Jordan Freytag + photo

Jordan Freytag

Jan 3
4 min read
bubble 1

When the cold winds of January sweep over us, we know it’s time to start planning that spring garden. We break out the gardening journal (if you don’t use a gardening journal, we recommend that you do) and draw-up plans of how we’d like our garden to be laid out this year as well as a list of seeds that we’d like to grow and what area of the garden will be dedicated to them.

It’s a perfect time to be thinking about what kinds of crops and which varieties you’d like to grow this year, especially peppers and tomatoes since they will need to be started indoors within the next 4-6 weeks. This can be a really fun process since there are so many different varieties out there to choose from. We recommend planting a few varieties of the same crop as they might react differently to your specific growing season.

For example, the Supersweet Hybrid 100* cherry tomatoes have tremendous yields and will do well whether the season turns out to be long or short, whereas, larger tomatoes strains may have trouble reaching full ripeness if the season doesn’t turn out long enough. With that being said, we think it is a great idea to plant a reliable strain alongside a couple strains unique to your garden. Here are a few unique strains of familiar tomatoes and peppers you may want to try:

Tomatoes

  • Pineapple – A yellow-skinned, red-streaked heirloom that can weigh up to 2 lbs when mature. Gorgeous when sliced. Has a sweet mild flavor.
  • Supersweet 100 Hybrid – These sweet, bite-sized tomatoes grow in clusters along the vine producing reliable yields all season long.
  • Rainbow Cherry (organic) – A colorful mixture of cherry tomatoes, including red, greed, and yellow. Reliable and tasty!
  • Green Zebra (organic) – Small 2-inch tomatoes that mature into plump yellow tomatoes with dark green stripes. Tangy and flavorful!
  • Hillbilly – A big heirloom beefsteak tomato with a vibrant mixture of pink, yellow, orange, and red throughout the skin and flesh. Succulent and flavorful.
  • Mortgage Lifter – This giant plump tomato has been a staple heirloom for home gardening since 1932! Full of flavor and character.

Peppers

  • Ancho Grande (hot) – This large heirloom pepper ripens from green to rust, roughly 2 ½ inches wide at the shoulder, tapering to a blunt point. Medium to hot (1,000-2,000 Scolville Units).
  • Hungarian Yellow Wax (hot) – These long yellow waxy ripen to an orange-red hue. This heirloom is ideal for drying and adding to sauces (2,000-8,000 Scolville Units).
  • Mariachi Hybrid (hot) – Try this large cone-shaped chili that has an unusually fine flavor and a marvelous yield (500-600 Scolvile Units).
  • Bhut Jolokia Ghost (wicked hot) – If you are truly brave, give the Bhut Jolokia a try! One of the hottest peppers we carry, second only to the Scorpion. They ripen from green to scarlet red (855,000-1,041,427 Scolville Units).
  • Chocolate Beauty (sweet) – This non-pungent variety performs much like a typical bell pepper but bears green to deep brown color. Heirloom and a personal favorite among staff!
  • Cute Red Stuff (sweet) – These small sweet peppers shaped like bell peppers produce high yields even during short seasons. Great for snacking!

Strawberries

If you are looking to try growing something new altogether, we recommend strawberries, specifically either Berri Basket White Hybrid or Berries Galore Pink Hybrid. In the past, if you’ve wanted to get large berries comparable to the ones you buy in the grocery store, you’d have to transplant an already-started strawberry plant. Starting from seeds resulted in small, sometimes insignificant yields. But with these two new hybrid seeds, you can produce fruits ½ to 1 inch in diameter. Start them indoors and transplant just after the last frost.

Needless to say, now is the time to envision the garden you want for yourself in the spring and to begin gathering and prepping for that future garden. Check out the 2017 Mountain Valley Seed Catalog for new seed varieties, full seed descriptions, and growing instructions!

*Hybrid, yes. GMO, no. We know most of our customers are knowledgeable enough to know that Hybrid does not mean GMO, but just in case a few have been misled by the uninformed internet echo chamber, none of the hybrid seeds offered by Mountain Valley Seeds are GMO.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

1 comments

Katie

Hi! I’m totally “green” when it comes to this. This is my first year ever trying to grow anything! I absolutely love watching the progress and it seems to relax me. I have chosen to grow strawberries and sugar snap peas. Any advice, suggestions, information, etc would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! Happy Growing!


  1. Serving Gourmet Microgreens - Special Event Place Settingsgourmet microgreen place setting Easter theme

    Serving Gourmet Microgreens - Special Event Place Settings

    Microgreens are more than a garnish. They can also be part of the central decorations of any great event. Simply plant a few seeds into your container of choice, watch them grow, and serve. Individual portions can be harvested fresh at the table with a...


    Ashleigh Smith + photo

    Ashleigh Smith

    2024-03-25
    3 min read
    bubble 0
  2. Celebrating 1,000,000 Orders1,000,000 orders award to True Leaf Market from Shopify

    Celebrating 1,000,000 Orders

    Thank you for your continued support and trust. In the image above, you can see that True Leaf Market has received the Shopify milestone award for 1,000,000 orders. We are proud to have reached this achievement as we strive to provide a wide selection ...


    Ashleigh Smith + photo

    Ashleigh Smith

    2024-03-25
    1 min read
    bubble 0
  3. History and Symbolism of the Easter LilyEaster Lily with a wood background

    History and Symbolism of the Easter Lily

    The Easter lily is most popularly associated with the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it is also related to many other cultural and religious beliefs and customs. For example, pagans connect the Easter lily with motherhoo...


    Ashleigh Smith + photo

    Ashleigh Smith

    2024-03-25
    3 min read
    bubble 0
  4. 10 Native Plants to Attract Beneficial Insects in the Midwestcorn in the midwest

    10 Native Plants to Attract Beneficial Insects in the Midwest

    Written By Lara Wadsworth Rolling hills, farmlands, forested valleys, and pristine lakes characterize the American Midwest. This is the region I call home, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Anyone who lives here is familiar with the wide range of n...


    Ashleigh Smith + photo

    Ashleigh Smith

    2024-03-19
    7 min read
    bubble 0