual, Victoria, Canada Red
SPINACH: Caucasian Climbing Perennial (Hablitzia tamnoides), Bloomsdale, Sun Angel, & more!
SWISS CHARD: Seafoam, Fordhook Giant, Perpetual Spinach, 5-Color Silverbeet, and more
MELON: Minnesota Midget, Tuscany, Noir des Carmes
PUMPKIN: Casper, Cherokee Bush, Cinderella, Jarrahdale, Winter Luxury
SUMMER SQUASH: Black Beauty, Yellow Zephyr, Dirani, Tromboncino, Jaune et Verte Scallop, Summer Crookneck +
WATERMELON: 6 varieties including Early Moonbeam, Sugar Baby, Blacktail Mountain, Moon and Stars
WINTER SQUASH: 15 includes Kabocha, Spaghetti, Uncle David’s Buttercup, Acorn, Honeyboat Delicata, Silver Bell +
PLUS: Amaranth, Bulbing Fennel, Collards, Endive, Escarole, Ground Cherry, Kohlrabi, Okra, Tomatillo, Radicchio, Watercress & more!
HERBS, Culinary & Medicinal – Many varieties of THYME, LAVENDER, BASIL, MINT, ROSEMARY, SAGE, OREGANO, CHIVES, plus Parsley, French Tarragon, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme, Lime Balm, Marjoram,, Lemon Grass, Vietnamese Coriander, Pineapple Sage, Lemon Verbena, Borage, Savory, Lovage, Cutting Celery, Catnip, Calendula, Aloe, Greek Mountain Tea, Comfrey, Echinacea , Feverfew, Lobelia, Valerian, Motherwort, Mullein, Sweet Leaf, Lomatium, Hyssop, Anise Hyssop, Plantain, Clary Sage, Skullcap, Arnica, Sheep Sorrel, Self-Heal, Rue, Mugwort, Wormwood, and more.
The Inflation Reduction Act invests $20 billion to help the nation’s farmers respond to climate change…to plant perennial and cover crops and diversify crop rotations…that store carbon in the soil and build resilience against flood and drought.
Union of Concerned Scientists
A Bit about Cucurbits
What’s a cucurbit? It’s any plant that’s in the Cucurbitaceae plant family. You eat them frequently and very likely grow them. This is the plant family that includes zucchini, summer and winter squash, pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe and other sweet melons, and gourd.
New This Week!
We are constantly bringing out new plants from our propagators and receiving deliveries of native, fruiting, perennial, woody and xeriscape specialty plants from our favorite local growers.
This week, we’re excited to bring you new tomato varieties, herbs and perennials.
FEATURED EGGPLANT OFFERINGS – 2024 Spring Newsletter
FEATURD EGGPLANT OFFERINGS FOR 2024
PURPLE COMET – NEW!
70 days from transplant, hybrid, Asian-type
Strong upright plants produce big yields of long-fruited Asian type eggplant. Purple Comet’s substantial fruits can reach 10” long and 1.5 to 2” diameter, but they are equally delicious when picked young. The firm white flesh is bitter-free, seed development is slow, and the rich violet skin is thin and tender. Plants are robust, with extra-large, tropical-looking foliage and showy purple flowers, and beautiful purple fruits.
PURPLE PICKLING – NEW!
90 days from transplant, OP, Italian
This pear-shaped Italian heirloom variety is traditionally used to make eggplant relishes like Caponata, but is equally suited to grilling, roasting, and baking and stewing. Fruits up to 8″ long are borne in abundance on purple-stemmed, thornless plants.
EGGPLANT OFFERINGS – 2023 Spring Newsletter
EGGPLANTS FOR 2023
KURUME LONG – New! 60 days, Open-pollinated
This popular, early and productive Japanese heirloom variety is a favorite for its cylindrical 9 to 10”- long, shiny black fruits with black calyx, excellent texture and mild, delicate flavor. The attractive, high-yielding plants are very vigorous. Can do well in containers.
