What are you trying that is new to you this year in the garden?

[Emerald]

On the vertical gardening thread the OP asked what different things are people trying this year and I thought it was a good enuf question to merit it's own thread. They don't have to be exotic just something that you have decided to try and is completely different than what you normally do.
I'm planning on trying the Litchi tomato that a friend sent me seed for and I have the time this year to try(I always have the space )
and Evergreen bunching onions as my son and both grandchildren love green onions and my patch of walking onions needs a break.
Daikon radish is also going on the list. I've had them at Asian restaurants for years and years and often buy them(and in fact the Asian market that I found has them for .79cents a lb where all the other local stores they are $2.79 a lb! OH MY and they are grown in USA) I love the flavor and that it is big enuf to share and I just quick pickled a jar in the fridge to put in Kimbap and they turned out so well I'll be doing more jars. I also noticed that some of the fields that they are allowing to go fallow this last year had a weird plant come up and the more I watched those fields the more I recognized that plant. and talking to one of the farmers who used the mix he told me that it was daikon radish that had been mixed in by mistake at the place he gets pasture mix at. of course I didn't find this out till it was frozen out and I told him it is a good thing I didn't know as I probably would have gone out and dug a few for dinner! he laughed and said that he didn't think it was such a bad idea as the roots on those things go down for ever and he's hoping it will break up the deadpan layer on some of his fields. I figured it those things go so huge and nice looking just planted in the field I should be able to get a few nice ones in the garden.
Raddichio- I love those little round heads and so I have the seeds all bought and just waiting for spring.. I'm a bit confused about some of the instructions on how to force it to make heads but that is the fun of trying new things.
I have also picked up two different types of baby boc choi. one that is white stemmed and deep green leaves and one that is light green stemmed and light green leaves. I've cooked with both of these and can't wait to grow them..
and last Mache-I'm going to try the four season harvest this fall and Mache is supposed to be super cold hardy.

There are some on my wish list but I think I want to try them before growing them. I love some greens and absolutely detest others so buying them first may be the best. any thoughts on Mizuna and other Asian greens. I have those weird taste buds that hate cilantro and arugula and even fresh basil(dried basil is wonderful but fresh. ick) I have found a type of cilantro that i can eat but it is hard to find.. Vietnamese cilantro is the same flavor(sans soapy kerosine taste) but totally different plant.
so.. what are your "new to you" picks this year?

 

[baymule]

I have brussel sprouts growing, they have little tiny sprouts on them right now. I am also going to plant chard, never have planted or eaten it. I planted white beets, Baker Creek said they could be used to make sugar with. So I will try to make sugar, just for fun. I am going to plant jade blue corn and Damon Morgan's Kentucky Butcher corn. I have never planted colored corn, just the yellow kind.

I ordered and recieved green cotton seed. Years ago when the kids were small, we planted a row of cotton. Mean 'ol mommy that I was, I made them "chop cotton" in the hot sun! They watched the flowers open, the bolls form and burst open. We picked the cotton, twisted the fibers in a rough thread and I explained how thread is made and how it is woven into fabric. They both took a bag of cotton to school for show and tell. They still remember that. Now I have a 5 year old grand daughter and we will plant cotton, only the fibers will be green. Something weird just for fun!

 

[Emerald]

I'm going to try to grow some peanuts. We have a long enough season for it - but I've never tried it before.... I've got an empty bed and I'm gonna put it to use with this experiment. Peanuts take a loooong growing season, but it shouldn't be a problem here. I consider this an experiment and I'll be planting this weekend.

I've grown peanuts here in Michigan and got a wonderful crop. we only got to taste a few tho as the chickens got loose when they were curing in the shed and they enjoyed too many of them before we did haha..

 

[MEMama3]

I'm going to try rainbow swing chard, but I'm almost embarrassed to say why. I hate the taste, but it's super pretty and i figure the chickens can eat it.

 

[Britesea]

Just thought I would follow up here on some of my plantings for this year...
The Rat Tail radishes were a resounding success. They have a nice crunch, a zing of flavor just like regular radishes and are wonderful on the crudites tray. I also like them sprinkled on cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, and soups as a garnish. They were somewhat disappointing in a stir fry as they lost most of the hot flavor when cooked. Out of six plants, we had more than we could eat all summer long, and they are still going strong. I need to get out there and cull the pods that got too big (they get tough and stringy when more than a pencil's width) because they are still producing in this cooler fall weather.
The Hungarian Black Chili Peppers were also a success- the peppers were about the same size and shape as a Jalapeno, with pretty much the same authority, which surprised me- I thought they would be milder. Out of 15 plants, I filled up a 3 gallon plastic tub with chilies.
The Cylindra Beets were also a success; the flavor is wonderful and they were a good size. Although I didn't plant enough to can, the shape lends itself very well to slicing which would be good for canning.
The mache came up and gave us lovely salads- I was surprised that it didn't bolt like the lettuce did when it got warm. The claytonia (miner's lettuce) sadly never sprouted. Gotta hit the books to see what it needed that it didn't get.
My tomatoes - Black From Tula - caught a bad dose of herbicide that pretty well destroyed the whole crop
The Chocolate Bell peppers... hmm... not sure what happened. They never turned brown, just red, and they are about the size of cherry tomatoes. I'm going to harvest them and use them anyway, but what a disappointment.
The Tromboncino squash took over that section of garden- next year I know to absolutely put up a trellis for them- I have about 9 very large squashes- one is at least 25#s- and several more that aren't quite fully ripe. I'm not sure whether to leave them out in the garden even though it's getting into the 30's at night or not.
And finally- note to self: DO NOT plant 3 cucumber plants when there are only 3 people in the family- the Lemon Cucumbers were worse than zucchini! None of my neighbors will talk to me anymore, lol.

 

[Wannabefree]

We're doing radishes and kale for the first time this year. I've had kale before but it was a looooooooong time ago, radishes...I hate with a fiery purple passion, but I like greens, so hoping they'd be good to mix in with my lettuce. The pigs can have the dang radishes for all I care.

 

[moolie]

Too lazy to go look in my seed box at the moment, but we're trying a couple of new tomato varieties (one that ORChick sent me last year!), playing around with our companion planting a bit (beets didn't like their location last year), and adding more vertical supports. I'm sure there's more, but my brain is fried from a long day at work...

 

[Corn Woman]

I am trying Bordeaux spinach which has a beautiful red vein, Toy Choy bok choy should be ready in 30 to 35 days, amaranth, sorrel, italian red bunching onion, and 2 types of mustard ruby streaks and mizuna. I also got bread seed poppy and will have the beautiful blue flowers plus the seeds to use in baking.

 

[Denim Deb]

For me, just getting a good garden in will be different! My life has been so messed up over the last few years that I never really got a garden in and if I did get a garden in, I didn't really do much w/it. :/

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm trying several different tomato varieties - mostly different colored ones, like an orange tomato and one called Carbon. And, I'm going to try rutabagas. We loooooooooove rutabagas, so I'm really excited! Root crops grow pretty well for me, with the exception of carrots. Several years ago I grew sweet potatoes. I was sooo excited when I dug them up - they were beautiful! Except they had some kind of tiny, thin wire wormy looking thing in Every Single Potato. I baked 'em up for the chickens - at least they enjoyed them. So, I'm not sure how rutabagas will do...

This past fall I tried Napa cabbage for the first time. We loooooooooooove it! I've used it in stir fry's and this past weekend I made an awesome and delicous batch of kimchi. Yummy!

I'm also trying some different kinds of beans - like Rattlsnake beans. Hurry up warmer weather!