Edible landscape.

[wildeyed]

So what do you grow yourself to eat?

Currently, I have herbs in a sunny patch next to my back door, but I have big plans for this spring. I have raspberry bushes and a fig tree on order, and I will do a small vegetable patch with tomatoes, peppers, greens and maybe some squash. Next year I am planning to add some blueberry bushes.

At my last house I grew vegetables sporadically, but it was a shady lot, so there wasn't much room available.

Anyone else grow their own food?

[Warpy]

1. My yard in NM has been barren for 8 years, thanks to the drought

and the extremely high cost of irrigation water.

That's about to change.

[NMDemDist2]

2. i have basil and rosemary in a pot

and have managed to kill two sets of tomatoes :(

[wildeyed]

10. I don't know much about growing tomatoes in the desert.

Do you grow them in pots? Here there are soil diseases that can knock you out the second year if you plant in the same spot, and the heat and humidity of August can shut down a productive plant, so late season bearers are out. But other than that it is not so hard, provided you water and fertilize evenly.

[NMDemDist2]

12. it was my technique of starting from seeds I fear and this fall I meant

to buy some 4" plants but didn't

I'll try to buy some plants again this month, which should give me 'maters thru June or so....

[Warpy]

19. I grew tomatoes in pots in 2004,

but it was hot and dry and even with daily soaking, those pots dried out too much during the afternoons and my yield was low. So I switched the pots to petunias this past summer, and the yield was purple and white and beautiful all summer long, no matter how hot it got.

Some people around here have been successful with container garening, but it's going to be raised beds in the back yard for me with plenty of mulch.

I can think of no other way to cope with desert gardening. My pots will have either petunias or geraniums this year.

[wildeyed]

20. I did marigolds in pots last year and it went pretty well.

My back patio is very hot and sunny. I am not doing pots this year at all, except a few of the perennial herbs. Tired of the constant watering. Someday I will set up an automatic watering system for the containers. I had a friend who did that. Worked great, and it is not that hard to do yourself for a small garden.

I am doing raised beds this year, too. The soil here is so hard, it is difficult to get enough drainage without the rise. I use soaker hoses under the mulch for the maters. Conserves water that way.

[politicat]

3. Winter now, so herbs mostly.

I had several basil plants, but they've quietly kicked the bucket in the last couple of weeks - nothing really helped. I'd been warned about this, so I'm not too sad... Basil, being an annual, doesn't really like being forced to grow past about a year - the stalks turn woody and that's it.

I've got a breakfast nook that has windows on the south and east sides, and gets daylight most of the day, so I'm thinking about buying a citrus tree and I'm about to start tomatoes, peppers, cukes and other veggies for the summer garden. Going to start some new basil plants, too!

We've got a lovely strip of land behind the house that is just right for a garden so, while I need to have a load of compost delivered back there, that's about all it will take to turn it into edible landscaping.

[The empressof all]

4. I just took out almost an acre of wild blackberries

You almost needed a machete to get up my driveway. My friends called it the road to Sleeping Beauties castle. I still have about a half acre left so my dreams that have never come to fruition of making jams and pies and cobblers galore still survive. (I do usually get a pie and a big tray of blackberry crisp done every summer) Most of the good berries are inaccessible anyway and feed the birds, woodchucks, rabbits and other wild ones.

I grow tomatoes, basil, greens and zucchini (for the blossoms) in raised beds every summer

I have strawberries,thyme, mint, oregano, sage, chives and rosemary growing around the property.

I have two blueberry bushes and three different varieties of apple.

I'm thinking of putting in a Chinese Apple Pear tree this year. (They are wonderful, I had one at my last house) and I'd love to have a fig tree.

[mike_c]

7. blackberries are the bane of my yard....

Invasive and unkillable. I have beds that were cleared of blackberries and worked/weeded for several years, filled with perennials, but were taken over COMPLETELY in one season of neglect. Now they're brambles again. AARRGGHH. Yeah, I pick the occasional berry and eat it. I still hate blackberries with a passion.

[wildeyed]

8. I have considered growing blackberries.

They have some thornless domesticated versions that are not invasive here in the south.

[The empressof all]

15. It took a day of back hoeing to get our patch pushed back.

I have resigned myself to having to just call in the heavy equipment every few years to keep it back. We did it this past summer and so far there hasn't been much rampant growth back. The brush is still there. It will come back. I've given up thinking I can get rid of it. I'd have to get rid of hugh trees and most of the other wild vegetation growing there as well which I'm not going to do.

Nothing really does work in getting rid of them....Just gotta hack the hell out of em.