Seed Summer Fruits and Veggies Now!
Today (May 9) is the average last frost date in our area, and Mother’s Day is the traditional Colorado date considered ‘safe’ for planting.
Of course, we have lived through enough late-May freezes and snowstorms to be a bit cautious! We offer vital supplies to have on hand to protect your frost-sensitive plants. Ask about our row-cover fabrics when you come to the nursery.[Read More]
TOMATO OFFERINGS – 2023 Spring Newsletter
A Few New & ‘New Again’ TOMATOES: Offering 73 varieties!
BURRELL’S SPECIAL – New Again! 70-75 days, Hybrid, Determinate
A very productive and ‘picture perfect’ large red salad/slicer tomato developed by Burrell’s seed company of Rocky Ford, CO. The flattened globe fruits average 8 oz, 3” x 2.5”, and have excellent sweet, balanced flavor, plump, meaty texture and small cores, good heat tolerance, and demonstrated ability to set fruit in hot weather. Vines grow to 4’.
CASCADE VILLAGE BLUE – New Again! 75 days, Open-Pollinated, Indeterminate
This lovely indigo saladette type tomato holds well on and off the vine, is beautiful, and tastes great, too. Dark purple-skinned, 3 oz globes ripen to red on the bottom, with a red star shape that forms under the calyx, common to indigo tomatoes. Flesh is red, foliage has a dark purple tinge.
Dr. WYCHE’s YELLOW – New Again! 80 days, Heirloom, Indeterminate
Dr. Wyche’s has been away too long! One of the great heirloom tomatoes featured in Dr. Carolyn Male’s book ‘100 Heirloom Tomatoes’. The yellow fruits are large (up to 1 lb), slightly flattened globes, with very richly flavored flesh , fruity and complex, meaty and blemish-free. When completely ripe, they are golden-orange.
FLAMING BURST – New! 70 days, Open-pollinated, Indeterminate
These crack-resistant, 1oz, 1.25 x 1.75”, golden orange fruits look like a cross between a pear tomato and a cherry tomato, in clusters on a steadily productive plant. Meaty but not dense; juicy and sweet but tangy, not insipid, with the flavor and nuance that so many yellow pears tomatoes lack. The high-yielding plants grow to a manageable 4′ tall.
JERSEY DEVIL– New! 85 days, Open-pollinated, Indeterminate
Jersey Devil is a brilliant red, very prolific heirloom paste-type variety shaped like a plump banana pepper. These sweet and richly flavored, 4 to 6” tomatoes are solid and very meaty, great for making into sauces and salsas, and even eating fresh, and have very few seeds. Vines grow 3’ to 5’ tall, , fruits can be colossal! They yield very heavily.
LARGE RED CHERRY – New! 75-80 days, Open-pollinated, Indeterminate
This famous 19th century cross between a smaller currant-type wild tomato and a domesticated garden tomato bears clusters of sweet, juicy, bright red 1″ to 1.25” diameter round fruits over a long season on tall, vigorous vines. Ideal for salads, stuffing, and snacking.
MOUNTAIN DELIGHT – New! 70 days, Hybrid, Determinate
One of the Mountain series developed by NC State University and similar to Mountain Fresh and Mountain Spring, but plants are more compact with higher yields. Bright red flattened globes weigh 10 oz. and are firm and flavorful, great for salads, slicing and sandwiches. Healthy determinate vines grow to 3 to 5’ tall and are resistant to many diseases.
