Some of the new vegetables for this year

I just thought that I would take the time to share couple of the new and unusual things that we will be growing this year, that I am particularly excited about. But do not worry these are not the only new things we will be growing this year, there are many, many more.


Chinese Red Noodle Long Bean
This is a red/purple yard long heirloom bean. These beans should be great for those that love to make stir fry, because they are best sauteed, rather than boiled. They are also suppose to keep most of their red/purple color when cooked, unlike most purple beans that change to green when they are cooked. So they should add a wonderful red/purple color to your stir fry. These yard long beans are also suppose to have a taste very different from that of your regular green bean, so they should be very interesting and I can't wait to see how they turn out, they definitely sound good to me.

Here is a link to some pictures on Davesgarden.com of this beautiful yard long bean.


Armenian Cucumber
This is one of the many new varieties of cucumbers that we will be trying for the first time this year. I am particularly interested in how this one will turn out, because it is suppose to love hot summer weather. It is called a cucumber but is actually a type of melon. Since it is a melon it should be able to tolerate the heat better than cucumbers do. We always have a hard time getting our cucumber to survive the heat of the middle of summer. That is why I decided to give this cucumber a try.

Here is a link to some pictures at picsearch.com of Armenian Cucumber.


Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber
This is a very tiny heirloom cucumber. One of the main reasons why I decided to grow this cucumber was because I thought this would be something good to add to my salad mixes. Since they are so small (around the size of a quarter), I figured I could just throw a bunch in my bagged salad mixes, since they do not need to be cut. Besides adding them to a salad they are suppose to be good pickled, or just simply as is, for a snack. The inside should have a cucumber flavor but the skin has a unique lemon flavor. Should be interesting, right?

Here is a link to some pictures on davesgarden.com of this cute little cucumber.
Link to the story Mother Earth News did on Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber (Mouse Melons).

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday winter returned briefly, when it snowed for the majority of the day :( I am not sure exactly how much snow we got, but I know it was at least 3 inches, probably more. It felt like the middle of winter all over again. But the good news is today spring was back, and all the snow melted :) So I feel better again! Lets just hope that the snow stays away for good until the end of the year, when we start winter all over again :( But lets not think of that, lets all think spring (and summer)!