What are you growing this year?

Organic is the way to go

I am a part of an organic movement and we are going to set up 14 organic demonstration plots this year. I am so excited!

I am going to be planting my seedlings soon for my all season romaine...I look forward to having lettuce again

NRGmama - I misread that. I thought you said you wanted to attract birds to eat!

Well my greenhouse is up and active, trying carrots, brocolli and onions for now - need a trial at something! Then it will be growing in pots, no ground level planting for me I'm afraid, weak back. So lets see how I do with my first ever 'crop' ?

There's a pic of my gifted greenhouse on my sp page if you fancy a peak!

Edited by: WORKTHEGOAL at: 7/11/2009 (12:46)

Mostly weeds unfortunately - we just bought this house, I'm converting the front space to an organic garden and leaving the back to the desert for now (money and time are not unlimited). The plants in the front are plants that were already there, or plants that will attract birds or that I can use as food for the family. So, mostly herbs (lavendar, thyme, various mints, etc) and lettuces (in the bed by the front walk - its a little unexpected to most but has worked really well. I also have some jasmine, a couple of roses, and some nastutium as well as some great sunflowers and aloe

We will be adding more beds this year. I am going to try and get pictures on that I just took.
lots too grow, good for you to eat..

In response to the post asking about rosemary in cooler climates, I am in Zone 5 and I have never had any success with it wintering over outdoors. One year I tried digging it and bringing it inside for the winter. Unfortunately, it didn't do well indoors.

I just plant (from plants) each spring, harvest about once a month during the growing season. I use some fresh and dry the rest in bundles in my kitchen. It seems to work out well that way and we have always had plenty of dried rosemary to use (and even some to give away) until the next spring.

Basil also does not winter over here, but I've had great success with sage, Greek oregano, golden oregano, chives, thyme, and winter savory. In fact, I've had to pull some of these out each year to keep them from over-flowing the herb garden into the lawn.

All this talk of pumpkins makes me wish I had planted some. I must make myself a not for next year's garden to find a home for some pumpkins!

I can't wait for my sweet pumpkins to start coming on as I can't wait to bake some fresh pumpkin bread and pies. I think they should probably be ready by October

Now that it's summer I'm only going to be in touch intermitently. Here's this weeks update - I've been able to harvest the start of the coldframe cucumbers and zucchini, my bell peppers are blooming and I have more baby tomatoes. Outside, the strawberries are needing a daily pick and they are starting to refill their spot in the freezer. The red pontiac potatoes are blooming, chard and spinach and cos continue to inundate me and I'm giving baskets of it away to friends. The black currents are starting to colour up. The beans are blooming but not setting fruit - I think it's still too cool for them as the average tempertures this past week high 18C low 8C are still cool.

I think that is a great idea,,I have noticed my squash plants are making a comeback, They were all dying but now new leaves are growing and it looks good..
Not sure what is up with that

Yes, I love this time of year in the garden. We froze a load of broad (fava) beans at the weekend in lots just big enough to take out and make a bean and goats cheese omelette in winter.

First french beans, mange tout and new potatoes this weekend.

How about a thread on recipes for the freezer for all the excess?

my hubby makes it, we use all kinds of fresh vegis, in a wok and then use rice, I should have him use brown rice but he wont, either chicken , or pork
It is really good and we had that for leftovers.

It's so great to freeze that stuff too and have it year round! How do you fix your stir fry?

WE used our chinese red noodle beans tonight in a stirfry..They are good, and a little nutty tasting..We have a lot of them so we will be having a lot of different stir fries...

We have little summer squash and I am so excited! We are trying the topsy turvy for some of our tomato plants and although they are growing nicely our other tomato plants are doing better. We are growing in containers only this year due to contaminated soil. I am about to post our "garden" on my website. When I am done i will post the link. Does anyone have any growing tips they would like me to post? If so go to my spark page and leave me a blurb with your name (or whoever you want me to credit the tips to) and I will copy it directly to my site! Have a great day!

Picked some of the long beans today. We will use them in stir fry tomorrow evnening.