ORANGE KING – New Again! 65 days. Open-pollinated, Semi-Determinate
One of the earliest full-size tomatoes to ripen and one of the best producers of tennis-ball-size, very meaty, bright orange globes that can weigh up to ¾ lb. Blemish-free fruit grow on stocky 3’ bushes that are easy to cage. An excellent short-season slicing variety, it has great low-acid, sweet, fruity flavor. This Orange King was bred by Tim Peters
PINK BUMBLE BEE – New! 65-70 days, Open-pollinated, Indeterminate
Recently bred by Artisan Seeds to perform under tough conditions, these gorgeous, streaked cherry
tomatoes hang in trusses of pinks, yellows and oranges. Vigorous, tall vines yield loads of crack-resistant fruit over a very long season; bright, sweet flavor; tolerates cool nights and hot days.
SUNRAY – New! 75 days, Open-Pollinated, Indeterminate The beautiful golden orange, blemish-free, 6 to 9oz fruits have a meaty texture and rich, sweet and tangy flavor, said to rival the best reds and perfect for salads, sandwiches, slicing or canning. Vigorous, leafy, high-yielding vines have strong resistance to Fusarium wilt. They are known to be very drought-tolerant and thrive in hot, dry climates.
Returning Varieties: ‘Anasazi’, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Big Rainbow, Black from Tula, Black Krim, Black Prince, Black Sea Man, Cherokee Purple, Chianti Rose, Dona, Gold Medal, Italian Heirloom, Moskvitch, Pink Brandywine (Sudduth), Pruden’s Purple, Striped German, Burrell’s Special, chocolate Cherry, Isis Candy, Juliet, Large Red Cherry, Lemon Drop, Matt’s Wild Cherry, Mexico Midget, SunGold, Supersweet 100, Tommy Toe, Gold Nugget, Red Robin, Stupice, Tasmanian Chocolate, Tidy Treats, Tumbling Tom Yellow, Cuor di Bue, Martino’s Roma, Native Sun, Jaune Flamme, Principe Borghese, San Marzano Redorta, Blush, Garden Peach, Glacier, Green Zebra, Indigo Apple, Floradade, Better Boy, Bella Rosa, Bush Early Girl, Carmello, Chocolate Stripes, Cosmonaut Volkov, Orange King, Sasha’s Altai, Azoychka, Black Truffle, Paul Robeson, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, Taxi, Thessaloniki, Super Sioux (Lakota).
Wonderful Winter Squash Recipe
This past season Harlequin’s offered several delicious varieties of pumpkin and winter squash, from arguably the finest tasting pie pumpkin, Winter Luxury, to Buttercup, Butternut and Kabocha.. With cold weather on the way, this week is the perfect time to try a nourishing recipe with your harvests (just in time for Thanksgiving!).
Here’s a recipe from Boulder’s Mitten Lowe and Journey to Wellness for Apple Cider-Glazed Butternut Squash. It’s sure to keep you warm from the inside out. [Read More]
POTATO, ONION and ASPARAGUS – 2024 Newsletter
POTATOES
German Butterball, Nicola, Purple Majesty, Harvest Moon, Sangre (all certified seed potatoes from the San Luis Valley).
Potatoes should be in soon! Call before you come to be sure we have them!
ONIONS – In Store Now!
In bundles – Patterson, Redwing, Walla Walla. In store now!
In pots – Ailsa Craig, Red Long of Tropea, Red Marble and Gold Coin cipollini, Rossa di Milano, Walla Walla. In store now!
LEEKS: King Richard, Blue Solaise.
SHALLOTS: Crème Brulee, Zebrune.
ASPARAGUS – in store now!
Jersey Knight – All-male hybrid with big spears, doesn’t produce seeds so doesn’t become weedy. Best selection for dense clay soils. Very productive & disease resistant. Cold-hardy to Zone 2 (5 crowns per bag)
Purple Passion – Beautiful deep burgundy spears with high sugar content and antioxidants. Delicious, tender, less fibrous, great raw, turns green when cooked (5 crowns per bag).
for more descriptions, click here and scroll down to Asparagus, Onions and Potatoes!
GARDEN VEGGIES & HERBS – 2023 Newsletter
GARDEN VEGGIES & HERBS
We’re bringing you a fantastic selection this year!