[wryter2000]

30. I know I shouldn't keep that blackberry

I know they're terrible, invasive weeds. But it is pretty isolated in the corner it's in, and I don't have the stamina to try to get rid of it. I will keep it mercilessly pruned back, though.

[wildeyed]

11. What are some recipes for squash blossoms?

What do they taste like?

What is the best variety? I have grown squash and zucchini with little luck, which is embarrassing because everyone else seems to grow too much. But then I have a knack for roses but can't grow cosmos, supposedly a much easier plant :shrug:

[The empressof all]

14. easy zucchini blossoms

I dredge my blossoms in a mixture of salt, pepper, flour and corn starch and quickly deep fry. The absolutely best fried veggie out there. Light, crisp, delicate and flavorful. I can't wait!

When you get use to working with them you can stuff them before frying them up. Tying them up takes some gentle dexterity. I stuff with goat cheese and jalapeno blend or cream cheese/pesto mix.

[wildeyed]

17. Mmmmm, sounds great.

If I have room maybe I will give it a go. Is there a variety that is particularly good for the blossoms, or just whatever you happen to grow?

[The empressof all]

18. Whatever you have works

I generally buy the most inexpensive zucchini seed I see when I go to the garden store. For my family of three voracious flower munchers three plants keep us well fed. The trick is to plant enough plants to get enough blossoms at the same time to go through the trouble of frying them. This year I'm going to put in a half dozen. You gotta keep them picked though other wise you'll have too many zucchinis

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Figs and herbs

Although the fig tree has yet to bear .... it is very young and small. I'm thinking this summer it will start to bear.

We also plat basil and flat leaf parsley each your and have a perennial bed of oregano.

I may try the raised bed thing this year in a special sunny spot in the back yard. Tamadas and maybe some red sweet peppers. Not much more than that cuz we ain't gardeners.

[The empressof all]

6. Make your raised beds high enough to sit on comfortably

I hate to garden but sitting on the edge of my raised bed on my patio isn't really gardening. You'll have no weeding and more tomatoes and zucchini than you'll need. I know you love those zucchinni blossoms too and with just three plants I get a good crop to gorge on the flowers and if I'm careful minimum zucchiniage.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. "zucchiniage" ..... good word .... cuz it sounds like a .......

..... disease. Which, to me, it is.

on edit .... Raised beds ........

I was an oven factory in Washington (state) a few years ago. Out in their parking lot they had what at first appeared to be an arbor with some benches, all on aconcrete base. Up close, it was raised beds. Imagine two park benches, back to back, but about 4 feet apart. Now imagine the benches made of concrete. Now imagine the sides of the benches connected with each other. The net result is a very high raised bed with a bench on each end. Now imagine a second one loctaed such that one bench on the end of each planter are facing each other. Now imagine a table between the benchs. What at first appeared to be an arbor was, in fact, a framework onto which they tied their tomatoes rather than staking them. It was **very** cool. They had herbs planted around the edges of the beds. The beds were at table height so it was easy to work the soil. The tomatoes were staked more or less horizontally, so their fruit was right there at arm level. It was both decorative and highly functional.

[wildeyed]

9. If you successfully grow tomatoes, consider yourself a gardener.

They are not the easiest plant in the world to grow well. But the rewards are worth the labor.

How long have you had the fig? The one I ordered was only a gallon size. But it sounds more like a shrub than an actual tree, so I am hoping it will grow fast and I will get some fruit in a few years.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Our fig started as a gallon size.

The plant itself was about 18" high when we started. It put on some top growth the first year and then winter killed about half of that. Last year it grew to maybe 5 feet tall and has been just fine this winter. Once established, our winters shouldn't bother it. Lots of people around here grow them, so I know ours will make it.

In the south, you should get a bumper crop pretty quickly. Depending on yours was propogated, it may well bear the first year for you.

[eyesroll]

21. I'll be moving in early April, so I have no idea what I can grow.

My new landlady did tell me I just needed to talk to the other tenant and work out a garden, maybe do it cooperatively -- some containers will definitely be doable, and we'll see about stuff in the ground.

[noamnety]

22. I grow a fair amount of stuff

Over the last ten years, I've put in apple, pear, sour cherry, plum, persimmon, and pawpaw trees, gooseberry and currant bushes, asparagus, rhubarb, sage, oregano, and then I have a vegetable garden (that tends to be weedy and neglected).

I don't know if they'll grow true to their parents, but last year I had some amazingly good sweet cherries from the store, so I saved the pits, put them in damp peat in a ziploc bag in my fridge for the winter, and now they are all sprouted. I need to start getting them into little pots soon.

[GoneOffShore]

23. If you like to look at farmland

you have to eat the landscape.

Buy Fresh, buy local.

Grow your own when you can.

