Heirloom or OP veggie suggestions for containers

Hi, I posted this over in the heirloom forum and thought someone here might have some ideas too. I'd like to be able to save seeds from some of my veggies this year, plus agree with philosophical reasons to plant heirlooms and open pollinated varieties. They will be planted in various size tubs and pots b/c we only have a postage stamp to grow on, and most of it's in the shade. Except the little bit in the front but the HOA may not like that much, and I'd rather not have my hard work yanked out by the "landscapers" (flattering them to use that word, but that's another story). We're saving the postage stamp for native wildflowers and shrubs.
Anyhoo, this is what I plan on for this year:
Lettuce (like a small head or romaine-the crunchier the better)
Shallots (maybe)
Tomatoes (i like them really tomatoey if that makes sense)-maybe 1 early and 1 late, I have Carolyn's book and was thinking of Stupice for early, but can't really make up my mind. They all sound so good.

Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Pepino- i think there's only one species

Considerations: Everything will be started inside, except maybe the shallots, and have grown lots of veggies before, in the ground (wish i had my Mom's garden again) and in pots. Since I'm the only omnivore in the house ::rolls eyes:: , yield isn't important. I understand I will have to bag blossoms to get good seed from the maters, and I doubt I'll save seed from the lettuce or cauliflower. Will I have to bag the eggplant and pepino blossoms for seeds, or do different Solanum species even cross pollinate?

Sorry for running on, trying to anticipate questions ahead of time

Sandy
who shares the house with 3 Mustela putorius furo , 2 Felis catus ,
and 1 Homo sapiens ssp curmudgeon var. i-dont-eat-that

Sandy, I never heard of bagging blossoms to get good seed from tomatoes. Last year I grew some from a woman in France who just gave me two different tomatoes and told me how to save the seeds for my own garden. They both came up true to type - pas de problème! I plant them using bamboo tripods, three plants to a tripod, in groups of two tripods each, so they're slightly insulated, but next to them are tripods with other varieties. And by the way, I strongly recommend St. Pierre; they're my new favorites - both the earliest and latest of my types, prolific, smooth and wonderful tasting!

Leslie

Most lettuce is open pollinated. Just pick one that is available from your favorite vendor. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=Lettuce%2C+Romaine&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search
Ditto for shallots.
Tomatoes, probalbly better to go with a determinate, but there are plenty of choices. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/advanced.php?nn%5B1%5D=5&nn%5B2%5D=0&nn%5B4%5D=0&nn%5B5%5D=0&nn%5B12%5D=0&nn%5B17%5D=1&nn%5B13%5D=6&nn%5B14%5D=0&nn%5B18%5D=0&nn%5B15%5D=0&nn%5B19%5D=3&nn%5B21%5D=0&nn%5B22%5D=0&nn%5B24%5D=0&sname=Tomatoes&Search=Search
Cauliflower: One of the Snowballs http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=cauliflower&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=snowball&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search. Note that cauliflower is a bit tricky for seed saving and the hybrids are much better performers.
Cucumbers: For slicing, Straight Nine, for pickling Northern Pickling, Asian Suyo Long
Eggplant:Lots of American and Italian cultivars to choose from: Black Beauty, Rosa Bianca. Ping Tung for large. http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Eggplant

tom thumb lettuce is advertised as being perfect in size for single serving.

I have to grow everything in pots now due to disability and have done a lot of research on smaller varieties. I try to concentrate on open pollinated varieties and there are many choices thanks to the growing interest in them.

I would consider mixing some vegs with flowering annuals in the "postage stamp". Peppers, tomatoes and eggplant can be very ornamental. The 8" Florida Basket, 12" Red Robin and 18" 506 Bush are all productive and beautiful OP tomatoes. They have the very quilted leaves known as rugose and are pretty greenery even without the toms. Many peppers from hot to mild are 16" to 24" size. Clumps of shallots would provide lovely texture in a flower bed. I grow the mesclun mix for lettuce and it has all different shapes, colors and with cut and come again harvesting, it lasts all season.

With some planning, you could probably fool most of your HOA into thinking you had some exotic new tropicals. Many communities are plagued with HOAs whose residents could probably get off their anti-depressants if they could discover the peace and relaxation of gardening.

The chance of getting crossed seeds is about 5-10%. That's from insects visiting the plants and cross-pollinating. The number is higher if plants are really close together and lower if the plants are isolated by distance. If you want to be absolutely sure, you have to bag blossoms with bridal veil or muslin or some other material from before the time they open until the time they develop small fruit.

As bagging blossoms leads to a bit of humidity and warmth lingering around the flowers, I cannot do this process in Houston because we are already borderline with heat and humidity at our ideal pollination time. So I just have to accept the 5-10% chance of cross-pollination.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I guess what I'm looking for is: what have you had good experiences with, as far as taste, disease resistance, ease of cultivation, etc. to help me narrow down the dizzying lists of choices. I'm leaning toward Snowball Y cauliflower since the plant is supposed to be small, but wonder if anyone has any experience with it (no notes in plant files). Guess I should also post in the tomato forum for help picking which one of those to grow.

I was thinking of bagging for tomato seeds because I'm going to grow heirlooms, more then one variety, and they'll be pretty close together since they'll all be on one deck. It doesn't seem all that difficult to do from what I've read.

The problem with "hiding" some veg plants from the HOA isn't so much them as the "landscapers". They work on the "pull now, get yelled at later" system. If i needed to grow vegetables for a family, or at least more than just me, I would try it, but my better half won't touch any veg but potatoes.

thanks again
sandy

Would the landscapers pull things out of tubs and pots???

That said, several years ago the guys who do our lawn mowed down not only a flower bed but also the fenceless deer excluder that we had stuck in the ground next to it! It's a plastic rod, obviously not a weed - you'd think!

Leslie

New Big Dwarf is a full size tomato on a short 2-4 foot plant. I've heard from several people that it's the best tasting dwarf pink tomato. Black Sea Man is a well recommended full size black on 2-4 foot plants. Royal Hillbilly is a large tomato on a smaller indeterminate 5-6 foot plant. The taste is described as "exquisite". A poster on the tomato forum reported growing it in a 7 gallon pot and getting 44 lbs. of fruit off it. All of these are open pollinated and available at Tomato Growers Supply. I'm trying these for the first time this year.