Good Growing Grow-Along

Thank you for choosing to grow along with us. The species and cultivars offered through this program are new to us, so we invite you to join us on a growing adventure. We have chosen these species for their unique aesthetic characteristics, fun names, or as a ‘never grown by us before’ species. As we grow these varieties in demonstration gardens and our home gardens, we will share updates, successes, challenges, recipes, and a taste-testing trial. We invite you to share your growing experience with us too.

Extra produce will be donated to local food pantries to help our neighbors in need.

Participation is restricted to Illinois and surrounding states.

Runner Bean ‘Black Knight’
An edible ornamental, Black Knight is similar to scarlet runner bean but produces a dark seed pod that matures from bright magenta to a deep obsidian color. Like scarlet runner bean produces ornamental red flowers. Can be eaten as an immature bean-like green beans or allowed to ripen and consumed as a dried bean.

Okra ‘Candle Fire’
A distinct red okra with round pods, no ridges, and showcasing a more vibrant red hue compared to existing reddish burgundy varieties. This top-performing AAS Winner excelled in productivity, flavor, consistency, and tenderness, while also offering the added aesthetic appeal of red pods on red stems.

Mizuna ‘Japanese Pink’
Considered an upscale Asian green with good flavor and ornamental appeal. Lavendar-pink stems and green leaves can be used in salads, steaming, or stir fry. Requires full sun and germinates best in cooler soils (55 to 70 degrees) and is considered hardy to light frosts.

Acorn Squash ‘Honey Bun’
A winter squash with a mottled appearance to the skin. Plants are categorized as a bush or short vine, requiring approximately six feet of growing space in the garden. This cultivar has an intermediate resistance to powdery mildew, a fungal disease that adversely affects plant health. Fruits are petite compared to other acorn squash, growing to an average weight of one to two pounds.

Cucumber ‘Lemon Cuke’
Considered a semi-bush type, this cucumber plant will need about 3 to 4 feet of space in a full sun location. Plant 3 seeds on a hill and thin down to 1 to 2 vigorous plants. Yields within 70 days bearing apple-shaped, yellow-skinned cucumbers. Cucumbers are best harvested when they are the size of a lime. The skin of this open-pollinated Lemon cucumber can be somewhat thicker than recent hybrids. Flesh is considered to have a good mild sweet flavor.

Southern Pea (Cow Pea) ‘Hog Brain’
Cowpeas were among the first plants domesticated by humans. They are known by several names, including crowder pea, black-eyed pea, southern pea, lubia, niebe, coupe, and frijole. These beans can be shelled and eaten fresh or allowed to dry on the vine for a dried product. Green seeds can be roasted like peanuts. and scorched seeds have been used as a coffee substitute.