ARTICHOKE: Imperial Star
ARUGULA: Wild, Astro (spring), Ice Bred (fall)
ASIAN GREENS: Tatsoi, Pak Choi, Mustards, Mizuna, Senposai, Shiso and more!
BROCCOLI: Fiesta, Nutribud, Aspabroc, Sorrento Broccoli Raab, Piracicaba
CAULIFLOWER: De Purple, Snow Crown
BRUSSEL SPROUTS: Speedia
CABBAGE: Red Acre, Red Express, All Seasons
CELERY: Ventura
CELERIAC: Brilliant
CUCUMBERS: Lemon, Marketmore 76, Armenian, Nat’l Pickling, Silver Slicer, Spacemaster 80, Shintokiwa, and more!
KALE: True Siberian, Red Russian, Dinosaur/Lacinato, Dazzling Blue, White Russian, Baltisk Red, Dwarf Blue Curled, & more!
LETTUCE: Several varieties of each type – Leaf, Butterhead, Romaine, Oakleaf, Batavian, Dwarf, Mixed, Mesclun
RHUBARB: Glaskins Perpetual, Victoria, Canada Red
SPINACH: Caucasian Climbing Perennial (Hablitzia tamnoides), Bloomsdale, Giant Nobel, Lavewa, & more!
SWISS CHARD: Bright Lights, Seafoam, Fordhook Giant, Perpetual Spinach, Ruby Red Rhubarb, Rainbow
MELON: Minnesota Midget, Tuscany, Noir des Carmes
PUMPKIN: Casper, Cherokee Bush, Cinderella, Jarrahdale, Winter Luxury
SUMMER SQUASH: Black Beauty, Costata Romanesca, Dirani, Cocozelle, Jackpot, White Bush Lebanese, Tromboncino, Jaune et Verte Scallop, Yellow Summer
WATERMELON: Early Moonbeam, Golden Midget, Sweet Dakota Rose, Sugar Baby
WINTER SQUASH: Kabocha, Stella Blue, Spaghetti, Uncle David’s Buttercup, Tuffy Acorn, Table Queen Acorn, Honeyboat Delicata, Sweet Dumpling, Butter Baby Butternut and more!
PLUS: Amaranth, Bulbing Fennel, Collards, Endive, Escarole, Ground Cherry, Kohlrabi, Okra, Tomatillo, Radicchio, Watercress & more!
And LOTS of HERBS, both Culinary, Medicinal – Many varieties of THYME, LAVENDER, BASIL, MINT, ROSEMARY, SAGE, OREGANO, CHIVES, plus Parsley, French Tarragon, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme, Lime Balm, Marjoram,, Lemon Grass, Vietnamese Coriander, Pineapple Sage, Lemon Verbena, Borage, Savory, Lovage, Cutting Celery, Catnip, Calendula, Aloe, Greek Mountain Tea, Comfrey, Echinacea , Feverfew, Lobelia, Valerian, Motherwort, Mullein, Sweet Leaf, Lomatium, Hyssop, Anise Hyssop, Plantain, Clary Sage, Skullcap, Arnica, Sheep Sorrel, Self-Heal, Rue, Mugwort, Wormwood, and more.
Go to www.HarlequinsGardens.com/Plants/edibles/Vegetables for excellent descriptions of the hundreds of varieties we offer!
We think we are so smart, in a clever way, but these plants have been breeding microbes for centuries which has resulted in wise evolutionary traits that they have developed.
Walter Goldstein, Mandaamin Institute
FEATURED TOMATO OFFERINGS – 2024
A FEW of our FEATURED TOMATOES
We’re excited about these tomatoes for this growing season!
We trial tomatoes for adaptation to Boulder growing conditions, and great taste.
