Meet Our Plants
At the Grange Community Garden, we pride ourselves on growing a wide variety of organic crops. Each year, we grow traditional garden favorites. In spring, there are herbs, carrots, beets, lettuces, and peas. Come summertime, tomatoes, zucchini, corn, beans, and squash reach toward the sun. We even plan for autumn crops to extend the growing season.
In addition to the classics, our community garden also supports perennials and some unique annuals that you won’t even be able to find at a farmers market.
No Name Squash
Why would a squash with a name not be the same? Our prized winter squash at the Grange are from the Maxima genus (like pumpkins). They can ripen to be a variety of colors and shapes – some a pale pinkish orange, some a dusty blue grey, some brighter green, possibly with or without turbans. Their interior flesh is dense and orange, and cooks to a deep earthy taste second to none.
But why do we call them “No Name?” The seed from our squash came from Northern New Mexico, from a landrace crop documented to have grown in the area for hundreds of years, and suspected to have been grown by generation far longer. While sometimes called by the generic term calabaza nativa, or native squash, you won’t be able to find this exact squash sold by any seed company. Why is this a good thing? If it were sold to a seed company, the native people who have mastered this crop to feed their families would not see the profit for the sale of those seeds.
By growing No Name squash at our community garden, we are able to save seeds and return them to the farmers growing them in New Mexico, where they can be used to strengthen the genetics of the crop.
The other great advantage of growing No Names is that because they have been grown in our region for so long, they are perfectly adapted to Colorado’s hot and dry summers.
Garlic
Have you ever lived by a garlic calendar? In our community garden, we mark time with garlic. The first green we note emerging from the ground, sometimes before spring has even officially arrived, is garlic. Early in the season, when everyone is itching with the garden bug, but it is too early to do a lot of planting due to our climate, garlic gives our members a big early season dose of green. Not long after we harvest our garlic scapes to add bright and pungent flavor to our cooking, we know that we will dig the garlic heads around the 4th of July. If you think that opening packages for winter or holidays is fun, you should try unearthing garlic! You never quite know what the ground will reveal. Though, because of our garden’s extraordinary soil, our garlic heads are consistently so large that they fill your palm and sometimes your lap! Our final act as a group each year is planting the next year’s garlic from saved seed in deep autumn once the ground has chilled. With that act, we season our winter dreams with visions of garlic to come – Chamisal Wild, Ayacucho, Bavarian and other tasty cultivars.
Gooseberries
Our gooseberries look like plump pink and green striped beach balls. And be fairly warned, the plant guards her fruit with fierce thorns. The Grange’s happy gooseberry bush produces fruit even in the most uneven weather years. If you know how to cook with rhubarb, then you already know how to make recipes using gooseberries. Their tart character makes them a natural for all manner of pies and baked goods.
Currants
How many times have you seen these delicate jewels decorating the covers of cookbooks of fancy recipes meant to please the eye as well as the palate? You might have to look closely to find them, but our currents are growing intertwined with our gooseberry bush.
Blackberries and Raspberries
Is there anything more delightful than watching a child pick their first garden-fresh berries, sun-warned and juicy sweet? Each year, we are working at propagating and expanding our collection of berries in our community garden.
Rhubarb
The super tart stalks of this long-lived perennial are another of the first crops to emerge come spring. What’s your favorite recipe using rhubarb? Rhubarb pie? Rhubarb crumble? Rhubarb jam? There’s enough to share at our community garden.
Fruit Trees (Crab Apple, Pear, Plum)
Horseradish
Have you ever heard it said that it’s impossible to kill horseradish? Every year, our horseradish patch creeps a little further into one of our main beds. But we don’t mind. There’s more than enough for all of our members to make horseradish condiment for their homes. Many of our members also use horseradish to make the vinegar-based cold and flu remedy known as Fire Cider.
Herbs (Lavender, Thyme, Sage, and More)
