Doper Gardeners: Watcha planting this year?

In My Humble Opinion
1

We had our probably last frost last night here in SE Michigan.
I am very much looking forward to planting this year. My herb garden that surrounds my well head is coming back all on its own this spring without any winterizing ( other than pure neglect). This makes me very happy! ( chives, rosemary, two kinds of Basil, three mints and a few others that I can’t place or remember.)

I have increased my veggie garden space by about 20 x 50 ( 1000 sq ft) ( it was 3000 sq ft until we needed to put a barn right in that exact spot and I had to relocate it next to the garage. Feh.
Veggies that I am growing will be: cukes and summer squash ( one plant each), peppers and tomatoes ( the latter in my cast iron bath tub garden so I can pay more love and attention to it and protect them from the children trying to reinact the Tomatofest thingie in Spain.) and a few others. Probably some hot peppers to torture myself with in a first attempt at a salsa recipe which hasn’t been found yet. All recipes are encouraged!

I’ve branched out to trying potatoes this summer and I will continue with garlic and a variety of onions. Those are my favorite rows on a hot summer day to stand over and inhale. Who need coke when you can just smell that?

I’ve the standard pots of strawberries (everbearing) for summer snacking.

I’ve decided to Go Big this summer and rototill the corner of our front lot and do a hugemongus pumpkin patch and corn. ( pumpkins and corn in rows. Planting at the same time. After the corn is harvested, the pumpkins really take off in growth. Or that is the general idea.) This lot is about 17,000 square feet, roughly.

I cannot decided what kind of corn to do this summer. Part of me wants to do some heirloom open pollination kind, kind of keeping our agricultural heritage alive and well and free from the evils of Monsanto, however, if I grown something to offbeat, I won’t be able to offload it on anyone.

Anyone have any suggestions on corn?

2

Well, I can’t help you with the corn conundrum, but I can tell you what we’ve planted.

Our plot is quite small - not quite 8’ x 10’. We got our seeds in the ground on 4/26 - lettuce, carrots, sugar snap peas, green beans, yellow onions and red onions. We got our bell peppers and roma tomatoes in two weeks ago, along with a new rosemary and two new basils. (We do our herbs in pots, and have yet to get a rosemary to survive the winter. OTOH, our sage, chives, and mint are just fine.)

So far, everything is doing well.

3

It’s small, but I like it.

Mr2U built me a patio garden out of doors from an old bathroom vanity he replaced - I took this about a month or so ago of it. Now it has a green pepper plant, a tomato plant, and one pot has chives, parsely and dill in it. The herbs are growing like gangbusters - I’ve already pruned them a bunch of times (it’s FUN to cook with fresh herbs!) and they’re still growing.

The tomato and green pepper - we’ll see.

I know it ain’t the back forty or nothing, but I have a townhouse and it’s the only way I can have ANY kind of fresh vegetables…

4

Flowers.

Flowers, flowers, flowers.

And some more flowers.

Ya grow veggies, ya gotta eat 'em, yanno?

5

Well, mine is all container gardening, but I have:

Lots of different kinds of flowers. I forget their names off-hand.
Cucumbers.
Broccoli.
Celery.
Like 16 different types of peppers. Peppers grow beautifully in containers, so they are one of my favorite things to grow.
Two strawberry plants, which already have tiny green strawberries in them.

6

At home, just some herbs, tomatoes, peppers - possibly eggplant, and a bunch of lettuces. Basically just managing the perennials, tho we interspersed some caladiums amid our front hosta garden.

The more interesting planting is going on at a local historical society where we have taken responsibility of the long-neglected gardens. The house is circa 1875, so we are planting heirloom and period appropriate plants. So far we’ve put in an herb garden by the backdoor. Out behind the barn 2 kinds of heirloom tomatoes, and kale, and are planning on some squashes, maybe beans and/or peas. Gonna trellis a couple of clematis along a side porch. Along the front fence a couple of heirloom roses and a bunch of lavendar. And the neatest addition is the weeping purple beech that is going smack dab in the middle of the front lawn.

7

My garden is pretty small too, only about 1400 sq ft! hee! Just razzing you all, this is my first year witha big garden since I was a little kid.

I’ve already started harvesting rhubarb, radishes and salad greens.

Things that are sprouted already include carrots, parsnips, peas, beets, scallions, red onions, white onions, leeks, bibb lettuce, sunflowers.

This weekend I planted seeds for butternut squash, zucchini, pumpkins, 2 varieties of sweet corn, pole beans, canteloupe, watermelon, and some French melon I can’t recall the name of. I resowed seeds for radishes, carrots, beets, and salad greens just to make sure I don’t run out .

I also transplanted half of my tomato plants ( about 8 plants of 5 varieties) and in 2 weekends all of the peppers (bell and hot) will be moved outdoors to the garden.

I would grow an heirloom corn that is right for your area, very few people are going to turn down fresh sweet corn regardless of what variety it is!

