Who has a garden to grow their own fruits and vegetables?

rllewell

Who on here has a garden to grow their own fruits and vegetables? Tell me the size of your garden and what you plan to grow.

Last year I invested in a Tower Garden which is vertical gardening using an aeroponic growing system. I had so much fun with my first TG I bought another one this year. These TG’s can easily sit on your back deck, patio, or front porch. No soil so no tilling, weeding. Fewer ground pest problems. Uses less than 10% of the water of conventional soil gardens because it recycles its own water through a pump system. Plants grow 2-3 times faster. TG’s are made of food grade plastic, double UV protective coating so they’re made to last 20 years.

In my 5 foot TG I have larger plants with a tomato cage I plan to install once the tomatoes and vine plants get going. On that TG I have the following plants: beans, swiss chard, sugar snap peas, zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes (Cherry & Big Boy), and different types of hot peppers (jalapeño, habanera, Thai chili).

In my 6 foot TG I have medium to small plants so I have the following: lettuce (romaine, bibb, and green crisp), toscano kale, cilantro, garlic chives, basil, red peppers, and arugula.

No fruit on my TG’s, I’d grow strawberries but I have a local farmer less than 2 miles away with a strawberry field and an asparagus field I can pick from.

Below is my TG blog I plan to update periodically. If interested you can also view my previous 2 posts “TG Details & Benefits” and “Kickoff of 2013 Vertical Growing Season”. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

http://wp.me/p3g1VU-O

Carnivor0us

I have a container garden on my rather large back deck. Mostly tomatoes of various types, but some lettuce and peas.

Tiffy_Pea

We are growing veggies this year, but we plan to spread it out around the different areas of our yard. We are growing sugar snap peas, green beans, LOTS of tomatoes, mixed bell peppers, red bell peppers, chile peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, cucumber, watermelon, broccoli, spinach, carrots, some peaches and cream corn, and 2 varieties of pumpkins. I'm very excited!

bgelliott

We had one on the side of the house but my cat decided that he wanted to use it as a litter box :grumble: so I had to pull everything out. I plan to start growing stuff again but need to build something around the area to keep kitty kitty out!!!!

rabblerabble

We have a batch about 10 by 20 feet in the backyard.

Usually grow a lot of tomatoes with some zucchini and yellow squash too.

With a nice sunny weekend coming up, we will likely be getting it started the next couple of days.

Mokey41

I have a small garden at home in the backyard and we have a community garden at work that's about a half acre. I only grow some tomatoes, beans, asparagus, a few strawberry plants and some raspberries at home. Our work garden has just about every vegetable you can think of in it.

oldy76

I live in the city and grow all my fruit & veg in pots, troughs and containers etc. I've got berries, a dwarf apple tree, guava, lemon & kaffir lime and for veges (we're in autumn here in New Zealand) I grow beetroot, spinach, heaps of lettuce, leeks, spring onions, broad beans, peas, mustard, lots of herbs, microgreens and do my own beansprouts. I still have to buy a lot of produce - I eat a lot of vegetables - but it's nice being able to grow at least some of it myself. It's so satisfying.

theCarlton

I container garden now scaled down from a large uncovered patio to a 4x9 covered, screened patio. But I'm buying a house with a yard soon, and will expand using raised beds.

Presently I have an Ackee tree that needs to be planted in the ground soon, 2 replanted-from scrap pineapples, one is bearing now. Celery replanted from scrap. Romaine lettuce replanted from scrap. Tons of green onions replanted from scraps as well. And sweet potatoes are growing in my compost bin...where I tried to throw them out.

When I move I will definitely be doing herbs (rosemary, basil, mint, cilantro). I want a Rose Apple tree (Jamaican), would love to do watermelon if I can, strawberries, and key limes.

AMHouse85

We will be container gardening this year and I'm not sure how much space we are going to use.

Growing will be : Sun Sugar Cherry Tomatoes, Beef Steak Tomatoes, Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes, Carnival Mix Bells Peppers, Mexibell Peppers, Jalapenos, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Dragon Tongue bush beans, Cucumbers for salads and pickling, Stargazer Watermelon, Chives, Garlic, Bunch Onions. I also have 2 blueberries in pots and 2 raspberries in the ground.

