What are you growing? How are you growing?

[StoneRhino]

For a few years I have been wanting to start growing some veggies, but there were a number of things going on that distracted me from that goal. This year has been crazy so far for the obvious reason and that has got me thinking about how it would be an even better idea then before. The strangeness of walking into a store and seeing shelves that were completely empty seemed to punctuate the uncertainty of the world. Thankfully things are nearly back to normal, but it shows how quickly a disruption could happen and how dependent we are on so many things, one of which is food.

I do not have a lot of space that is usable. A large part of the backyard is taken up by an inoperable pool. The rest of the space is effectively useless as the dog will pull up any plants for the heck of it, which is a problem that if I can find an answer to would greatly increase my space as planters line the walls. The front yard is grass, something I view as completely useless.

I do have a few areas around the pool that are small, but useable. I also have a few large growing pots that we got from a neighbor several years ago. I'll be moving those to the pool area, and plan on looking to buy some other planters.

Something that I have been spending a lot of time on the past week has been watching videos on youtube. This guy seems to have some rather interesting videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7SX9FBde48

Unfortunately, I don't have the amount of space that he does and I am unsure how much I can apply just yet.

I also just saw this video, and along with the Jame's videos linked above, its hard not to see something calming and even beautiful in it all. The idea that we can grow a lot of our own food that has higher nutritional content then what we buy at the stores, without spending all of our time on it is rather significant. While I hate lawn work I have liked gardening, which has been limited in the past, as it has been relaxing to just poke at some plants, water them, and watch their progress on top of harvesting. That experience has really been focused on tomatoes, cucumbers, and chile pepper plants. I am hoping to add to that especially after remembering videos about planting a salad in a pot, where one of those large plant pots are used to grow several kinds of vegetables that manage to fit and grow well together in such a tight space.

Right now I am not growing anything as I am currently in the planning stages. I would like to start some plants from seeds, but I think that I will end up starting with a few tomato and pepper plants from the local home depot to get something going. If any one has any suggestions or links that are related that would be appreciated. :thumbsup:

[dgorsman]

Don't get too hung up on the nutritional claims.  Not like they've sent their stuff to a lab.  Flavor can be a bit better, although that's typically from being fresher.

Grass lawns have actual functions and are not just for 'pretty'.  They absorb water and release it slowly, which prevents flooding during rain and spring melt (if you get those).  The root system also keeps the water from washing away the topsoil.  I've seen a few naturalized yards, and after a couple of years the only thing left is gravel, rocks, and some sand which nothing aside from a couple of weeds will grow on.

Check surrounding trees.  If you have coniferous ones, the fallen needles will basically stop everything from growing there.

Be prepared to lose everything (at least the outdoor stuff) to insects.  My parents had a sour cherry tree which had two decent years of production.  Once it got big enough to truly produce though, each year every single cherry was eaten through by insect larvae.  Rather than have a tree and surrounding ground covered in rotting fruit they cut it down.  And depending where you are, animals like deer too.  Plus there's a good chance you will be dealing with cat poop.

Now for the good news.  A lot of things are easy to grow like tomatoes, cukes, squash, even Brussels sprouts (which tend to be way less sulfurous).  Get them started indoors in early spring, then move them outside the weekend after you think is the last frost/best time.

[jimdigris]

Native plants will work better than non-natives.  They have deeper root systems which allow them to survive extended dry periods without watering.  They don't need fertilizer and are more resistant to pests.  This makes them very LOW MAINTENANCE.

[garhkal]

I created a 16ft by 12ft holding cage, with 1 inch chicken wire all around, my four raised beds.  One's doing tomatoes and bell peppers.  One's got cucumbers.  One has peas, and one has spuds... 

[idea weenie]

My apartment only has a small porch facing west, so I am growing a pair of pots of green onions on it.  When a green onion leaf bends over, I know it has gotten too big and is ready for cutting off and eating.  Flavors up the ramen decently.

Indoors I am trying to grow a potted tomato plant, but it seems to be dying.  I am growing it inside instead of outside, as last time I tried outside I got those white mites that ate it up.

Recommendation - if you want to grow something indoors, grow it near a window, and even then make sure it is something that doesn't need a lot of sun.