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Oh yes, I forgot about the herbs. Basil is sowed among the tomatoes and at the end of the garden I have sage, chives, garlic, and lavender.

Hopefully I will have my marigold seedlings hardened off enough to plant next weekend as well.

9

Oooooh weeeee!

I finally caved in and bought a wall o water (not from here, but a local greenhouse.) I’ve seen them for years and always wondered. Being that it is quite nippy outside right now, and they were 3 for $10, I filled up two of them.

Oh, these things are really, really, really neato! The material, if stored correctly, will last years. It is a nice thick plastic. This thing is so farking nifty I can’t contain myself.
Then, being the tightwad I am, I scrounged around google for something homemade and found theliter bottle wall o water.

I’m also wondering if some kinda ziploc bag filled with water and duct taped around in a triangular or squarish pattern would work the same way. ( They have those larger bags out there now. The kind you can put somehting like a sleeping bag in for storage. That might be fun to experiment with…but I am getting ahead of myself.
It is suppose to be 80* by the end of the week. It is about 50 with a hellova wind chipping along.

10

In the vegetable garden, which is small compared to you guys (12x4) but very intensive square foot gardening, I’ve been growing five kinds of heirloom tomatoes, three kinds of peppers, lima beans, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, eggplant, watermelon, and cucumbers. I planted one zucchini plant but I exiled it from the real garden into the grass because I refuse to give it the precious space with the good dirt. I’ve already harvested and done away with the spinach. The beets didn’t do so great because it got hot in a real hurry. Still eating salad greens and radishes. There’s loads of herbs, also. My tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant have a lot of flowers on them right now, which is pretty exciting. The beans are trying to make a run for it - when I pulled up the last of the spinach, ten feet away, I found tendrils trying to sneak away in there. Grr.

Elsewhere I’m growing tons of perennials. I’m not really so much an annual person, myself, except for containers. I’ll allow short-lived perennials if they reseed themselves. Trying to start a mostly-native bed over by the side of the house - it’s doing okay, but not as spectacular as my other beds. Got some powdery mildew issues on my giantically tall (theoretically) sunflowers. Butterfly garden is doing very well except for the spider mites I found trying to kill the butterfly bush. (Not many butterflies, however.) Started a rose garden, er, yesterday, with old garden own root roses. Also yesterday built a copper arbor that I’ve got to put up, but found out that where I want it is the only place in my yard that has evil punishing rocky clay impossible-to-dig stuff, so I’ve gotta figure out which big strong man I can con into digging some holes for me.

In other words, here in South Carolina I’m working hard and have been working really hard for months, in the heat no less! I love our long season, but sometimes I envy people who don’t have to get out and plant until now.

11

One of the perks, and there are so very few, to living in Michigan, is our growing season starts Mid May ( really first weekend in June, if you want to really be cautious about the cold weather.) and ends in september.

Lately, our growing season seems to be getting extended until the beginnings of October. With the help of a tarp to cover up at night, many plants could be growing still until mid October, not including pumpkins.

I’ve got my strawberry pot done and it should grow like crazy as I used 100% Ujest compost this year. Wooooooooo!
We are getting our septic feild sucked out with our next paycheck. If there were only a way to get that sterilized and then used in our soil. Mannnnnnn. And Yes, I know all about composting toilets…my husband, Mr. Buzzkill, is all oooky about them overall.

12

Mine is all container gardening. I have six strawberry plants, which are going bonkers after the recent heavy rains–absolutely covered in blossoms. I’ll have strawberries, if the raccoons don’t get to them first.

I have two pots of basil that is doing so-so. It has been pretty cool at night, so I guess that’s why. Hope it takes off when things warm up later this week. I had a third pot of purple basil, but something ate it…

I have mini cucumber plants and bell pepper plants still indoors. I will put them out next weekend, when summer heat is scheduled to be in full swing. Anaamika, I expect serious support with these pepper plants. I’m growing them in containers because you said that you did it.

I also have three “Patio Princess” tomato plants on order from Burpee. Oooooh ihopeihopeihope they really do grow! I haven’t heard many satisfactory reports from people growing tomatoes in containers. Also, I have started some of Martha Stewart’s tiny currant tomato plants from seed. They are pretty spindly. I don’t expect much.

I have seeds for carrots and chives, too. I am not sure I will use them.

All in all, my house is a really frustrating place to try to grow things. It has extremely deep overhangs on all sides, so there isn’t enough sun or moisture around the house to grow anything at all. I have practically no backyard, and what I do have borders on woods, where there are raccoons and coyotes and tons–I mean tons–of rabbits, that eat everything.

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So far only the strawberries have been planted, but eventually there will be: cantalope, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, spinach and maybe a couple of other things.

