Just add fresh Kentucky wonder snaps cooked with new potatoes, oven baked cornbread and a glass of iced tea. Nay bigger rainbow wouldn't fit in the fry pan. Actually, I prefer them 12-14", they're sweeter.
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.
My soil is too ‘clay’ for good root crops (I live by a lake) but I do love ‘em! Glad you discovered parsnips. They’re so yummy when roasted. :)
Wow! What a garden, and your dogs are beautiful!
Though the variety is most important and genetics do play a big role, hot peppers will get hotter if water stressed some when the first main harvest is almost ready.
I washed the truck and cleaned off the porch and back deck this weekend. Cut brush this weekend, watered some (beans coming up + the okra)and pulled a few weeds in the garden.
Got a little overheated around 3:30 pm...it was 92F at the house. Should have put the corn in yesterday along with the peppers, eggplant and melons....just too wore out from Saturday, so I took God's advice and just rested some.
DITTO's!!!
BUMP!!
YEAH!!
What you said!!
I would like to see one of those red - dying, water adding, sawdust ball making machines that makes the grocery store tomatoes......wonder how big they are???
BTW, 3 weeks ago, local chain grocery store......3 ears of yellow corn on the cob, ends cut, in a plastic wrapped container = $3.99...yup...no kinddin!
BTW nice garden and pups...
Just add fresh Kentucky wonder snaps cooked with new potatoes, oven baked cornbread and a glass of iced tea. Nay bigger rainbow wouldn't fit in the fry pan. Actually, I prefer them 12-14", they're sweeter.
Yeah, that is why I decided to put valves at each feeder location. I can adjust the amount or decide not to provide water to each type of crop.
Whole milk works too for neutralizing capsicum.
NICE!
*sigh*
Geeze that was 20 years ago and I am pretty sure we didn’t take a picture of it.
I assume you are most interested in the Chain link fence which acts as a calander. Essentially it is attached to the plate which acts as a conduit to draw the dirt and rocks back, from there they are conveyed as the volume of dirt pushes it back and onto the chain link.
The chain link was 4 feet long and my brother curl the end over two training wheels. the dirt would fall through the chain link and the rocks would stack in the curled area.
That is about it. But, no pics.
"Every-un up 'round har was pertnear the same...po...use to makin' do and raisnin' thar own to eat....We hardly knew the Depression except on the news reels at the picture show. Every awn helped ownt another....if the neighbors' beans dind't make, we raised extra and would swap..beans for eggs, or feed corn if ours didn't make. No'uns had money much. Sometin' always went to the bad in the garden....just the way is was. If ya didn't raise a garden, you didn't eat that winter."
This year we started enough tomatoes for both of us, another brother, and a church friend plus plenty left over. I set out 45 Saturday with rain scheduled for every day this week. Several varieties we use include Boxcar Willies and Cherokee Purples for slicing/eating fresh, Roma for canning, and three others he's been growing for several years best for canning whole, a three inch, and two inch and a 1/5 inch cherry he's grown for over a decade.
I planted some Anasazi pole beans from seed I get at the local healthfood store, and I'm trying to start 3 types of heirloom eggplant for the first time this year. I hope it works.
Video of how a PVC drip irrigation system is constructed and how it works
PDF File on how the system can be set up for different situations
Serious, your 'kids' look very happy. Cashmere, on the other hand seems a little sad she can't be with 'dad' in the garden......maybe just plant a vine crop on the fence on the inside....pole beans....she can be with you when you work them from the yard side. Maybe as a suggestion....3ft of vines, skip 3ft, then another....that'll help keep the air moving through out the garden. You can round up along the fence and plant a week later.....RU is used all the time for soy beans on large scale production between the rows as the beans get bout half grown.
Thank you!
Yeah, that was what I was afraid of. Around here it seems to be berry and apple country. Right now is tulip season.
Very nice page!
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