Food gardens a growing trend

[Kacey]

From an article in the Denver Post this morning (6/11) (complete article here)

Seed sales are way up. Community gardens are long sold out. Calls for help to convert suburban lawns to lush raised vegetable beds are coming in to extension agents fast and furious.
Folks worried about rising food and fuel prices, and concerned about how and where their fruits and veggies are grown, are investing heavily in home-grown produce.
Soil, it seems, is the new oil.

Have you planted a garden this year? I did - but then, I put in a raised garden bed 5 years ago when I bought my house. If you do have a garden, what did you plant? This year, I have tomatoes, beans, peas, squash, bell peppers, jalapenos, lettuce, radishes, and carrots, in addition to raspberry bushes.

 

[jkembry]

I live in a small townhome and have tried pot gardening the past two years. This year, I have also blogged it at http://selfwateringpots.us. It is not totally up to date due to work and training commitments, but so far this year I have had radishes, strawberries and green peppers. I can hardly wait for the tomatoes to start.

- Jeff -

 

[girlbug2]

I also have a raised garden bed: I think it's definitely the way to go!

For the past several years I have a tradition of ordering my seeds from catalog and starting my own veggies: mostly heirlooms that are hard to find in a nursery. Tomatoes are the real stars of my garden, often I try 3 or 4 new varieties each season in search of the "perfect" tomato. I may have found it -- Pineapple. That's the only tomato I'm growing this year because it worked so well two seasons ago and my dh commented that it was the best tomato he'd ever eaten, even better than the Brandywine.

Only winter squashes this year: Queensland Blue and Black Futsu. My son picked the Queensland Blue because it's his favorite color (probably it will be more of a blue-gray) and I approved it because it has a reputation as an excellent pie squash, win-win! I also chose Black Futsu because of it's dry sweet flesh and it's supposed to be insect-proof -- we had a plague of assassin bugs last summer. I will let you all know in the next 3 months if that's actually true.

My kindergartener brought home green beans they sprouted in the classroom, so in they went next to the squash.

That's it for this summer, I am simplifying the garden more than usual. Normally I would grow Gypsy Hybrid sweet peppers and Purple Beauty bell peppers also. But, I got lazy. Also I have had a tendency to overcrowd the beds in the past, to the point of overspillage,hopefully this year it won't be to hard to make my way around on the paths in between.

Come Autumn, it's all lettuces and snow peas. They won't grow in my summer climate.

 

[terryl965]

Always have a garden for the last thirty years I love to work it, we grow Tomatoes, peas, bell peppers, lettuce, zucini,watermelon,potatoes and green beans. This year Caleb the middle son is growing cantelope and stawberrys as well.

 

[Kacey]

When I was out earlier today, I picked up some more bedding plants (some are for my landscaping) - cherry tomatoes, pumpkin vines, cucumber vines, and some herbs.

 

[girlbug2]

Jkembry -- this was revolutionary for me, might be of help to you as a container gardener (many of the beds are built as containers to put on concrete):
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

 

[Steel Tiger]

I was talking to my taxi driver this morning and he has just gotten his crop of snow peas in. At $14 a kg its well worth growing your own.

I would love to have a garden but I have zero space. Such a shame.

 

[Kacey]

Have you considered container gardening? Or perhaps an upside-down tomato planter? I used to live in a condominium (no yard), so I grew tomatoes, radishes, peas, and flowers in pots on my patio... when it got too hot or too windy I brought most of them inside on the other side of the sliding glass door (never try to move an 18" pot full of a 4' high tomato plant - the pot will break... or you will!).

 

[Steel Tiger]

Have you considered container gardening? Or perhaps an upside-down tomato planter? I used to live in a condominium (no yard), so I grew tomatoes, radishes, peas, and flowers in pots on my patio... when it got too hot or too windy I brought most of them inside on the other side of the sliding glass door (never try to move an 18" pot full of a 4' high tomato plant - the pot will break... or you will!).

Might have to give this some thought.

 

[Blindside]

I just bought a new house, but we tossed in some raspberry starts, a rhubarb and a couple of apple trees. I won't be ready to expand until next spring though, it will be nice to get rid of alot of this lawn though. Oh, we also started the compost pile so we can start amending the soil next year. I'm very excited to start gardening again, where I lived in Wyoming was pretty tough on amateur gardenters (3A plant hardiness zone).

 

[fireman00]

we've always had a small garden since I was a kid.... this year we've got white, red and yellow tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, watermelons, cantalopes, zucchini, cucumbers, japanese eggplant, bibb lettuce and ... something else (jeez its awful to get old) - I'll find out in about 30 days :>).

 

[Live True]

I've always tried to have some small garden, even it was only a few pots with tomatoes and herbs. Since I bought my house a 3 years ago, I've been working on building a spiral labyrinth garden. This is a garden where the raised beds will eventually form a very simple 3-pass spiral with a firepit in the center. So gardening takes on several dimensions as you plant and gather. The idea is that moving in and out of the spiral can be an active walking meditation. Chartres has a very elaborate one, and some local seminaries and churches also have them. Mine is only about 1/3 of the way done, but i'm loving it!

...but I digress!

This year, being pregnant, I have not been able to plant as much as I usually do. I have potatoes (blue and Red), beans, peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, onions and lots and lots of herbs (lavendar, oregano, rosemary, sage, curry, thyme, mint, chamomile, etc.). I have seeds for melons, pumpkins, squash, zuchs, etc...but the heat makes gardening a time limited activity for me right now...but there is NOTHING like fresh product direct from the garden to the table!