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I’ve got tomatoes (about 20–I want some extra so I can make tomato sauce this year), squash, watermelons, honeydews, onions, and spinach. From last year I’ve got strawberries, blackberries, and a grape vine. I’ve also got a lot of perrenial plants (yarrow, agastache, scabiosa, sea pinks, gaillardia, neirembergia, lavender, bayonets, meadow sage, penstemons, roses, wormwood, prickly pear, winterfat, and coneflowers) and my annual crop of sunflowers and zinnias.

15

Currently we have 4 variates of sunflower planted

Starting from the back row (north end)

3 rows of Russian Mammoth

4 rows of Autumn Mix alternating with some Red ones (not sure of the names)

and surronding the whole patch is 1 row of Dwarfs
We plan to grow some tomato(e)s and other veggies and a small spice garden.

We’ll see how far we get with that.

16

Count me in on the container garden list. I’m going for another years worth of hot peppers. 8 plants total. Then there is the basil, thyme, chives, oregano and cat nip. And the huge gooseberry bush. It looks like another bumper crop of those this year. Oh, and on a whim, I’m trying brussel sprouts in a pot. For $1.50, I’ll try lots of things.

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Here’s Rick Bayliss’s recipe which I use constantly every year during tomato season, to rave reviews. Last season, I found that habanero chiles were unbeatable in this recipe. If you really want to torture yourself with chiles, habaneros will do a Spanish Inquisition on you - but they’re sooooo good!

Essential Roasted Tomato-Jalapeno Salsa

1 lb Ripe red tomatoes; (about 2 medium-large or 6 to 8 plum), washed
2 lg Jalapenos or 3 serrano chiles; washed (or about 1/2 habanero)
3 Cloves garlic; unpeeled
1/2 ts Salt; divided
1/2 sm White onion; finely chopped
1/3 c Loosely packed chopped cilantro
1 1/2 ts Cider vinegar; optional

To roast the tomatoes: Preheat the broiler. Lay the tomatoes on a baking
sheet and place them about 4 inches below the broiler. Roast until
blistered and blackened on one side, about 6 minutes. Turn the tomato to
roast on the other side. Or place in a foil-lined heavy skillet over medium
heat. Turn several times during cooking to blacken all around. Remove and
cool. Peel the tomatoes, discarding the charred skins, collecting all the
juices with the tomatoes.

To roast the jalapenos and garlic: Place the jalapenos and garlic on a
broiler pan or in a heavy skillet. Roast, turning occasionally until both
the jalapenos and garlic are blackened in spots and soft, about 5 to 10
minutes. Remove and cool. Pull the stems off the jalapenos and peel the
papery skins from the garlic.

In a food processor fitted with the steel blade or blender, grind the
jalapenos, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt until the mixture is a
coarse paste, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of
times. Add the tomatoes and pulse a few times until you have a
coarse-textured puree.

Transfer the salsa to a serving bowl and stir in any reserved tomato
juices.

In a strainer, rinse the onion under cold running water, shake off the
excess and stir into the salsa along with the cilantro and, if desired,
cider vinegar. Add water if necessary to give the salsa a thick but easily
spoonable consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings with the remaining salt
if necessary.

Makes about 2 cups; analysis per 1-tablespoon serving.

Cook’s note: Substitute your favorite chile pepper for jalapenos.

18

We’ve scaled back. Way back. Just tomatoes.

All our friends have huge gardens and like to share, so it’s just tomatoes. I can hardly wait. Tomatoes.

19

Thanks Teela. That recipe looks possible and tasty!

We had frost, and my wall o water came through perfect last night. Hoooray!

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My Garden is comparatively tiny as well, a 3’ X 10’ strip running along a privacy fence.

This year it’s my Chile Garden, I love the hot stuff and am a bonifide Chile Head so I planted 14 Hot Pepper Plants. Four Habaneros, Four Red Chiles (Red Chile isn’t generic, that’s the actual variety name), and Six Hot Portugal Pepper Plants. I also have a single Beefsteak Tomato plant and a border of Green Onions. It’s a helluva Salsa Garden! But my intention is to eat a lot of fresh peppers and can a basic Chili Garlic Paste of the SE Asian variety. I’m also thinking of working on a recipe for something that I like to call a Chilli Bomb™, which is basically a canned chilli enhancer. A fresh chile, herb, and spice flavor bomb to add to a big pot of Red.

The garden is a little crowded and I’m worried a bit about the spacing of the Chiles. They’re staggered, but spaced a bit closer than the recommended 2 feet partition. I’m sure it won’t be too big of a problem. The main concern was the weather over the last couple of weeks. I’m in NW Ohio so I can relate to the SE Michiganders. We had a frost advisory the other night, too and I covered my Tomato Plant. Surprisingly the pepper plants are doing extremely well and are growing like crazy, but the 9 days of rain and unseasonably cold weather over the past two weeks since I planted have left the tomato plant a bit droopy with some curling and dying leaves. It seems hearty though and appears to have perked up over the last day or so and should do just fine in the coming warmer weather.