[Major Headcase]

Here in Oregon I plan and plant 4 x 10 foot, raised, veggie beds every year for my dad. We are lucky here to have pretty mild extremes in any season and a relatively  long harvest season. Last year we were still getting peppers into early November. Our soil has a lot of clay just a few inches down so raised beds is the way to go for us.
We plant what we intend to preserve. The harvests aren't reliably spaced to live immediately on the produce but when its time it's a glut. We plant a few staples each year and some experiments each season. For preserves we grow green beans, butter beans, beets, carrots, onions, tomatoes (Roma and heirloom), and bell peppers (usually a mix of green, and yellow Californian breeds). With the warmer and longer summers in recent years, we are trying paprika and jalapeno peppers and squash this year.
We started it as just fun but for 4 years now it's really supplemented the winter diets of two households. We can (jar) most of it as salsas, chutneys, and herbed blends, rarely pickles; but harvest fresh meals are a treat!!
We use a mix of black enriched (mixed with cooked manure)  bag soil and mulched native soil with compost. We have tried different homemade fertilizer recipes (things like potting lime and mulched dried fish - I know sounds crazy...) but we haven't found anything that makes crazy growth or yields. We try to avoid too many chemicals, but we'd rather have edible food through the power of science than totally 100% organic pest-ridden garbage...  ;)
I'm pretty sure my dad uses a little Miracle Gro when I'm not there, but I haven't died of rampant mutation yet! This year we've tried a trick using sugar water. It feeds the microorganisms in the soil around the roots and increases the saturation of organic materials for the plants nutrition. Supposedly it can also effect the flavor of the tomatoes and peppers??? I hope so!
Mostly we let water and the sun do the work. Some years the planrs struggle, some years the produce falls off by the bucket full.
I have no video recommendations, but I do recommend older publications on subsistence farming and kitchen gardening; older as in 17-18 hundreds. They have lots of make-it-yourself tricks that dont cost an arm and a leg and are less likely to use chemicals you cant pronounce. (Although stay away from Victirian English sources; those people were crazy with the chemicals!!)  :D ;D
Often you can find great books specific to your climate and region. People liked to write before TV, internet, and Battletech, came along.  :)

[StoneRhino]

Be prepared to lose everything (at least the outdoor stuff) to insects.  My parents had a sour cherry tree which had two decent years of production.  Once it got big enough to truly produce though, each year every single cherry was eaten through by insect larvae.  Rather than have a tree and surrounding ground covered in rotting fruit they cut it down.  And depending where you are, animals like deer too.  Plus there's a good chance you will be dealing with cat poop.

Now for the good news.  A lot of things are easy to grow like tomatoes, cukes, squash, even Brussels sprouts (which tend to be way less sulfurous).  Get them started indoors in early spring, then move them outside the weekend after you think is the last frost/best time.

The problem with lawns is that I'm in california, the Southern part. The part where they have pushed people to conserve water and keep the watering to the bare minimum, but at the same time they want you to keep your lawn in a picture perfect state and not have a single weed growing. I'd love to just convert the front yard to a mini farm as a big crude gesture to the city and state's nonsense.

It would be disappointing to get zero results because of insects, but we didn't have any real issues in the past. I'm hoping for something, but not expecting much.

[StoneRhino]

I created a 16ft by 12ft holding cage, with 1 inch chicken wire all around, my four raised beds.  One's doing tomatoes and bell peppers.  One's got cucumbers.  One has peas, and one has spuds...

I wouldn't mind something like that. If I can build or buy something that will keep a bored lab out then it would greatly increase my space to grow in. Do you think that you could grow cucumbers and spuds in the same bed?

[dgorsman]

Yeah, location context is important.  In the arid parts of California, xeriscaping is ideal and grass less so (kind of weird they want picture perfect lawns...).  But the term gets abused quite a bit.  I've seen people promoting it for coastal properties in the Pacific Northwest, which doesn't make a lick of sense.

[Daryk]

I grew up in the PNW... the word that sticks most in my mind is "rain"... so what exactly do you mean?  ???

[garhkal]

I wouldn't mind something like that. If I can build or buy something that will keep a bored lab out then it would greatly increase my space to grow in. Do you think that you could grow cucumbers and spuds in the same bed?

Looking at several sites, for 'companion planting', check out this site, for what i mean
https://www.burpee.com/gardenadvicecenter/areas-of-interest/flower-gardening/companion-planting-guide/article10888.html

Cucumbers are allied with Beans, cabbage, corn, pees and tomatoes.

Potatoes, have beans, corn, peas and eggplants as allies..  HOWEVER they list tomatoes and potatoes as getting "the same blight".  So putting them together with cucumbers, shoud be ok, just don't do toms with spuds..

[dgorsman]

I grew up in the PNW... the word that sticks most in my mind is "rain"... so what exactly do you mean?  ???

Xeriscaping means gravel instead of grass, decorative rocks instead of trees, drought resistant plants, and so on, all in the name of water conservation.  But there's still people who push that in such a naturally wet climate as the responsible thing to do.

[Daryk]

Ah, I see.  The Cascade mountain range divides the PNW neatly, with the Western half drenched in rain (Forks, WA has the most days of rain per year in the world... not inches though), while the East is quite dry.

[StoneRhino]

Yeah, location context is important.  In the arid parts of California, xeriscaping is ideal and grass less so (kind of weird they want picture perfect lawns...).  But the term gets abused quite a bit.  I've seen people promoting it for coastal properties in the Pacific Northwest, which doesn't make a lick of sense.

