O/T: Any Vegetable Gardeners here

[dtel's wife]

Dtel and clan always plant a spring and fall/winter vegetable garden. So I was wondering if there were any other "homegrown" afficianados out there?

So far this winter we have harvested approximately 30+ pounds of cabbage, 12+ pounds of broccoli (sp) and about 5 pounds of brussel sprouts.

We still have about another 20 pounds of cabbage to harvest, another 3 or 4 pounds of broccoli and another 10 pounds of brussel sprouts.

Method of growing: 8' x 24' raised bed filled with composted manure, leaves, pine straw and chicken manure. All were originally allowed to compost for about a year, with new compost added once or twice a year. Plants are spaced about 12 -18 inches apart.

So...I would really like to know if any of you are also into vegetable gardening?

[oldtimer]

Well, since I moved in here back in 88 with a blank slate for a yard, I have concentrated on creating shade. Glorious shade. Mainly I grow herbs and a few chilis like habaneros, tabascos and jalapenos. It is getting harder as the shade plan comes to fruition (Bur oaks and bald cyresses). If you need someone to take your excess vegetables, especially the brussel sprouts, be sure to think of your good friend oldtimer, eh?

[dtel's wife]

I have grown herbs a few times. There is a huge difference between fresh herbs and the junk you buy in the cans/bottles. We have grown peppers a few times.

Hey, it's pretty amazing how fast Bald Cypress grow. We have grown close to a thousand from seed. We probably have about 150 Bald Cypress trees planted on our property that we grew from seeds. I always tell dtel the kids will be wealthy with all the cypress trees we have planted, as scarce as good wood is these days.

Oldtimer, with nine people living here food is rarely in excess. We buy everything in bulk. Sixty to seventy pounds of chicken at a time and the same with most other meat we purchase. Canned vegetables are purchased in lots of twelve. Bisquick is bought in the institutional size from Sam's. When everyone first moved in after Katrina we would purchase two institutional Bisquick mixes at a time, we recently graduated to four institutional size Bisquick's at a time.

But...if we ever do have any excess fresh veggies I will be sure and think of you.

I thought for sure there would be more vegetable gardeners on the Forum.

[jacksonbart]

This time of year no. Herbs OT?

[Jay481985]

My parents grews some things, most staples were cucumbers and tomatoes during the summer. They supplied many a vegetables during the summer. Sunflower are cool and nice if you can get to them before the squirrels. I had watermelon once, only one was big enough but man it was better than any I ever brought from the store. Strawberries too.

[Fish]

Homegrown's alright with me,homegrown that's the way it should be.I loves me mators.

[oldbuckster]

Yeah, homegrown is good.......................EH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!............[]

[Champagne taste beer budget]

We've had a small (5x10) spot for 6-7 years with tomatoes, assorted hot peppers, a watermelon and pumpkin here or there, some beans, I forget what all. The area it was in went away when we built the new house, so last fall I set up an 8 x 24 raised bed down in the lower yard, 18 inches high.

First off, is that high enough? I can always raise it. It's currently filled with decent black dirt, but will be ammended with manure, straw and fertilizer this spring, we're in the country and can hear the source of our manure bellowing on a calm night.

My wife wants to do all sorts of stuff this year, tomatoes, beans, peppers, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, I'd like to see some corn, not sure what'll get put in yet, it's 3 degrees here this morning, so we have time to think about it. Any advice you can offer before we get into the planting season?

[customsteve01]

Caroline does a big garden every year its about 40 x 40 or so. I'll try and post a picture this evening.

[3dzapper]

I plant a garden every year, Tomatos, peppers, eggplant, summer squash, cucumbers, snap beans, early lettuce, early snow peas, a pumpkin, some radishes between rows and an experiment here and there. I also have a row of blueberries, a row of red raspberries, an area of large black raspberries, horshradish, asparigus ( takes years). This year, I'm going to put out a few shitake logs!-)

I also want to put in some rhubarb. I put some in a few years ago. My wife thought they were weeds and pulled the plants.

I use Dick Raymond's wide raised row method of planting. That method allows many more plants in a small area.

Rick

[Champagne taste beer budget]

Do you a link to info on this raised row planting method? Sounds intriguing.

I'd forgotten about cukes and radishes, be nice to have those too. We've had rhubarb for years, she makes some mean deserts with it. Is it lunchtime yet? And onions too, dang, maybe I'll just have the salad bar for lunch. Anyone know when the best time is to plant crutons?

[dtel's wife]

Okay, I am blowing the 30 second rule AGAIN,

Champagne,

IMO 18 inches is high enough, that's about the same height as our raised bed. Fill bed to within four to six inches of the top, soil will settle over time and additional amendments can be added.

I would recommend putting in the amendments as soon as possible, if they are not already composted. The manure tends to be a little too hot for the plants if not composted, unless you use it as a "tea" application. The "tea" is excellent for additional fertilizer applications during the growing season.

To speed up composting you can place black plastic over the growing bed to help "heat" the soil. This process also helps sterilize the soil and eliminates a lot of weeds.

In our area, mulching of plants is a necessity during the spring/summer growing season. We do this for weed control and moisture conservation.

With tomatoes, even watering is one of the most important things you can do to achieve maximum production. Also, adding egg shells to your growing area will assist with the calcium requirements for growing tomatoes.

