Edible Plants

[lionofgod]

I now find myself in possession of a yard, and my thoughts have inevitably turned to making it more interesting. In particular, since I have not inherited either my mother's green thumb (her garden is currently the most remarkably lovely jungle, despite being in NJ) or her love of spending hours on my knees in the dirt, I would like

Comments

[allonymist]

Of course, you know not to plant mint or zucchini, unless you have a way to consume infinite mint and zucchini.

On the other hand, if you plant basil, people will _always_ be glad to take fresh pesto off your hands.

[kyrandil]

Be careful about tree placement -- you really don't want them within 6' of your foundation. (Otherwise, by the time the harvest gets large, it'll also be trying to get into the basement.)

Anyway, we've had good luck growing veggies in our tiny garden here (that i think faces a busier street?) -- beans, peppers, cherry tomatoes, herbs. we have some squash volunteers, but I don't think they'll bear fruit (due to weather and a late start). We also planned peas but they all died due to being less drought resistant.

My housemates had a number of seed catalogs that they'd been paging through to come up with selections. The catalog actually gave an indication of spacing, care, &c., which helps.

In general, though, people grow stuff because it's pretty, tasty, or useful (or makes them money, but), so I'm kind of hard-pressed to think of a better criterion.

[capsicumanuum]

Assuming your garden is lead-free, peppers are pretty forgiving. I had a huge crop of peppers last summer, and I didn't do much other than stick them in planters (my soil was most definitely *not* lead-free) and water them every couple of days when I remembered. I did no weeding, mulching, or fertilizing, and possibly would have had bigger and more peppers if I had. But I still had a bunch and they were yummy.