Three super-productive veg to plant now!

Spring is the season for starting vegetables. Every seed or seedling planted now is a step closer to a full harvest basket, homegrown meals, and a pantry bursting with preserves. So, what to plant? Heirloom vegetables are the quirky kids on the plot, with unusual colours and flavours and great background stories, not to mention useful qualities such as disease resistance. Growing heirloom vegetables helps to keep those stories alive, becoming a little square in the patchwork quilt of home food gardening that wraps around us all protectively and is passed down from generation to generation. So, check out the vegies here, then head online to find the seeds and get started with your own piece of gardening history.

Eggplant ‘Thai Long Green’ (pictured above)

Solanum melongena  

• Height 50cm
• Width 50cm
• Sun/Shade Full sun
• Harvest  after 85 days

CLIMATE ZONE: Tropical  Subtropical  Arid/semi-arid  Warm temperate  Cold temperate

One of the more unusual varieties of eggplants, originating from Thailand, the long, rounded fruits are a beautiful pale-green when ripe. Sow seeds in punnets in spring, then prick out and plant seedlings into a warm, sheltered position in well-drained soil with lots of compost. Mulch and water regularly and deeply. A couple of pinches of blood and bone around plants as flowering starts will encourage more fruiting. In cold climates, use a greenhouse or cold frame to raise seeds. Consider growing seedlings in small pots to plant out when larger and weather is warmer. Plants need staking and tying to support the fruits. Fruits are borne prolifically, are 25-30cm long, with a sweet mild flavour. Used in curries as well as frying.

Pumpkin ‘Japanese’

Cucurbita maxima  

• Height 30cm
• Width 3m
• Sun/Shade Full sun
• Harvest Harvest from

CLIMATE ZONE: Tropical  Subtropical  Arid/semi-arid  Warm temperate  Cold temperate

A much-loved heirloom (also known as ‘Kabocha’ and ‘Kent’), ‘Japanese’ pumpkin have sweet, orange flesh that’s easily cut, and tasty when roasted. Plant from seed, or from individually raised seedlings, to avoid root disturbance. Seeds germinate at around 20°C. These pumpkins do particularly well in tropical and warm-hot inland climates. Plant spring, summer and early autumn in warmer regions; in the tropics, all year round; in cold climates, from late spring, after frosts finish. Plants cope with poor soil, but grow best in mounds of well-drained soil, with plenty of manure and compost. Water regularly, avoiding overhead watering. Tip prune once established to promote fruiting. Harvest when stems are brown. Fruits store well.

Zucchini ‘Black Beauty’

Cucurbita pepo

• Height 1m
• Width 1m
• Sun/Shade Full sun
• Harvest 50 days

CLIMATE ZONE: Tropical  Subtropical  Arid/semi-arid  Warm temperate  Cold temperate

‘Black Beauty’ is a quiet achiever, not fancy, but reliable and abundant, producing an early harvest of slender dark-green fruits on compact bushes. Plant from seed or from individually raised seedlings, to avoid root disturbance. Seeds prefer 20°C to germinate. In warm climates, plant spring, summer and early autumn. In cold climates, plant from late spring, after frosts finish. Plant into mounds of rich, well-drained soil, with plenty of well-rotted manure and compost incorporated, and a pH of 6.5-7. Mulch well. Water regularly, avoiding overhead watering and use milk sprays to avoid powdery mildew. Fruits are most tender when harvested up to 15cm long, but quickly grow longer! Fruits over 25cm long are called marrows.  When producing prolifically you can harvest flowers for stuffing, too.

This article was first published in OG 128, our Spring 2021 issue. There’s a selection of back issues available here — you can also subscribe and get the most recent issues delivered to your door!