Posted on 04/26/2009 6:10:21 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
It looked like a mad game of Twister in the vegetable seed section at Home Depot on Verona Road last weekend. The arms and legs of strangers criss-crossed as they grabbed seed packets, then paused to read instructions and make decisions.
Among them were Angela and Tim Lucas, of Madison, who gave themselves a roto-tiller for their second wedding anniversary in March.
"We never planted a single thing before, but we think it will be a lot of fun," Angela said. "We love to cook, and we're trying to save money."
It's estimated that for every $100 a homeowner spends on their vegetable garden, they will harvest produce worth between $1,000 and $1,700.
The Lucases got their seed shopping list from "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegetable Gardening": artichokes, arugula, asparagus, edamame, eggplant, garlic, herbs, jicama, leeks, lettuce, okra, patty pan squash, poblano chilis, radicchio, Swiss chard, shallots, snow peas, sorrel, specialty potatoes, strawberries, beets, tomatillos, tomatoes.
The gardening business is one of the few bright spots in the economy these days. Major seed companies are seeing major surges in sales of vegetable seeds -- with occasional shortages of certain varieties reported -- as well as gardening paraphernalia.
"There's a renewed interest in vegetable gardening across the board, and seed sales are up substantially," said Karen Johannsen, a co-owner of Johannsen's Greenhouse, of Madison. "We're very optimistic about the spring season."
Johannsen said many customers tell her they've never grown vegetables, and others haven't done it for many years. "Vegetable gardening just fell away for a long time; when I was a kid everyone had a vegetable garden."
In addition to wanting to save money, many are expressing an interest in knowing where their food comes from, and in supporting local businesses like Johannsen's. "People are nesting instead of taking vacations, and gardening is part of that,"
Heirloom vegetables (varieties that are at least 50 years old and not a hybrid) are among the best sellers. "Some hybrids have superior qualities -- they might be larger or disease resistant -- but many of them have also had the flavor bred out of them." They are also looking for organic fertilizers and pesticides. "That's been building for a decade," Johannsen said.
Richard Zondag, president of the Randolph-based Jung Seed Company, said they've sold 3.5 million packages of seeds this year, compared to about 2.75 million last year. Jung's vegetable seed sales are up about 30 percent, while sales of ornamental seeds and bulbs are down at least 15 percent. "Overall, sales are up 20 percent," he said. "We're having a great year. The only time we did this well before was during the Y2K scare when people started growing vegetables because they thought everything in the world was going to pot." In addition to vegetables, Jung's sales are strong for berries and fruit trees.
Both Johannsen and Zondag recommend that newbie vegetable gardeners scale back on their ambitions:
"Start on a smaller scale so you will be success," Johannsen urged.
"Plant about half of what you want to, or you'll get sick of it," Zondag said.
Vegetable gardening tips
• Start small. • Grow your favorites. • Do some research. • Make sure you have room. • Consult other gardeners, especially those who live nearby. • "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegetable Gardening" by Daria Price Bowman and Carl A. Price (Penguin, $16.95) covers just about every aspect of vegetable garden: planning, earth-friendly techniques, soil nourishment, planting seeds and seedlings, growing vegetables, berries, and medicinal herbs, recognizing common plant diseases, identifying and eliminating weeds, pruning and trimming plants, knowing when to harvest, deciding whether to can, dry or freeze. • An excellent website is www.VegetableGardener.com, a sister site to FineCooking.com and developed by the editors of Fine Gardening. Look for advice on how to choose a site, organic gardening and growing specific crops.
You don't need a garden to garden
Anything that can hold a good amount of soil and plants, and allows water to drain out, is suited for container gardening.
Containers can be terra cotta, concrete, plastic, metal, wood, ceramic, wire, watering cans, buckets, old boots -- just about anything. Bigger pots require less watering, while darker colors absorb heat and help plants grow in summer (though warmer containers cause quicker evaporation). A benefit of container gardening is that you can move plants around to see where they do best.
Some herbs, like mint, are invasive and almost impossible to get rid of once they take hold and should only be grown in containers. A windowsill that gets about five or six hours of sunshine a day is a great spot for growing herbs in containers. The best herbs for windowsill gardens are dense an compact: oregano, thyme, mints, rosemary, basil, sage, cilantro, chives, tarragon and lavender all do well in pots. Lettuces also grow well in pots, Bigger vegetables, like squash, do well in large containers like wine barrels, as do strawberries, tomatoes and bell peppers.