Chinese long beans are delicious! I live in northwest China and they eat them all the time here. Around here they are called sijidou (four season beans), but they really are not available all four seasons. They are particularly good with a local seasoning here called dipicai (earth skin vegetable). I had never heard of it until I moved here, but I have seen ladies harvesting it in the wild. It is some kind of green plant that grows on the ground in moist shady areas (not moss, more seaweed-like). It dries up once the sun is high, so you have to harvest it in the early morning. they sell it dried in the local market, so you could check out the Chinese grocery store for it. I am not sure how to cook with it- if you just use it dry or soak it first. I've had it in other things also, like dumplings.

Thank you for the colder climate tip, but where I live is the 2nd world. I don't think I'll be bale to find that item you mentioned. I have seen high altitude greenhouse made of adobe with bamboo and plastic, but I can't very well construct one of those myself. I already planted the beets anyway. this is my first time to grow beets, so I appreciate any other suggestions.

I am trying to start herbs from seeds- sweet basil and dill right now, but I'll start thyme, sage, rosemary, and other varieties of basil soon also. I have never had much luck starting rosemary. Any helpful hints for this also? Woud rosemary survive in such a cold climate or will I have to keep it inside?

Zone 8 in the UK.

Greenhouse - tomatoes and peppers, cilantro.

Veg beds: shallots, onions, garlic about 6 types potatoes. courgettes. several different types lettuce. Leeks, sweetcorn, celery, broad beans (fava) and green beans, peas and mange tout. Parnsips (not doing well) some beetroot, carrots and swiss chard.

herb bed: rosemary, chives, parsley, oregano, thyme, cilantro.

Other: strawberries in hanging baskets. black currants, gooseberries. Apples, plum tree x1. We planted a lemon tree in a sunny spot this year with a large cold frame that we can put round it in cold weather - seems to be doing OK.

We have flower beds as well but that's not where our passion lies.

Funny you should say that about your black beans as we planted Tawain style black beans and they came up and then something ate them all or something weird happened to lthem. Our Chinese long beans looked like they were being eaten as well but we have some of the longest beans now. I have never tried them but hear that they are good in stir fry

I'm in upstate NY, zone 5. We planted broccoli, onions, peas, carrots, spinach, lettuce, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkins, Roma tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, anaheim chiles, watermelon, and basil. I had black beans planted as well, but something snatched them right after they sprouted. They were just gone the next morning! I think it must have been birds, because there was no sign of nibbling or digging. I just replanted my watermelon- I'm not sure if they didn't sprout the first time or if something got them. I'm not sure if they'll produce this year, but I figured it was worth the shot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed with my eggplant and peppers. I got them started late last year and they didn't produce, but they were much farther along this year. It's been cold, though, so they aren't as big as I would have hoped.

I am also in a cooler climate - our night temps are still around 8C right now and today's high is supposed to be 17C - considering that standard room temp is 20C I'm in a cool climate. I have found that remay works wonders. It is a floating row cover that looks similar to fabric ling. It lets the sun and moisture through but creates a microclimate that is often 5C above that of unprotected areas.

On another note - I've just pulled the last of the radishes as they are getting woody and bolting. I have let about five of them stay to produce seed. I'm going to plant a 54 day carrot in their place. Any other suggestions?

We have been trellsing our watermelons for the past couple of years now so it is hard to see the yellow color on the bottom of the melon when they are hanging. We planted the smaller varieties. We heard that if the tentrils on the branch with the melon are dried up then that would be a good indication that it is ready. Just don't want to lose another one. The first one we picked wasn't quite ready..

This is my first post in this group!

I potted plants in my livingroom last weekend. I have concrete floors right now, so I can do that.

I am going to be planting beets this weekend (outside). Any tips? I live in a pretty cold climate, because of altitude more than latitude- I'm about as far north as New York City, but at about 9,000 feet I guess (a little more). It's also a pretty dry climate. I am from hot, humid Houston, TX, so I am not that familiar with this kind of gardening.

It is a little hard trying to pick the watermelon at just the perfect time. We always looked for the bottom (where it rests on the soil) to turn yellow and then when the stem of the fruit pulls away from the vine easily when you tug gently on the melon. I don't know how to describe it better. We also thump them and listen for a hollow sound, but I've heard that is not really a very good indicator.

Well I just got a lot of beans today and will have more ready tomorrow. I am always pulling the squash and just a few tomatoes that are ready. I am not sure when to pick the watermelons, and the cantaloupes are not quite ready yet. Not sure when to pick the chinese long beans either.

