With the economy and the search for healthy & safe foods more gardeners will be turning to vegetable gardening again. Lets exchange ideas and what we will be planting to put home grown food on the table.
Bean, pea supports at Longwood Gardens
Veggie garden friends of Mid-Atlantic.
This year I will be trying some new veggies. I love parsnips! Last fall Gardeners Supply had these potato growing pots on sale so I bought 2, over the winter I thought they might be great to grow parsnips in since parsnips need a loose deep soil, so my 2 potatoe pot will be at least one parsnip pot.
Hated kohlrabi as a kid, but now as an adult I want to revisit this vegatable as I read that it is nice eating young and raw. So I ordered Purple Vienna seeds and besides this veg grows on top of the ground, should be interesting.
Eggplant, Fairy Tale Hybrid, shorter production days, 50, so I might get lucky with this verity. I should be starting these seeds soon.
This year will be my first ever vegetable garden. DG has gotten me interested in so many things that I can feel my head spinning! Thanks to Critter and Kubileya for giving me the ammo to start with tomato, pepper, and basil seeds from the swap last Saturday. My only sunny space is the drainfield, and now I'm trying to figure out what size and how to make it - thinking about raised beds, deer fence, topsoil, compost, plant supports... OH MY!!! terri
Hooray! I love veggie threads!
I'm always so inspired by Longwood's take on vegetable beds. In fact, yesterday I sent my toddler to Gramma'a house and spent the afternoon traipsing through the woods to gather fallen limbs to make supports like those. I'm doing them for beans and cucumbers (I don't like peas,so I don't plant 'em). I'm also doing something similar to what I saw at Longwood last year for tomatoes-- it was kind of like a fence with big posts set at intervals connected with twine and the tomatoes were trained along the fence.
I'm just barely starting to think about seed starting. I don't have a light set-up so I have to wait a while for tomatoes and peppers and eggplants. I've already started papaya seeds but I expect them to take a couple of weeks to sprout. I'll be growing them in pots and bringing them inside for next winter. Maybe by then I'll have a greenhouse. I also have to start the ground cherries soon. I've never tried them before, but the packet says to sow 8-12 weeks before the last frost. I'm not sure how I'll keep them happy inside until it's safe to put them out.
Yesterday I went out and harvested two big parsnips from my garden. There are still a ton out there, too, plus some broccoli and collards that have wintered over. I'm not sure if they'll be productive this spring, though.
I can't wait for this winter to finally end so I can get back out there!
Edited to add:
Kohl rabi: I tried this for the forst time last year, but didn't much care for it. I can say that it was very easy to grow, though. It wasn't bothered by a single pest or problem.
Parsnips: These were also easy growers, but germination wasn't all that great. I'd read beforehand that this was often the case, so I sowed really thickly and in the end had a fair amount.
This message was edited Feb 27, 2009 8:26 AM
Aspen, If you have Critters pepper seeds you are a lucky gardener!
I grew some of Jill's peppers in my flower beds and large combo pots, since I cottage garden, veggies and flowers mix well.
Here is my "before the hard frost harvest" last year of Gypsy and Sweet Pickles.
I cleaned them, chopped them, bagged and froze them for winter, a frozen handfull in soups and chilli this winter was "good eats"
Thanks Kub for the words of encouragement on the parsnips and kohlrabi. I also heard that fresh parsnip seeds are a must. I will plant them thick.
I feel a little more inspired to work at my veggies this year. I have a nice patch of spinach from the fall. to harvest when it warms up. I will do lettuce and oriental greens mix for salad. I'll try again with radishes but have always had bad luck! Must fertilize. Swiss chard try again. I don't know why I have trouble with that. I read that cukes and bell peppers are prone to nematodes and always have trouble with them too. One treatment is to use ground mustard when planting so I'll try again. Potatos are pretty easy, now I need to decide where they'll go, you tend to need open space around them for when you dig them up.. I feel confident about summer and winter squash and we'll actually eat that. I bought seeds for green edible soybeans--have never eaten them so this oughta be interesting. Also my favorite green beans.
Before planting I'll need to move some ornamental things from the veg area and eliminate some catnip. also have to move some major half finished compost in the sunny areas.
I do love that picture from Longwood Gardens. I was there in early October but the pea supports were gone by then. I'll be planting Critter's potato top tomatoes in the ground, because the deer don't seem to bother them. They ate cone flowers, sage, and even holly to the ground, so unless I get me a fence and a big ole dog, I'll probably be growing in containers on the deck.
Sally,
Tell me (us) how you grow your Spinach. I know you can seed it twice in the year--NOW and when in the Fall????......
I got some Spinach seeds from Anita at the Swap. They are now in the fridge on wet towels. This is day #2. By Monday--I will have to find a spot to plant them.
Now that my Birch tree is cut down, I will put them in the round bed that was under it. Might intersperse with some dill--have to get seed for that yet.