CARBON – New Again! 76 days, Indeterminate. OP
This taste-test winning, hard-to-find heirloom is one of the darkest ‘black’ tomatoes, with delicious, rich, smoky-sweet, complex flavor; pretty 8-14oz. purple-brown fruits are resistant to radial cracking. Big, 5-7’ productive, regular-leaf plants are healthy and tolerate heat and dry conditions.[Read More]
Harvest Guidelines for Vegetable Crops
Okay, you prepared your soil and planted your vegetable garden with all kinds of wonderfully flavorful, nutritious foods, you’re watering and watching them grow, and wondering ….. When can I start to eat them, how do I harvest them, and how do I get the most out of these plantings? Here are some tips on vegetable crops harvest timing and techniques that may not be self-evident. Even if you’re a seasoned gardener, you may not be aware of some of these procedures! [Read More]
COLLARD GREENS: Easy to Grow, Nutritious & Delicious
Though commonly associated with culinary traditions of the Southeastern US, collards originated in Europe, along with kale, cabbage etc., and are easy to grow in cooler climates, too.
Grow collards in full sun (for fastest growth), or part shade. Give them plenty of space, 18” apart. Collards appreciate moist, fertile soil with plenty of organic matter (compost) and applications of compost tea. [Read More]
Welcome New Gardeners!
We are here for you! You’re in the high desert/steppe now, with short growing seasons, sudden temperature changes, unpredictable precipitation, low humidity, drying winds, alkaline soils that are low in organic matter and nitrogen, hot summers and cold winters. Despite these challenges, gardens can thrive here, and be productive, rewarding and beautiful!
Our gardens can support us by providing beauty, nutrient-dense food and plant medicine, and shelter from temperature and weather extremes. At the same time, our gardens can give us an opportunity for nurturing that goes beyond our own garden plants, supporting our entire local ecosystem, including our essential insects, birds, native plants and other wildlife. [Read More]
The Tomatoes are Coming!
The bad news is that last week’s small delivery of tomato starts froze when the wind blew open the back door of our greenhouse in the middle of the night.
The good news is that the next 38 flats will be ready for sale on Friday! (and there will be many more becoming available through April and May). This week’s tomato starts include: [Read More]
The Vegetable Report
What a glorious spring! Having been blessed with generous snow and rain, the land is bursting with energy, greener than green, and flowering in kaleidoscopic exuberance! Migratory birds have been arriving or passing though our region this month, offering sightings of avian treasures like Lazuli Buntings and Western Tanagers, not to mention the hummingbirds. We do live in a wondrous world!
THE VEGETABLE REPORT
All about Basil
Basil is one of the great culinary pleasures of summer, and it’s definitely NOT TOO LATE to plant Basil and enjoy a good crop! Basil plants are beautiful, grow equally well in the ground or in pots, thrive in hot weather, provide a continuous, bounteous crop, and Basil’s many different flavors are essential to a variety of distinctive cuisines. It can be used fresh, dried, or frozen in oil or as pesto. Though basil leaves lose most of the aromatic oils when dried, we have still found that basil dried from your garden is so much more flavorful than commercial dried basil.
ALL of our Basil plants are organically grown! [Read More]
New Seeds for Fall, Winter, & Early Spring Planting!
Sow Fall Crops and be ready for the 2022 growing season! We’re bringing in fresh seeds, packed for 2022, from our local Botanical Interests Seed Company, and should have them on display sometime this Thursday. Most of these seeds are certified organic.
Now is a great time to plant seeds for fall crops such as spinach, lettuce, mesclun, kale, swiss chard, arugula, mustard greens, and watermelon radish. Sow seeds this fall for mache, which will provide tasty salad greens in late winter, before the more conventional spring greens are ready. Fall sowing is also ideal for hardy, drought-tolerant annual flowers like borage, California poppies, cornflower, larkspur, love-in-a-mist, breadseed poppies, and Shirley poppies.[Read More]
Tips for Root Vegetable Success
Some veggies seem to shy away from the limelight, flourishing underground to provide a surprising, beautiful, and nutritious surprise later in the season. Growing root vegetables is generally easy, and can be a fun way to engage children in gardening. In addition, mountain gardeners often find that root veggies thrive in their cooler conditions.
