Topic: Sustainable Table

[Skadi]

I'm in the process of finalizing what I'm going to grow in my garden. I have more space to grow things since I moved this year. In the past I've grown things like tomatoes, and herbs.. and er.. flowers.. but I've never branched out and pushed myself. Right now I'm thinking of growing 3 types of tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, peppers, herbs, fava beans, green beans, Chinese pea pods, carrots, watermelon, cantaloupe, mesclun type salad mix including baby spinach, onions.. and flowers...oh, and pumpkins, corn, and gourds. I'm holding off potatoes... I think.. mostly because they're cheap to buy.. and take up space to grow. I'm also planting berries (hopefully if I have enough money..) but, they won't bear fruit until they've been established a year. 

Any advice? or.. is anyone growing anything themselves?

[smokester]

I planted a farm load of stuff last year and all I got back was about 5 tomatoes the size of peanuts (small peanuts at that).

I thought I might just build wooden trough like boxes to grow stuff in this year, as I might be able to keep the slugs, beetles (damn those scousers), greenflies and cats away from what I plant that way.

What do you do Skadi to combat the wildlife?

[xtopave]

OMG, Skadi, that's wonderful, congratulations!!
I've mostly grown herbs: oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary. Other than that (and only for my daughter to see them grow) I've planted tomatoes, onions and carrots. The herbs are relatively easy to grow bc plagues don't tend to attack them. Leaf vegetables are another story. 

[Skadi]

What do you do Skadi to combat the wildlife?

The herbs are relatively easy to grow bc plagues don't tend to attack them. Leaf vegetables are another story.

Those are two of the reasons I've never planted more.. The only time I planted carnations rabbits ate them.. And I'm also worried about more delicate plants for lots of reasons. For those types of plants when possible I'm going to try and grow smaller versions of them like broccolini instead of broccoli.. and mesclun instead of head lettuce. That way if something fails, I can start it again, and/or stagger plantings.  Seeds that squirrels are more likely to dig up, I'm going to start in side and transplant.

I thought I might just build wooden trough like boxes to grow stuff in this year

That's how I ususally grow things. It was possible for me to do this year because I now have a pickup to haul wood and compost. And, the county I live in has all the free compost available that its residents can haul. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get my soil ready for planting stage... I wouldn't have been able to afford that much material. It would have been irresponsible of me not to take advantage of the compost.

[goldshirt*9]

rotate the bed of veg.
carrots are easy in raised bed.
radishes are easy to grow as well, plant cut and grow lettuce as you cut / rip off what you want and they still grow.

a beer trap is a easy way to keep the slugs at bay  if you any left 
http://www.slugoff.co.uk/slug-solutions/killing-slugs/beer-trap.html

cover your beds in chicken netting bent and fixed to keep rabbits at bay.


i have had a  allotment and have grown many things.
i do love gardening.

ensure lavender / rosemary / thyme  is grown . if only for the scent 

[subvinorosa]

My mom would love to garden but we don't have the land.  Concrete all over.  She has some plants in pots though that are ready for transplanting if we ever get to move.  The cats killed most of her flowers and the insects got her veggies.  She still has most of her fruit trees growing well though.

My pride and joy (but only because I was the one to buy it) is the ylang ylang.  I can't wait for it to start blooming.

I often buy my mom plants but I don't really care much for them. 

[MaxDreamer]

I pulled these today. Grew them from seeds in a big red pot.

2009 was the first year we started gardening and we got lucky not having to deal with a lot of bugs. 2010 was different story. Despite the tiny insects, this year our garden yielded a ton of tomatoes, Japanese eggplant, corn, kale, collard, bok choy, mustard greens, spaghetti squash, yellow squash, Romaine and butter lettuce, nectarines, onions, basil, cilantro, green onions, Italian parsley, one bunch of grapes that were tiny, but really sweet, strawberries, blueberries (only six berries then the plant died). Tried to grow garlic but my dog Mia dug the cloves up and ate them. 

The only things in the garden now is broccoli and Napa cabbage.

I think I have to cut down our two year old lemon tree. It had lemons on it last year, but the frost got to it and this year it has nothing. 

[xtopave]

Congrats MaxD! Sounds like fun and a lot of work too.

I think I have to cut down our two year old lemon tree. It had lemons on it last year, but the frost got to it and this year it has nothing. 

What do you mean it has nothing? Is it alive? You should be patient then. Lemon trees are pretty sturdy for frosts but the first 2 years of any fruit tree (or any tree for that matter) are key.

[goldshirt*9]

fresh carrots taste nothing like purchased ones 
much better

[xtopave]

And what about tomatoes?!?! You can recycle tomato skin and do a waterproof jacket it's so plastic! I might be getting old but do you remember how tomatoes used to taste? Btw, I have an easy way to dry and then preserve tomatoes that makes them even tastier in the process. (I'll post it in the appropriate thread). I've found that where I live purchased cherry tomatoes are tastier than common tomatoes, idkw.

