# Does anyone grow their own vegetables?



## Darkstream (Nov 3, 2004)

Do any of you grow our own vegetables? If so, what, what varieties, how well did you do, and what is your climate ?


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## SizzlininIN (Nov 3, 2004)

Great topic darkstream.  Unfort., I haven't been able to because of all the trees on my property I don't get enough sun.  House is up for sale and I can't wait to find one where I can have a good size garden.

I hope you don't mind but I'd like to also ask those who have grown their own vegs to give us beginners some advice.


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## Juliev (Nov 3, 2004)

Darkstream said:
			
		

> Do any of you grow our own vegetables? If so, what, what varieties, how well did you do, and what is your climate ?



Well, currently, I can't!    Next year I'll be able to, because I'll be in my new/old house.  I want to grow cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, carrots, gr peppers, and I think that's it.


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## jennyema (Nov 3, 2004)

Yes.

Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, lettuce, zucchini, carrots, collards, okra brussel spouts and some other stuff.  Lots of herbs -- basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, cilantro, lemongrass, thyme, etc. etc.

New England.

My tomatoes and peppers, rosemary, parsley and thyme are still going strong.


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## tancowgirl2000 (Nov 3, 2004)

I just moved into a new/old house where they are going to let me put in a garden!!!  Wooo HOoooo I can not wait...my last place wouldnt let me because "she" doesn't like them.....anyways, im planning on doing two plots...one for just potatoes..we easily eat 20 lbs a week....and the other for carrots, peas, ,lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, i might try some honey dew or cantelope...they need lots and lots of heat, so i dont know.....I may even do some corn along with the potatoes....I'd love to do brocolli but last year told me that I have NO idea how to be successful in this, ,and of course I need to grow me self some onions....

A key thing in doing gardens is rotating every year....get a good book, Lois Hole is very good at this....theres also one that Readers Digest offers, I cant think of the name at the moment but they also list all the zones in which certain things will grow well in.  Another thing I plan on doing this year is a compost pile....great stuff in them for your veggies....

And well thats all my brain is going to let me think about right now....


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## Juliev (Nov 3, 2004)

oh that's right.. I forgot fresh herbs... especially basil... I LOVE the smell!


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## SizzlininIN (Nov 3, 2004)

Oh yea I grew herbs also on the outside windowseal......basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, chives, and thyme.  The next house I plan to do a herb garden.

I used to watch Pauls Homegrown Show.....I think thats what its called.....anyway I liked how he made his rows and they sat up high.  He too used his own composte.

I want to grow red tomatoes.....hopefully I'll be lucky enough to pick out a really flavorful bunch....., cherry tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, onions, garlic, sugar snap peas, green beans, carrots, radishes, butternut squash, jalepenos, leaf lettuce, and cabbage.


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## buckytom (Nov 3, 2004)

darkstream, i have a approx. a 4 meter by 10 meter garden, in which this year i grew: tomatoes (roma, big boy, early girl, grape, and a variety of macedonian heirloom my neighbor gives me seeds for), beets(detroit dark red, early wonder), zucchini, yellow squash, giant pumpkins, peppers (jalapeno, habanero, cayenne, hot cherry, red giant bell, corno do toro, and regular ol green/red bell), radishes (icicle, early scarlet), cucumbers (burpless, straight 8), carrots (danvers half long, scarlet nantes), roquette/arrugula, sugar snap and snow peas, and lettuces (mesculun mix, big leaf mix, romaine). 

i also grew, in a seperate herb area, approx  1 meter by 5 meters, i grew: basil (sweet, genovese, purple ruffle, thai), english thyme, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, sage, celery root, and a wild variety of mint. oh, and i can't forget the catnip. my neighbor's entire yard became catnip after i palnted some in my garden, lol.

i had great success with everything his year, because i took last year off, and the previous fall i spread several cubic yards of compost, another several cubic yards of peat moss, and organic bird poop fertilizer, and lime. i also started this year with several cubic yards of compost and worm castings. my compost pile was not disturbed for a year, just added on to, so the worms did a great job on the bottom several feet.

the only recurring problem i have is with powdery mildew, because i have a huge apple tree, and i compost the apples. too much moisture helps create the problem with the mildew. it usually gets my squahes and pumpkins, but i fight it with applications of powdered sulfer.

i also have problems with a maggot that attacks peppers, burrowing in thru a tiny hole, then eating the pith inside, which rots the pepper. i have yet to identify the pest, and find an organic way of fighting them...