Your corn will probably have to be planted elsewhere, as it takes a lot of space to get any quanity. One or two ears of corn per stalk at best. Space seeds closely, thin to 18-24 inches, with rows four feet apart. This will help with wind damage to corn.

The best potatoes we ever grew were grown "Indian style". We saved fish heads and guts in the freezer till ready to plant, allowed them to defrost just before planting. We dug rows about 24" deep, put the fish down in the rows, piled the dirt on top and then planted the potatoes. We had more potatoes than we knew what to do with and they were awesome tasting.

We plant the beans on one end of the raised bed with "netting" for them to grow on. We have used bush bean varieties before, however they really don't produce very many beans.

Everything else should do okay in your raised beds as long as you make sure the amendments are composted. Cow manure is an excellent source of nitrogen and also enriches the soil in your raised bed.

Just for the record we did not apply any commercial fertilizer or chemicals on our winter garden, however the extended spring/summer growing period usually requires some type of pest applications, although we try to stick to organic whenever possible. Tomatoes and corn usually require a little extra nitrogen during the growing season.

Crop rotation within the raised bed is also extremely important.

Ortho puts out an excellent paperback book on vegetable gardening, which should be available at Lowe's or Home Depot. Your local Cooperative Extension is an excellent source of information. Most feed stores sell seeds and can usually recommend the best seeds/starter plants for your area.

[dtel's wife]

Caroline does a big garden every year its about 40 x 40 or so. I'll try and post a picture this evening.

Steve we used to plant a big vegetable garden. Somewhere around 200 x 200, a tremendous amount of work, but rewarding.

I would like to have a little more space than we currently have. But...the vegetable production for each plant has doubled using the raised beds.

In spring and summer we have so many tomatoes, cucumbers, etc that we can't use all of them.

[dtel's wife]

3D,

Do you have to replant the blueberries every year or do they overwinter in RI? Mississippi is a large producer of blueberries.

We have about four plants that put out enough blueberries for deserts during the "picking" season and plenty for the freezer. Dtel put fertilizer on them one year and all but killed them. It took about a year from them to recover from the excess nitrogen but they are about five to six foot high now. He didn't realize they don't require fertilizer.

We grow an eggplant down here called Ichobod, it's a small purple eggplant that doesn't have the usual bitter taste of eggplants.

One of our favorite ways to cook eggplant...peel, cut "french fry style", dip in egg, then in Italian bread crumbs and fry in cooking oil. It's kind of like fried green tomatoes for those of you that may be familiar with that.

We grew strawberries one year, they did so good I couldn't control them and dtel "tilled them under". []

[3dzapper]

Champaign, Here is a link for his book which I used: http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Gardening-Garden-Way-Book/dp/0882663194

My raised beds are right on the ground. That lets me use my roto tiller to soften the soil and add soil, compost or composted manure as needed.

Blueberries are perrennial. Onced established they will produce for years. I suppose here in the north, we are sold hardier varieties to take the colder winters. They like acidy soil. I have them planted behind my garden near a row of fir trees.

I had a nice strawberry patch for a while. Then over one winter the hooved rats decided they liked them. Darned deer ate almost all of them!!

We like eggplant. I grow four varieties usually. Regular, your Ichibod, spaghitti (long and thin perfect for slicing and grilling) and white. My wife does slices like that. We eat some fresh cooked with tomato sauce and she freezes the rest of the cooked slices in meal sized batches. We eat it all winter.

Lately, we've been into baba gounish, a puree of roasted eggplant and sesame seed paste, with a clove of garlic and lemon juice. It is eaten cold with flat bread as an appititizer or as a healthy dip. As a matter of fact, I just got done making a batch.

Rick

[Champagne taste beer budget]

Thanks, the book reviews were all very positive, we'll be able to write our own soon since I just ordered it. Might even earn me a few brownie points with the Misses. []

[3dzapper]

The payback on those brownie points is always good.[]

Rick

[oldbuckster]

zapper it's funny you mention Dick Raymond , I have met Dick, many times, have always heard about his books. He stays in West Rupert, Vermont when he's not in Florida, as a matter of fact, he stays in a camper on one of my friends farm up there, He is still active, and loves Deer Hunting, and loves staying in Vermont, pretty active guy of a man close to 80. Pretty interesting to see you mention his name, and then the link to his book, once I saw the cover, I knew it was him. Sold all his land in West Rupert, but still enjoys staying in the camper on the farm, and a good high-ball every now and then.Comes back in the late spring, and stays until after Deer season..............

[3dzapper]

OB, You should plant a garden, then you would have plenty of corn for your jokes. (collective moan)

I'd love to meet Dick and tip one with him. Just his friendly writing style is endearing and, a fellow deer hunter all the more reason. He must be close to 80?

Rick

[oldbuckster]

OB, You should plant a garden, then you would have plenty of corn for your jokes. (collective moan)

I'd love to meet Dick and tip one with him. Just his friendly writing style is endearing and, a fellow deer hunter all the more reason. He must be close to 80?

Rick

You sayin' my jokes aren't funny ? Dick is just as you picture except maybe alittle frisky with a cocktail or three..........I want to say he's 78, but don't qoute me................Always thought he was kidding, he had a show on PBS Vermont I believe, plus his books......interesting ol' Buck........EH !!!!!!!!!