New gardening strategy: More is better.
Last year I had about twenty five tomato plants, and was only able to easily harvest tomatos off about eight, because eight tomato cages was all I have- the others ended up laying all over the ground.
So this year, I put three plants in each cage. The cages are huge- like five footers- so they are too big for one solitary plant anyway, so I figured, each cage has an early girl, a better boy, and a celebrity. Two additional cages have Lucky Hundreds (cherries) And I put in four decent looking green pepper plants. Hope they do ok.
I have four twenty foot rows of corn. Not a lot, but a few nice ears of fresh sweet corn are a gift from the gods.
I have cukes, and beets, in addition to peas and beans, and I expect to put in some squash, too, before it’s over. I want to find some good jalapeno plants, if I can find some that dont look iffy. I may yet hang one or two tomatos as well.
16 comments Og | Uncategorized
Sounds like a good garden. We have 8 8×4 beds we are working on right now. Tomato, cucumber, squash, potatoes, cantelope, zuccini, grean beans, watermelon, pumpkin, peppers and the ever-present strawberries.
Last year we only had 2 beds and canned enough for most of the winter. I missed Indiana summers while I was gone. I’m amazed with how much we can grow in the city.
We’re doing simple this year. Green beans, red and green bell peppers, jalapeños, tomatoes coming out the ass, and strawberries.
Can’t do corn down here worth a damn. Too freakin hot and not nearly enough water.
Oh, Lowes has good Jalapeño plants.
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jalepenos grow well on a wire fence.
It’s hard to keep the birds off them though.
I’ll put plastic mesh around the starters until they get sizable, otherwise the birds and squirrels eat them up. Since they’re so expensive in the store, I’ll be growing bell and banana peppers mostly. Some onions, parsley, tomatoes. I could never get broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, or cauliflower to grow.
My 4×4 box garden fell apart, so I’m using a number of large pots this year. They say inner city dirt has a lot of lead and other chemicals in it (I live where there was industry all around me in the past, and I’m surrounded by asphalt pads), so I get fresh rural dirt and use that instead of tilling a part of my city yard. I used to hate string beans until I raised my own, and steamed them over boiling water to soften them.
I’m considering ordering a shiitake mushroom kit for my dark, damp dungeon basement.
Bell peppers – blech (no offense).
I’m trying to keep birds off of my blackberries this year. I put up several t-posts and ran twine between them (going to try to train them up to trellis), and zip-tied $.75 and $1.00 pinwheels from the Dollar Store to each t-post. They keep moving at random intervals, and are sparkly, so hopefully will scare birds.
I’ve seen decent-looking jalapeno plants at Home Depot, as well.
Corn, potatoes, greens, peas, green beans, and cantelope are coming in well… possibly severe thunderstorms tomorrow, though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Man, y’all are going to be keeping ME stocked in veggies this year.
Oh, and as far as tomato cages go… I took apart some no-longer needed fence, cut it into 4-foot sections, and built cages out of those sections. I think I have some trimming to do (fence is too dense to reach through) but I think they should turn out ok. Assuming the tomatoes don’t get creamed by nasty spring storms here in North Texas.
I have a bit of most of that. My favotites are yellow wax beans and limas. I’ll try the peas and spinach again in the fall when the squirrels have other food to stuff themselves with.
Yeah, Aaron, I used to use remesh- but it was hard to get galvanized, and the rust left crap on the maters.
My fruit trees are heavy this year. I’m about to have the second bumper crop of apricots in a row, which means we are going to be freezing and canning fools pretty soon. Nectarines are so abundant that I’ve had to do lots of thinning. We’ll have more than a handful of peaches and more than a bowl full of cherries, too.
Og, I’ve planted my trees the same way you planted tomatoes. I found that the recommended spacing between trees has more to do with driving a tractor between them than promoting growth or production. As long as water and nutrional needs are met, the trees do fine as, I suspect, the tomatoes will.
Aaron, how in the hell do you manage corn here in NE Texas?
Now I want some.
Something’s already eaten my cucumber plants! Luckily there’s still time to start over.
Couple of cantelope and watermelons starting in a little window greenhouse (clear topped restaurant take-home container).
Og, you talking about concrete wire mesh, about 4″ square holes?
Yep, remesh.