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## Juliev (Nov 3, 2004)

tancowgirl2000 said:
			
		

> I just moved into a new/old house where they are going to let me put in a garden!!!  Wooo HOoooo I can not wait...my last place wouldnt let me because "she" doesn't like them.....anyways, im planning on doing two plots...one for just potatoes..we easily eat 20 lbs a week....and the other for carrots, peas, ,lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, i might try some honey dew or cantelope...they need lots and lots of heat, so i dont know.....I may even do some corn along with the potatoes....I'd love to do brocolli but last year told me that I have NO idea how to be successful in this, ,and of course I need to grow me self some onions....
> 
> A key thing in doing gardens is rotating every year....get a good book, Lois Hole is very good at this....theres also one that Readers Digest offers, I cant think of the name at the moment but they also list all the zones in which certain things will grow well in.  Another thing I plan on doing this year is a compost pile....great stuff in them for your veggies....
> 
> And well thats all my brain is going to let me think about right now....



well, my house was built in 1870... I love it.. it's so charming... it's gotta have some work, but not that much.  I know right where I'm going to have my garden... right behind the garage (which used to be used for horses/carriages).  I have always had a fondness for old houses, etc.  I can't wait!


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## WayneT (Nov 3, 2004)

tancowgirl2000 said:
			
		

> I just moved into a new/old house where they are going to let me put in a garden!!!  Wooo HOoooo I can not wait . . . my last place wouldnt let me because "she" doesn't like them. . . anyways, im planning on doing two plots...one for just potatoes . . . we easily eat 20 lbs a week . . .



I am growing potatoes at the moment. I grow them in old car tyres. Very successful.
_
*Potatoes In Tyres *_









*
Normal Way*.........................................................................................................................................................................*The tyre Method*

Get 4-6 Tyres and place two on the ground one on top of the other. Next, fill them with good quality, fertile garden loam, and plant two or three seed Potatoes (old potatoes that you have that has grown shoots are good for this).

When adding more tyres and soil just leave a couple of inches of the potato tops sticking out. 
As the plants grow and shoots appear, add more Tyres to the top of the stack and more soil around the plants, until you have a cylinder of 4-6 tyres.
The potatoes will form inside the tyres and may be harvested as usual when the plant dies back at the end of the season.
To stop water collecting in the sides of the tyres  drill a few holes in the tyre walls

*There is a stack more info on the net regarding fertilizing etc. but it is pretty straight forward. The tyres can be painted to jazz up the garden area etc. I am now going to try some other veges in this fashion.  Two tyres should be OK for most. *



...........................................................................................


*Tomatoes*

When planting out tomato seedlings plant down about an extra inch or so of the stem. This helps give a nice stable plant as roots will readily grow from the newly buried portion of stem.

When pruning or pinching out side stems if at all, REPLANT these in pots as they will readily strike saving on buying more seedlings. So if you see a new variety of tomato in the store just buy one and devide it up. Saves a bit of cash.

I grow tomatoes in the winter in pots or styrene vege boxes. Put a couple of stakes around as a fram and attach some Bubble wrap around. insulates and lets light in.


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## norgeskog (Nov 3, 2004)

My garden has herbs and I did have tomatoes until I had to pull them up because of the cold.


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## choclatechef (Nov 3, 2004)

I did not have a garden this year, but in years past, I had a vegetable garden.  I garden with the Ruth Stout method of using a hay mulch.

