How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'm trying to grow tomatoes this year again, but alas have not had much
luck. I also have strawberries, grapes, cayenne peppers, basil, chives,
garlic, and oregano growing. In another area in my front yard, I
planted mint, taragon, rosemary, and thyme. These herbs are rather
ornamental (to me) and are nice alternatives to inedible shrubbery.

In the past, I've also grown cucumbers but didn't go that route this
year. I tried to grow canteloupes for two different years, but each
time those never grew more than a foot long before they succumbed to
some sort of mold or mildew. I think my "thumb" is more brown than
green!

I bought four varieties of tomatoes to grow; cherry tomatoes, beefeater,
an orange variety, and one heirloom. I'd have to go outside and look at
the 'spike labels' to remember their names. The cherry tomatoes are the
only ones doing alright. Hard to go wrong with those. But the other
varieties just don't want to produce for one reason or others!

One of the reasons, I think, are the 'furry-tailed' and 'long-eared'
"rats"!!! As Andy would say, "The BUMS!!!!" Those critters have nabbed
and pinched the tomatoes that set earlier in the season before they (the
fruits) even had a chance to tinge pink. If it were legal, I'd shoot
those buggers in a heartbeat!

Now that the tomato plants have finally grown tall enough for the
'long-ears' not to reach, they're finally setting fruit. I don't think
the 'furry-tails' like to climb tomato plants either, because I've seen
them filching low, green tomatoes, too! I doubt the 'furry-tails' climb
the tomato plants because they have that smelly, sticky stuff all over?
Just a guess.

My strawberries have also suffered due to those four-legged thieves!
And my grapes, too! The 'furry-tailed' rats scamper up the vines and
gnaw the individual grapes off at the cluster but don't eat them. The
uneaten grapes then fall to the ground where the 'long-eared' rats would
hop-to and relish the harvest they'd seldom get otherwise. I thought
I'd have to worry more about the Japanese beetles (JBs) this year like I
did last year, but that wasn't the case at all. The JBs completed
denuded my grape vines but left the grapes. Instead, I have grape vines
full of leaves, but my grapes were ruined by the 'furry-tailed' rats.

One tomato plant has grown so tall (is that the indeterminant sort?)
that I made a 'teepee' for it to help support the limbs and tomatoes.
Even the regular three-rung "tomato cage" no longer works to support the
plant. One trick I learned is to take panty-hose and cut-off the
elastic waist band. From there, cut around the top edge in a long,
downward circle to make one long, continuous 'rope' about 1/2"-wide of
stretchable, nylon (or whatever it actually is) string. Unlike cotton
(or other) string or twine, the "panythose rope/string" has enough
give-and-take so the plant isn't harmed.

Next year for my strawberries, I'll make some raised garden beds. I
intend to get two or three half-barrels to fill them with topsoil and
use those instead. I may have to cover them with some sort of screening
to keep the 'furry-tails' out of the strawberries, but they should be
safe from the 'long-eared' rats G!

At least that's my plan for next year, . . . . Not so sure what to
do about the grapes, tho'. What sorts of gardens do y'all have?

Sky, who's trying to make that brown thumb green

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

On Aug 6, 1:18?pm, Sky wrote:
How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'm trying to grow tomatoes this year again, but alas have not had much
luck. I also have strawberries, grapes, cayenne peppers, basil, chives,
garlic, and oregano growing. In another area in my front yard, I
planted mint, taragon, rosemary, and thyme. These herbs are rather
ornamental (to me) and are nice alternatives to inedible shrubbery.
snip

Seems a mighty ambitious undertaking for one without much experience/
luck. For starters keep it small and simple; no more than 12' X
24' (a standard size for fencing materials). And first tackle one
kind of tomato before taking on a half dozen types. And attempt the
easy to grow veggies first; beans, peas, squash, lettuce, cabbage,
chard, peppers, etc. For any kind of sucess against the crittters you
need a fence or they will win every time... and with berries you need
netting (birds don't even see a fence).

