My greatest hits collection for rooftop vegetable gardening. These vegetable seeds made the list because they adapted well to the sunny & windy rooftop environment, have a high level of fruit production, they're well suited to container growing, and most importantly, they have fantastic flavor. This list is really short right now, but obviously I'll add more as I grow more.
Cherry Tomato: Orange Paruche F1
I actually struggled with growing this plant, mostly because I placed it in an inappropriate container, but it was worth all the babying because the cherries tasted like tangerines. I'm serious! Try them, they're awesome.
Other Recommendations:
Sun Gold F1
Gold Nugget F1
Black Cherry
Jasper F1
Cucumber: Lemon
Even though I had trouble growing this plant on the roof I would still recommend it to fellow rooftop gardeners. The plant struggled with disease throughout much of the growing season and it sometimes ran out of water before I could make it back from work, but even under all this stress the plant never produced a bitter fruit. Zero food waste!
Eggplant: Gretel F1
Nice soft skin, practically seedless and never bitter. This plant also allows harvesting flexibility. You can pick them when they're small or wait for them to get larger without sacrificing flavor. The flowers are nice to look at too.
Other Recommendations:
Fairy Tale F1
Hansel F1
Orient Express F1
Melon: Tasty Bites F1
These compact fruits with cantaloupe flavor did very well in containers and did not mind the windy roof at all. The flesh is firm not mushy, and sweet, but not too sweet. They were the highlight of the 2011 garden. My only regret is that I didn't have more pots to grow more plants!
Other Recommendations:
Lil Keeper F1
Serenade F1
Sweet Pepper: Lipstick
I personally think red peppers are the most flavorful peppers you can grow, the problem is that it takes forever for green peppers to turn red, usually about 80 days. These turn red quickly. The packet states 73 days to change color, but mine turned red in about 60 days. Even in the green stage these peppers are pretty good. The fruits are crunchy with thick walls at all stages of growth, and the plants just churn out fruit, so you can munch on peppers throughout the summer instead of just toward the end.
Other Recommendations:
Giant Aconcagua
Atris F1
Tomato: Beaverlodge Slicer
It took 6 years to find a tomato variety that could grow well on a stressful rooftop environment, but it was worth the wait. Beaverlodge is a determinate plant that is rooftop friendly and very well suited to container growing. Fruit production is extremely prolific and the flavor is excellent. As a bonus this variety is open pollinated so you can save seeds!
Other Recommendations:
Bush Goliath F1
I'm not sure when you posted that you were new to this but you've obviously come a long way. I clicked on your link because My son, Ben, designs and builds rooftop decks with gardening features in Brooklyn. (He lives in Prospect Heights.) You can see some examples on his website ben-lawrence.com I am a freelance writer in CT. Check my latest gardening article http://bit.ly/wC1DBz. It's especially aimed at small-space gardeners who want to make the most of favorite seeds like the ones you feature in your latest post. Congratulations on a lovely site.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! This post gets updated once a year, at the end of the growing season when I can report on what did well on the roof.
DeleteWhere did you purchase the Sweet Pepper: Lipstick Pepper (Red) seeds? They sound great, I think I will give them a go this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks
James
Hi James, I bought the Lipstick pepper from johnnyseeds.com
Deleteoh those melons look incredible, you should make melon-tini's :-)
ReplyDeleteThey never last long enough to make it to cocktails, they're eaten as soon as they're weighed!
Delete