Got the Garden planned

I think the seeds for my 2011 vegetable garden are complete now. I just read an article where they figure food prices are going up another 32% in the coming year, so growing our own veggies is more important to us than ever. My garden is 35' x 50' and I try to keep us, and the freezers, full. There are lots of things I'm not growing that I've grown in the past, because my wife and I have decided to grow only the vegetables we enjoy most and use the most.

TOMATOES: Big Beef OP, Cherokee Chocolate, Polish Linguisa, Dagma's Perfection, Aunt Ginny's Purple, and the unstable F2 generation of the Dr. Wyche's Yellow x German Red Strawberry cross I made in 2009.

SWEET PEPPERS: Gypsy Hybrid, Carmen Hybrid, Planet Hybrid. (I get all the hot peppers I need for salsa off our potted Maui Purple Peppers.)

CUCUMBERS: Diva, Japanese Long.

SWEET CORN: Kandy Corn, Delectable.

BASIL: Italian heirloom.

GREEN BEANS: Provider Bush Bean, Northeastern Pole Bean. (I grew Provider last year and we thought it was the best variety I've ever grown.)

OKRA: Cowhorn, Perkins Long Pod, Stewart's Zeebest, Hill Country Red, Betty's White. (We love okra, but I haven't settled on a favorite variety. I'm growing five kinds this year, looking for one we'll really like.)

CABBAGE: Danish Ballhead. (We enjoy cabbage fresh, but I'm also been making and canning some great kraut the last two years. We think it's better than any we can buy.)

BEETS: Bull's Blood, Detroit Dark Red, Chioggia. (We really enjoy beets and we freeze 'em for use year-round. I've been growing Detroit D.R., and this year I'm trying a couple of others too.)

TOMATILLOS: I don't buy seeds anymore. I'll have thousands of volunteer plants in the spring, some purple tomatillos, some yellow, and some in between. I'll grow a few plants as tomatillos go good in my garden salsa.

GROUND CHERRY. Aunt Molly's. I've never grown these before, but a company sent me a bonus pack of seeds. They'll go in a flower bed in the front yard since I'm afraid in later years I wouldn't be able to tell the volunteer seedlings from tomatillos if they were in my garden.

That's it. There's lots of things I'm not growing this year - lettuce, onions, potatoes, squash, melons, etc., etc., but I'm concentrating on what I do best with and what we use the best. I'm looking forward to it!

That's a prett good list! I'm thinking of growing fewer types of vegetables this year, too. Of course, I'm still growing too many different tomatoes--I haven't decided which cultivars are my favorites yet. Pickling cucumbers, yellow straight-neck squash, sweet onions, garlic, and sweet corn are on my list. Probably a couple of sweet peppers and at least one hot pepper, too. Not sure about green beans. Will also probably grow Clemson spineless okra.

Not growing potatoes, melons, lettuces, (or any leafy vegetables), beets, carrots, radishes, sweet potatoes, or any type of pea. I've grown pretty much all that in previous years. My soil is pretty heavy and root crops haven't done that well. Melons always take too much space for limited productivity, and I always have too much lettuce.

I'm scaling back too. I decided to take it one year at a time. Knowing that I can go back to growing things in 2012 makes it easier to let them go this year.

Betty's White okra? Lol! Good luck Ozark, that is a good list.

Ozark - congratulations on being so well organized. I recently went through my seed packages and (so far) all I've purchased for this season are beets, parsley, sweet potato slips, onion sets and an irresistible-sounding Charentais-type melon called Tasty Bites f1 from Johnny's.

I'm mostly relying on old seed this year.

Arugula (love this on summer sandwiches)
Asparagus (5th year)
Beans - bush and pole
Broccoli
Carrots
Garlic (already planted)
Melons - Charentais
Peas - hope the birds don't get them this year!
Soybeans
Spinach
Sweet Peppers
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes

I'm hoping the cold weather hasn't killed my perennial herbs:

Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Mint

This is my list for this year's garden:

Tomatoes
Wayahead
Homestead
Earliana
Sioux
Chadwick Cherry
Pantono Romanesco

Peppers
Red Bullnose (from seeds saved from last year's crop)
Sweet Chocolate (new for me this year)
Orange Bell
Golden California Wonder
Jalapenos

Radish-Early Scarlet Globe
Carrots-Danvers Half long & something else that I can't remember right now
Peas-Wando
Beans-Blue Lake pole & Contender bush
Okra-Emerald Green Velvet
Onions
Potatoes--Rio Grande russet, Purple Viking, and Red Norland
Watermelon--Crimson Sweet
Cantaloupe--Honey Rock (AKA Sugar Sweet)
Cucumber-Marketmore 76

Lettuces & garlic planted in the fall

This message was edited Jan 20, 2011 4:09 PM

Here's my list for this year's (2011 Winter/Spring) garden:

Tomatoes
Black Krim (from my 2007-2008 saved seeds)
Cherokee Purple (from my 2007-2008 saved seeds)
Pruden's Purple (from my 2007-2008 saved seeds)
Sioux
Bull's Heart (From a DGer friend)


Peppers
Emerald Giant Sweet Bell
"Fooled You" Jalapenos


Carrots-Danvers Half long, Nantes Half long
Peas-Wando
Cowpeas-Purple Hull, Crowder, Lady Cream, Zipper Cream
Beans-Blue Lake pole & Contender bush
Okra-Emerald Green Velvet, Red Burgundy? Cowhorn?
Onions
Potatoes--Yukon Golds, Kennebecs, Purple Viking, and Red Norland
Watermelon--Crimson Sweet
Lettuces (Romaine)

Steph, when're we putting those potatoes down under?

I'm planting on Valentine's Day!

Ditto on the Valentine's day, Linda. That is per a local farmer I chatted with one fine day at the Farmer's Market.

I envy you Texans. I'll have to wait and start seeds a month later, about the middle of March.

But, I don't think the temp reached 100 even once here last summer and I don't have much of a mid-summer gap when tomatoes won't set on - so I guess it works out even.

Ok. A Valentine's Day Rendezvous it will be! WoooooooooooHooooooooo!

Steph,
Did I tell you the Red Norlings? I bought at Home Depot? Lowe's? were already sprouting from being on the bottom shelves in the moderate warmth and dark?

I'll have to cut the bags from the sprouts. They're practically ready to go out today!

The tomato seedlings will start hardening off field trips on Valentine's Day, too!

It's about to get exciting. Especially since my raised bed(s) aren't in place yet!!!!

aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Wow!!! I envy those who have room to plant a lot. We have limited space plus I don't think I have a all the f time to devote to a big garden. We have almost 1/2 acre but the zoysia grass can not be disturbed. I have enough veggie for the 2 of us.It is in the teens here in Virginia Beach and i start my garden mid May.I do not have much luck starting seedlings so I buy them. Bellie

All of my potatoes are sprouting up on the ledge in the kitchen. The ones doing the best are the ones in the old sifter part of the cat litter box! LOL One of my cats and I had an accident on Sunday night while I was checking them. She got her little toe of her back paw caught in the hinge of the step stool and in my attempt to rescue her, she bit me hard and I now have a bite wound for which I'm taking antibiotics.

Bellieg,
Then we've got to change that so you can grow your own seedlings!

Oh, Steph, I'm so sorry. Do I need to make a trip to FW to help you plant?

If DH would get with it, he could help me! I reward nicely! ;)

I am NOT going there...;)

must be nice to talk about planting on valentines day.... at -30C that'll be hard to do around here! I'm hoping to get my seeds started soon for the slower growing veggies like peppers though. I guess that'll just have to tide me over till may when I can plant out :)

I have beets growing under florescent tubes. I just hope it's warm enough to set them out by the end of February.

Bee,
I thought you direct sowed your beets into your raised bed?

HoneybeeNC - I've never had any luck transplanting beet seedlings from places where they're too thick in a row to places where they didn't come up. Someone here told me that's because beet seeds produce clusters of plants, not singles.

If you're starting them under lights you must be able to transplant them into the garden OK. Is that right?

Gymgirl/Ozark - I've never had success growing beets directly in the garden, so this year I've started them in 3 oz cups. I know root crops are supposed to be "directly sown" but I've transplanted carrots and turnips in the past without a problem, so I figured I'd try the same technique with beets.

At worse they will die, second worse they will be misshapen, and at best, I'll have some nice, tasty beets.

I've done it! My clay soil gets so crusty that beets often won't break through. I've started them in 50-plug flats then set them out. You need to get them in the ground at not much more than a month old though cus once they develop that tap root is when you'll see some make it, some won't. At four week, maybe up to 6 weeks depending on the size of the cell I suppose, would be your best bet at setting them out. I'd harden them off, too, just like any other plant, Honeybee.

Shoe (who just sowed 4 trays of 4pks, and one tray of 72-plug size with Chioggia beets the other day)

I'm going to have to give that a try! My soil forms a crust, too, and I just can't seem to get beets to grow. I managed to get a few last year, and they were delicious! just getting them started is the problem. Do you use normal potting mix in the plug flats? I wonder how the "soil block" plugs would work?

David R

Horseshoe - I was planning on setting them outside once their second true leaves came in - is that okay? Or should I do it once their first set of true leaves come in?

I will harden them off for a few days under a covered porch. I do this with all transplants started indoors. The underside of the porch gets some sun, but not enough to scald young leaves.

We ate lots of beets when I was a child (we called them beetroots where I grew up in England) - but farmers used to give them to my dad, so we never grew any ourselves. Which is why I have so many questions.

Thanks.

