Any gardeners?

blueLu25

We are fixing up our yard, and I would really love to grow some veggies/ herbs. Does anyone have any recs for what is really easy to grow? I am thinking tomatoes, maybe strawberries, oregano so far, but not sure how it will go since I mostly just end up killing plants.  

coribecca

I've had good luck with peas, carrots, and zuchini.  All of my herbs have done well, but if you plant basil you'll want to keep it inside.

Last year I planted a bunch of tomatoes and only the cherry tomatoes ripened.  This year I planted only cherry tomatoes and they've done great, in spite of the cool summer.

I did a pumkin plant instead of zuchini this year, hoping to get Halloween pumpkins for the kids.  I grew a huge, gorgeous vine that produced only one pumpkin.  I have no idea what went wrong.

My strawberries were ok, but they were kind of high maintenance.  Slugs love strawberries, so you've got to really work to keep the slugs out.  They also spread like crazy, so you have to keep cutting them back or they'll take over your whole yard.  The strawberry plants didn't produce as much as I was hoping.  Maybe I had unrealistic expectations, or maybe I did something wrong.  In any event, I'm going to rip them out and do something different next year.

As for herbs, I grow 2 varieties of parsely, thyme, rosemary, purple sage, chives, oregano, basil, and mint.  Mint is invasive, so plant it in a pot and not in the ground.  I keep my basil in a pot in the kitchen window.  I tried planting some outside and I think the weather just isn't right for them. 

babyfished

We got a plot in a local community garden this year. I hadn't planted anything since I was a kid, and I probably didn't keep up on the maintenance as much as I should have.

We still managed to keep ourselves well-stocked on greens (spinach and lettuce), carrots, onions and beets with no problems. I've also heard that strawberries are very easy. I remember growing them as a kid but we didn't try any this time around.

breebree13

I am not a gardener (in fact I hated anything to do with one before I met my husband) but I do have a garden. Here's some things we have grown :

Tomatoes (except last year, this year I have tons that I don't think I'll eat them all)- we did cherry, some roma type, beef steak and early girls

lettuce - super easy!

collards - easy but not many people are fans

Peppers - the hot variety. My bell pepper only got 1 this year

Zucchini - again I had tons 

Cucumbers - tons

carrots - pretty easy but they don't come out pretty! haha

Peas (this year I had duds though)

Corn - normally I get nothing but this year I got 4 good ears then something ate the rest of the plants. 

Onions - sweet - mine did alright but I don't think I planted them deep enough (scallions are super easy though)

strawberries - pain the ass if you ask me. slugs love them and they grow like crazy. I probably won't do them again

mint - plant in a planter because it also grows - great for mojitos (which I need to be drinking more since I have plenty mint)

basil - we do in an aerogarden so we really don't have to do anything but I love adding fresh basil to everything!

 Next year I think I might do potatoes, garlic and rhubarb.

I think the better weather helped my garden this year but we also put in fresh compost and manure and tilled the hell out of our beds. I also sprinkle in some all natural plant food stuff in the hole when I'm planting. 

Good luck! I do enjoy the fruits (&veggies) of my labors!

AnnetteWalker

We had a small garden this year. I planted a Rosemary which is doing great.

I also did sweet peas they did good as well. DS loved picking them and eating them.

We had broccoli which did really well. We picked enough for a few dinner side dishes. They got huge so they kind of over shadowed our other things.

We also tried carrots from seeds and they didn't do anything. 

And Jalapenos those are just now getting some little peppers. So not great but I hear that they need lots of sun and hot weather which this summer was not hot so that could be the problem.

 

WatchPot

coribecca:

I did a pumkin plant instead of zuchini this year, hoping to get Halloween pumpkins for the kids.  I grew a huge, gorgeous vine that produced only one pumpkin.  I have no idea what went wrong.

C: I've heard pumpkins take time to get the soil right so try next year in the same spot, maybe replant the same seeds?  I want to do pumpkins where my failed straweberries were this year, too!

I did containers this year because i could move them around the deck as the sun position shifted;  It worked well.  I got a good amount of lettuce, garden beans and peas.  That's all the veggies I planted.  I planted blueberrie bushes and although they aren't dead they never sprouted any fruit.  I also did containers for herbs and am happy with them.  Cilantro and Parsley, thyme, mint, and oregano.  I need to have a manageable amount or I will not keep it up and eveything will die. 

stacylu

The best thing I've planted in my yard is blueberry bushes. Julia loves to go out and pick them for dessert and it's easy to maintain and has produced well (this is just their 2nd year) Make sure you get one that is self pollinating. Another plus is that there are no thorns on blueberries and they'll eventually make a hedge.

I just put a garden in (1st year) and my tomatoes have done really well - and finally ripening. My lettuce is pretty good. My cucumbers and zucchini are so-so. I think part of it is the weather this year and part is my soil so next year I hope it's better. I have 2 pumpkin plants, each with 2 pumpkins and I've pulled off a bunch of little pumpkins to make the other ones bigger. I have parsley that's done well and my basil is pretty decent too. I have a few squash plants too that have 1 each. Probably a waste of space and effort for the 1 squash but it'sbeen fun to watch them grow bigger.

 

ETA: My sunflowers are giant too - like 13ft tall! I have pictures somewhere I need to dig out but J loved watching those grow!