[goldshirt*9]

i never had much look with tomato's
sumers kinda are wet in the uk for the past few years

[Skadi]

I pulled these today. Grew them from seeds in a big red pot.

2009 was the first year we started gardening and we got lucky not having to deal with a lot of bugs. 2010 was different story. Despite the tiny insects, this year our garden yielded a ton of tomatoes, Japanese eggplant, corn, kale, collard, bok choy, mustard greens, spaghetti squash, yellow squash, Romaine and butter lettuce, nectarines, onions, basil, cilantro, green onions, Italian parsley, one bunch of grapes that were tiny, but really sweet, strawberries, blueberries (only six berries then the plant died). Tried to grow garlic but my dog Mia dug the cloves up and ate them. 

The only things in the garden now is broccoli and Napa cabbage.

I think I have to cut down our two year old lemon tree. It had lemons on it last year, but the frost got to it and this year it has nothing. 

They're super pretty! I want to grow carrots.. but I'm thinking about growing shorter style ones. And I'm going to plant these because I can't stand not to.. they're so cool looking They're called Purple Haze



I just figured out I have a walnut tree in my yard. In fall I'm going to try and harvest them and see if I can use them to make pesto cheaper then using pine nuts.

Are onions hard to grow Max?

My dog keeps jumping in the garden beds I nearly have her trained not to do it.. because she definitely can't after they're planted. She likes to be up high.. and right now they're the highest thing for her to climb on. I want to try to buil her a little platform higher then the gardens so she can lay up there and watch the activity.. She can be my living scarecrow

And what about tomatoes?!?! You can recycle tomato skin and do a waterproof jacket it's so plastic! I might be getting old but do you remember how tomatoes used to taste? Btw, I have an easy way to dry and then preserve tomatoes that makes them even tastier in the process. (I'll post it in the appropriate thread). I've found that where I live purchased cherry tomatoes are tastier than common tomatoes, idkw.

^ I don't like anything canned.. so I was thinking about dehydrating them in a dehydrator. Will your way work better? If I had a second freezer I'd make batches of sauce and freeze it

[xtopave]

Will your way work better?

No, I don't think it'll work better. I dehydrate them in the oven because it's what I have. I'll post how I do it in the "savoury thread".

If I had a second freezer I'd make batches of sauce and freeze it

Whenever I do tomato sauce I do a lot and then I freeze part of it. Mainly bc it saves a lot of time. But yeah, freezer space it's a problem for me too.

[Skadi]

^ I was going to do it that way.. but dehydrators have gone way down in price.. so, that's why I'm considering buying one. You need to make a topic called 'Tools'.

[MaxDreamer]

I forgot to add we also had English cucumbers and zucchini.

Congrats MaxD! Sounds like fun and a lot of work too.

What do you mean it has nothing? Is it alive? You should be patient then. Lemon trees are pretty sturdy for frosts but the first 2 years of any fruit tree (or any tree for that matter) are key.

Thank you. It is fun and hard work. Even though we installed a drip system, I like watering by hand (not in the summer though) because it gives me time to reflect.

The lemon tree is alive and has leaves, but last winters frost killed all the new growth so we had to trim the dead branches. This year it grew taller again, but didn't start blooming any flowers and the frost has killed more of the new growth. I don't know what to do because I see everyone else in our neighborhood with citrus trees and I get envious. 

fresh carrots taste nothing like purchased ones 
much better

Ain't that the truth!  Everything you grow tastes better especially if you don't use pesticides.
 

They're super pretty! I want to grow carrots.. but I'm thinking about growing shorter style ones. And I'm going to plant these because I can't stand not to.. they're so cool looking They're called Purple Haze

I just figured out I have a walnut tree in my yard. In fall I'm going to try and harvest them and see if I can use them to make pesto cheaper then using pine nuts.

Are onions hard to grow Max?

My dog keeps jumping in the garden beds I nearly have her trained not to do it.. because she definitely can't after they're planted. She likes to be up high.. and right now they're the highest thing for her to climb on. I want to try to buil her a little platform higher then the gardens so she can lay up there and watch the activity.. She can be my living scarecrow

Thanks! 

If you grow the shorter variety, you should try the method I used. If you don't have space you can use a regular old red plastic garden pot. It was an experiment that worked out great.

Those Purple Haze carrots are cool! I wanna grow some now too.

Onions from seeds take an insanely long time to grow. We were so impatient we pulled them out of the ground when they were the size of pearl onions. Our red onions didn't grow that much (only the size of a peppercorn), but I think it was because we didn't plant them in the correct location in the garden. Even at that size, they were red and still tasted like red onion.

I have to go to sleep now, but when I have more time, I'll post pics of our garden and how we keep our dogs out.