On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:55:51 -0500, Ohioguy wrote:
This year I tried cabbage, sweet corn, eggplant, radishes, Brussels
Sprouts and tomatoes.
Cabbage did fantastic, so I may try it again next year. (it was the
first time in my life that I can remember growing cabbage)
I planted three varieties of sweet corn, including a red variety.
Unfortunately, I planted the plants too close together. I had to cut
down about half of the plants to let more light and air penetrate. In
the end, I had about half the harvest I had expected, but it was great
to have fresh sweet corn.
Eggplant did well, but as I remembered, the taste wasn't that great.
Radishes were ok, but hotter than I hoped. Brussels Sprouts grew very
slowly at first, then took off into the fall.
The tomatoes were the greatest disappointment. I grew seeds from a
packet that said it had 20 different heirloom beefsteak varieties.
Instead, I mostly ended up with smallish 1.5" orange tomatoes. Only 1
plant out of 14 had anything that would approach beefsteak. Next year I
may just buy a couple of plants, even though they mostly have the same 8
or so varieties available everywhere.
How about your garden - how did it do?
Packets of a variety of seeds are always a crap shoot. And unless you
plant all of the them at once you are never sure that you are getting
all the variety promised. Instead, buy individual packets of ones
that look interesting to you. Seeds last for several years.
If you can't find what you are looking for locally there are dozens of
companies that sell on the Internet. One of my favorites is
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/index.html
An interesting one is
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/
Another source is
http://www.totallytomato.com/
My early garden did well, cabbage, broccoli, chard. The lettuces and
herbs that I grow in raised beds did well too. Lettuce is another
thing that I do not buy in a variety packet. I only plant a few at
the time and I want to select the varieties to plant.
Summer crops did pretty well. Tomatoes got blight but the "Viva
Italias" kept producing until it got too cold. I still have a handful
on the counter that I can put in salads. Got swamped with peppers,
especially the hot varieties. Eggplant did ok. Watermelon did well.
I got one 35 pound one and several smaller ones. A turtle ate the
only cantaloupe. Cukes did OK.
This coming year I am only going to plant a few varieties of tomatoes.
I am thinking Viva Italia, Better Boy, Early Girl and Jelly Bean. I
may add Brandy Boy and Yellow Jelly Bean. I plant lots of Viva Italia
since I make sauces and can with them. The others are for eating and
I don't want to get over run with them. Of course I can give some to
my neighbors. I think I am about the only one on the street who
gardens. I have set out my garlic and have sprouts.
Got my first seed catalogues last week. There are so many thing that
I would like to plant, but shall restrict myself to my tried and true.
I need to work on succession planting for the things we like to eat
but do not preserve well. Ten heads of broccoli at once is just too
much. DH does not like frozen broccoli and I have not been successful
in making sauerkraut from the abundance of cabbage. I really need to
clean out my greenhouse so I can start my seeds in February if not
before. Right now it has my dwarf citrus trees, bay plant, rosemary
that I am waiting for a place to plant outside, and my Stevia. I need
to keep a close eye on the lemon and lime since the Meyer lemon has a
fruit already and more blossoms and the Mexican lime is starting to
bloom.
Thank goodness I have a few months to catch up on things in the house.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html