Honeybee,
Do you eat the beet greens? We love beets also including the gree4ns. I just boil them and use balsamic vinegar olive oil brown sugar, sea salt and fresh crushed pepper pepper. Bellie

Yes, I eat the greens. I steam them with a little salt, pepper, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Almost the same as you, except I avoid sugar as much as possible.

I love the greens and cook them like Honeybee does, sometimes adding feta cheese if I can afford it. Yummy!

Yes, H-bee, I think you can start hardening them off at their first set of true leaves, especially since they are on your front porch and not in direct sunlight or wind. The second set of leaves will most likely come on with a few days anyway. I suppose if we get super cold weather you might wanna hold off till the second set of leaves come on, and/or just put them outside for a minimal amount of time the first day or so.

As for beets and beetroots...I hear ya there. I'm also on a British website and it's like learning a new language for me. So many things go by different names (and I love learning it!).

David, I use a regular potting mix/seedling mix so yes, just use whatever you use for tomatoes/peppers, etc. I've also used potting mix directly in the garden for beets by sowing the seeds (soaked previously) in a shallow furrow then covering with potting mix. The thing is you have to cover the mix with board or something to keep the moisture in, checking it from time to time for germination.

Shoe

Shoe - if you need a translation of any British to American-English let me know, and I'll do my best to interpret; although I know they have come up with "new" words. Such as "trainers". My brother was going on about his "trainers" in one email to me, and I had to ask to what he was referring. Turned out it was "sneakers". Now, I had never heard of "sneakers" until I came to America. When I was growing up they were called "plimsolls"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plimsoll_shoe

Which has nothing to do with the Plimsoll Line

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterline

Heheheh, so the English language baffles even the English folks. No worries, language sure has changed over the years, some words being born, some dying, some extinct.

Thanks, I'll be sure to holler when I need someone to interpret for me!

Shoe

Honeybee - A good friend gave me a GPS for my pickup truck this Christmas, and I'm enjoying playing with it. The "American English" voice sounds like a young lady with a mean attitude - I don't like listening to her. So, I switched over to the "English English" voice, and she seems quite sweet. Only thing, she uses some phrases that are strange to me.

I had no idea a highway off-ramp is called a "flip road". Is that right?

I like the Aussie gal too, just not the American one. Sometimes I switch it over to a foreign language - apparently "strichny" (or something like that) means "turn" in Polish. I'm just having fun.

Tell me about that "flip road" thing. lol

Hah! That's hilarious, Ozark! And sounds like great fun! Makes me wanna buy one someday. (by the way, what brand did you get, I'll Google it.)

And I thought the Southern language had its own vocabulary.

Shoe (who hopes to start more pepper seeds today cus it's turn cold and gloomy again)

Shoe, it's a Garmin Nuvi 1300, and I like it a lot. They cost a little over $100.

There are lots of choices for the voices, both male and female in all languages. I haven't tried any male voices, and I won't. It may be chauvinistic of me but I don't care - I'm not gonna drive around listening to some guy if I can help it. LOL

Ozark - I had no idea a highway off-ramp is called a "flip road". Is that right?

That's a new one on me! When I left England waaaay back in 1966, there were no high-speed motorways in Great Britain. I'm assuming "flip road" is what we would refer to as an "off-ramp" here.

I'll ask my sister-in-law on Facebook what a "flip road" is.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 780.When daughter and I vacationed in Northern California/Southern Oregon last August it worked like a charm. I just kept the voice it was using when I started it up. She sounds American, but some of the street-name interpretations are hilarious. She always sounds annoyed when saying: "recalculating!"

"I'm not gonna drive around listening to some guy if I can help it. LOL"

Too funny, Ozark. And good thinking cus you know how guys are about directions (or so they think!).

Ozark - I received a reply from my sister-in-law. She said there was no "flip road" and that it was probably a "slip road" which is what an "off ramp" is called there.

"it was probably a "slip road" which is what an "off ramp" is called there."
-----------------------------

Aha, that must be it. I have a little trouble with "Emily's" (the English voice) accent, and I know "Emily" (if she existed) would have a heck of a time understanding English as it's spoken in the Ozarks. I actually heard a friend last week say "He was so glad she come back home, he like to scwuz her to death!". Figure that out, Emily. LOL - Slip road it is.

Back to gardening - I received a seed order from Tomato Growers Supply yesterday and they included a bonus pack of Virginia Sweets bicolored tomato seeds. I looked up that variety, and it's one that Dr. Carolyn Male liked and sent to TGS some years ago. It's a large, late-bearing, gold-red bicolor and the flavor is supposed to be excellent. I had my tomatoes all planned for this year, but now I'll find room for a couple of Virginia Sweets plants, too.

I bet Emily would say "to-maht-o", huh? :>)

toe - mar - toe although I pronounce it: toe - may - toe LOL

My son-in-law is always laughing at the way I pronounce my "A's"

Ozark--I love those past imperfect verb tenses. The part of northern Arkansas that I'm from originally would have said, "squozed her to dath."

: ) David