[Wordie]

24. I live in an apartment...

but I have a balcony and a front patio walkway so I still manage to grow lots of herbs in containers: rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme, chives, garlic chives, sage, mint, lemongrass (in the summer), cilantro (in the summer), basil (in the summer), tarragon, nasturtiums, lemon balm, marjoram, and also mesclun lettuce (in the summer). It probably sounds like a lot of work, but really there isn't much fuss with the plants I've chosen. Basically it's at the most a few minutes of watering every few days in the hot weather.

I used to be more enthusiastic about growing, but now I'm just looking for easy. It's nice (and lots cheaper) to grow my own herbs, and so convenient to just step out the door when I need some.

[wildeyed]

25. Herbs are the best and easiest.

So much more convenient to grow your own, too.

[Shakespeare]

26. At home, we have...

...the following in containers: fig tree, dwarf apple, dwarf cherry, basil, oregano, lemon balm, peppermint, marjoram, and chamomile. Our two small beds in the backyard hold annuals and several good-sized lavender and rosemary bushes. The lemon balm, peppermint and chamomile blend into a beautiful herbal tea.

In our community garden plot, we cram in as much stuff as we can (I use the Square Food Gardening book as a guide), and last year we had tomatoes (five varieties!), eggplant, sweet corn, summer squash, cucumbers, potatoes, arugula and chard, corn salad, three varieties of peppers, sugar snap peas, lima beans, sugar baby watermelons, bush beans that grew like crazy, and an entire section devoted solely to basil (three varieties). We're doubling our plot size this year, and plan to increase crops of some of the veggies we grew last year, and add a few new items.

I canned enough vegetables to feed a small army through the winter, plus several pickles, relishes and preserves. It's hard work, but VERY rewarding.

[japple]

27. Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme near the kitchen door.

In season, there's also oregano, variety of basils, cuban and greek oregano. These are mixed in between the rose bushes and flowering perenials in the flower beds.

In the garden last year, we grew several varieties of green beans, yellow straight neck squash and zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, okra, dixie creme zipper peas, more okra, peppers and sweet potatoes. This year, we plan to grow more tomatoes, less okra, less corn, more varieties of beans, no sweet potatoes (ours were not good last year--too small or too large. There's too much clay in GA to grow good sweet taters). I got some Cherokee Trail of Tears beans seed from a friend who got them from an organic seed merchant in the UK (will post a link if anyone is interested). We only had a few plants last year, but they were incredible--sweet, very flavorful green pods with black beans inside. I saved seeds to plant this year and hope to have lots more this summer. The pods were beautiful and turned scarlet as they aged. I live in the area in Georgia where the Cherokee lived and thrived before they were sent to OK. The seed people said that these beans were direct descendants of the beans the Cherokee used to grow.

[eleny]

28. Okay, now you've got me humming the song in my head!

[japple]

32. Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Beans

Here's the link to the seed catalog. These people are, according to my friend, really good folks.

http://www.vidaverde.co.uk/

[wryter2000]

29. A volunteer blackberry

I figure I'll never be able to get rid of the thing, so I eat the berries. I have a Meyers lemon and a couple of fig trees (badly neglected). I just bought a couple of mini blueberry bushes.

In the summer, I grow fortex green beans, diva cucumbers (this year I will have to spray for the tiny, black bugs), early girl and sweet million tomatoes, summer squash, and peppers. I've also done small miracle broccoli and parsnips. I grow most things in earthboxes. www.earthbox.com In the summer, I practically live on veggies from my yard.

[Wordie]

33. Warning: OT!

Those earthboxes look interesting and they aren't as expensive as I thought they would be. I hadn't ever heard of them before, but I've bookmarked the site, for future reference. Thanks for that link, wryter2000.

[watercolors]

31. Here in central Fl

right now have cherry tomatoes, collards, lettuce, carrots and jimica growing. Jicimca is just about done, have a few left in the ground. Herb garden has parsley,dill, chives,cilantro and mint and oregano.For fruit we have beautifull sweet red grapefruit, tangelo and naval oranges, bananas, fig, and surnum and barbodas cherry, and avacado, did have blackberries, but they are too invasive. Tried blueberries, but did not have much luck. We are retired and have the time to enjoy gardening, share alot with our family and neighbors. We are putting in a mango soon, its best to buy plants that are mature.Getting our spring garden ready now, we have 3 large raised beds. They are so much more easier on the back, and have a large composte pile. Gardening keeps us fit and healthy, and there is so much satisfaction with the finished product!

When you can't stand what is going on with this administration, you can just take out your anger by digging in the garden!

[wildeyed]

34. Plus you will be able to eat when the economy tanks!

Sounds like a lovely garden.