Sunday I picked 3 quarts of green beans and a handful of peas. There will be more beans ready to pick by this weekend.

DH counted 16 green tomatoes and a dozen little ears of corn starting. Both varieties of squash have been blooming, but I don't see any fruit set yet. I pinched off the terminal buds and removed all of the lower leaves on the Brussels sprouts, but don't see any sprouts forming yet. IDK what happened to our onions. They were doing fine, but seem to have suddenly disappeared. The watermelon vines are growing and look like they're getting ready to bloom.

This year I have garlic tomatoes onions jalepenos lettuce spinach carrots radishes cabbage brocoli peas beans corn zuccini pumpkins cucumbers potoatoes growing. In containers I have strawberies and herbs growing. I can't wait for the first tomatoes to rippen up, all my plants have blooms on them, I have a baby jalepeno already.

We will be putting in another 4-5 beds this summer that will be 4foot by 25 foot...Is looking forward to growing food year round

Well, in my vegetable garden, I have 3 yellow squash plants, 3 brussel sprouts, mixed lettuce, spinach, onions, a few beginning strawberry plants, swiss chard, carrots, beets, one sugar pumpkin plant, one lambkin melon (have no idea what that is-- just trying it out, 4 orange (yes-- orange!) watermelon plants, beans, 12 tomato plants (3 different kinds), cilantro, fennel, and dill. My flower beds: I have all sorts of perennials and annuals. I have one shade bed and one sunny bed. I also have a small wheelbarrow at the end of my driveway with some flowers in it, as well as a bunch of hanging baskets. Experimenting with water gardening on a very small scale this summer. Have had koi for a few years now, but above ground in a large tank/tub. Am working on an in-ground pond this summer and getting some plants from my sister-in-law to begin, since we don't have a lot of money right now.

My squash is lacking a little but we will feed again soon. The beans are off the hook, and we are getting more pumpkins. I was trying more lettuce but not sure if it will work. Will have to wait and see. it is suppose to be all season lettuce...

Seems like my plants have stopped growing...I don't think I've ever had this problem before. They look healthy....just not growing. Interesting...I'm going to pay attention to the sun and shade..could be the tree near it has gotten taller and is shading more of it. What else could it be? Anyone ever have this happen? Maybe they are on a plateau like me?? Tee hee

I t sure what else I will plant this year but I know I will be planting more..

SLIMJIM and THESKINNY:

I personally don't think it's any harder to do several crops than it is to do one or two, so you might as well try your hand at a variety. The only real way to learn is to try. Some things are harder to grow than others depending on your climate and soil conditions. There are some veggies that do better in the cool weather - like lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli, while others require warmer temps to mature - like tomatoes and watermelon.

I say give it a shot. Just remember that your first few seasons will be a learning experience.

I forgot about my carrots...

Hi slimjim!! I'm an absolute beginner too and I planted beets, onions scallion, and carots among other things. Bush string beans, cauliflower, broccoli, chinese cabbage, spinach, corn, pumpkins, radishes, celery peas, cucumbers, eggplant and the queen of the garden...tomatoes!! I just jumped right into it, didn't I?

Lots of Herbs, sunflowers, Mesculen Mix of Lettuces, Apricots, Apples, and Cucumbers

My family eat a lot of carrots, brocolli, and cauliflower. So I will be delighted when I start with my first 'crop'.

Also plan on growing string green beans and potatoes.

I'd like to try for onions and leaks and beetroot too.

Is this too ambitious for an absolute beginner?

SUNNI, this is just a wild thought and I have nothing to back it up, but thought I would mention it so you can do some online research to see if this is a viable technique.

Maybe you could put up a sun-filtering canopy of some sort that would allow your plants to still get sun, but protect them from it at the same time. Maybe a pergola of some sort with airy vines growing on it? Or maybe put up posts and stretch weed barrier or cheesecloth or something like that to filter the sunlight.

Like I said, just a thought, and it may be a crazy one that's totally off base.