Will have to put a serious fence around it....so the rabbits won't have Salad every day!
I sure hope we have fewer rabbits this year!
You said you had Spinach left over from last Fall!!!! Does it keep growing in the winter?
Will just average, good soil be OK? I know Spinach likes a sandy soil--but all I have is decent flower-bed soil...It should drain well as it is slightly mounded.....
Talking about potatoes....do you know that the lime-green ornamental Sweet Potato Vine makes awesome, BIG, red potatoes? I have always gobbled the few down that I have had in my containers. Deeelish!!!! I just nuke them and eat them with a bit of butter.
They are a bit similar to a sweet potato in texture and the flesh is the color of a Yukon Gold....
I wish I was present when they change out all the plantings at the Mall. They use so many SPV's in those huge pots! I would have NO shame!!....drooooool....
Gita
I planted the spinach seed last fall--there may be a label out there with a date. But anyway, it only starts in the fall and the leaves are not quite big enough for eating, then sleeps for winter. Hopefully with warm weather it'll grow fast and I'll get a meal or two. Takes so darn much to make a cooked serving! Your spot sounds fine. It grows and bolts so fast though. Be sure to eat leaves as soon as they're big enough. They'll bolt so soon you'll probably be looking for something else to take that good sunny spot- maybe sink a Brug there?
Sally--
This will be an experiment......I have never grown Spinach--and may never do it again...
Too bad my planting areas are so limited.....I think I would do a lot more experimenting.
I have always used this bed for Impatiens--as the Birch tree above shaded it. As it died over the Winter from 2007-2008--I had it cut down in the Spring of 2008.
I asked the man to leave me some short stumps so i could put some potted plants on there...
NO Impatiens this Summer there--but Dill and Spinach will rule! ....I hope so!
Trying to see if I can grow my Basil anywhere else other than the wood window box, on the ledge by my basement door,I have been growing them in. Have to put a fence and a "roof" all around these as well--as the squirrels will dig in there any time...
I just believe that anything planted in the earth will provide better plants---with all the heat we have here--the W-boxes get just as hot....and so do the roots...
Are you bracing for all the sleet and snow this weekend?
Here's the dead Birch last Spring.....
Here's the stump(s) of it after being cut down.
Besides Impatiens in this bed--it also has a lot of Grape Hyacynths and Forget-Me-Nots....
I think my Spinach will do OK here......
Ric and I have been working for the last 2 years to get the Veggie Garden cleaned up and productive. We had let most of it go to perennial weeds. About 2 years ago I started to clean up around the dwindling Asparagus Bed and it rewarded me by coming back beautifully. Then last spring we reclaimed a larger section and had a mildly successful season. Despite a ground hog, Squash Bugs and a wind storm that took down some tomatoes and the bean tent. We put in Strawberry's last fall that I got from Critters Fall Gold Swap. We also planted horseradish (new for us). When we had those few nice days last week I was out cleaning up the Raspberry Canes, they had taken over a good part of the lower garden. Really looking forward to this years Veggie Garden!
I started a small Asparagus Bed last spring, I'm the only one who eats them so a few is ok.
Also started rhubarb, DH'S favorite, he likes the pie, no strawberries. I like just stewed with sugar.
Can't wait to get out in the garden! I should design my vegatable planting plan, instead of winging it, like I do every year. I might have a more productive garden if I do. Need to dig out my companion planting book and review.
Sally that is interesting about the Spinach, I don't know if that would work in zone 5.
I Ric got quite a few pepper seeds from Critter and I got some of her ornamental peppers I just love those plants, so colorful and cute. I'm going to a Garden program in two weeks one of the speakers is doing a lecture on Veggie Gardening should be interesting.
Your mission, Holly, if you choose to accept it, will be to take good notes and report back to this thread. LOL
I can't find my paper with the name of the lecture but it's something like "Not your average veggie garden" I will have all kinds of hand outs and I will pass all good info along. It's about how to grow veggies in an attractive way. It's a GardenWise program run by the Master Gardeners a whole day of gardening wonder with door prizes, breakfast and lunch, vendors,all kinds of info handouts and several speakers Great fun I go most years with my friend Jane. Does your local Extension Office have something like it?
Thank you for starting this thread Chris. I hope to be able to report that our first attempt at a veggie garden will be a good one. Most years I have tomatoes and green peppers, but that is the extent of it. I am looking forward to some other fresh things this year. I am not sure if John will do potatoes or not.
I am like Sally and haven't had much luck with radishes the past few years. I used to love it as a child when I would be in the garden with my granddad and I would pull out a radish or a carrot and wipe it clean and eat it standing right there. So yummy. I can also remember how delicious I thought that fresh picked tomatoes were too.
Anyway, I am looking forward to hearing lots of success stories here. Good luck to everyone who will attempt it.
Ruby
OK! I am not a veggie-grower, per say, but my sister, who lives in AK grows a lot of her own veggies--among them Radishes, carrots, all kinds of lettuces and also potatoes.
