heirloom vegetables

Grow an Heirloom Tomato This Year!

Maryland Grows1 Comment

2024 is Grow It Eat It’s Year of Heirloom Tomatoes! We’re going to have lots of resources available soon to help you celebrate these delicious and historic vegetables (botanically fruits), and we hope you’ll participate by planting a few in your garden. I thought, as an enthusiastic heirloom tomato gardener myself, I’d take a moment to make some introductions.

First of all, what is an heirloom tomato? Well, I think we know what a tomato is; what puts it in the same category as Grandma’s topaz necklace or Grandpa’s grandfather clock? They’re all handed down through the generations. “Heirloom” doesn’t have any single definition when it comes to vegetables. It can mean that the origin of a particular variety goes back more than 100 years, or 75 years, or that it was first grown before a certain date. Many people use World War II as a marker, because the growth of hybrid crops boomed in the subsequent decades, and a lot of older varieties disappeared from seed catalogs. Varieties grown in a particular community or culture, or through several generations in a particular family, are also considered heirlooms. Family names are often part of a variety name, which makes you feel like a cousin when you grow them!

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North Georgia Candy Roaster: A Winter Squash to Remember

Maryland Grows18 Comments

I enjoy the variety and versatility of winter squashes but don’t consider myself a big enthusiast for these dependable garden staples. However, one cultivar that I’ve come across over the years in seed catalogs and the heirloom gardening world has always intrigued me: ‘North Georgia Candy Roaster.’ I’ll refer to it as Candy Roaster. There was something about the name, look, and description that stayed with me. I decided that 2017 would be the year to give it a try.

candy roaster squash
Candy Roaster squash can cover ground in a hurry. Watch out lawn!

Candy Roaster is a member of Cucurbita maxima, which includes turban, hubbard, banana, and buttercup winter squash plus several pumpkin varieties (including ‘Atlantic Giant’ grown by giant pumpkin growers). Vines are long, leaves are large, and fruit stems are round and get corky at maturity. Candy Roaster fruits are 18–24 inches in length, are shaped like a fat banana, and weigh 10-12 lbs. Fruit start off light yellow and mature to an orangey-beige color with interesting blue-green streaks at the flower end.

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