My husband and I bought our first home about a year ago. We started our garden in the fall and finished planting this spring. We are somewhat limited to what things we can plant. We live in hot south Texas where the soil is rocky and filled with clay. I have had a difficult time getting the right blend of soil.
We have 11 different herbs, garlic and shallots.
I have a few roma tomato plants, a couple jalapeno and strawberries. I have several flourishing green beans, one zucchini, and one yellow bell pepper plant. I had 4 rows of corn until the energy company came to trim the trees off the power lines and they crushed most of my corn plants.
I really wanted to grow some arugula and green leaf lettuce but it is to hot here. I haven't figured out the right time to plant it yet.

Beans and tomatoes

We moved into our house at the end of December. It was a "clean slate" for the most part so we've done a TON of planting.

Veggie beds have:
Sunflowers, Asparagus, tomatoes, shelling peas, cucumbers (slicing and pickling), peppers (jalapenos, poblanos, black & orange bells, Italian sweets), parsnips, potatoes (blues, all reds, yukon golds, fingerlings, russets, german butterballs), sweet corn, dry beans, flour corn, tomatillos, onions, garlic, carrots, leeks, green beans, zucchini, sweet potatoes, honeydew-type melons, watermelons, winter squash, pumpkins, strawberries and rhubarb.

Our herb bed has:
Rosemary, sage, lemongrass, basil, chamomile, Greek and Italian oregano, hyssop, savory, tarragon, dill, cilantro, ginger, sweet woodruff and comfrey.

Fruit shrubs/vines that we planted:
Kiwis, raspberries, blueberries, currants, grapes, and passion fruit.

We also planted fruit/nut trees:
Fig, lemon, lime, blood orange, tangerine, kaffir lime, pomegranate, apples (fuji and granny smith), two cherries, almond, nectarine, asian and bartlett pears, apricot, and persimmon.

We did luck out and there were already blackberries and artichokes here.

Zone 5 here - St. Louis, MO metro area.

Let's see...

In the veggie beds we have Green Lake bush beans, yellow corn, zuchinni, yellow summer squash, 8 tomato plants, peas, onions, watermelon and Brussels sprouts.

In my herb garden, I have sage, chives, parsley, Greek oregano, rosemary, golden oregano, winter savory, cilantro and thyme.

In our patio boxes we have peppermint and lemon balm (and Icelandic poppies and royal hostas).

In my front flower bed (amongst the lillies, columbines, roses, dianthis and coreopsis) I have bee balm, lavender, and purple night sage. On the porch I have a pot of zinnias, a pot with geraniums and wave petunias, and soon I'll be moving my huge aloe plant (seriously - this thing stands almost 5 ft tall!) out there for her summer vacation.

In my side garden, which is partly sunny and partly a shade garden, I have echinaceas (purple coneflowers), feverfew, and bergamot in the sunny section along with a couple of mums and some snapdragons. The shade garden (no herbs or veggies stuck in here), I have foxglove, lily of the valley, 3 varieties of hostas, caladiums, English ivy and impatiens - oh, and a hanging basket planted with a tuberous begonia, asparagus fern and trailing lobelia.

In the back yard, I also have a flower bed that's planted with shasta daisies, dianthis and veronica and in the middle of the bed I have a big redwood bucket planted with giant coleus and romaine lettuce.

That's it for now, I think, but I still have sunflowers, marigolds, iceberg lettuce to plant. IDK where the heck I'm going to put them. I'm thinking I'll put the sunflowers in between the corn rows and the marigolds between the tomato plants - that is, if I ever get out there to weed between the rows! LOL

I've been planning another bed for outside our master bedroom, but we're wanting to remodel the room to take out the window and replace it with French doors out to the back yard. I'm not going to start laying out that bed until all the construction is done - which probably won't be this summer. I want to incorporate some more herbs into that garden when (or if?) we ever get to the planting stage.

