The previous post shared some photos of hardy and resilient plants as they awakened at the first hint of spring, but that wasn’t the full story… I hate to admit that there are a bunch of slackers as well out there in the vegetable garden this spring!

Tired of that same old, same old, when it comes to growing summer squash in the backyard vegetable garden? If so then one of the gourmet Italian or Mediterranean squash varieties may be just what you’re looking for. These summer squashes offer the familiar zucchini shapes and sizes in different shades and subtle, new flavors.

Eggplants are one of my favorite vegetables to grow in the garden which is strange considering that I refused to eat them as a kid. Now I love eggplants in and out of the garden. There are about twenty plants of a dozen different varieties of heirloom eggplants growing in my garden this season.

My passion has always been for growing vegetables and creating attractive gardens that also yielded delicious produce. In that light here’s my Top Ten List of Reasons for Growing Vegetables rather than purely ornamentals in the backyard garden and landscape:

Okra is one of those interesting vegetables like Cowpeas that for some reason you seldom discover growing in backyard vegetable gardens. Also like those Black Eyed Peas, okra is more popular as a Southern specialty crop; however it will grow perfectly well even in Northern gardens. If you can raise tomatoes and peppers in your garden you should have no trouble growing a healthy and productive crop of okra.

Celery is a vegetable plant that is often excluded from the home garden because of its reputation for being demanding and difficult to grow. But in exchange for the effort home grown celery will reward you with flavor and nutritional value that surpasses that of the commercial varieties found at your local grocers.

Rhubarb is an interesting perennial vegetable that offers an ornamental appeal with its bright red stalks and huge elephant ear sized leaves. While it doesn’t win many popularity contests when it comes to eating or preparing this vegetable, I always grow a plant or two in the garden.

You’re probably sitting there asking “what could possibly be so exciting about any summer squash?” Well, if you’ve limited your gardening to the typical zucchini and crookneck squash varieties, then there’s a lot that you may find interesting and exciting about some of the less common summer squashes.