Five Growing Trends for 2016

Here we go again.  The New Year's Eve confetti is scarcely swept away before it seems every marketing expert is primed to direct our attention to what is new and different for 2016 lives.  The "it" colors for this year?  Pink and blue. . . sorry, but the 1980s combo will not reappear in my home.  That 1986 mauve dining room, a shade too close to Pepto-Bismol for comfort, is best left to the young and impressionable.  

Colorful  Blossoms Make Beautiful Salad

It's time to make plans for what to plant, where to plant and how to plant in the 2016 garden and, even for die-hard growers who stick to a strict annual plan, there are enticing possibilities available.  While I am certainly no expert and my trendy selections are based entirely on unscientific sources like farmer's markets, my own experiments and chef/restaurant order requests, the following list includes plants I think will prove to be popular in 2016 gardens.  So, visit your local hardware and gardening store and purchase seeds or plants.  Even if you find something you grow to be unappealing, at least you can eat it.  Unlike that queasy dining room. . .
 

Okra Blossoms and Pods, Tasty Edibles

*Edible Flowers
Most fruits and vegetables produce blossoms that are both beautiful and delicious.  Violas and nasturtiums are popular salad ingredients, but vegetable blooms like beans, okra and squash are also tasty.  In the herb bed, grow borage for deep blue star-like blossoms that taste like cucumber or garlic and chives for pink, onion flavor.  Perhaps pink and blue can be garden trendy for 2016?

*Watermelon 
Forget those mealy, almost tasteless orbs offered by supermarkets from early fall until late spring.  Sure, it's convenient to buy a melon without seeds, but for juicy, sweet flesh that slathers the face, grow an heirloom variety. Recent rumors that the Bradford watermelon, a popular 1800s heirloom, may reappear, spur me to search for seeds, but the Moon and Stars melon, with beautiful dark green skin spotted with yellow orbs and deep red flesh, is an excellent choice for backyard gardens. 

Moon & Stars Watermelons are Distinctive and Delicious

*Herbs
Any supermarket shopper who purchases fresh herbs, tiny snippets encased in small plastic packages, has doubtless suffered sticker shock at the price.  One of the easiest plants to grow, most herb varieties grow in poor soil and require little water.  As long as full sun is available, herb plants produce more than adequate amounts of leaves and blossoms and the excess can be easily dried or frozen for later use.  In addition to annuals like basil, plant rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme for year-round harvest.  For our area, rosemary is a particularly satisfying plant since it blooms during cold weather and the dainty blue flowers are a welcome sight in mostly-dormant gardens.  

Borage is a perfect container plant

*Greens
Yes, King Kale has enjoyed a long reign as the most popular green, with good reason, but other greens, with delightful flavor and nutritional punch, deserve space in the 2016 garden.  Bok Choy, Malabar Spinach and Mache are good choices and Arugula, or Rocket, as the Brits know it, is a hardy salad green that produces abundant leaves, creamy blossoms and seeds that are also delicious.  The flavor of home-grown arugula is far superior to supermarket wares, as are all fresh greens.

Move over, Kale, and make room for Bok Choy

*Popcorn
Industrially processed popcorn receives a great deal of negative press, but for those who crave a salty crunch and rich flavor, try growing an heirloom variety.  Cherokee Long Ear boasts beautifully colored kernels and was an abundant producer in my 2015 garden.  Strawberry, Dakota Black and Dynamite are other good choices.  Note:  Popcorn will "cross" with other corn varieties, so plant popcorn after sweet corn ears form or separate plantings for best results. 

Allow popcorn ears to dry before harvest

For 2016 and beyond, Happy Gardening!