Once planted, root veggies do not like to be disturbed and therefore are best planted by seed. (We do sell Bull’s Blood Beets as a starts, but these are generally grown for their greens.) We have Botanical Interests, Masa, and Seed Savers Exchange seeds for many root veggies including: [Read More]
COOL SEASON VEGGIES & HERBS – 2022 Newsletter
COOL SEASON VEGGIES
We have a Fantastic Selection, too many to list!
ARUGULA
Wild Arugula, Astro, (spring), Ice-Bred (fall)
BROCCOLI
Fiesta, Nutribud, Leaf Broccoli, Spigariello di Liscia Leaf Broccoli, Aspabroc
OTHER VEGGIE STARTS – 2022 Newsletter
POTATOES
Yellow Finn, Purple Majesty, Harvest Moon, and Norland Dark Red.
ONIONS
Patterson Red, Redwing, Walla Walla, Ailsa Craig, Red Long of Tropea, Red Geneva, Gladstone, Borrettano, Dakota Tears, Bianco di Maggio.
ALSO, Leeks and Shallots.
ASPARAGUS
JERSEY KNIGHT (roots, 5 per bundle)
All male hybrid with big spears. Does not make seed, so doesn’t become weedy. Best selection for dense clay soils. Very productive and disease resistant. Hardy to Zone 2.
PURPLE PASSION (roots, 5 per bundle)
Beautiful deep burgundy-colored spears with high sugar content, delicious, tender, less fibrous, great in raw salads.
EGGPLANT OFFERINGS – 2022 Newsletter
EGGPLANTS
GALINE
72 days, F-1 hybrid
Early, dependable Italian-style eggplant, mild, creamy-fleshed fruits averaging 1 lb., with glossy black skin.
PEPPER OFFERINGS – 2023 Spring Newsletter
PEPPERS
A few of our NEW and “NEW AGAIN” PEPPERS: Offering 53 varieties!
BISHOP’S CROWN – New! 90 – 95 days, Open-pollinated, Capsicum baccatum, 5,000 – 30,000 SHU
A graceful, tree-like plant to 4’ and sets a bounteous crop of exquisite fruits with superb fruity, sweet flavor and a moderate spicy kick; resembles a bishop’s crown or a bell; great for snacking, marinades, hot sauces, soups, garnishes, jellies, salsas; looks identical to our milder Lanterna Piccante & heatless Cambuci peppers; beautiful in large containers
Ready, Set, Plant!
Even though we are about to receive our biggest snowstorm of this winter thus far, you can still make great progress on your garden by starting seeds indoors or even outside if your garden is prepared and you’re quick and can sow them tomorrow morning! You can also plant our hardy perennials, vines, shrubs and trees that have overwintered outdoors ahead of the storm. And our Onion plants – they’re very cold-hardy, and the earlier they’re planted, the larger their bulbs at harvest time! And, if you can plant in a cold-frame, or under a low tunnel of sheet plastic or Row Cover Fabric, you can plant our spring vegetable starts! Heading varieties like Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower will give you [Read More]
Summer Veggie Gardening Q&A
We have been getting questions from customers about some of the vegetables in their gardens. Here are questions and answers about squash pollination and the many uses of fennel.
Q: Why did the first fruits of my squash plants fail to enlarge and ultimately turn yellow and fall off the plant?
A: Squash and other crops in the Cucurbitaceae family (known as Cucurbits), like cucumbers, melons, gourds and pumpkins, bear separate male flowers and female flowers on each plant. [Read More]
Successional Planting
How to maximize your output
Successional Planting is the continuous planting of crops following the harvesting of another planting. Depending on the plant, this can mean one annual planting for a long-season species, or multiple plantings for short season species. This process will help your garden to be as productive as possible, which is important in our short, highly fluctuating growing seasons. Our friend, and occasional class instructor, Tracey Parrish, has developed a comprehensive Successional Planting chart that she has generously permitted us to share with you. —Thank you, Tracey!