Yeah, being threatened with fines one way or the other just...its just nuts. I think it was made worse by not seeing any of the california native plants stocked at home depot.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Yeah, location context is important.  In the arid parts of California, xeriscaping is ideal and grass less so (kind of weird they want picture perfect lawns...).  But the term gets abused quite a bit.  I've seen people promoting it for coastal properties in the Pacific Northwest, which doesn't make a lick of sense.

A big part of that is pushback against HOAs that want to require people to have lawns that require way too much fertilizer and weed killer to maintain.

[Orin J.]

A big part of that is pushback against HOAs that want to require people to have lawns that require way too much fertilizer and weed killer to maintain.

not to mention water. california had a nasty drought for a long time (still recovering from it) but they still kicked up a fuss about the dry lawns.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

While Oregon has been having a serious drought for more than a decade, that's still not a major issue on the coast yet.

[garhkal]

A big part of that is pushback against HOAs that want to require people to have lawns that require way too much fertilizer and weed killer to maintain.

That is why i will NEVER live in a HOA..  I REFUSE to have someone tell me what i can do on my own property..

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Especially when it's something absurdly stupid, like requiring green lawns in a desert and not letting people put in something more suited to the climate.

[DEZOAT]

 I have been growing veggie in Earth Box which are self watering boxes. I have doing this for about 10 years now not bad a lot of trial and error over the years some great and some really bad. On whole it pretty good. I have 9 reg boxes 1 Junior 2 root &grow boxes. Regular box I have 2 tomato , 1 pepper , 1 kale , 1 red lettuce , 1 pole bean , 1 bush bean , 1 cucumber and the last one will have herbs in it like Basil ,Marjoram ,Dill and Parsley . 1 Junior is just curly parsley. 2 Root & grow boxes 1 is carrots the other is celery. There are a lot different type of self watering boxes out there as well as making your own go look on youtube. You go to Earth Box site it got all the information you need or go to youtube look there as well it cut down some the work like weeds.

[CrossfirePilot]

My dad has been growing a large garden for years.  Though now since my parents no longer have a dog, my dad has had to erect an electric fence to keep out the deer, rabbit, raccoons, etc.  He also has to treat several of the plants now with an insecticide (never had to do that as a kid) because there is now a type of worm there that will contaminate the asparagus.

My neighbor has several box planters in his backyard with chicken wire around them and they seem to be doing very well year after year.  He raises tomatoes, squash, zucchini.

Myself when I lived in my condo it had a western facing patio that got extremely hot. I tried raising a few different things.  The only thing that thrived was peppers, and they did thrive well.

When we moved to out current house, we did try a few things but it seemed like a raid by a deer would wipe most of it out.  This year I am trying some melons planted in potting soil that is planted in a pile of hay in a back corner.  It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

[garhkal]

THe bed that has Peas in, has gotten so overgrown with how LARGE they got, they're flopping over from the weight..  Maybe next year, i need larger 'cages' around them than the 24 inches that i currently has..

[StoneRhino]

THe bed that has Peas in, has gotten so overgrown with how LARGE they got, they're flopping over from the weight..  Maybe next year, i need larger 'cages' around them than the 24 inches that i currently has..

nice, one of my favorites. I'll have to give growing them a shot.

[StoneRhino]

I started this thread thinking of how to get the most out of a rather small area because of a family member's dog who would tear things out of the ground from boredom. Just a few days ago it was decided that it was best that she was given to a home that could offer her the attention that she needed. Shes a good dog, just I'm so allergic to her that it made it impossible for me to walk her and my sibling who owned her couldn't keep her where they live now and realized that they weren't going to be making a move to a bigger place any time soon.

I haven't gotten around to planting anything yet, but I now have a lot more freedom with a lot more space available. Its sad to see the fuzzball go, but it really is for the best thing for her, especially since she finds ways out of the yard when the fireworks spook her.

[DEZOAT]

 Well my garden is doing some what well.  :bang: The deer ate some of my plants I miss the dogs that roam my area they kept deer out and other small critter. Everything is growing well. Later

[Daryk]

Three onions sprouted while waiting to be eaten in the house, so my daughter and I planted them in the flower bed across from the kitchen door... they seem to be doing well...

[garhkal]

That's why i chicken wired up a massive frame around all the raised beds.. So critters couldn't get at them to eat the stuff.

[Top Sergeant]

Growing sweet corn, snap peas, spinach, watermelon and lettuce.

[garhkal]

Well, i got three real good meals worth out of all the pea plant i had, but all the vines grew together too much, and the weight of them bunched them all down and broke a # of the stems..  So i had to pull them all out.
Still got my Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and spuds..
And i put down some Rutabega in the pea area..

[CrossfirePilot]

Despite daily watering and other efforts, most of my stuff is not fairing as well this year.  Stunted growth from a cool spring and then it just moved on to hotter than hades and everything wilts within an hour of getting water.