I think the list of what I don't grow would be shorter than the list of what I do grow, haha! I mostly grow rare and heirloom produce, varieties I can't find in stores or on the market, because if I can buy it, why grow it, right?
I don't grow cherry or plum tomatoes, but do grow bigger ones that taste great both raw and cooked, preferably fleshy ones with few seeds. My favorites last year were Cleota Yellow and Anden Horn.
Same with pole beans, I grow old varieties that taste good both as green beans and as dried beans. So I pay a lot of attention to bright and interesting colors and patterns on the dried beans. I end up with jars of dried beans that look like jewels, or candy. I also grow a lot of bush beans, which I love because I can grow two crops every year, one sown out in May, the other in mid-June or July for a late harvest.
I'm in Germany, how about you? There are several go-to places I have online that sell rare and heirloom seeds. I also swap in seed-swap forums or with friends. And I save a lot of my own seeds to re-grow the following year, except for curbitas since the probability of cross-pollination is very high.
I'm in the American Midwest--perhaps some 5 hours' travel due south of Chicago. You are so lucky! There are very few local stores left that sell even common garden seeds even though I live in a fairly rural area. I hope you'll have great success with your garden this summer! :^)
My choices are limited due to my plot being tiny and very public and prone to theft.
Typically I grow some greens, a few heirloom tomato plants, lots of herbs, jalapenos and a variety of flowers to attract pollinators. I'm hoping to find a safer place to grow my tomatoes since they're the most likely to get stolen but we'll see.
I am also limited by being cheap and relying on the local greenhouse for my plants But these limitations do make choices simpler.
I will be growing tomatoes and basil started by a nursery located a couple blocks from my house, snap peas from ones I grew last year, and I have ordered carrot and onion seeds as well as two kinds of potatoes from Gurneys. And hopefully I will get a crop of blueberries (even though my bushes have yet to show signs of life) and my reluctant fig might finally set fruit.
As soon as you can, you should get some acid fertilizer. Blueberries require a lot of it because they are specialists in growing in highly acidic soils. At the least appearance of a yellowish tone in a blueberry's leaves, give it a dose of the acid fertilizer. Blueberries are shallow rooted plants but their roots must be kept cool through the use of a thick mulch. Best of luck with your blueberries and your figs as well. I hope someone else in your neighborhood is growing figs or you will have to buy yourself some fig wasps to pollenate your figs. (Nothing else can.) Best of luck! :^)
I have two fig trees (one planted five years ago, the other three years ago) and I've never seen or heard of a fig wasp, and googling let me know why; they don't live in our region. Mine started setting fruit in their second year each. My trees are self-pollinating varieties, though, and don't need pollinators. Often lack of fruit set is also issues like over-fertilizing, unsteady climate conditions that year, or over-pruning.
i've started my seeds indoors. i have paste tomatoes, sweet onions, leeks, bok choy, broccoli, endive, celery, thyme, basil, and a couple flowers. i'll be starting watermelon and cantalope soon. theres still snow on the ground here, so it'll be a while yet til i can get into my garden.
i grew purple green beans once. they were a fun novelty, but not as tasty as other varieties i've grown. i grew purple carrots too and it was the same.
Which variety of celery are you growing this year? I was startled by how easy it is to grow celery from seed and it makes a great houseplant come fall. All you have to do is dig it up and pot it. I wish you the best of luck with your veggie garden this summer! :^)
tango celery. i grew some last summer, but i injured my ankle and my garden got a little wild and overgrown with weeds and i never harvested the celery. it did grow though, so i'm trying again this year.
thanks! and are you trying anything new and interesting this year?
You're welcome to call me crazy if you like, but I want to try espaliering some of my tomato plants (like fruit trees) because I'm tired of trying to reach through round wire cages to get to the tomatoes. And trying to weed around the bases of those tomato cages ain't any fun either. I'm thinking I'd like to try growing some grocery store ginger and Hubby will insist on growing some potatoes. As for the rest of it, I'm still thinking. After all, it will be MAY before our soil warms up enough to actually till it for planting.
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I don't grow cherry or plum tomatoes, but do grow bigger ones that taste great both raw and cooked, preferably fleshy ones with few seeds. My favorites last year were Cleota Yellow and Anden Horn.
Same with pole beans, I grow old varieties that taste good both as green beans and as dried beans. So I pay a lot of attention to bright and interesting colors and patterns on the dried beans. I end up with jars of dried beans that look like jewels, or candy. I also grow a lot of bush beans, which I love because I can grow two crops every year, one sown out in May, the other in mid-June or July for a late harvest.
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It gets harder and harder to buy good heirloom seeds where I live.
:^)
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You are so lucky! There are very few local stores left that sell even common garden seeds even though I live in a fairly rural area.
I hope you'll have great success with your garden this summer!
:^)
Reply
Typically I grow some greens, a few heirloom tomato plants, lots of herbs, jalapenos and a variety of flowers to attract pollinators. I'm hoping to find a safer place to grow my tomatoes since they're the most likely to get stolen but we'll see.
I am also limited by being cheap and relying on the local greenhouse for my plants But these limitations do make choices simpler.
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Blueberries are shallow rooted plants but their roots must be kept cool through the use of a thick mulch.
Best of luck with your blueberries and your figs as well.
I hope someone else in your neighborhood is growing figs or you will have to buy yourself some fig wasps to pollenate your figs. (Nothing else can.)
Best of luck!
:^)
Reply
Reply
i grew purple green beans once. they were a fun novelty, but not as tasty as other varieties i've grown. i grew purple carrots too and it was the same.
Reply
I was startled by how easy it is to grow celery from seed and it makes a great houseplant come fall. All you have to do is dig it up and pot it.
I wish you the best of luck with your veggie garden this summer!
:^)
Reply
thanks! and are you trying anything new and interesting this year?
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And trying to weed around the bases of those tomato cages ain't any fun either.
I'm thinking I'd like to try growing some grocery store ginger and Hubby will insist on growing some potatoes.
As for the rest of it, I'm still thinking. After all, it will be MAY before our soil warms up enough to actually till it for planting.
:^)
Reply
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