If I am out an about and come across odd veggies I like to pick them up, I am going to be getting chocolate peppers and black cherry toms from a local garden store.

Laurelthequeen

I have several 2ft tall raised beds (keeps the dogs out) for edibles. We also grow winter squash on the ground as a kind of living mulch most years.

3x3 - shallots, scallions, brussels sprouts
3x3 - Artichokes, winter squash (growing over the side), pole beans(on a trellis)
3x3 - Garlic, brussels sprouts, pole beans (on a trellis)
3x3 - Rhubarb, winter squash(over the side)
4x10 - Peas & tromboncino zucchini (on a trellis), carrots, butter type lettuce, kale, bush zucchini
4x10 - Tomatoes, eggplant, jalapeno and gypsy peppers, basil, maybe cilantro
2x6 - Kohlrabi, spinach, beets

Then I have my herbs in various pots on my back deck (so I don't have to put on shoes to collect them) - sage, rosemary, thyme, chives, garlic, parsley, cilantro, dill, sweet bay laurel,mint, catnip

We also have an olive tree that just went in in the front yard, and a huge strawberry bed near the deck.

mdcoug

I have two 4x4 raised beds. Planning to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers and herbs this weekend. I'm also going to pick up some long, rectangular pots to put on my deck and plant lettuce in. It's so pretty, I thought it might add some color to the deck! One of these years I'll get my act together in time to start seedlings indoors--I'm always planning my garden at the last minute.

bpotts44

I use weedless gardening and it works great. I get huge production out of my garden and I eats tons of food out of it during season.

smacmillan86

Our garden is about 50 ft x 30ft and is my husband's domain. We also have several apple trees, pear trees, cherry trees, and blueberry bushes. The only thing in our garden right now is garlic, since we still have snow melting off the ground.

zozie73

I'm lucky to have a huge garden (25ft by 110ft) in it I have apple, plum, pear and damson trees, gooseberry bushes, rhubarb, red and black currants and grape vines that sort of look after themselves we also grow lots of different veggies and salad stuff both outside and in the polytunnel. I also have 4 hens that have free range in the garden except for the veg patch (they ate all my winter cabbages). I love being able to go down pick the veh I want for dinner and then cook it for dinner. I also make jams, chutneys and pickles and freeze loads.

lisamarie1780

Not at the moment but hopefully soon. I have a really sunny balcony though and grow alot of herbs there. I tried to grow tomatoes last year but they got some weird tomato disease so that was the end of that

htimpaired

I have two 4x4 raised beds. I usually plants a combo of peppers, tomatoes, and herbs. I also have a trellis against my house in the front flower garden that's for cucumbers. My backyard has a pear tree that came with the house when we bought it.

NJD2885

our garden is probably 50 x 50. We have 4 blueberry bushes, 25 strawberry plants. we haven't planted the rest yet cause it's a bit early where I live but we have our seeds and we are planting: snap peas, peas, pumpkins, zucchini, corn, carrots, yellow beans, green beans,and squash. We also have our own eggs (we have 18 hens)

Bekahmardis

I have a 25' x 3' garden plot with a drip irrigation system, plus a lovely slope for my fruits. I am planning on romaine lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, cayenne peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes, green beans, kidney beans, and peas this year. For fruits, I have humongous strawberries, table grapes (Canadice), and raspberries. I just planted two "Lil Big" apple trees - braeburn and honeycrisp - but those won't be productive for a couple of years. I will be planting watermelons and catelope/mussmelon in the front yard on Saturday.

SolanumSunrise

I'd love to have some hydroponic or aeroponic gardens! I'm afraid that it gets too hot here and the water would get so hot that it would cook the roots.

I have three raised beds with lettuce that is currently bolting, a few carrots left from the winter garden, spinach, fennel, swiss chard, chamomile, dragon tongue beans, yard-long beans, red and yellow bell peppers, poblano peppers, cucumbers, pattypan squash, rock melons, lots of herbs, and a good variety of orange, red, pink, purple, and black tomatoes.

