Thread: Vining veggies
View Single Post
  #1   Report Post  
Old 07-07-2004, 05:03 PM
simy1
 
Posts: n/a
Default Vining veggies

Besides finishing a drip irrigation system, I have also more than
doubled my gardening space, with a new, full sun, 25X25 area in very
sandy soil (Zone 5.5, SE MI). The area consists of two walk-in
tunnels/hoophouses made of rebar, so I can keep gardening in the cold
months under cover.

Now it has occurred to me that the rebar is also a strong trellis so
that for the first time I can contemplate growing vining veggies
during the warm season (in fact, standing inside the tunnel, the vine
comes towards you as it grows up the rebar). So far I had avoided
vines due to lack of space - zucchini may have been yellow or green
but they were strictly bush. A nice side effect is that I will
probably get enough nitrogen from peas or beans that I can mulch
entire beds with wood chips, of which I have many cubic yards. Another
one is that I can probably have summer lettuce or other fast bolting
greens (or slow growing fall veggies) under the canopy provided by the
vines.

I would love advice (from, say, Pat, or anyone else), about which
vines work best on that site. Primarily I am interested in peas,
squash, melons, and cucumbers, but I will entertain beans and
watermelons as well (or anything else I had not thought of).
Specifically the suitability for soil and climate, for trellising as
opposed to creeping, and resistance to pests or diseases proper to our
region. For example, which kind of wilt resistance should I be looking
for in squashes? There are at least three.