Sheldon

Sky wrote:
How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'm trying to grow tomatoes this year again, but alas have not had much
luck. I also have strawberries, grapes, cayenne peppers, basil, chives,
garlic, and oregano growing. In another area in my front yard, I
planted mint, taragon, rosemary, and thyme. These herbs are rather
ornamental (to me) and are nice alternatives to inedible shrubbery.


You don't say where you're located or what zone you're in. That makes a
difference when gardening. My special trick or hint is to check with
the folks at your local garden center and follow their advice. When
getting advice online or buying mail order, go with the product that's
closest to you. Plants and advice that apply to one coast or one soil
or one temperature don't do so well in the next.


I'm a trial and error sort of gardener.

I tried zucchini several years, never won a battle with a squash vine
borer, and have strawberries in the barrel now.

I don't like tomatoes, but I'm terrific at growing them. Jim loves
them, eats them every day for lunch, and I just gave some to my
neighbors. I stack the tomato cages and put in a few extra, then drape
the tomato stalks on the cages.

Yesterday we had fresh green beans. They tasted the same as the ones I
get at the supermarket but were more fun. I planted the pole variety,
and they grew up the chain link fence and the tomato cages I provided
for them. This year I planted seeds from a seed packet, but in the
past, I've used black beans or chili beans from my cupboard. They grew
just fine.

I put in 6 parsley plants and love having a fresh supply. I just pick
what I'm going to use in the salad or dressing. That's growing well.

One year we grew a lot of basil, enough to make pesto several times and
freeze it. This year, the basil is growing but not great guns the way
it did before.

My main experiment this year is celeriac. That's a vegetable we love
but see rarely at the supermarket. It seems to be doing well, but I
haven't peeked under the soil to see how large the roots are.

We also put in 6 fingerling eggplants. We got exactly one small
eggplant per plant.


I'm not sure what to tell you about the squirrels. We have them in the
trees, but they don't bother the garden. It might be because they can
hear the dog barking at them or because they're stupid.


We put in raspberry bushes 10 years ago. They've grown like weeds.
Hard to go wrong with them except they take over.


--Lia

On Aug 6, 10:18 am, Sky wrote:
How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

We've had backyard veggies for many years. Six or seven years ago we
put in raised beds and pretty much adopted the "square foot" gardening
techniques. That, plus the very benign climate of SoCal, has led to
very gratifying results.

We can grow a huge variety of things but experience has taught us that
producing more than we can eat is a bad approach, and there are quite
a few things that are just as good store-bought (and even frozen) as
home grown. So nowadays we tend to grow only those favorite things
that we think are clearly better when home grown, "better" in this
context including the convenience of being able to pick what we want
when we want it. A pretty good selection of herbs also falls in this
category.

We have two major seasons, too, which determine what to grow.
Lettuces and greens do really well in the cooler months so we grow a
variety of leaf and bibb lettuces and a variety of bok choy-type
greens. Bok choy is much better when you can pick it early, as
opposed to the big stalks usually carried in the markets. This is
also the season for peapods, which are also much better picked
young.. Carrots and beets do well year-round, so we fill out the beds
with them. Some years we do broccoli, one year we did Brussels
sprouts, which turned out to be remarkable mostly for the number of
insects they drew.

In the warmer months we grow tomatoes, of course. Brandywine is still
our favorite, and this past year we've enjoyed a grape tomato. Gotta
have something to snack on while we're tending the rest of the yard,
you know. Most years we start off with Early Girl. We now limit our
squash to one zucchini or yellow squash. Two people just can't keep
up with more plants than that. We grow Japanese eggplants for their
beauty and so we can pick them quite young when they are most tasty
and tender. We grow Kentucky Wonder green beans because they are our
favorite for taste. Usually those produce more than we can keep up
with but we blanch and freeze them with good results.

Tomato cages and support systems such as you describe are limited only
by one's imagination. We have wire mesh as the vertical back "wall"
of our beds and simply tie the tomato branches to it every now and
then as they grow. Usually using torn-up t-shirt strips.