Fresh produce here is pricey and I wouldn't be able to eat as much of it as I do without growing it myself.

AprilLove125

I live on a small family farm and my inlaws run a greenhouse business there, so we garden like crazy. Last year it was about a quarter acre but the drought destroyed us and this year we are scaling back to about half of that. We grow many kinds of tomatoes, radishes, carrots, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, pea pods, cucumbers, celery, lettuces...you name it. I also have an herb garden with parsley, cilantro, oregano, sage, thyme, basil, lavendar, and mint. I dry a lot of herbs at the end of the season and use them unitl the next growing cycle.

My husband used to plant watermelon, squash, and pumpkins, too, but we're too busy with other things now to manage two gardens.

I can't wait to get out there and plant again!

shadowlydarkness

We try and grow all kinds of stuff, we love experimenting with all typoes of veggies in our garden. We used to have a huge variaty of things, now the weather is changing most things have finished growing, and birds were destroying everything so we had to get rid of most, but we will plant it all again next season for sure!

We used to have: garlic, snow peas, spinach, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, patatoes, capsicum's, onion, lettuce, beetroot.... and I might have forgotten a few lol. We had big pots and bins everywhere with things growing in them, because our garden is made of clay it is almost impossible to grow things in the ground.

rllewell

Thanks for posting to my topic. Great to see all the variety of vegetables folks are growing in their gardens.

We received rain all weekend so not much daylight for the plants to grow : (

JBuehrer1

Wow, having your own fruit trees is great. I want to do that, but my hubby isn't all about that idea yet. Nor is he excited about chickens I have convinced him to let me have a raised garden, using the wood I salvaged from our pole barn that blew down next year. Unfortunately I haven't gotten it built yet and I'm too tired to do anything with it right now. I did try starting seeds inside but am having problems with them so I think we will have a tomato plant in a pot on my back porch and maybe by fall I can get my raised beds built and plant some kale and spinach and other cool weather plants Good luck to all of you with gardens this year!

caribear1984

I have two beds right now, one for greens and one for other plants. My greens bed is 3x3 and has several types of lettuce, kale, and spinach. The bigger garden is about 4x13 and we have shell and snap peas, several melons, watermelon, zucchini, green beans, spaghetti squash, apple gourds, tomatoes, bell and jalapeno peppers. I just planted strawberries in our flowerbed too. We also have six laying hens and four rabbits to eat the weeds and provide us with fertilizer. I will probably put in another bed in the fall so we can do corn and cruciferous veggies. I can't wait!

gingabebe

I made up a raised log mound, covered it with dirt and transplanted my strawberries on it- read about hugelkulture on Mother Earth News. So far so good, you don't have to water it after a year or two suppossedly b/c the mound will hold water in and the decaying logs provide nutrients. My regular garden is 4 12' x 4' raised beds and two smaller circular ones. I have also built a new raised bed on the outside of my fenced in beds. I wil plant things chickens aren't fond of there. I am wanting to try the potatoes in the stack of old tires but we have no old tires laying about! Guess I could try the potatoes in a burlag bag. Where I live potato bugs are horrible and I refuse to use pesticides, they laugh at the organic pesticides I have tried, any one have any luck with a method besides constantly picking the bugs off the plants by hand?

MelsAuntie

Our garden is about 140 x 220 ft., and we use all-natural methods, no herbicides or pesticides, and certified organic seed. We grow beans, beets, peas, squash, melons, hardneck garlic,( 4 varieties), heirloom organic tomatoes ( 200 plants last year), cucumbers ( lemon cucumbers and poona kheera cucumbers a specialty), Jewel strawberries, blackberries, garlic chives, onions, broccoli, 4 colors of cauliflower, mesclun mix, herbs, greens, fennel, Jerusalem artichokes, globe artichokes, gourds, sweet peppers, yellow potatoes, just what comes to mind at the moment. There's more.

