My last post on edible landscaping went so well, I thought I would start a new post to get recommendations for a new raised vegetable bed that I have almost completed. It isn't terribly big since I have very limited space in sunny areas: 4'x8'x1'. I am planning to run a line from my sprinkler system to it and use drip irrigation to keep it watered.
So far, I know that I want a grape tomato, squash, and maybe a cucumber on a trellis. How closely can I pack plants in it, and what plants cohabitate nicely and produce nicely?
Vegetable recommendations?
you might want to check out a book call 4x4 gardening they pack a lot in a small space.. MY BIL plants his garden on this style and has good luck with it
Grape tomatoes didn't do well for me last year, but the cherry tomatoes were overachievers! LOL If you plant squash, lookout for the squash vine borers. They did in both my zucchini and yellow squash as well as my pumpkins. Depending on how much space you have vertically, you could plant 2 or 3 cukes on your trellis. You can even grow squash vertically.
Here are a couple of lists of recommended varieties for our region.
http://tarrant.tamu.edu/page.asp?o=tamu&s=h&p=317761
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegvar.html
Thanks for those links, Stephanie. Very useful!
I finished up the bed today and filled it with the blend recommended for square foot gardening, weighted a bit heavier toward compost. I really hope that this raised bed will be the final solution for keeping %#$%@# Bermuda grass out of my veggies! :)
I bought a seed potato, onions, and carrot seeds at Marshall Grain today, since they need to be planted first. Next up: cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, pole beans, and bell peppers.
Have your potatoes started sprouting yet? I've had mine "growing" for almost 2 months! The only time I've intentionally let potatoes sprout in my kitchen. LOL I'm going to plant them after this next snow scare passes, hopefully on Wednesday.
Stephanie ~ do you plant the whole potato? I planted my yesterday but had cut them into "eye" pieces a week ago and let them callus over before planting. I plant on the ground and mound leaves on them. That also allows me to compost those leaves for the garden spot next spring.
Dennis ~ you can plant the plants closely as long as you provide adequate moisture and fertilizer. A couple of recommended climbing cultivars that I like are the Spacemaster cucumber. I plant four to a 10" pot and trellis them on a tomato cage and the Porter tomato. It is an inderminate that will set and deliver thru the heat of summer. I ate the last Porter tomatoes at the end of November last year. It produced long and well and was tasty as well. A bit larger that the cherry but still a smaller tomato.
dfwdennis, my great-aunt Ruby used to plant tomatos all across the back of her garage. She had a trellis made of fencing which reached from the ground to the eaves of the garage. She planted the tomato plants a foot apart and whatever varieties were available at the poultry and feed store in town. By the end of summer the entire trellis would be full of tomatoes from top to bottom and side to side. I know she watered once a week as I was delegated to water during her two week vacation each year for many summers. In return for tomato sitting I got all of the tomatoes I could pick for that two week period. I never asked for money! I hope you have as good of luck with your tomatoes as she did with her's!
I always throw cores of apples and green peppers into my flowerbeds, and last year a green pepper plant sprouted. It grew into a monster and gave me a couple dozen delicious pepper plants. I didn't do anything special to it and it grew in almost all-day sun. So I can tell you that green peppers do well in our area (based on my one experience). I've not tried tomatoes because I'd never be able to stay ahead of the Mockingbirds. :-)
Carla
Pod~No, I won't plant the whole tater. I'm going to cut them up and dust the cut sides with wood ash, then I'll let them cure/scab a bit and then plant them. I'm aiming for Wednesday just in case we get snow again.
Thanks for all the great advice! I am going to definitely keep an eye out for those recommended varieties, Podster.
I bought some seed potatoes and some sulfur today. Based on what I have read, I will cut them up tonight, coat them with sulfur, then let them sit in the dark until I plant them this weekend. I also read that it is good to put bone meal in the hole with the potato piece. Hopefully this all works out. This is my first serious attempt at growing vegetables.
You will be hooked! Lots of good info on the Vegetable forum also. You will run into some of us over there too... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/yumyum/all/
I'm going to grow my taters in some containers the DH is making for me. I'm going to do the growing under straw method, but I probably will use a variety of things like leaves, compost, and straw.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1067896/
I will probably have veggies to trade at the RU if you're interested...stay tuned!