Someimes I really wish I were retired so I could spend more time gardening. Does that make me crazy? LOL

WE started our seeds inside in late January. Then planted in February. We have had lettuce 3 types of
Buttercrunch, great lakes head, and romaine, also we planted brocoli and cauliflower, and cabbage.All is organic. The last 2 heads we pulled at the end of may weighed about 10 poubds and were as big as basketballs..We also tryed brussel sprouts but that didn't work out.4 types of squash, yellow,zucinni,,acorn, and butternut, 3 types of peppers sweet italian, sweet banana, and one other type. 3 types of tomatoes roma which we have the most of for canning for sauces,cherry tomatoes, and early girl, cantaloupe, watermellon,strawberries,asparagus,spinach
, green onions, and radishes, this is our 3rd planting of radishes, they grow well...Also 2 types of beans, bluelakes green beans, and chinese long beans, asparagus, and then some raspberries, and blueberrie which have not produced yet, oragano, and sage,now lets see if I have forgotten anything. We also have a lemon tree, orange tree, gala apple tree, granny smith apple tree, peach tree which is full of peaches, plums tree,, cherry tree, and and avacado tree, I also forgot about the asparagus, and the artichokes, and the chives. I almost forgot about the pumpkins. We make homemade pumpkin pies and pumpkin breads..All within a small area. We are planning on adding 7 more 25 foot by 4 foot beds...Wow....We are trying to be sustainable...

Edited by: LINDY36 at: 6/7/2009 (01:54)

Oh yeah.

We've got 10 corn plants, which is more of an experiment for my 13 year old than anything else. I doubt we'll get much from that little. *laughs*

We're zone 6. We planted lettuce; spinach(didn't grow); radishes(not so good, but I think that was my fault); canning tom; red, green, orange, and yellow peppers;3 types of peas; yellow and green beans; jalepeos; onions; pickling cucumbers and mellons. The strawberries are from two years ago. It all sounds good, but we still don't have a tiller. Our neighbor does our plowing, so it's a nightmare trying to keep up with the weeds. Even so, I am so excited about our garden, this year.

Sounds like you've got a good garden going this year! I'm growing tomatoes (after laying off for 3 yrs because of blight and stinkbugs). Mainly early girl, Carnival and one Juliette. The juliette is amazing. Kind of like a roma and kind of like a cherry. My tomato plants look fantastic and I'm harvesting them already. Just a few now, but the big rush will hit soon. I've also been trying to grow okra. My storebought sets died and then I started in on my own seeds after that. I've been plugging them in, and finally looks like they're surviving. Don't know what the problem was, but everytime I planted new, I'd add some more organic compost to the area. I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that okra likes heat and also good drainage. I've still got swiss chard going full tilt, although some of it is bolting. Got a few basil plants from seed. Oh yeah, and peppers. A couple of the yellow hybrids I bought from Home Depot that did so well for me last year, a Giant Marconi, a red and a yellow I bought from a little garden store I don't remember the names of. Not growing hot peppers this year as I still have tons of habaneros left over from last year that I have preserved in vinegar in our fridge. We also have native chili pequins growing in numerous areas on our property.

I started saved seeds from some giant snapdragons last summer and then divided,potted, and kept an eye on them this winter. Now they're blooming in pots everywhere on our front porch. There were so many of them that I planted some of the extras strategically in the garden between the tomatoes and okra and peppers. They are so PRETTY! Snapdragons are very easy to gather seed from and germinate. Easy to divide. They will also re-seed themselves. So I'm hoping to see more of them in the garden in the coming years...

I'm in central TX and I think it's zone 7.

I'm sure there is something I've forgotten--Yes, the two fig trees in the garden. Texas sweet figs, and a purple fig. The trees are covered with immature fruit. Can't wait!

Paula

Virginia, Zone 6/7

We're growing 3 varieties of tomatoes (Roma, Better Boy & some variety of grape) Bell Peppers (Green & Yellow), cucumbers, cabbage, squash, spinach (planted late, may not do well), basil, oregano, onions, garlic and hot peppers that are from old-time cross-bred passalong seeds (I'm SO excited these are doing well!) These peppers make the BEST shake on peppers EVER.

Good luck & have a great night!

Edited by: BUSYMOM22 at: 6/6/2009 (20:51)

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to know what your growing this year and what Zone are you in?

I'm growing 17 Tomato plants (Roma's, Cherokee Purple, Better Boy, Big Boy, Mr Stripey, Husky Cherry Red, Goliath, German Queen and some other stuff).

I am also growing some Cucumbers, 2 Zucchini plants (1 died already), and about 20 String & Bush beans.

Growing a few herbs - Basil, Parsley, thyme and a few others.

I have 8 Chilli plants (Different varieties)

I am trying to squeeze as many plants in to a small area as possible =). Looking for easy to grow, high yielding veges.