Growing your own vegetables

KJT · Mar 17, 2011

Originally Posted by mm84321

Thanks for this.

I was told that raised beds would be easier as it will enable me to have more control of the soil content and I won't have to worry as much about rocks (the ground is pretty rocky where I live). The area of land that I want to plant on is currently grass, so I was considering excavating some plots and installing maybe 4 or 5 raised beds and installing pathways in between. I'm probably going to end up contacting a landscape architect for their opinion on designing the garden itself.

We did raised beds expressly for these reasons. The soil in our yard was a terrible mix with too much clay already, and it was just easier than tilling and adding all that soil anyways. Had great results - tomatoes, green/red peppers, jalapanos, cukes, lettuce, herbs (basil, mint, rosemary, tarragon, chives, thyme, lavender), then squash, zucchini, and radish.

We tried pumpkins, but a few weeks into growth they looked a lot like tennis balls to my dog and were crunched.

Nil · Mar 17, 2011

I do this. I hate gardening, the act of it bores me and holds little interest, but I love the results so I make due.

Herbs - Thyme, rosemary, basil (a few different varieties), cilantro, chives, mint, and whatever else I'm feeling at the moment.
Tomatoes - 3-4 kinds with different growth periods so I'm not inundated with 50 tomatoes in a one week span.
Peppers, both hot and regular ones. For some reason I can't grow jalapenos for ****. I've tried 3 different seed packets in the last two years and none of them have been hot. Habaneros, Bird's Eyes and Serranos work though so I stick with those.
Carrots - Usually some type of heirloom variety.

Then usually a variety of vegetables that vary from year-to-year. I've done zucchini, edamame, green beans, various types of lettuce and greens, beets, and radishes. Not sure what I'll plant this spring yet.

impolyt_one · Mar 17, 2011

I know you guys have whole foods n' **** with the 5 different kinds of radishes already, but to me, nothing beats having tons of awesome, crispy, spicy radishes and daikons in the summer. Awesome with bagna cauda, etc. I'd have white icicles, the red and white icicles, red and pink small radishes, watermelon daikon, white daikon, kabu (Japanese turnips), kohlrabi....

foodguy · Mar 17, 2011

i've got raised beds in my front yard (yes, i am a stereotype). but i will say there is nothing like vegetable gardening to make you appreciate having farmers around. my faves are radishes, salad greens, winter greens, zucchini (seriously, really fresh there's a huge difference, especially with a good variety). i'm on the coast so tomatoes thus far have been fairly disappointing. the tradeoff for having constant 70-degree temps.

itsstillmatt · Mar 17, 2011

We grow salad and herbs, basically. Nothing else works that well here.

mordecai · Mar 17, 2011

I've had a lot of success with artichokes, but usually just let them bloom. There's nothing quite like that color.

foodguy · Mar 17, 2011

yeah, i grow artichokes. they're great. they actually have a really amazing texture when they're that fresh, very creamy. but yes, they do make great flowers, too. and a really nice gray-green foliage. i like growing them because the neighbors will come by and say "that looks just like an artichoke!" ... like they always thought they'd been manufactured or something. i've tried to grow brussels sprouts a couple of times, just to really freak them out, but we get cabbage beetles crazy.

SField · Mar 17, 2011

In NY in the summers I had an extensive herb garden. Would love to do that again. Mainly I want to grow my own tomatoes. I'm so ******* sick of bad tomatoes. Whole Foods no longer carries these great San Marzano canned tomatoes... best they have now is Muir Glenn which can be highly disappointing.

mordecai · Mar 17, 2011

Originally Posted by foodguy

we get cabbage beetles crazy.
I noticed the color on my chervil had changed dramatically one morning. Upon closer inspection I realized the plant had been completely covered by aphids.

foodguy · Mar 17, 2011

artichokes get aphids like crazy. you don't see them until you notice the plants are covered with ants, which are harvesting the aphids. god i hate nature.

mordecai · Mar 17, 2011

I actually love how that relationship works, but yeah, it's disgusting and ruins my plants.

StephenHero · Mar 17, 2011

As a kid we grew tomatoes, but eventually stopped. There's only so much you can do with 100 tomatoes during the second week September.

Nil · Mar 17, 2011

Trade heirloom tomatoes for sex from freegan hippies or I suppose you can just make a big pot of marinara and freeze.

Dewey · Mar 17, 2011

If you do raised beds, make sure they are made of materials that will not leech toxic substances. Pre-treated deck lumber, for example--you don't want to eat that. I once stayed in a summer house that boxes made of this material all around the yard. The flowers were pretty, but I was not eating the tomatoes that grew there.

Soil with a lot of clay or sand might not be all that bad. Have some expert person take a look at it.

I belonged to a CSA where everything was grown in beds that were more or less heaps of compost-rich soil in rows on the ground. They were raised in the sense that they stuck up maybe a foot off the ground at their peak.

Do vegetables send roots that deep into the soil?

Good luck with your gardening.

foodguy · Mar 17, 2011

when people say raised beds, they usually mean some kind of container, or french-intensive, type gardening. lots of fruits and vegetables are normally grown in beds that are higher than surrounding soil. as for root length... i've had damn arugula with a foot-long root!

Growing your own vegetables

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