For the 2010 RAFT Heirloom Vegetable Grow-Out we choose 11 varieties of heirloom vegetables to be part of the project. These varieties are historically significant in New England – some of them developed here, others came from somewhere else before having centuries of history in New England. And of course, all of them are delicious!
Boothby’s Blond Cucumber
The Boothby’s Blond Cucumber has been grown for several generations by the Boothby’s family in Livermore, Maine. This cucumber is 6 – 8 inches long, of the “slicing” variety, yellow-cream in color with black spines. According to Seed Savers Exchange, it has an excellent crisp, sweet flavor and there is no need to peel it.
Boston Marrow Squash
While its origins are not completely clear, the Boston Marrow Squash is reported to have originated in South America, probably Chile via the West Indies in the 1700s. It was sold in Boston as early as 1831, when John M. Ives of Salem, Massachusetts exhibited the squash at Faneuil Hall in Boston. Throughout the 1800s, it was an extremely popular squash in the Boston area. Shaker seed catalogs dispersed it though Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.
A Hubbard-like squash also known as Autumnal, it has red-orange skin with yellow-orange flesh. Boston marrow’s texture is moist, tender and fine-grained, with pleasant flavor and considerable sweetness. It has a large cavity that holds a mass of seeds that can be easily removed. It, like most Hubbards, stores well with minimal temperature control in cold cellars.
Forellenschuss or Speckled Trout Lettuce
Forellenschuss means “speckled like a trout” in German, which describes this tasty butterhead lettuce aptly. The thick, light green leaves have maroon speckles. Traceable to 1660 in Holland, this lettuce traveled through Germany until in 1790 it was first brought to Ontario, Canada, and then on to the US.
Forellenschuss has juicy, thick leaves and has been said to taste similar to watercress. It is mild-flavored, and has a loose-leaf romaine -type head.
Gilfeather Turnip
The Gilfeather turnip was originally developed in the late 1880s by stingy Vermont farmer, John Gilfeather, from Wardsboro, VT. He carefully guarded his stock of turnips so that no one else could grow this delicious variety, and was said to even slice the tops and bottoms off each turnip before selling them. Luckily, he wasn’t completely successful, so the seed still exists today. The Gilfeather turnip is not only appropriate to cold-weather agriculture, it is more delicious and sweet after a frost. According to Fedco Seeds, the Gilfeather “turnip” is really a rutabaga.
The Gilfeather turnip is egg-shaped, with a mild taste that is often sweet and creamy after a frost. The turnip greens are also tender, mild and spineless.
Jimmy Nardello’s Sweet Italian Frying Pepper
These peppers were first brought to the US from Basilicata (Southern Italy) in 1887 by an Italian woman whose son, Jimmy Nardello, eventually gave the peppers to Seed Savers Exchange. Mr. Nardello grew them all his life at his home in Naugatuck, CT.
Jimmy Nardello’s Sweet Italian Frying Peppers are sweet, 10 – 12 inches long, crimson red and delicious for frying. It is said to be creamy and soft when fried, and is sweet, light and delicious raw.
Long Pie Pumpkin
It’s thought that the Long Pie Pumpkin originally came from the Isle of St. George in the Azores and was brought to Nantucket in 1832 on a whaling ship, where it was known as the Nantucket Pumpkin. Farmers shared the seeds until it migrating north to Maine, and eventually became the favorite pie pumpkin of growers in Androscoggin County, Maine. Among heirloom enthusiasts, it is considered the best pumpkin for pie today.
Pumpkins are long and thin, like overgrown orange zucchinis. They average 3 – 6 lbs, and often are not ready at harvest, but take some time in storage to mature.
Marfax Bean
Marfax beans are a bush bean that has been grown in New England for decades (and maybe centuries!), with much of their origin and history forgotten. Some say they were one of the favorite beans of Maine logging camp cooks, and they certainly make a tasty baked bean.
The beans are medium-small, roundish, and golden-tan colored. They have a rich flavor and are great for baking or soups.
Oka Muskmelon
A cross between the green-fleshed Montreal Market melon and the Banana melon, Oka is a orange-fleshed muskmelon bred around 1912 by Father Athanase of the Trappist Monastery at La Trappe, Quebec, and offered commercially by Joseph Breck & Sons of Boston in 1924. The fruits are a modest 2 – 5 lb, slightly flattened in shape, sweet and aromatic. The plants are vigorous with good disease resistance, including to BW. Well adapted to colder climates.
Trophy Tomato
One of the rarer, older heirloom tomatoes in the United Sates, it was featured in the Shaker catalogs from Mount Lebanon after being introduced by Colonel G.E. Waring, Jr. of Newport, Rhode Island. In 1870, Waring claimed it to beat all other slicing tomatoes, and offered its seeds for $5 per packet (the equivalent of $70 today), which provoked nearly every other commercial seed source in the country to offer “a Trophy” the next year.
This vining tomato plant matures in eighty days from transplanting, and produces abundant fruit over several weeks. The red, mildly acidic but sweet tomatoes reach seven ounces in weight and have an excellent texture for slicing.
True Red Cranberry Bean
This is perhaps oldest and most familiar pole bean to come out of North America, and appears to have been derived from Vermont.
It is a climber that produces sickle-shaped yellow-green pods that are both succulent and tender. Each pod contains five to six purple seeds, each a half inch long. Although grown primarily as string bean, it has always had a secondary use as a shelled bean. For decades, it was featured in Shaker catalogs in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Wethersfield Red Onion
One of the first great hamburger onions in the U.S., this heirloom emerged from the sea-coast of New England around 1800.
It is a somewhat squat or flattened onion. Purple-skinned, its flesh has pink-tinged, white flesh with red circles embedded in its heart. The typical Wethersfield onion reaches five inches or more in diameter. Its flesh is fine grained, and is stronger in flavor than most red and yellow onions in this country. Prolific, it is known as a good keeper.
References and Sources for More Information
Nabhan, G. P. (2008). Renewing America’s Food Traditions. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Co.
Nabhan, Gary Paul: unpublished communications
Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA
Whealy, K., & Thuente, J. (2004). Garden Seed Inventory: Sixth Edition. Decorah, Iowa: Seed Savers Exchange.