In her document, Succ. planting-most updated, Tracey outlines Colorado’s Five Seasons, gives you ideas for succession plantings, and then provides detailed planting charts for root vegetables, peas/beans, herbs, greens/salads, brassicas, onions, and summer crops. This five-page document is a wealth of information! Succ. planting-most updated
Watermelon Dreams
(and Winter Squash, Canteloupe, Honeydew, and Pumpkin, too!)
Do you love the sweet fruits and vegetables of late summer as much as we do? Well then, PLANT THEM NOW! We’ve got the heat now, which they thrive on. To develop those natural sugars, these crops take more time to mature than many other veggies, mostly between 70 and 100 days from seeding. We’ve saved you some time by growing starts, LOTS of them, and most of the varieties we’ve chosen will mature relatively early.
All are open-pollinated unless otherwise indicated. Our selection includes:[Read More]
2019 Tomato Tasting Results
This year’s tomato tasting was a great success, with a total of 41 tomato varieties present over the 3-hour event!
Participants brought in some wonderful new varieties this year, including Pink Bumble Bee Cherry, Gajo de Melon, and Blue Cream Berries. We always take people’s votes into account when deciding which tomato varieties to carry, so look for the most popular varieties from this year and previous years when you come to buy your organic tomato starts next spring at Harlequin’s Gardens. Every year we grow 80+ great varieties for all kinds of uses and growing conditions! A huge thank-you to Growing Gardens for providing our the location, helping us publicize the event, and for bringing us some fabulous volunteers. Thank you also to the volunteers of Slow Food Boulder County. We couldn’t have done it without you!
2019 Taste of Tomato Vote Tally
2018 Taste of Tomato Results
This year’s Taste of Tomato was a blast! We love the new location at Growing Gardens’ Barn, with its’ beautiful view of the Flatirons, easy access, and wonderful staff. The tasting featured 44 different varieties of tomatoes, with Aunt Ruby’s German Green winning the greatest number of votes. Participants brought in some wonderful new varieties this year, including Brad’s Atomic Grape, Thornburn’s Terracotta, and Indigo Cherry. Look for the most popular varieties from this year and previous years when you come to buy your organic tomato starts next spring at Harlequin’s Gardens. Every year we grow 80+ great varieties for all kinds of uses and growing conditions![Read More]
Harvest Guidelines for Summer Crops
Here are a few harvest guidelines for summer crops:
Eggplants should be picked while they are still firm and glossy. Once their skins have become dull, they will be softer and have dark seeds, which can spoil the flavor. Eggplants don’t keep long, so use them soon after harvest.
Bell peppers and sweet frying peppers are sweetest when allowed to ripen fully to their mature color, yellow, orange, red, purple or mahogany. Bell peppers are often picked green, but their flavor will be a lot more pungent and they may be more challenging to digest.
Some of the hot peppers are traditionally enjoyed green – poblano, mulatto, jalapeno, Anaheim-type, while most of the rest are allowed to ripen to red (cherry, habanero, cayenne, lanterna, any chile dried for a ristra, etc.) orange (Bulgarian Carrot), or dark brown (Pasilla).[Read More]
Food Safety and GMOs
Food safety is one of the most critical issues of our time. What we eat is directly related to our health, and health care has a direct impact on our personal and national economies. Major chemical companies like Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and Dupont have introduced 86,000 synthetic chemicals into our environment, food, drugs, cosmetics etc and most of them have never been tested for toxic effects on human health and the environment. Since the mid 1990s, some of these same companies have been filling our grocery stores and feed stores with genetically engineered food products which may be causing serious health problems but are being approved by our government without safety testing.[Read More]