Garden, what do you grow?

[Chuck52]

It's getting close to time to start thinking about what's gonna go in the garden this year. The seeds are showing up in the markets. Anybody grow any "unusual" veggies? I'm not talking wackie weed here. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I grew two varieties of okra last year and thought that was unusual for this area (mid missouri) since I think of it as a southern-type vegetable, but it turned out several of my neighbors also grew it. I probably put in too many different crops last year and should concentrate on the ones we actually used the most and which grew well, but I like to try different stuff. So, what do you folks grow?

Chuck

 

[Bird]

Chuck, I raise pretty much the same thing every year with some slight variations. More out of habit than anything else, I always grow the Clemson Spineless okra, Detroit Red beets, and Purple Top turnips. Then I use 1015Y onions and Blue Lake green beans because they're the best tasting I've found. I like the solid red radishes better than the red and white because they tend to be sweeter, had real good luck last year with the Early Snowball cauliflower and Crown White cabbage, so plan to stay with them. I've tried a wide variety of tomatoes, but will probably stay with just the Early Girl and Big Boy again this year. I've always planted Yellow Crooked Neck squash, but this year bought the Yellow Straight Neck to see how they compare. And I've tried a wide variety of cucumbers; going with some just called Pickling Cucumbers this year. And California Wonder bell peppers. Is there more than one kind of zucchini?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I've already bought my seed; don't remember a name. Used to raise white potatoes, but had red ones the last two years; haven't decided which one I want this year. I don't remember any specific names for the sweet corn, blackeyed peas, and broccoli, and my wife bought two different varieties of carrot seed. I've also forgotten the specific name for the yellow meat watermelon and the pumpkin seed I bought. Last year, a neighbor gave me something they called an Israel melon; giant sized cantaloupe and quite possibly the best I ever ate, so I saved the seed for this year.

 

[fishman]

Chuck52,

I used to work at MU, first as a grad student, then as a term researcher in the fisheries department (1992-1997). I lived about 10 miles northeast of Columbia toward Hallsville.

My garden consisted of tomatoes (Roma, Beefsteak), Peppers (California Wonder, jalapenos), pole beans, zuchinni, potatoes (Red Lasoda), corn (Candy), and okra/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

I also had four dwarf apple trees, a concord-type grape, and thornless blackberries.

This was all in a very cramped back yard. My secret, if you will, was Miracle Grow.

Now that I live in central Texas, I'm growing pretty much the same stuff, and still using Miracle Grow. Composting and green manure can only get you so far.

If you want some real stuff, you can probably still get some horse manure from the stables for cheap. You will need to compost it first though, as I found out the hard way. I think it was $10 a truck load, but don't quote me on that.

As far as trying different vegetables, if you have the room, go for it!

 

[Thomas]

We Have talk about trying gardening again,but its pretty hard not to find what the wildlife{moose,deer,bears,rabbits etc..} doesn't like,and a fence doesn't help much when a moose decide its time to eat. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
We do grow tomatoes & cukes & pumpkins near the house.

 

[DFB]

Eggplant, both the italian and oriental dark purple varieties.

Herbs, lot's of basil and rosemary in the garden, Spearmint grows wild out under the trees. Chives, oregano, russian tarragon, tyme, and sage grow in 1/2 whiskey barrels.

Hot peppers, jalepenos and chiles. Hungarian wax. Cayanne too!

Of course always sweet green peppers and lots of tomatoes both regular and cherries. Straight neck yellow squash. The dark green zucchini, cukes. Pole beans. Pumpkins and mixed gourds. This year planning some green and red cabbage along with some turnip. Looking at the King Richard Leeks also for my short growing season.

Tried Burpees' Roly Poly Zucchini last year. Best picked small. Neat nutty flavor, eaten raw. Deer loved the plants too till I doused them with Hinder. Set me back three weeks at least. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

DFB

 

[RoMo]

Bird,

Iordered some Blackberries to plant this Spring. Recalling that you have mentioned these several times before, can you give me some pointers?

