New Trials in the Garden

I like to trial a few new seeds for the gardens every year.
A new vegetable or a different variety are chosen and grown and evaluated with the goal of vigor
without any need to fuzz over. Time is valuable and no need to waste any when there is hoeing
that always seems to be needed.

1st to trial are: Purple podded pole beans.
The name alone grabbed me and said "try me this year".

so far, lots of green
and a few
purple podded beans,
(a few weeks after this photo, the plants produced a bushel of a crop with many brown beans)

2nd trial:  Fennel.

It is a perennial herb and an annual Italian vegetable.

These were chosen because I love that sweet anise flavor and smell. The fennel fills the air in the garden with that wonderful aroma. Also the fennel seeds are great in bread and Italian dishes and sausage.

Both the annual Italian veggie and the perennial herb were trialed with great success.
Fennel is drought and heat tolerate.

The annual Italian vegetable Fennel
stays small



The Perennial Herb Fennel
grows over 6 foot
placed in the back of the garden



3rd Trial was a seed packet of mixed cabbage seeds.

The variety of different cabbages was appealing.  Again, more success, as cabbage is hardy and

an easy vegetable to grow.

                                              Purple

Green

Savoy

This fall we'll trial a few varieties of Garlic.

Discovering Fennel

Fennel is a vegetable I've never grown nor eaten. So this year fennel was on my list of trying to grow
something new or different, an experiment. This fennel was grown from seed in a tray and then
transplanted out into the garden.

A Fennel bulb

It took me a long time to try this Italian vegetable, finocchio, and to discover its many wonderful charactoristics.
The flavor is anise and is very intense when eaten raw, but like an onion, when saute/cooked the flavor becomes more subtle.  The flavor of cooked fennel is a light, delicate anise flavor. It has many nutrients from vitamin C, potassium, manganese, molybdenum, phytonutrients and antioxidants and only 26 calories in
1 cup.  The Greeks used to call fennel, maraino, "to grow thin".


I found a recipe in The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan
Finocchi all' olio  or Fennel braised in olive oil.
Braise the sliced fennel in a little oil, water and salt until soft and slightly browned.



Braised Fennel with Italian sausage
and a veggie pasta salad makes a great Italian meal.

Fennel can also be eaten for dessert as it tastes sweet, just like anise candy when sliced raw.
Imagine a sweet crunchy flavorful dessert with almost NO calories. What a discovery, Fennel!