I grew everything, including herbs, every vegetable I could think of, grapes, cherry trees, peach tree, apple trees, blackberries, and elderberries.


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## vilasman1 (Nov 3, 2004)

I had a garden for the 3 years that I lived on the farm. I dont know what I could add to the wisdom that has already been offered, except....
Grow some salad greens, you will never eat grocery store lettuce again... for real you wont like most grocercy store produce ounce you've eaten the real thing.
2nd... read... critter, varmit, pest and weed control are the hardest things, but ounce you get the hang of it it's not that bad
3rd it's addictive, it's what i miss most about not living in the country... well that and all that free heat I got from the fire place.
4th as Steven Covey might say begin with the end in mind. Be prepared to


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## vilasman1 (Nov 3, 2004)

Talking about this gardening stuff reminded me that my mom has a boat load of stuff coming that I have to plant...  so i called her to find out when it's coming and now she wants me to call and fuss at the company...and i hit the send button when i was supposed to be hitting the phone button. 
Any way 
Unless you have a big family or a lot of friends you are going to grow more than you can eat. So you need away to preserve all of that summer time goodness.
You could freeze it but ya might need a lot of freezer space and it would be best if you got a foodsaver shrink wrapper vacuum sealer. Which are getting to be on sale cause the season is over.
The other thing is canning, the mason jar way, which will be on sale especially if there is a big lots anywhere close to you. And a pressure canner which tend to go on sale at wally world in the not to distant future. Also at wally world you can also find the ball guide to canning.
 All this maybe way pre- mature
but you dont want to look over your garden and see a nice patch of juicy ripe strawberried, which you are all a twitter to pick and you have no way to put them up. And about this time everybody within 50 miles of you also has a field of nice big juicy starwberries and you will see them with baskets full of jelly jars in the check out line , in front of you.
Me... people think I am crazy cause I am sitting on about 1400 mason jars that someone gave my mom. I am thinking about the 4.5 kids that I want to have. That I will have to feed. Mom also gave me 60 acres. Those grandkids can start feeding themselves from the time they get big enough to walk.
Mind you, your kitchen will be an absolute mess when you finish, but you will be eating well for months if not years afterwards for free. And you can impress your friends and make them envious.
I am descending from my soap box now.
I love gardening. I grow stuff i'd never eat.


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## tweedee (Nov 3, 2004)

Tomatoes, Carrots, Lettuce, Cabbege, Potatoes, Corn, Bell Peppers, Turnips, Hot Peppers, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Spaghetti Squash and Crooked Neck Squash.


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## tancowgirl2000 (Nov 4, 2004)

JulieV.....are there any tell tale signs that one can figure out how old a house is?  Ours is plaster, not dry wall....It's old.  I love it to extreme.  Our other house was about 50 some years old but in WAY worse shape than this one!  They have also added an addition on this one for the bathroom and laundry.....

WayneT.....I as well grew potatoes in the tyres last year!  Awesome out come.  Wasnt too sure if it would work but being as I wasnt allowed to have a garden it was the next best thing to try!  If I had to do it again I certainly would!!!


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## GB (Nov 4, 2004)

This year my wife and I bought our first house so this was also my first garden. We grew Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, Portuguese hot peppers, red bell peppers, fennel, cukes, zucchini, celery, red onions, basil, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, and mint. Everything grew very well. My climate is New England.


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## mudbug (Nov 4, 2004)

Growing veggies requires a lot more attention than I care to provide.  However, I do like growing things and have variety of shrubs and perennials.

Ornamental grasses are my favorite plants.  I also have viburnums, lilac, redtwig dogwood, daylilies, Nelly Stevens holly, clematis, several kinds of hostas, Russian sage, japanese maple, azalea, river birch, liriope, photinia, and probably others I have forgotten.  I guess I do grow one herb - two little rosemary plants that I bought a couple of years ago have grown into monsters.


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## Psiguyy (Nov 4, 2004)

Wayne T.  That's a heck of a good use for old Tyres (Tires, here in the US).  Years ago, a popular vessel to use was old washer tubs.