 

[MossRoad]

Early Girl tomatoes.
some kind of Italian pear tomatoes.
Cherry tomatoes.
Green Bell peppers.
Hungarian peppers(sliced in rings and canned in bread and butter pickle mix is awsome. We call them fire and ice).
Strawberries.
Fall Gold raspberries(yellow raspberries, the sweetest you'll ever taste, but don't keep well at all. You have to eat them imediately or freeze them for jam making later)
Ice Box watermelons(little round ones).
Canteloupe
Spinach
Onions (does anyone know an organic cure for root worm maggots /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif
Carrots
Potatoes(thin brown skin, don't know the type, they come up on their own)
Jerusalem artichokes(sweet and tastey raw, but gives you GAS/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif)
Zuchinni(I don't know the type either, Bird /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Wild black raspberries
White mulberries(for some reason, the birds don't poop them on our car/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif)
And last year we planted some red and yellow delicious apples, granny smith apples, alberta peaches and some tart cherries.

And probably some more that I forgot.

 

[Bird]

Rob, I don't know how much you know already about blackberries, and the best place to learn is probably your county extension agent. I have 4 pages of information I got from my county agent and will be glad to mail you a copy if you want to send me a private message with a mailing address. This literature names about 15 different varieties, including some to avoid.

I assume what you have ordered will come with some instructions, but they usually come as root cuttings about 6" long and in bundles of 10 to 50. Plant them horizontally about 2" deep in heavy clay soil to about 4" in lighter sandy soil. The canes (stems) that grow one year produce the next year and then die, so you want to prune out the dead ones each year as soon as they're through producing or they may be susceptible to insects and/or disease. Now if you have lots of time and energy, I suppose the best way is to hand prune the old growth out, leaving the current year's growth and you'll have some tall plants producing next year. The other alternative (which I use) is to just mow the entire patch when they finish producing (about mid-June in my area). I mow them down very close to the ground with the brush hog, and then run over them again with the lawnmower, then throw a little granular fertilizer on them, and water them good. That allows plenty of growth before frost to suit me, and that growth will produce berries the following year. I just have a 50' long patch, about 4' wide, and I'll pick 20 to 50 quarts a year (depending on how bad the birds and grasshoppers are). The blackberries will also spread pretty fast if you allow them to, but I keep my patch about the same size by simply keeping those that spread outside that area mowed down every time I mow the yard. And that's all I do to mine.

 

[Chuck52]

Bird,

Though I didn't ask for it, thanks for the blackberry info! My son has been after me to plant some, but if you follow some of the directions I've read, all you'd do would be mess with the things. Your method sounds like something I would actually do! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

My garden last year was only OK. It was my first in several years and the first at the new place. I over-crowded some stuff and the weather didn't do me any favors either. So far, except for the Jerusalem artichokes, no one seems to do any "unusual" stuff. I probably will do the main crops, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, turnips, okra, squash, peppers, etc. The wife wants corn, but that will mean another new garden spot to create. We'll see. Maybe the !@#$%^ deer would be happy to eat the corn and leave the other veggies alone. HA!

I did try some "heritage" tomatoes last year, Brandywines. They did very poorly, but so did the Better Boys. I got tons of Romas and cherries, but most folks around here had poor luck with tomatoes last year. Naturally, we were really looking forward to fresh tomatoes. I'll spend more time on them this year if I can.

My garden last year was pretty much organic. I'm not a fanatic. As a biochemist I believe the "better things for better living through chemistry' slogan one of the big companies used to use. On the other hand, I am cheap! Good soil. Not many bugs. No chemicals last year. This year the bugs may find me.

Chuck

 

[Bird]

Chuck, I think if no other tomato will produce, the Romas and Cherry tomatos will./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif In fact, we've had so many of them in the past that my wife doesn't even want me to plant any. The Romas are good for canning, sauces, and even in salads, but my wife likes the big slicing tomatos.

We don't have a problem with deer in my area. We'll see one to 4 deer at at time maybe 3 or 4 times a year, but they'd have to cross too big an open area to get to my garden and just don't do it. And only one year that we've had a real problem with the rabbits. However, since I haven't used any chemicals on my garden yet, the grasshoppers have been a major problem now for 3 years. I don't know if we'll have them again this year or not.