RTheHutt

I love gardening and especially home grown tomatoes. I've scaled back the size I prep a lot, mostly due to some issues I'm having with my back, and this year I've just got three 10' rows. I have my tomatoes started and growing indoors right now, and have started to move them outside to harden. They'll go in the ground Memorial day weekend or thereabouts. Meanwhile, I succession plant lettuce, spinach, beets while I'm waiting for it to be safe for tomatoes, and broccoli and kale in the fall.

Last year I tried moving my herbs to an indoor hydroponic set up and the yield was fantastic (especially basil). I'm going to expand that this year and also try a dwarf determinate tomato to see if that works indoors. If it works I'll try growing them year round. Seem like there is no other way to get a decent tomato other than growing it yourself!

danimalkeys

Mine is around 20x30', with a 4' fence to keep my dogs out. I have some perennial herbs- rosemary, peppermint, spearmint, oregano and thyme in one corner and the rest I do annual crops.

Right now I have a long row of sugar snap peas and snow peas that grow up the fence, they are just sprouting. Along another fence I planted asparagus beans- they are long Asian beans that can grow 2-3' long, but taste best at around 1' long. They are fun to grow and taste like a green bean.

I have 3 tomato plants- 1 giant slicing type for me to eat, 1 grape for salads, and 1 Roma for fresh pico de gallo. My wife isn't much of a tomato eater so planting too many is a waste.

4 "burpless" cukes, 4 bell pepper, 4 brocolli, and 4 yellow summer squash that my wife got from the Ag program at the school where she works, they sell the plants for $1 for a 4 pack, a great deal.

12 "mixed greens", basically different spring mix types of lettuces.

3 different basil plants- Thai, purple, and Greek. I also have some regular basil seeds and cilantro that I'll plant later, after the salad greens are done.

Daikon radish, carrots, and a spinach/mustard hybrid green that I grew from seeds, those are sprouted but are still tiny.

4 okra, 6 collard greens and 6 kale plants for my "southern food"

1 peanut plant just to see what happens

a long row of potatoes, we had a bag sprouting in the pantry so I cut them into pieces and put them in the ground. I did the same last year with a single potato, cut it into 4-5 chunks with eyes on them, and got about 10lbs of nice potatoes from it. Nothing like a freshly dug up potato!

garlic and onions that came back from last year. I love using the chives in salads.

Still to come, my chile pepper crop, which is my main love of gardening. A friend works at a university greenhouse and has a lot of different chiles that he'll give me a few of in the next week or so. Ghost peppers, Scotch Bonnets, Thai Dragon, Anaheims, jalapenos, Anchos. I usually get a Tabasco from the local garden center as well, 1 Tabasco plant yields thousands of peppers and I use them to make hot sauce. I use the Ghost and Scotch Bonnets for Jamaican Jerk sauce, Thais for hot sauce and cooking ,and the others I like to grill up and eat with dinner.

quiltlovinlisa

Our garden is a work in progress. We grow cherries, grapes (purple for jelly, green for eating) rhubarb, red currents and just planted gooseberries last year. In the garden garden, we'll grow tomatoes, corn, eggplant, hot peppers, lettuce, swiss chard, green beans, peas, pumpkins, acorn squash and a myriad of herbs both culinary and medicinal. I am *so* excited about what we're growing this year!

KyliAnne26

Small 5x5 foot greenhouse on the front porch (I live in WA so our growing season is pretty short and cool) - so far we have two types of lettuce, blueberries, two types of tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, cucumbers, LOTS of strawberries, oregano, rosemary, basil, cilantro, and lemon balm. I love growing food!

dbmata

I put together and got in two 6' x 3' x 16" planters over the weekend.

Already planted: 1x Yellow Tomato, 1x Greek Oregano, 1x Chocolate Mint in it's own large pot. I've got a bunch of seeds in the mail coming that include:
Purple carrots
Shell peas (Little Marvel)
Two different types of tomato
Squash for blossoms
Zatar Oregano
Genovese Basil
Chives
Romanesco
Borage
Fennel
Various Lettuces
Ground Cherry

I'm also going to hunt up some strawberries today at the local hippy store. I'm really looking forward to the challenge, I don't really know how to make things grow.

I'm also thinking of clearing a patch to do some watermelon. Not sure how/ what to do for that.