Alas.  Cost of water, lousy sandy soil, pests, and nematodes precludes me from having a cost effective garden.  As it is, my water bill is approaching $200.  Even with all the shrubs and 4 fruit trees on an automatic drip irrigation system.


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## Juliev (Nov 4, 2004)

tancowgirl2000 said:
			
		

> JulieV.....are there any tell tale signs that one can figure out how old a house is?  Ours is plaster, not dry wall....It's old.  I love it to extreme.  Our other house was about 50 some years old but in WAY worse shape than this one!  They have also added an addition on this one for the bathroom and laundry.....
> 
> WayneT.....I as well grew potatoes in the tyres last year!  Awesome out come.  Wasnt too sure if it would work but being as I wasnt allowed to have a garden it was the next best thing to try!  If I had to do it again I certainly would!!!



I can't answer you on this one.  I was just old the house was built in 1870.  I'm not experienced to answer.  This house has a wood stove in one of the bedrooms and a very narrow hallway upstairs.  The garage looks very weathered.  I wish I knew more, but I only know what the town has told me. :?


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## Juliev (Nov 4, 2004)

older homes also seem to have narrow doorways, which mine does.  There is also an ornate window in the master bedroom.. stained glass.. if you were to stand in front of the house, it looks victorian in architecture.  I think a lot of it depends on where you are.... different parts of the country had different styles, even in the same time frame.


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## Claire (Nov 4, 2004)

Gotcha beat, Julie ... 1854.  

This has been my first summer growing veggies, third for my herb garden.  I grow any herb I can, and they are abundant.  Take in my Rosemary and my Bay Tree for the winter.

For veggies, I cut a patch next to the kitchen door (next to my herb garden) and grew tomatoes.  made the mistake of too many plants, will know better next year.  It was a huge success.  Our season is sort of short here, so I also will only buy "Early Girl" next year.  In Hawaii and Florida I found varieties of cherry tomatoes were much more successful than the regular sizes (so much disease, fungi, and predators that full sized tomatoes rarely made it).

Hot peppers are always successful anywhere I've lived, here is no exception.  My favorite are the big cayennes.  zucchini, eggplant.  Two batches of lettuce here (I like to make up a mix) in the summer, in Florida in the winter.  In the winter in Florida also brussels sprouts, onions (from sets) and brocolli.  Swiss chard.  Cucumbers here (didn't do well in Florida).  Green beans everywhere.  THe latter are a must if you're growning a child's garden.  Very quick gratification.  I grew beautiful heads of radiccio this summer, but they were literally too bitter to eat.  Won't bother next year.  

Growing in a 4 seasons climate is a totally different thing than in Florida and Hawaii ... believe it or not, easier.


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## crewsk (Nov 4, 2004)

I didn't plant a garden this year. I usually just plant a couple of tomato plants. I did have 2 strawberry plants but I only got 2 or 3 real small berries from them this year. I replanted them in an old tire & they have grown a lot(I think they were getting root bound)& they are blooming again! I had a tomato plant come up out of the blue in our brush pile & it was huge! I got a lot of tomatoes off it. Usually I plant my tomato plants in bales of hay. I had some dill, basil, oregano, garlic chives, parsley, & cilantro in containers on the back porch & they all did well. I hope to get a tiller for Christmas so I can have a garden next year.


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## WayneT (Nov 4, 2004)

Psiguyy said:
			
		

> Wayne T.  That's a heck of a good use for old Tyres (Tires, here in the US).
> Alas.  Cost of water, lousy sandy soil, pests, and nematodes precludes me from having a cost effective garden.



