If Variety is the Spice of life...

[Heirloom farmer1969]

Man you have some nice-looking soil!! I get all excited over fertile soil

 

[Heirloom farmer1969]

...then this spring garden is full of it.

On the right of the trellis, 12 varieties of potatoes, 4 varieties of tomatoes, 4 varieties of squash, 2 varieties of carrots, 4 varieties of beans, 4 varieties of cucumbers, four varieties of peppers, onions and garlic.

On the left of the trellis, 3 more varieties of beans, 4 varieties of okra, 2 varieties of corn, 3 varieties of melons, 3 varieties of sweet potatoes, 2 varieties of cantaloup, 2 varieties of sunflowers, and a test plot of jicama and test plot of sunchokes.

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Man that's some nice looking soil. I get all excited over fertile soil

 

[Meadowlark]

Man you have some nice-looking soil!! I get all excited over fertile soil

Thanks. Soil is the most important thing we can affect in gardening. It is a source of pride for me, more so than the actual produce, which anyone could grow IF the soil is right.

 

[Heirloom farmer1969]

Thanks. Soil is the most important thing we can affect in gardening. It is a source of pride for me, more so than the actual produce, which anyone could grow IF the soil is right.

100%agree!! As my grandpa and father used to say, Son, it's all about the soil. Take care of the soil, and it will take care of you.

 

[Susan BBPM]

Your garden is impressive like always Meadowlark. I always read your post on the 2cool site back when I visited there.

My neighbor grows sunchokes, they do have a potato taste. A bit on the small size for me to get interested in growing them. Maybe they get bigger than what they grow as most of their gardening is in pots.

We grew sunchokes for the first time last year. I think we planted 10 in total. They made a great privacy screen at an overlooked part of our garden. We didn't try harvesting them until about March this year. We love them - especially roasted. Some were huge.
This year we have about 20 times as many. We didn't plant any more this year - no matter how hard you try to harvest them all you always leave some behind and they grow into next year's crop. The area we grow them in is surrounded by lawn so it's very easy to keep them contained by mowing.

The big advantage that I see is you don't have to eat them if you don't need them. They look great as a privacy screen. If you've run out of potatoes by March/April you can dig up the sunchokes. If not, just think of them as generating mass for the compost heap and to provide screening.

You get different varieties - some bigger than others.