[jqp]

This year I am planting an herb/vegetable garden again. I have let it go to ruin the past couple of years and it has been taken over by Vinca Major and Akebia, and some other kind of vine native to Charlotte. What a nightmare.

I am going to plant mostly herbs this spring: rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, basil, cilantro, and some catnip for my friends cats. Also some hot peppers, possibly squash and gourds. Maybe some others.

I rented a Honda tiller from Home Depot, but I think I should have used roundup about a week ago before I did this. I had to clear vines from the tiller blades multiple times and I am still left with a lot of cleanup of the tilled soil!

What I would love to see is a home/yard/gardening circle. Formerly we discussed these topics in the Sports bar. I think we have a lot of homeowners and cooks to support a circle like this. I would volunteer but I currently have the Norh owners circle. I have lots of info and also lots of questions, so someone please step up! The rules on running the poll and becoming the volunteer are here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=65988.0

[Bemopti123]

Good work.  I began planting my mini garden when I moved to my place going to 3 years this coming November, the choice of plants you are interested in growing was the same I had last year. 

One challenging aspect of gardening is all the weeding you need to do in order to keep your edibles well fertilized and ready for picking. 

I decided against using pesticides, especially on the soil that will grow things I will put in my mouth.  I think an alternative to weeding and also dealing with chemicals would be to make rows of mounds where you will plant the veggies/herbs and then cover them with a weed preventing cloth (of the degradable kind.)  On the valleys between these rows of mounds, I would put mulch. 

When you are ready for planting, you can cut sloths in the weed cloth and in this way you are ensured to grow pesticide free edibles. 

It seems as if you have a large garden, which makes me jealous.  I would kill to have a larger yard but being in NYC, gardening land is a luxury. 

BTW, I hope you are more successful with that pumpkin variety...mine was very leafy but failed to produce much last year.  Gourd/pumpkins as well as watermelons are rather difficult to make produce. 

This years potential harvest for me:

Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, cucumber, sweet basil, coriander, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, sweet bell pepper, large Santa Fe type of pepper, and also Rhubarb from last year's roots (perennial.) 

I am also expecting to plant Asparagus roots to be harvested next year and 1 blueberry plant.

My gardening lot is really compact, must be about 15X8 ft. 

[Brown]

We started our first organic garten last year. Grew kale, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, thyme, rosemary, stringbeans, pumpkins, eggplants and squash. Worked out fine. Food was wonderful. Not much work either. We have a strip about 4' wide and 40' long. Doing it again this year, bought our organic plants on line. Planting May 1st.

[spudco]

We grow a very large (total area over an acre) vegitable garden here at the Spudco Habitat.  It has been in the same place for 17 years and has been mostly organic for that entire period.

Main crops include:

asparagus
broccoli
peas
onions
beans
cabbage
turnip
chineese cabbage
lettuce
chard
spinach
tomato
peppers
corn
potatoes
sweet potatoes
squash
zuchinni
blueberries
apples
peaches
pears
cherries
plums
paw paw
figs
all kinds of herbs


Even with tons and tons of organic matter added over the years, our soil is still marginal.  It is clay based and therefore has a tendency to dry into hard clumps.

Weeding is an ongoing issue even after all these years.  Weather (storms, cold spells, drought) has been a real challange.

It is purely a labor of love.  We do grow stuff that isn't available locally, but truth be told, we could be satisfied with stuff from the local markets.  Moreover, it has never been cost effective to grow our own.  I do love giving stuff to neighbors and friends.

[stone deaf]

I raise all my herbs in pots and hanging baskets near the patio which is close to the kitchen. You can grow an incredible amount of herbs in a couple of 15-18" pots and some herbs make fantastic hanging baskets. I also raise grape or cherry tomatoes in a pot and keep green onions handy in another pot. All I have to do to season my dishes with fresh herbs is make a trip to the patio with my scissors and a bowl.

[spudco]

Stone Deaf is correct.  We have grown loads of stuff in pots over the years.  Herbs are great in pots because most can take dry times pretty well.  We have also used old wash tubs to grow herbs close to the kitchen door.

