Market gardening with heirloom vegetables can seem intimidating at first but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of varieties that hold up well under transportation to farmers markets and local grocery stores, and of course, the short trip from field to farmstand. I’ve tested many varieties and use what works for me. I didn’t realize how many heirlooms I grow for market until I started making a list.
As industrial agriculture increased the use of heirlooms grown for market decreased. Heirlooms weren't bred recently so they haven't been bred withstand over a thousand miles of transportation in the back of a semi. Heirlooms aren’t always appetizing in appearance to many people, though I’ve realized over the past few years the “uglier” a vegetable is the more appealing it is to me. Lumpy, bumpy and oddly shaped is interesting! There’s a false impression that says a vegetable that doesn’t look perfect isn’t going to taste good. That couldn’t be further from the truth. As a market farmer you’ll probably need to spend some time educating your customers. If you’re the customer ask for a taste test. These are my favorite heirlooms for market:
Beans
Bush
Contender. A bush green bean with massive yields. This variety produces so many beans I sometimes wonder if I’m going to be able to keep up with them. Contender is an early variety and gives you a jump on the early market. These hold up well in cool storage.
Golden Wax. A yellow bean with a rich taste.
Royalty Purple Pod. A purple bean that turns green when cooked. I cook these until they turn green then drain and serve with a pat of butter, some salt and pepper. These are great for customers who haven’t tried a purple bean because it’s easy to tell them when they’re “done.”
Pole
Kentucky Wonder. My great grandfather grew these pole beans in his three acre garden when I was a kid. My grandfather and Mum also grew them in their backyard gardens, and I’m growing them now. The pods are tender and easy to pick. You can grab a handful at a time. There’s little bending while picking pole beans so they’re easy on the back. They’re earlier than most other pole beans and full of flavor.
Beets
Bull’s Blood is my favorite beet root. It needs only 50 days to root maturity. Baby beets are a spring delicacy and can be pulled as soon as there’s a small beet root. I can plant it early in cool soil and have beet roots ready for sale in early June. It holds up well even in the heat of a summer market. The root is red ringed and has a great flavor. This isn’t my favorite for beet greens but baby leaves are good in salads. The tops taste good and are dark red and mottled, giving it a nice appearance in salads.
Chioggia is another ringed beet I like a lot. Customers who don’t care for the strong flavor beet root can have might like this one. It has a slightly sweet, mild flavor. It’s also easy on the fingers because it’s white with red rings and doesn’t bleed a lot of color.
Early Wonder is my pick for beet greens. The cut and come again greens grow quickly and hold well on ice at market. The beet root is good for pickling.
Broccoli
Calabrese Green Sprouting is my hands-down favorite. It takes only 74 days to maturity, has medium sized heads and produces a lot of side shoots. The side shoots are great for snacking.
Romanesco Italia is an excellent broccoli as far as flavor goes but it doesn’t have the traditional head. It’s spiral shape does put off customers who want “normal” looking vegetables. If you can get them to taste it they’ll be pleased. It’s worth waiting 75 to 100 days to maturity.
Brussels Sprouts
Long Island sets the high mark for Brussels sprouts. It has a heavy yield of tasty sprouts. They hold up well into December here in Maine without the sprouts getting soft. If you’re still going to farmers market, have an open farmstand or from-the-door sales very late in the fall Long Island will keep your customers happy. Bottom sprouts are ready as early as 80 days to maturity.
Cabbage
Late Flat Dutch cabbage has it all. It grows to up to 15 pounds, tastes great and stores very well. It needs 110 days to maturity so it’s ready after the small varieties, and just in time to go into storage here.
Cauliflower
Snowball is a self-blanching cauliflower that tastes good, freezes well and takes little effort to grow. Needing only 60 days to maturity, it’s in and out of the garden in time to use the space for succession planting. I put in a second crop for fall harvest.
Cucumbers
Marketmore 76 is a common name in market gardens. These cucumbers are 8” long, taste great and are high producers. They need only 70 days to maturity. There are a lot of choices in heirloom cucumbers. You won’t have a hard time finding the right one for your garden.
Eggplant
I grow Ping Tung because it’s early at 60 days to maturity, has an excellent flavor and is very popular with my customers. The skins are tender but aren’t easily broken by the stems of other eggplant on the way to market.
Black Beauty is my standard regular sized eggplant. It needs 90 days to maturity but it’s worth waiting for. It does well in my hoop house long after frosts have hit. It slows down with the cool nights but keeps producing until the weather turns cold.
