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Starting indoors Sow seeds for heat-loving, slow-growing vegetables indoors about eight weeks before the soil is warm enough to plant them outside. Go to BHG.com/ SeedStarting for all the basics on growing from seeds.
EGGPLANT
TOMATO
PEPPER
Eggplant comes in a surprising number of varieties. And they’re not all purple.
Heirloom varieties and unusual new hybrids offer almost every color of the rainbow and a delicious array of flavors.
Branch out from the usual bell pepper with a wider range of sweetness and heat.
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Japanese White Egg, an Asian variety, bears 2- to 3-inch white oval fruits, a good size for stir-frying. Rosa Bianca is an Italian heirloom prized for its lavender color and mild flavor. Patio Baby is a prolific producer, yielding a few dozen small purple fruits on a single dwarf plant. Try it in a pot.
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Orange Zinger is a crack-resistant variety. Fruits are both sweet and citrusy. Fantastico offers high yields of sweet red cherry tomatoes. Red Zebra is a gorgeous heirloom with red skin and orange stripes. The 3-inch fruits have outstanding flavor.
SET SEEDLINGS BY A SUNNY WINDOW OR 2 INCHES UNDER FLUORESCENT LIGHTS.
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BHG | February 2016
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NuMex Easter is a hot new chile pepper. Fruits go from lavender to pale yellow to bright orange-red. Mama Mia Giallo offers stunning yields of 7- to 9-inch-long fruits that are golden when ripe. Sweet Sunset is a new banana type that bears loads of crisp, mild fruits that ripen to red.
SEED SOURCES BHG garden editor Jane Miller picks her favorite online catalogs: BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM SEEDS
rareseeds.com BURPEE
burpee.com JOHNNY’S SELECTED SEEDS
johnnyseeds.com RENEE’S GARDEN SEEDS
reneesgarden.com SEED SAVERS EXCHANGE
seedsavers.org THE COOK’S GARDEN
cooksgarden.com
