The temperatures aren’t the only thing heating up this week! We received three impressive entries this week, including two firsts for the year.

Jess Venable-Novak brought in a hefty zucchini “grown with love” by their four-year-old. It may be the first zucchini of the season, but at 19″ L and 14″ C, it’ll be a tough one to beat!

Next, Joan Derry also kicked off a new category with the season’s first eggplant. Her impressive aubergine measured 23.5″ C x 10″ C, putting her firmly in the lead.

Last but not least, George Marcus submitted not one, but two colossal cucumbers. Measuring 10″ L x 10.75″ C and 12″ L x  8″ C, the first cucumber takes over the top spot.

Fun Fact: You probably don’t need us to tell you this, but zucchini are among the fastest-growing vegetables in the garden (although, technically, they’re a fruit). During peak growing season, they can grow 1–2 inches per day! So dust off those zucchini bread recipes…and lock your car doors, or you just might find someone’s surplus zucchini riding shotgun.

The Garden Game has its first cucumber of the season! Ted Foster joined the competition with a cucumber measuring 9” L x 8.5” C, setting the early mark in the cucumber category. As summer gardens hit their stride, we’ll be watching to see if anyone can grow one even bigger. Think you’ve got a contender? Measure it up and come on in!

Fun Fact: Have you ever bitten into a bitter cucumber? There’s science behind it. Cucumbers naturally produce a compound called cucurbitacin, which helps protect the plant from pests. The compound is usually found in the leaves and stems, but hot, dry weather or other stress can cause it to build up, making a cucumber taste bitter.

We love a little friendly competition!

Christy Lynn brought in two impressive garden entries: a 22” L rhubarb stalk and a massive horseradish leaf. While her rhubarb isn’t quite big enough to knock the current champion from the top spot, her horseradish leaf measures an incredible 31″ L x 10.25″ W, earning her the star position in the edible leafy green category.

There’s still plenty of time to join this year’s Garden Game! With lots of categories still up for grabs and weeks left in the competition, now’s the perfect time to show off what you’re growing. Even if your garden giant doesn’t fit one of our official categories, we’d still love to snap a photo and share it with our readers. So bring in your biggest, weirdest, or most impressive homegrown treasures!

Fun Fact: Rhubarb and horseradish both boast giant leaves, but only one belongs on your plate. Horseradish leaves are edible and have a peppery flavor that pairs well with other leafy greens like kale and spinach. They can be enjoyed raw or sautéed. Rhubarb leaves, on the other hand, are toxic and should never be eaten.

Donna Bezanson kicked off our pepper competition this year with some beautiful jalepeños! While these beauties aren’t likely to hold the top spot for long, they measured pretty big for hot peppers at 12” x 5.25”. She says from here, they’re headed home to turn into poppers. Yum!

Fun Fact: Peppers love to “sunbathe.” They thrive with 6 to 8+ hours of direct sunlight each day. The more sun they get, the happier and more productive they tend to be. A little stress can make peppers hotter. Mild drought stress just before harvest can encourage some hot pepper varieties to produce more capsaicin, giving them an extra kick. (Just don’t overdo it, or you’ll reduce the plant’s overall health and yield.)

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had a new Garden Game entry, but that drought is officially over!
Garden Game veteran Gary Miller stopped by with a beautiful edible leafy green measuring 17.75” L x 7.5” W. He included a note saying, “I will be back!” We can’t wait to see what comes in next. Think you’ve got a garden giant that can top it? Bring your biggest and best to the Addy Indy office and you might earn a spot on the Garden Game leaderboard!

Fun Fact: Think horseradish is just about the root? The leaves are edible, too! Young horseradish leaves have a peppery bite similar to arugula and can be enjoyed in salads or cooked like kale. Horseradish is also a member of the Brassica family alongside broccoli and cabbage, and has been cultivated for more than 3,000 years! 

We’re off to the races!

We received one Garden Game entry this week, a rhubarb stalk from Dorothy  Hayes measuring an impressive 25.5 inches long. It’s the first of its kind this season but it’s going to be a tough one to beat!

Dorothy says her rhubarb is destined for pies at the St. Stephen’s Peasant Market pie booth. Yum!

This warm weather is certainly giving local gardens a much-needed boost. What will you enter in next week’s Garden Game?

Fun Fact: Long before it became a pie favorite, rhubarb was prized as a medicinal plant in China for more than 2,000 years. It was so valuable that explorers like Marco Polo sought out its origins, and it was once traded alongside silk and precious gems. Now that sugar is easily accessible to tame its tartness, rhubarb is a bona fide baked good superstar.

Let the games begin!

We received our first two Garden Game entries of the season, and in an exciting turn of events, they happen to be not only in the same category but are also grown by neighbors!

Monica Przyperhart was the first to stop by with a hefty asparagus stalk measuring 16” L x 4.25” C. Laura Asermily’s entry followed: a towe

ring spear measuring 31.5” L x 2” C. Laura noted that her asparagus crop has been especially productive this year, allowing her to share with neighbors while engaging in a friendly competition with the Przyperharts.

Can you do the quick math to figure out which asparagus takes the lead? After a little number-crunching (and perhaps a calculator), the winner is… drumroll, please… Monica’s asparagus by a mere 5”! There must be something in that soil because these two entries were beautiful to behold (and eat!)

Will anyone be able to top Monica’s asparagus? Will a new contender sprout up next week? Stay tuned to find out!

Fun Fact: Asparagus has been enjoyed for thousands of years. According to legend, Emperor Augustus was so fond of the vegetable that he coined the phrase “faster than cooking asparagus” to describe doing something quickly. A recipe for cooking asparagus even appears in Apicius’s De re coquinaria, one of the oldest surviving collections of recipes, dating back to the 1st century A.D.