For the past 4-5 years my primary gardening interest has been flowers. I wanted to grow pretty things. With the budget much tighter this year I am very interested in growing things that I can feed to my family. I am so interested that I plan to dig up a section of lawn to create a vegetable bed. This will mean lots more outside work this summer. I’m not against that. Since snow is due today and will put a damper on actual yard work, I’m spending lots of energy trying to plan. I have to figure out what to plant, when to plant it, how often to plant it, and how to take care of what got planted.
I’ll definitely plant:
Roma Tomatos
Onions
Anaheim chilis
Snap beans
Sweet peas
Chives
Basil
Sage
sunflowers
Savory
I’m considering planting:
I favor summer squash, Howard favors pumpkins
turnips
lettuce
chamomile
dill
marjoram
thyme
elephant garlic
One of the things I’m most excited about is the grape cuttings a Schlock fan has promised to send for Howard and My birthday gifts. I’ve figured out where I want to put them, but I’m a little reluctant to actually dig up the spot until the cuttings actually arrive. Of course since the ground is currently frozen it is probably moot.
I want spring and it’s only the first week of February.
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Corn might be something else to think about, If you cut the corn off and freeze it, you can save money on that too. My mother always used to have frozen ears, and frozen kernals that she just straight down like you would to skin something. I dont know how much room you have, but its just a thought. Also for Howard, jalapenos , chilis, and other spicy things are much better fresh and home grown 🙂
For value, planting zucchini can’t be beat. Just don’t plant more than four plants, otherwise you won’t be able to GIVE them all away.
Good for you! I miss having a garden. We rent at the moment, and can’t go digging up their yard. 🙁 If you’re interested in doing it organically (or heck, just getting input/advice) there are some GREAT groups at yahoo (groups.yahoo.com) – Organic Homestead Gardening is one. There are people on that list that have great ideas (and experience) with growing a whole heck of a lot of vegetables in _very_ little space – something to consider, if you’re having to dig up lawn to create a garden.
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I’ve tried growing corn before and never had much success with it. Corn grows best in a field, I’ve only got a small vegetable patch. Fortunately there are many many corn fields locally and so I can buy from a vegetable stand this summer and still use your advice on freezing corn.
About as soon as Howard saw my garden plan he said “I want to grow jalapenos. So I’m adding them to the “definitely plant” list.
Yeah. One of the reasons that I don’t have zuchini listed is because I always have neighbors giving the stuff away. Utah is very big on home gardening. If I have space I’ll plant a zuchini anyway.
Thanks! I’ll go look it up.
Having your own vegetable garden gives you the opportunity to grow a few things you just can’t get elsewhere, like, say, heritage currant tomatoes. Just one little plant in the corner will give you periodic tasty flavor-bomb treats. The only risk is that you may never buy grocery-store tomatoes again, because after the currant tomatoes, they’ll taste like water….
We have this HUGE garden patch that for the last couple of years has basically been a weed garden. Last year we cleaned it out and I’m going to put sod in and just save a little bit for a garden, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to really do a good garden. I prolly won’t have much time this year either, but at least the space will be more manageable and I might be able to work something out. One thing I do recommend is building a grow box, if you don’t already have one. You can put in all kinds of good dirt and because of the height it helps keeps weeds out. Just something to think about. Good luck! With all the stuff you are growing, I’ll be you can make some awesoem salsa!
Going to get me some cuttings while you’re there?
It’d be easier to order seeds. (Can you grow tomato plants from cuttings?)
Nope. Tomatos are annuals. If you cut off bits of a tomato plant you’ll just end up with dead bits not baby plants. Seeds or seedlings are how you get tomato plants.
That’s what I thought…..