Think about what you like to eat before planting. If you like salsa, combine cilantro, garlic, onion, jalapeno and tomatoes in a container. Those who like Italian food can put a tomato plant in the center of a pot and surround it with Italian herbs such as thyme, sage, oregano, parsley and rosemary.
Also suited for containers are edible flowers, like nasturtium, pansies, and marigolds. Medicinal gardens can grow in containers as well: peppermint, Echinacea, calendula, feverfew, St. John's Wort, valerian, dandelion and chamomile.
When watering container gardens, water just enough so that the soil is moist to the touch on the surface and wait to water again until the soil is dry to the touch on the surface, but still moist an inch or so under the surface.
The most efficient way to water a container is to put your containers in a deep dish or tub, fill it up and let the water soak into the plants from the bottom, which will take a few hours. When the soil is moistened thoroughly, pour excess water on the ground. Glass bottle hacks sold at garden stores (glass bulbs with long spikes) are filled with water, then turned upside down so water is released very slowly. You can also use glass bottles from your recycled bin with a set of spikes.
Sources: http://planetgreen.discovery.com; http://home.howstuffworks.com
Getting started
Recommendations for beginning vegetable gardeners:
Bean, Festina: Resistant to Common Bean Mosaic Virus, it's a bushy plant with straight pods about six inches long.
Squash, Park's Straightneck: The slender squash grow about eight inches and have thin skins, with a high yield compared to most other varieties.
Cucumber, Salad Bush Hybrid: These have an improved disease resistance.
Lettuce, Summer Glory Blend: Includes seven heat-tolerant varieties that will produce lettuce most of the growing season.
Basil, Large Leaf Italian: This Genovese-type basil grows 18 to 24 inches high and 12 to 15 inches wide.
Parsley, Italian Plain Leaf: Flat-leafed parsley is much more nutritious than curly. It can been harvested frequently so the plants keep sprouting new stems.
Source: Park Seed Company
Get free plants
Another suggestion for those interested in developing a green thumb and saving money: Get free plants. Check out these sources:
•Freecycle.org, where people often offer excess garden materials, especially if you offer to return a portion of the produce. •Gardening groups who share advice, help and sometimes even plants. •Landscapers: they often know who has extra plants, including vegetables. Ask if you can have plants that would otherwise go to a landfill. •Nurseries: Sometimes they throw away plants that are getting too old or ugly to sell. •Green houses, either commercial or run by schools. Another good place to get throw-aways as they thin out seedlings. •The grocery store: Some vegetables can be started from a portion of the plant itself (potatoes, yams, garlic, ginger, beans, herbs that still have roots). Ask what produce is being throw away and ask to go through it. The same is true of your own kitchen, or those of friends •Compost pile: Seedlings pop up in this fertile material all the time. Relocate them to the garden or containers.
The way I figured it, since the sour cream is a condiment to kill some of the heat from eating the dang things it would probably work on removing the same elements from skin as tongue and taste buds.
After a day spent picking and then running through the food processor about 20 pounds of habaneros, I needed to do something!!!! 4 hours after putting the last of them in the freezer and having scrubbed everything I had used, my husband could still smell them when he came in the house.
How are your tobacco seeds doing? I’ve got 6 different types planted, but not a single danged sprout.
I think I will try one of those topsy turvy things next year. T/Y for the info.
So we would til twice and then come behind that with my fancy little rig. Voila! got all the rocks and threw them in pile.
Way cool!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not sure. I . . . um . . . forgot to label everything.
*hangs head in shame*
One lesson I learned from my grandmother (and remind my Mother about) is the story Mom told me about the Great Depression in the 1930s.
She told me the story of my grandfather (who had a second grade education) writing a letter, in pencil, to the president of the U.S.,asking how he was going to feed his family (11 children at the time) if he couldn’t get seeds.
My grandmother, in her 80s, saved every seed she could. She had them stuffed in bottles, paper towels, every place. Mom would pick up a plate and seeds would fall off it.
Now my Mom (who grew up in the Depression, but apparently is soft and spoiled) complains to me that I have seeds stuck everywhere. I just remind her of the stories she told me —guess we have reversed roles, I am the parent, she the defiant child.