The most productive "tip" I can offer based on our experience is to
find something easily available to you to use as organic mulch, and
then mulch heavily. A little mulch is better than none, but a thick
layer of mulch -- 4 inches, say, renewed often -- is a lot better than
a thin layer. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or costly, but
there is a good deal of info out there about what kinds of things work
best with what plants. Worth checking out. Also a great use for all
your household compost if you want to start a fairly major
project. -aem

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:18:04 -0500, Sky
wrote:

How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

You might want to also post this to rec.gardens.edible.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

In article ,
Sky wrote:

How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'm trying to grow tomatoes this year again, but alas have not had much
luck.

Where are you at? It may not be you, but the weather. Beefeater
tomatoes (and any of those big juicy ones) cannot tolerate cool
evenings. They grow, but don't set fruit without some spray. I like
the cool evenings myself, but the tomatoes don't. Only early tomatoes
will do OK here. The others don't set fruit until very late, and they
are very cracked and ugly. Cherry tomatoes are generally early, so
that's why I posted this. We have good luck with Early Girls. They
produce tasty but small tomatoes for much of the season.

In article ,
Sky wrote:

How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'll bet the people at rec.gardens.edible would have good information.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:41:10 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
wrote:

In article ,
Sky wrote:

How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'll bet the people at rec.gardens.edible would have good information.


Ah hell, they've been taken over by a bunch of politico-loons lately.
I can barely read the froup.

Boron

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
...
Sky wrote:
How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

You don't say where you're located or what zone you're in. That makes a
difference when gardening.

Interesting to read your postings. Wondering what zones you are both in?
Did I overlook?
Not much luck here with the tomatoes this year. DH hasn't put back the
fence -- big mistake!
Parsley didn't do well - planting more for fall. Basil pretty good (just
now made some pesto), but it is tough.

Shenandoah Valley, VA
There are 6 zones in VA, if I am reading correctly - I am on the border of
zone 4/5.
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/climate/index.html

Thanks,
Dee Dee

"Sky" wrote in message
...
How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'm trying to grow tomatoes this year again, but alas have not had much
luck. I also have strawberries, grapes, cayenne peppers, basil, chives,
garlic, and oregano growing. In another area in my front yard, I
planted mint, taragon, rosemary, and thyme. These herbs are rather
ornamental (to me) and are nice alternatives to inedible shrubbery.

In the past, I've also grown cucumbers but didn't go that route this
year. I tried to grow canteloupes for two different years, but each
time those never grew more than a foot long before they succumbed to
some sort of mold or mildew. I think my "thumb" is more brown than
green!

I bought four varieties of tomatoes to grow; cherry tomatoes, (Clipped)

Sky, who's trying to make that brown thumb green

I've been lucky with herbs mostly, incl. onions & garlic, but it takes some
experimenting with types & places, especially in the desert here. It's a
real exercise in patience to be a gardener.
It's so great to be able to go out and pick stuff fresh for meals. And to
pay a buck or two for basil seeds to get piles and piles of lovely green
stuff to make pesto with.
I've heard that tomatoes might be able to catch a virus from smokers'
hands, so if you smoke, wash up good before you handle the plants.
Edrena

Dan Abel wrote:

In article ,
Sky wrote:

How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

I'm trying to grow tomatoes this year again, but alas have not had much
luck.

Where are you at? It may not be you, but the weather. Beefeater
tomatoes (and any of those big juicy ones) cannot tolerate cool
evenings. They grow, but don't set fruit without some spray. I like
the cool evenings myself, but the tomatoes don't. Only early tomatoes
will do OK here. The others don't set fruit until very late, and they
are very cracked and ugly. Cherry tomatoes are generally early, so
that's why I posted this. We have good luck with Early Girls. They
produce tasty but small tomatoes for much of the season.