Lettuce
Lettuce takes up more room on my seed order forms than anything else. In the interest of time I’ll simply list my favorites. Tom Thumb is a small heading lettuce perfect for a salad for one or two people. This won’t wilt in the fridge because it will be used up in one salad. Forellenschluss is a beautiful romaine that we use for wraps all summer. This holds up to heat well for us. Oak Leaf, Red Deer Tongue, Red Romaine, Tango and Speckled all have good flavor. Mixed together with other greens such as Tatsoi, they make a fantastic salad. A little trivia - did you know that Iceberg is an heirloom?
Peas
Shell
Little Marvel peas needs only 60 days to maturity, grow on 18” plants that don’t need to be trellised and are very sweet. When my daughter Kristin was 7 years old she came home with her Garden Club seeds. The envelopes were written in cursive which she didn’t read well yet. She pulled out her Little Marvel Peas and happily told me she’d be growing Little Mashed Potatoes. How could this not be one of my favorites!
Snap
Sugar Ann needs only 58 days. It isn’t a heavy yielding pea but what it lacks in quantity is made up for in taste. Its earliness is important because getting those first of the season sales matters.
Snow
Mammoth Melting Sugar can grow 7’ tall so they take a little more work than smaller varieties but they’re worth the work. They need only 72 days to maturity so they’re fast growers. Don’t let this get ahead of you. Be prepared with trellis early.
Peppers
Purple Beauty needs only 74 days to maturity. It's a strong producer of bell shaped peppers that start out as green, change to purple, then to bright red. The plants are only 20" tall and take little room.
Nardello's is my favorite frying pepper. The plants sometimes need to be staked because they produce so many 6"-8" peppers. These turn bright red when ripe but can be picked when green.
Rutabaga
Laurentian I was still pulling these rutabagas in December. When I had given away all I could and stored what we needed I fed the rest to the livestock. These are 6" roots that store well. They're great in a late fall stir fry, baked and mashed. 95 days to maturity.
Turnip
Purple Top White Globe matures in 50 days but can be eaten sooner. This looks nice when washed and bunched for customers.
Squash
Summer
Benning's Green Tint Patty Pan is best picked at 3". This is a scalloped squash that needs 55 days to maturity. We slice these in half to cook on the grill.
Prolific is a very good tasting 45 day straight yellow squash. They produce heavily when picked often. I add these to Benning's on the grill.
Zucchini
Costata Romanesco is ribbed and tasty. They produce a flower large and strong enough for stuffing. They're late at 60 days to maturity but they taste so good they're worth the time.
Winter
All of these winter squash need at least 90 days to maturity.
Red Kuri weighs up to 10 pounds. Dry flesh.
Delicata weighs up to 3 pounds; mine are usually no larger than 2 pounds.
Waltham Butternut My favorite. Up to 5 lbs. This is my best selling winter squash. It's simple to prepare and stores well.
Pumpkins
I have the most fun in the garden with pumpkins. We'll start with the tiny Jack Be Little that weighs in at just a half pound. Heavily ribbed and used for autumn decorating.
Connecticut Field is an excellent Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin. It needs 115 days to maturity so it pushes the limits for me, but it's do-able. I start these in the greenhouse while warming the soil with black mulch then plant these out before the roots are too large to mind being disturbed. Nicely ribbed pumpkins range between 12 and 25 pounds.
My favorite is Rouge Vif D'Etamps, or more simply known as Cinderella. These vary greatly in size from 7 to 40 pounds. I don't mind the difference since these are popular no matter what size they are. Store well and favored by my goats and pig.
I started with the tiny and I'll end with gigantic. Atlantic Giant is an heirloom a lot of people have fun growing. It takes a lot of compost and water. These grow so fast that you can see the difference from morning to night. Most Atlantic Giants grow to be 100 to 300 pounds but the world record is well over a half ton.
Tomatoes are the best-known heirloom vegetable. There are so many to choose from that they'll be covered in a separate article.
As you've seen, there are a lot of heirlooms to choose from. I've covered just a small portion of what's available to us. The following seed suppliers offer heirloom seeds and offer a lot more information.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
2278 Baker Creek Road
Mansfield MO 65704
Seeds of Change
PO Box 15700
Sante Fe NM 87592
1-888-762-4240
D. Landreth Seed Company
650 N. North Point Rd
Baltimore MD 21237
Fedco Seeds
PO Box 520
Waterville ME 04903