Gardens vegetable, flower or other?

[RetroMom]

We are!

Actually it is going to be a container garden on our back deck. I have no experience with vegetable gardening and want to start small. I was looking up "Victory Garden's" on the internet about a month ago, and read about a "salad bowl" container garden. You basically use a very large pot and plant tomato, lettuce, and green pepper all in one!

 

[The Shirt]

Our growing season is rather short here - but I have managed to supplement my groceries with fresh produce over the years. I started small and over about 3 years of trial and error found what seems to grow best where. In total I have about 20-25 square feet devoted in my city lot to produce. I have strawberries, lettuces, kale, beans, snap peas and tomatoes as well as certain herbs. Peppers are tricky for me and I haven't found the best spot for them This year I may try them as a container item. It's a great feeling of satisfaction for me to gather what I'd like to eat that night from the backyard.

 

[Sunny]

We've got a long growing season down here, but it's kind of split into two. The blistering heat tends to kill or mortally injure most plants. Our soil's also very heavy black clay, alkaline to boot, so many things simply won't grow. We always have early-ripening tomatoes, though. Green beans, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and especially cantaloupe and squash grow like mad. (Unfortunately none of us like squash. ) Green peppers grow well also, although only a few of us like them. We've had strawberries a couple years, but they take a lot of soil work and upkeep. We do have cantaloupe for breakfast as they ripen, and stuffed peppers or BLTs for dinner. One year when I was younger we had so many tomatoes we had BLTs at least once a week. My mother stoutly maintains that they're still not real tomatoes.

We've had at least three avocado trees sprout out of our compost pile. Some years our sweet potatoes and cantaloupe have also been volunteers.

 

[GentleJohnny]

Thanks a lot

Thanks for all the replies! Keep 'em coming. Can't wait to get out in the backyard now!

 

[PrettySquareGal]

With the rising costs of food in the country right now I was wondering if anyone has or will be making their own "Victory Garden" this spring. My wife and I live in a 1940's home and we decided that it is time to make part of the yard look like the era and it will help save us some money at the grocery store.

YES.

Can anyone suggest best veggies for canning? Also, best methods for keeping critters out of the garden? (And least expensive.)

 

[GentleJohnny]

YES.

Can anyone suggest best veggies for canning? Also, best methods for keeping critters out of the garden? (And least expensive.)

I've heard that mothballs do the trick with keeping critters out. Just spread them around the outside of the garden and it works for rabbits and squirrels. This came from a woman who has been gardening for years and years. Just make sure that no pets get ahold of the mothballs!

We canned vegetables when I was young but I don't recall how it was done. My family canned well up into the mid-80's. About the time I went to elementary school, they stopped. A little piece of the Depression Era still hanging around in the 1980's!

 

[Sunny]

I think vegetables are a little trickier to can, since the process isn't the same as for jellies. My mother's Better Homes and Gardens recipe book from the 1960s or 1970s has lots of detail; something like that shouldn't be hard to find. I highly recommend it.

As for keeping critters out... We don't usually have much of a problem. Until my brother taught the dog to like tomatoes; then she ate them off the vine. Good going, bro. :eusa_doh: Other than that, it's birds who eat the tomatoes and sometimes the peppers that turn orange or red. We've used netting to keep them off the tomatoes, and that works reasonably well. To my knowledge the squirrels have never attacked the garden. They're still recuperating after an autumn of stealing our pecans.

 

[Joie DeVive]

It may not be this year, but as soon as I can clear a spot and build a raised bed, I'm with you. (New yard, whew!) I love to garden. The food tastes so good and it is a money saver. In CA, they shouldn't even tax your vegetable seeds or food producing plants.

PrettySquareGal As for pickles, my preserving books from the 1950s and 1960s list recipes for: artichokes, beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, green tomatoes, green beans, mushrooms, onions, and turnips. I also have a bunch of them for various relishes, sauces, and some weird sounding fruit pickles. If any tickle your fancy, let me know, and I'd be happy to share the recipes.

As far as pests, what ails ya? I have had great success with wide copper tape to keep back the snails. The only way I've been able to deal with tomato worms is picking them off by hand. Bleech!! I understand that reflectors and netting are the way to go if birds are a bother.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

IPrettySquareGal As for pickles, my preserving books from the 1950s and 1960s list recipes for: artichokes, beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, green tomatoes, green beans, mushrooms, onions, and turnips. I also have a bunch of them for various relishes, sauces, and some weird sounding fruit pickles. If any tickle your fancy, let me know, and I'd be happy to share the recipes.

