What do you grow in your garden?

[MissPrissy]

This year is our biggest garden ever. We have 4 large plots we are using.

My husband is busy watching out over his plot of:

Popcorn
Giant sunflowers
Cushaw Pumpkins
Giant Pumpkins
Spaghetti Squash

I have planted in three other large plots:

Silver Queen corn
Chubby Checker corn
Early Yellow corn
Ruby Queen corn

Snap beans
Pink Eye peas

Purple skinned potatoes
Sweet Georgia Onions

8 types of tomatoes
5 lettuces
spinach
2 kinds of yellow squash
2 kinds of zucchini squash
Sugar snaps
Sweet peas
Kentucky wonder beans

Asparagus beans
Asparagus
Artichokes
Rhubarb

Turnips
Collards

Sweet peppers
Hot peppers
Banana Peppers

Herbs: dill, tarragon, thyme, 2 kinds of parsley, 2 kinds of basil, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, among other common herbs

We also put in some new fruit trees. We already have several apple trees and damson trees. This year we put in 3 fig trees and 4 blueberry bushes.

I always have great ambition as the long days of winter drag on. The first days of spring set me into motion.

This year I am very excited over some of our first tries with the asparagus and artichokes.

 

[Win]

I'm not a natural gardener but I'm growing my most ambitious garden ever:

75 ft of zucchinni and straight neck squash
50 ft of fordhook limas
50 ft of bush green beans and black beans
125 ft of okra
75 ft of early yellow corn and pole beans
125 ft of silver queen corn and pole beans
25 ft of potatos
25 ft peas
80 ft of tomatoes (early girl, better boy, cherry, and roma)
radishes
broccolli
many hot and sweet peppers
onions
asparagus

Coming soon: watermelons and pumpkins

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Jacky -

What is the measurement of your new L-Shaped tiered garden?

What does your family really like to eat?

There are some veggies that are always worth growing at home because they're far superior in flavor and texture than what you can buy at the store. Tomatoes and corn definitely fit in this category. If you decide to plant corn, make sure that it won't block the sun from another plant and be sure to plant it in a block so that the ears will be properly filled with kernels. There are a lot of ways to maximize your space, which is what I assume Win is doing by listing corn and pole beans together. The corn is being used as the pole.

Additionally, corn and beans are good companion plants for what they give and take from the soil.

As far as what to grow in central Texas, your local garden center should carry plants and seeds appropriate to your environment.

Have fun!

 

[Judymae]

Jacky-we live east of Dallas and we can grow alot in full sun. This year we put in onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, bell peppers, greenbeans, okra, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and radishes. Radishes are already being picked. They don't take long and are easy in full sun. The peppers always do good in full sun. I have serrano, jalapeno, and sweet banana peppers. The green beans do well in full sun until the middle of July and then they give out. So far our pumpkins are doing the best. They are a vine so you would need to plant them at ground level so they can spread out. Tomatoes do well just remember to bury 80% of the plant to make it more stable. It will grow just as fast and produce well. Outta 8 plants I must have around 20 little green tomatoes just waitin to turn red. Strawberries do well if you can keep the rabbits outta them. Good luck! You are gettin a great mother's day gift. It'll keep givin year after year. P.S. You should think about doing so herbs in the planter. They do wonderful in full sun light!--Judy

 

[Backyard Buddies]

There is lots of gardening going on here. That's great! I'm so impressed with all that you're able to grow. Which got me thinking. . . .

Along the lines of this topic, I've started a new thread about preserving the food we grow. I didn't want to hijack this thread, so if you're interested, take a look over here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5733

 

[jmofaustin]

Thanks for the replies, I have since laid it out on the computer so ya'll can see what I am doing and tell me what and how much I can plant in it. I am going to grow herbs on the bottom tier and whatever else can grow in 8" wide planters, I need to know what whatever else is though. then the other two tiers are 16" wide so need to figure those out too. I like cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, onions, garlic, corn, tomatoes, hot peppers, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. I like more stuff too, just don't know how I should lay this out. What are pole beans? I am going to attach a trellis to the back 8' side of the garden so the top tier on that side can have vining plants. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

[hipmarye]

Is anyone having problems with slugs?
I have an abundance of lettuce and as I was out collecting it I noticed several slugs. My dad told me to put some lids filled with beer out for them to drowned in, any other suggestions?
I've noticed my okra leaves have been nibbled on by something too.
This is my first time to have a real garden and I don't have a clue what I'm doing.

 

[Judymae]

Jacky-garlic should be planted in the fall and takes about 8 months to harvest. I've never done it but I'm gonna do it this fall. Squash should be planted in mounds and it vines out in all directions. It's good to grow here in Texas but I'm not sure how it would grow in rows. Peppers would grow good in rows. They grow up not out much. Onions are good to grow but I've never had any luck with seeds. I've always had to start from sets. The good thing about them is they can be picked at any state of maturity. You can get thin salad onions or wait and get bulbs. I planted catnip last year and it came back. My outdoor kitties love to rub against it. A good herb to grow is chives. It looks so pretty and all you have to do is go out and give it a haircut when you need some. I find a variety that is garlicy. It has an onion and garlic taste. Your options are really endless. You should just try out your favorites and see how it goes. If it doesn't work then you'll know what not to plant next year!-Judy

 

[jmofaustin]

Ok, after a night full of internet research, I have decided to ditch my tiered design and go for a square foot garden design. Does anyone here have any advice on square foot gardening? Apparently you get the same amount of crops in 1/5 the size of a row garden.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Jacky -

Don't ya just love the Internet! It's like having a library at your fingertips.

Your tiered design would have looked very pretty, but might have been difficult to work with. I was wondering how you were planning on getting up to the upper tier to harvest.

Someone posted about square foot gardening on the thread I started on preserving food:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5733

One thing about growing in small space - The chicken poo has really helped with this. Because my garden soil is healthier, it allows me to utilize it better. My winter lettuce was awesome this year and I managed to grow quite a bit in a small space.

My beds are raised, largely because we have awful clay soil where I live. Using raised beds allows me to grow more in less space because the roots aren't fighting to get thru that clay. I've worked this way for about 13 years and it has worked great for me. I redesigned the system when I put the chicken coop in because I lost some gardening space to do so. This means that I have to work harder at maximizing what I grow. Let's continue to share ideas because I'm sure that we can all learn from this.