*I believe one can use straw or straight mulch  instead of soil in the tyres/tires. I guess you would just distribute some all purpose fertiliser granules through the straw. I am using a mix of layers, soil and mulch. I was thinking also that one of the seaweed solutions would be good as they promote root growth. We have Seasol and a couple of other brands, they are purely for root growth not a fertiliser/fertilizer (getting with the lingo now)   Although for roots Seasol is watered over the entire plant.*


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## southerncook (Nov 4, 2004)

buckytom said:
			
		

> darkstream, i have a approx. a 4 meter by 10 meter garden, in which this year i grew: tomatoes (roma, big boy, early girl, grape, and a variety of macedonian heirloom my neighbor gives me seeds for), beets(detroit dark red, early wonder), zucchini, yellow squash, giant pumpkins, peppers (jalapeno, habanero, cayenne, hot cherry, red giant bell, corno do toro, and regular ol green/red bell), radishes (icicle, early scarlet), cucumbers (burpless, straight 8), carrots (danvers half long, scarlet nantes), roquette/arrugula, sugar snap and snow peas, and lettuces (mesculun mix, big leaf mix, romaine).
> 
> i also grew, in a seperate herb area, approx  1 meter by 5 meters, i grew: basil (sweet, genovese, purple ruffle, thai), english thyme, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, sage, celery root, and a wild variety of mint. oh, and i can't forget the catnip. my neighbor's entire yard became catnip after i palnted some in my garden, lol.
> 
> ...





with that, ....there are two thingss...both are nasty. go get the spray by orthro, and don't eat anyting. sorry I lost everthing but my  oranges, and  
m about to spray them to. If I don't I'm going to lose the trees.


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## buckytom (Nov 4, 2004)

thanks coutherncook, but my garden has been totally organic since i took it over 8 years ago. before that, my fil worked it to death with chemicals for 40 plus years. the soil looked like poor sand when i came in to the picture, not even good enough for the beach.

i just put up with the losses from disease and pests. i've found if i pick my peppers earlier than i would like, i can beat the bugs to it. i still lose about 40 percent of the harvest, so i overplant peppers, and i re-plant squash seedlings when the first plantings die off. it grows very quickly.

the other day, i saw a groundhog eating the tops of my carrots. fortunately, they were ready to be harvested, so i let him feast. besides, winters comin, and he has to eat too.


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## SizzlininIN (Nov 4, 2004)

tancowgirl....do you own or rent?


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## Claire (Nov 5, 2004)

Agree.  I live in a Federal that is almost shotgun in the floor plan.  Many of my friends live in Victorians (Galena is a town where the vast majority of homes are a century old) that were built within 20 years of ours.  It is ironic that we think of 20 or 50 years difference in age as being a huge gap now, but when we think of 1854 (when mine was built), and say 1890, we think they were built in the same time period!


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## tancowgirl2000 (Nov 5, 2004)

We're renting for now.....I'm gonna have to ask her today the year of the house......


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## SizzlininIN (Nov 5, 2004)

Thats what I was going to suggest was to ask your landlord.  I absolutely love old homes.  I would love to find one that has all the old oak woodwork, oak pocket doors, oak mantle fireplace, built in oak china cabinets, and oak staircase still there......that someone hasn't painted. We looked at one but the owners really didn't keep it up and it was going to take at least 40,000 just to remodel......on top of the 95,000 they were asking for it.....priced 15,000 to 20,0000 too high anyway. The oldest I've lived in so far (owned) was built in 1912 I believe.


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## Darkstream (Nov 5, 2004)

I grew mostly herbs last year. I will again next year, plus a number of basils

I have an Alpine border out front which is coming on and some herbs in that (it gets the sun).

Next year I will try again for some more vegetables. I used to grow a lot, but the garden got shadowed by neighboring trees.

Still I will have a go and see what I can cut/get cut off my neighbours trees.

What I was really interested in was whether anyone out there was growing Lima Beans or Tomatillos. I'd like to talk about that with them if any body is there.

And I hate old houses.


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## Dina (Dec 21, 2005)

I just found out I'm growing Cayenne peppers in my garden.  LOL  I really thought they were Thai peppers.  I also have some habanero and anaheim peppers growing out there.  They're so good in all my dishes, especially when I roast them.  I can't wait to plant some more veggies in my garden come February.


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