Gardeners: What produce are you growing this season?

I have a small kitchen garden. This year I was lazy and didn't start from seed so I will be buying starts. I grew most of my stuff from Baker Creek seeds last year and those plants grew so much better than the plants I bought. Oh well...I will try to be more on top of things next year.

various herbs
habanero peppers...lots of them
tomatoes
greens
acorn squash
green beans
potatoes
radishes
carrots

I am sure I am forgetting a bunch of stuff.

Hot peppers and pumpkins are my favorite things to grow--I don't have space to grow pumpkins anymore though.

Have you tried trellising your pumpkins so that they grow vertically, saving you the horizontal growing space? I've done that before for aesthetic reasons in the past. You can net the fruit and attach the nets to the trellis so the vine doesn't break under the weight as long as you're not growing an Atlantic Giant or some similar variety. Anything smaller than a sweet pie pumpkin probably wouldn't even need the additional support though I've never tried it.

Last year I didn't start my garden from seed due to a bout of late winter laziness and had to go the purchased route. I don't know if it's the quality of the stock, if it's just less transplant shock or some other variable I'm not familiar with but I agree that starting from seeds tends to produce more vigorous, healthier and better producing plants. Maybe I'll dedicate a part of the garden to purchased plants and do a side by side this year. See if the results mesh up with my expectations.

So far I've just planned sunflowers and sweet peas mixed together, and some herbs and tomatoes on my deck.
Now I'm thinking a pot of zucchini trailing down over the did of a big pot would be nice too, and beans climbing up my hot tub trellis.

Do you train the sweet peas up the sunflowers? Just thinking about how pretty that would be makes me smile.

5 varieties of gourmet hardneck garlic, sunchokes, red sweet bullhorn peppers, mini yellow and red sweet peppers, yellow and purple bush beans, 4 varieties of broccoli, purple, orange and white varieties of cauliflower, garlic chives, lemon cucumbers, green cucumbers, 3 vareities of eggplant, lettuce, mesclun, cilantro, parsnips, sugar snap peas, Amish pie squash, globe artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes,6 vareities of heirloom tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, leeks, strawberries, blackberries, dragon carrots, various herbs such as mountain and white sage, marjoram, chamomile, flowers for pollinators, bunching onions, summer squash, zucchini, 2 varieties of radishes, golden and Detroit Red beets, and sweet corn and winter squash over at the other farm.
....but the main crop is hay.

Do you raise bees too? I ask because you said you had flowers for pollinators too. Or are they for the wild ones?

Also, do you live in an area where artichokes are easy to grow with mild winters or do you do something special? I tried a variety that was supposed to mature quickly but I didn't overwinter the plant well enough (end of season laziness).

My brother is giving us some of his extra tomato starts.
We're also going to try zucchini, cantaloupe, and maybe broccoli.

This is our first spring in this house, and we're having to dig out a space for garden, but the soil looks much better that the last house we had - less clay and rocks, etc. We've been in an apartment for the last 5 years, so I'm excited to get to try a garden again.

Good luck! I'm trying cantaloupe again this year buy placing them under a poly tunnel and walls of water to see if I can actually beat the first fall frost. I've never been able to ripen them on the vine.

For everyone that plants a variety of tomatoes, do you bunch all of a single variety together or do you intermix them? I don't seed save and I love looking at a wall of variety (I do the same with my peppers except the jalapenos).

I need to get my spring crops out so I can put my summer crops in! #californiagardenissues

Currently growing potatoes, onions, broccoli, garlic, strawberries, carrots and celery. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant started from seed in the house in January are ready to go in, and I will start squash varieties from seed right in the beds.

Just turned my front porch flowerbed into an herb garden this week - sage, garlic chives, dill, thyme, Greek oregano, Thai basil, globe basil, curry (new one for me!), lavender and catnip. More basil going in, plus whatever interesting herbs I come across in nurseries from here on out. :bigsmile:

I am very envious of your California gardening issues. My mother likes to wax poetic about how much more fun it was to garden when she lived there. The increased growing season alone is jealously inducing! Our last estimated frost is 15 May where I am, so putting out tomatoes and peppers like I did a couple weeks ago is only possible with very special care and observation. I want ripe tomatoes in July and this is the only way I can do it.

Have fun with your awesome gardening environment!