My granny, on the other hand, would be proud of my doing this (grin).
ROFL!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t feel bad. I was looking at one flat today and while I know I have a greens mix in it, I also know I tossed something else in after only part of it came up. Now I have no clue what is growing in the other 2/3 of the pan. It might be basil, it might be spinach, it might even be lettuce, or part of the original mix I had put in there.
Wait and see surprises are sometimes lots of fun!
But if I’m planning on doing anything outside in the morning before it gets too hot, I’m calling it a night.
Have a good one all.
I am in the midst of a deluge so won't be any in the garden proper for a few days. However, NOT stopping me from planting in anything I have saved over the years.
My snow peas are up about 6 inches, potatoes about the same and lots and lots of strawberries blossoms. Fortunately both potatoes and peas are in raised beds so will drain nicely. My new thing this year is to try to grow some leeks... We shall see. I have cucumbers of 4 varieties from about two inches to just recently potted, melons, squash in various stages of sprouting to leafing out. I am still not certain there won't be another unexpected freeze so am not in a rush to set them out.
Started from seed several varieties of tomatoes and have re-potted over 30 from seed to now about 8 inches tall. Have about that many just popping through the soil in pots.
So far the freezes have not zapped my blueberries and they are in process of blooming. Grapes are starting to bud and sure am hoping NO blast from far up north to end their progress.
“When I went out to water it tonight, it was completely gone, like someone just pulled it out of the ground. I live in a suburbun area, I can’t imagine what did this. Rats maybe?”
people.
Thanks for the ping girl. I can proudly report Granddaughter and I have planted our first seeds today!
Several months ago we had a bulldozer clear about 2 acres of dead standing wood so we could make use of the land. Much of it is still a mess, with trees to burn and land that needs to be leveled, but we knew going in this was a several year project.
Mr G and I have been working very hard on our little spot that we laid out to garden in. It is about the size of a 2 car garage, and we have pulled about 40 thousand rocks out of it. I think some enemy has sown rock seeds there!
Mr G has made the boxes for us, and today we filled them with wonderful dirt and got our asparagus and carrots started. We need more asparagus crowns, already. I bought some tomato plants and peppers today since I didn’t get seeds started early enough, and tomorrow I will plant lots of other seeds. I will save some so g-son can help after school. Too late to get peas and spinach going. Will try some lettuce to see if it will make it.
We are figuring the garden is too small already.
Mr G’s daddy had a HUGE garden when G was a child. He has worked really really hard on getting this going, and has had a ball. When we start eating from it he will like it even more!
Our next chore is cleaning up a spot to get some fruit trees going.
I love gardening.
I plant in a raised bed 3’ x 16’ and have maters with blossoms, beans that are beginning to take shape, peas that have blossoms but no pods, oregano that is lush and full, strawberries that are almost fully formed but colorless, lettuce that is bursting enough to cut leaves every day and swiss chard that is about halfway there to cutting leaves from them.
I’d love to have an acre or so...
Ed
would you mind posting some pictures of this rig so that I may copy its design? I don’t have many rocks to deal with here in FL, but when I move to where I want to move, I surely will...and remember picking them all too well...
“Jung is one of my favorites, both for the quality and the service. And I am rather quick to recommend the company.”
Thanks! I was a customer for a dozen years before I started working for them. We do know our stuff. :)
It might be too wet and cool for asparagus to get off to a good start where you’re living.
It tolerates dry, hot conditions much better than wet, as it is a ‘root’ and will rot if too wet.
Nope. They won’t hurt anything. The only time you have to really worry about cross-pollinating is if you’re going to save the seed (or potato) for planting the next season.
Most grocery store veggie seeds (like peppers and tomatoes) won’t reproduce ‘true’ as it’s hybrid seed.
Most potatoes and garlic are treated so it won’t sprout; which is a problem if you’re planting stuff from a produce bin.
Our weather has freaked out on us.......90 degrees in the shade and it is still April, unreal.
Well, I grew up on a farm in central Texas in the fifties, and I know what hot temps are like. I remember picking cotton by hand in late July and corn when we came home from school later in the year. I'm talking acres and acres of produce picked by hand when it was hot.
BTW, does that qualify me for retributions?
NOt a bad idea :)
Most likely it was LIBERALS taking what was YOURS and re-distributing your WEALTH to others that are too d@mn lazy to plant a garden. :)
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