Frank and Diane planted an amazing ‘little’ garden on their farm. Turns out…it produced A LOT and they want to share the veggies of their labor with you. We are offering a new adventure for you and your family at the orchard this year…a pick your own vegetable garden! If you wish to do this, stop in the store when you arrive to get some bags and a marker so you can keep the varieties separate for your own taste tests. We would love to hear what you think we should grow next year.

We have a variety of vegetables growing in the garden including Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, giant kohlrabi, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes (wide variety: Agriset (Grape), Amish Paste, Bi Beef Beefsteak, Legend Red Meaty, New Yorker, Opalka, Supersteak, ultimate opener, Wayahead) talk more about those later), and peppers! A wide variety of peppers are growing and Diane did a really nice job of labeling each variety out in the garden for you. Painted stakes with the name of the pepper variety envelope the area in which those peppers are growing. I have a few pictures shown but you’ll understand better once you’re out there.

Here’s a little guide to the peppers you can find (I didn’t know this when I first read the veggie guide, but Scoville Units = Units of hotness…the higher the number, the hotter the pepper):

Variety: Big Chili

Hotness: Moderate (1,000 to 5,000 Scoville Units)

Uses: Fresh for salsa’s or salads, frying, drying, pickling

Variety: Gentle Giant Goliath

Hotness: Sweet (0 Scoville Units)

Uses: grilling, frying, or stuffing

Variety: Mucho Nacho

Hotness: HOT (5,000 to 30,000 Scoville Units)

Uses: fresh (salsa, salads), stuffing, drying, pickling

Variety: Banana Bill

Hotness: Sweet (0 Scoville Units)

Uses: fresh (salsa, salads), frying, roasting, pickling

Bell Boy – Sweet (0 Scoville Units), fresh (salsa, salads), stuffing, pickling

Variety: Fooled You (looks just like a jalapeño but doesn’t have the same bite)

Hotness: Mild (1 to 1,000 Scoville Units)

Uses: fresh (salsa, salads), stuffing, pickling

Variety: Habanero

Hotness: Extremely Hot (above 30,000 Scoville Units)

Uses: fresh (salsa, salads), drying, pickling

On a side note: One time a little girl grabbed a habanero from a our veggie table and bit into it like an apple…not good. She was fine after she ate an apple to calm the hotness down. Since that time, we have moved our pre-picked peppers to a higher shelf.

Variety: Sweet Havana

Hotness: Mild (1 to 1,000 Scoville Units)

Uses: fresh (salsa, salads) frying, stuffing, roasting

We’re really excited to hear what everyone thinks of the pick-your-own garden that we’re offering this year!