As far as pests, what ails ya?

I do need to look up some recipes, and feel free to post some, thanks!

I live in the sticks and have deer, groundhogs, badgers, etc.

 

[Paisley]

I'm going to grow tomatoes, pumpkins, mustard greens and strawberries. My Mexican strawberry planter will finally be put to good use! But mostly, I'm going to grow flowers (food for the soul).

Joie, I can give you some tomato and pumpkin plants after mid-May if you want. I start everything but strawberries from seed.

 

[AmateisGal]

Wonderful idea! Hubby and I should plant a garden this year. Maybe I can convince him because with my green thumb, all the plants would be dead within a week! But truly, there is nothing better than the taste of a tomato grown in a garden.

 

[Miss 1929]

Coming soon to my backyard

I haven't had a garden in a couple of years, but am ready! I have a 5000 square foot lot, I could never fill it all... and we can grow a lot of stuff year-round.

I can grow just about anything (except roses unless they are fungi-resistant ones). We live in the alluvial flats of the SF Bay, and the topsoil is 20 feet thick, plus it was cattle pasture for 200 years (Spanish era) so it's super rich!

The only hard part is keeping the weeds under control. But I hear that mulch is the answer to that. Either the black plastic kind, or newspapers with something pretty on top like bark to weight them down... or, I am intrigued by using straw! Especially as it decomposes into the soil and is natural, plus pretty.

Raised beds are great for keeping your water consumption down, and they don't have to be "built" out of wood or whatever, it works equally well to just pile the dirt up and flatten the top.

Storing all the veggies is a challenge, but don't forget drying and freezing in addition to canning.

We should all post before and after pics too!

 

[Josephine]

I wanted to join a Community Supported Agriculture farm, but The Husband said it was out of our budget, so I think this year we will be growing our own. I had the Square Foot Gardening book from way back when, I hope I still have it...

 

[John in Covina]

Tomatoes

Usually we grow some tomatoes 2 to 3 different kinds.
I need to go to Home Depot to get some live plants to put in and a little bit of manure for the soil.

The rosemary and the mint are taking over the back yard garden area.

I pruned the apple tree and plum with the big avocado tree next in line for a hacking.

 

[Story]

Helpful hint

If you have a public works resevoir and/or waterworks nearby, check or ask one of the workers what they do with the silt.

I've got a source of free topsoil real close.

 

[Josephine]

And if your city/town/whatever collects leaves in the fall, they should have a place where they compost it all and residents can go get the compost for free. At least our city does this.

 

[Paisley]

My city makes mulch out of Christmas trees and gives it away.

 

[GentleJohnny]

And if your city/town/whatever collects leaves in the fall, they should have a place where they compost it all and residents can go get the compost for free. At least our city does this.

I never thought of that. We live in town so this could be one of our options!

 

[The Shirt]

Cities can be a great resource. I know that ours provides a number of locations that have free mulch. They also offer classes regarding rain collection methods and low cost/discounted composting bins.

Does anyone have good tips on propagating your own seeds from year to year? I usually just buy seed packets - but thought it might be nice to try this to further the cycle.

Also - I've tried cayenne pepper on the leaves of tasty plants to deter the critters. Must reapply after the rain though.

 

[Joie DeVive]

Joie, I can give you some tomato and pumpkin plants after mid-May if you want.

Thank you! I think I'll take you up on the tomatoes. (I somehow doubt I will be ready for pumpkins this year. ) It's very sweet of you to offer!

Does anyone have good tips on propagating your own seeds from year to year? I usually just buy seed packets - but thought it might be nice to try this to further the cycle.

Most, but not all, seeds from packets are hybrids. For the most part, the hybrids will not produce viable seeds. You're best bet for seed saving is to go with heirloom plants. You can look for them in the store, or look for more specialized ones at mail-order houses that specialize in heirlooms. I think a couple of my books on heirloom plants list these companies. I can look a few up if it would help.
As to saving the actual seeds, most of them are pretty straight forward. I believe small paper envelopes are recommended for storage. And they must be kept in a cool, dry place. I think there is a special procedure for tomatoes, but I'd have to look.

To all: And I'll try to put up some recipes for canning in the recipes thread in the next day or two. I'm taking requests, so give a holler if you're looking for something particular!