In the same vein, this year we are trying "salad tables".  These are 2.5 X 5 foot "tables" with screened bottoms for drainage and 2X6 sides.  We will try growing our lettuce, scallions, chineese cabbages and a few string beans this year.  The main advantages are - no weeds, close to kitchen, easy to water, easy to shade/protect. 

You can get plans for these tables on the University of Maryland web site.

[BobM]

We've always had herbs in pots on the back deck. Not so lucky with veggies though - not enough direct light in our backyard for these to grow successfully.

Funny story - my wife clipped a bunch of different herbs and made a "bouquet" to bring to a friend's BBQ one summer. She thought it would be nice to give to my friend's Italian wife, since we thought she cooked. WRONG - she didn't have any clue what to do with fresh herbs, nor even how to identify what they were. If it didn't come in a McCormack bottle she was lost.

Too bad - we enjoy them all summer and in all kinds of dishes.

Bob

[WGH]

Summer gardening in the desert southwest is always interesting. The cole and root crops are planted in the fall but heat loving plants like peppers, corn, and squashes do very well but like a little shade mid-day.

I have a small plot so I grow the only fruit you can't buy fresh - tomatoes. Early maturing varieties work best because once the heat starts and night time temps stay above 70 degrees F and days are above 100 degrees F the pollen dies and fruit won't set even though there are plenty of flowers. Varieties that work well are cherry, yellow pear, Roma, Celebrity, and Early Girl.

Seeds are started in peat pots the first week in January and stay outside after sprouting unless a freeze is predicted.
The flowering plants go in the ground the last week in Feb.
I start 40 plants, keep 18 and give the rest away to my friends.
My friends plants are now bigger than mine, it is always interesting how plants respond to different soil and amount of sunlight.

Here are a couple of snapshots I took this morning, by August these plants will be toast.





Wayne

[stone deaf]

Another bonus from growing herbs in pots on the patio is the aroma, quite nice. The English plant thyme in between stepping stones and as you walk the thyme is crushed leaving a pleasant smell behind. I have a couple of heirloom tomato plants started from seed, Caspian Pink and Brandywine, that I hope make it. I use a lot of green onion tops in my dishes so green onions in a pot last through more then one dish if I just harvest the tops, they keep growing back. 

[mcullinan]

We grow cilantro, basil and lots of Jalapeno peppers! YUM! Tomatoes. Check! Peppers. Man I love our garden!
Mike

[Zheeeem]

I use pots.  Our soil sucks.  Mainly heavy clay.  Lots of shade.  Perfect for moss.

Typically lots of basil.  I need at least 4 16 oz jars of pesto to make it through the winter.

Thyme, lemon thyme, oregano, chives, rosemary, savory, cherry tomatos and a few varieties of small hot peppers.

[spudco]

Here is a clip of my landscape and vegetable gardens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP6M3gaeaDU

Many of the pots contain herb plants as well as flowers.

The landscape contains lots of fruit trees as well as berry bushes.  It also has loads of plants that feed the birds.

We generally grow a good deal of our summer produce, freeze or can a few things and give away lots of stuff to friends and neighbors.

[WGH]

Here is a clip of my landscape and vegetable gardens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP6M3gaeaDU

I watched the whole video. Great looking place!

I was listening to ScienceFriday today and thought of your dogs because they talked about dogs and skunks and a remedy for getting skunked.
Watch the video and get the cleaning formula here:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10214/

I know a couple who used to live in the Chiricahua Mountains in Eastern AZ. They would sit on the patio at dusk and enjoy the coolness after a hot summer day, their cats would stroll by for a back scratch on their way to their nightly rounds. One evening close to dark a furry form strolled by Gretchen and she reached down without looking to scratch its back. Only after the animal darted away did she realize it was the neighborhood skunk. Nobody got sprayed and she did get a good story to tell.

Wayne

[spudco]

Wayne -

Great info - I love Science Friday on the radio.

We have had one skunk encounter here at the Habitat...

Several years ago, our battle ax of a dog, Stella got into a skunk around 2:00 am on a June morning.  We have a dog door, so she ran back into our home and jumped into bed with my wife and me.  It took days to air out the house...  Stella was always getting into trouble but we sure do miss her.