Her veggie garden is all fenced in so the wandering, yearling moose won't eat everything.....
She grows everything in raised beds (probably due to the permafrost not too far under). She has a small greenhouse where she grows her tomatoes and starts some things--radishes for sure.
Anyway--all i wanted to say is--don''t potatoes need to be planted in a mound of soil? So that you would not have to dig a foot down to harvest them?
Just seems I have heard that.....
Gita
Gita you do grow them in a mound. You can also stack up an old tire or three and grow them in that. Ric was talking about growing them in a trash can, something he saw on DG that would be similar to my tire tower. I had a pretty nice one with OSP till that nasty old ground hog got them.
The way I understand it regarding potatoes is, as the plant grows you mound soil over the stems, these covered stems will grow more potatoes, so if you are growing them in the ground start by planting them in a shallow trench and as they grow mound the soil up and around them.
My directions for my potatoe pot/bag is to add soil to the pot as the stem grows till the soil reaches the top, then in the fall when the stems on the top of the plant dies just tip over the pot and scoop up the potatoes, no digging.
Well, you can grow potatos at ground level and then sort of pull dirt up around them, or use straw, for a deep mulch on the stems. But I never do get 'new' potatos on the stems, just the main crop below the plant. I probably don't water enough.
Found it
Not Your Ordinary Bean Patch-- Decorative Vegetable Gardening
Is your vegetable garden ho-hum? Are plants lined up like soldiers in boot camp? Time will give you ideas to get your tomatoes and carrots "out of the box" and into a more decorative planting. Photos will have you looking at lettuce and brussels sprouts as more than just food and will inspire you to consider all attributes of a vegetable when planning you garden. It's on the 14th and I will pass along any good tips.
Decorative veggie gardens seem to be the newest craze. There's an article in my latest Fine Gardening issue about the same type of thing. That seminar sounds really interesting and fun. I've always tried to make my veggie garden look 'pretty' but I often fail and end up with an untamed looking jungle instead, so I can use all the pointers I can get.
Kubileya, Show us your pretty veggie garden....pleeeze. I love any pictures of veggie gardens, especially pretty ones.
There must be some veggies in here somewhere, I labeled it veggie garden. I forget what was in this area in 07 unttil I can look at the full pic, not the thumbnail...OK, chard, chives, fennel, climbing zucchini in the back, maybe a tomato hidden somewhere...
This message was edited Mar 3, 2009 7:53 PM
New to veggie gardening this year too. Watched my Dad do it since I was little. Shame is I have no room for a light set up either.
ah jen, don't sweat that starting seeds inside stuff- Try a few wintersowed, or just get plants and direct sow. English peas are pretty easy to plant for your son, and pretty fun to pick and eat right there too, even if he's not crazy about eating cooked peas now. Plant one potato for one bush and dig them- fun!
He actually loves cooked peas.
Wel, then fresh will be even better. Can eat little tender green beans fresh too.
Not much vegetable gardening going on here - I gave up after my first few attempts in VA :( Always had incredible vegetable gardens in Maine but the soil is so much different here (stinks!) and it gets hot so early that a lot of the things I planted bolted way too fast. I am however going to plant Asparagus this year! And, I'm thinking I might plant some corn? Thought it would be fun to have my own instead of running off to the market to buy it. This might actually be fun if I can find a spot close enough to the house to drag a hose if we experience another drought!
Here's a pretty -- albeit blurry -- photo from the Philly Flower Show to inspire us!
I can't imagine the cost of putting a nice wrought iron type obelisk over each of my tomato plants... but it was purty. LOL
I did buy seeds when T & M was running an amazing sale...I got 2 types of peas, pole beans, romaine lettuce, black cherry tomatoes, one beefsteak and zucchini.
I had Ric take a few Veggie Garden pics at the show, too.
There were a lot of "Green" roofs at the show. Where you plant something, usually sedums, on the roof. There were also a couple of "Green" walls that were planted, too. They are promoting them as a way to change all the hard-scape you tend to have in urban areas, help with water shed problems. I got a chuckle from this use of the "Green" roof idea. Take a good look at the bird house. LOL
Sedum-roofed birdhouse--I saw that somewhere--maybe the bird forum in a thread....
Holly--
Here is the Anchorage, AK Visitors Ccenter-----
It has had a "green roof" forever!!!!! Decades!!!! Been there 3 times now--and it is always the same.
My sister, our Hostess, on the left and out cousin and her husband on the right. They came all the way from Latvia to FINALLY visit Alaska!
This was in the summer of 2006
Hey!!! I meant to tell you I saw a Robin yesterday!!!!!
Spring must be on it's way!!!!
I'll be roto-tilling my new vegetable bed soon. Does anyone know if ashes are good to mix in with topsoil and composted manure or not? I've got a pile of ashes from the bonfire area and was wondering if I can use them somewhere... Terri