Zone 5. Sorry I forgot to mention that. I'm a half-hazard (haphazered?
NWOTD g) as a gardener. I transplant the whatever-seedlings
willy-nilly all over the place here and there and watch them grow - or
not grow! At least I know to provide water when it's dry ;

Glad to know the problems with my tomato aren't related to "brown thumb
syndrome." G. Next year, I'll look for some of those "Early Girls"
and try those out.

My 'gardens' are very informal at best. The strawberries grew on their
own after I planted about 12 of them a few years ago - they're the
ever-bearing "Tribute" variety. The thistle like their company (the
strawberries') a lot, too. I try to keep those (the thistle) in check.
There's even a large, lone batch of volunteer black-eyed susans in there
with the strawberries.

The oregano plants are leftovers from a few years ago. They keep
resurrecting in surprising places nearby the original location
Everyone once in awhile, some volunteer cilantro pops up too!

The four basils are planted in thier own little location at the SE
corner of my house. The three cayenne pepper plants have their own spot
at the SW corner. And, I'm definitely gonna have to whack the hack (er,
heck!) outta that mint because it grows faster than weeds!

I just wish the tomatoes would come in. I've had a yen for freshly
sliced tomatoes right off the vine from the garden with a dollop of mayo
on top sprinkled with some paprika! And then, perhaps some pesto with a
zing of cayenne. Store-bought stuff just isn't the same. Farmers'
markets come close, but to me it's not the same as from my back yard (or
side or front yards too g).

Sky, the serious gardner ------ NOT!

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

On Aug 6, 4:28?pm, "Dee Dee" wrote:
"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message

...

Sky wrote:
How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?

You don't say where you're located or what zone you're in. That makes a
difference when gardening.

So what.

With annuals (which includes most all veggies) the growing zone rarely
makes much difference... veggie seed packets all say "sow when danger
of frost is past" (for most that leaves about half the year for
growing). Growing zone matters with perennials, for severity of
winter temps. Naturally there are some exceptions, especially with
altitude, but not many plant tomatoes above the tree line of the grand
teatons.

Most all veggies found at the typical US stupidmarket produce dept.
can be grown sucessfully most anywhere in the lower 48.

Sheldon

Dee Dee wrote:
"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message

Interesting to read your postings. Wondering what zones you are both in?
Did I overlook?


I'm in zone 5.


I also forgot my biggest tip: Seedlings, not seeds. We planted the
beans from a seed packet. Everything else, tomatoes, parsley, basil,
eggplant, and celeriac, we bought as 6 packs when they were a few inches
high. We tried seeds early on, and in theory they should work, but it
wasn't much fun.


--Lia

Sheldon wrote:


"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message

You don't say where you're located or what zone you're in. That makes a
difference when gardening.


So what.

With annuals (which includes most all veggies) the growing zone rarely
makes much difference... veggie seed packets all say "sow when danger
of frost is past" (for most that leaves about half the year for
growing). Growing zone matters with perennials, for severity of
winter temps.


Your information is correct, but the original poster asked for tips with
the implication that she was having trouble growing some vegetables. It
helps to know what you're dealing with when troubleshooting. It's a
little like the posters we sometimes get who ask what's going wrong with
a recipe-- without telling us the recipe. It was possible that the
problem had to do with too much water, too little water, too hot, too
cold, etc.


--Lia

"Sky" wrote in message
...
How many RFCers grow seasonal gardens for fresh produce? What do you
try to grow? Any special tricks or hints (for whatevers)?


Sky, who's trying to make that brown thumb green

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

We plant each spring and sometimes in fall. I have a raised bed so the
rabbits don't get at it but the earwigs are bad this year. We planted
tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, squash, red peppers and garlic. I usually
keep parsley in the garden but the raised bed doesn't seem to support the
sage and other herbs. I get lots of voluntary tomato plants from the year
before. They are just starting to ripen now. The zucchini hasn't
produced very well. Oh and beets. We had a small crop of those and green
beans. The garlic is out and drying. Can't give you too many hints
because we just plant and water.

MoM