Vegetables
Easy Veggies to Grow
Tomatoes
Everyone's favorite. The choices are many and endless from tasty heirlooms from the past, new selections that resist diseases and varieties that stay small and grow well patio containers. Pretty much something for everyone.
Our all time favorites are
- Big Beef for fresh and canning- he out performs them all in our garden
- Roma for cooking, canning and freezing. This variety tends to coming all at once so you can do your canning and freezing chores.
- BNH-444 for disease resistance, sounds tasty doesn't it? I always grow a couple of these in case we loose our others to the virus.
- Yellow Pear is a small yet large then a cherry wonderful in salad tomato. A great one for getting kids to try and is a heirloom
- Brandywine is an Amish heirloom that is the most delicious pink ever- one slice is a tomato sandwich or will almost fill a canning jar!
- Patio F1 is a true container tomato only growing to 2 feet and producing golf ball size fruit- great in large hanging baskets also.
The basics for easy success: grow in at least 6-8 hours of full sun, prepare the soil with lots of organic matter (view TGW TV "Rocking will Save your Soil" for the how-to), plant after the soil has warmed- tomatoes are heat lovers. We feed with Rainbow Grow fertilizer at planting and follow up with monthly Earth Juice feedings to get the most from our plants.
Tomatoes don't all have to be planted in May–plant them up to 90-120 days before your last frost depending on the variety. This is the secret to having a great fall harvest.
We mulch our tomato bed with several layers of wet newspaper topped with either leaves, straw or grass clipping–what ever is available. Then punch a hole, plant our plants 3 feet apart. Mulch will retain mositure and prevent soil borne disaese from splashing.
Good tomato cages are a tough thing to find. We actual use concrete reinforcing wire (the rusty stuff you find in building supply stores) because it is sturdy enough to support these plants when full grown and they last for years. The wire has 6 x 6 inch squares so you can easily get your hand through to harvest tomatoes growing inside. The cages are about 2 1/2 feet in diameter and we close them with the using the ends of the wire. Wear good gloves and use great caution making these cages! THe wire is unforgiving. We use sturdy stakes driven in the ground right next to the cage and then tie it to the cage in two spots, top and bottom to secure, usually two stakes per cage. Cage your tomates while small…it is much easier.
Keep youor newly planted plants moist until established, about 10-14 days. Then provide 1" of water weekly. This will provide the best harvest.
Be sure to keep a bird bath on your veggie garden- birds and squirrels damage tomatoes most often for the moisture. If you get them in the habit of drinking from a container they won't bother- we have a tremondus bird and squirrel population and suffer no tomato damage with over 30-40 plants. This does not work overnight — we have water availalbe yearround and are greatly rewarded for it.
Please let me know what questions you may have- Ask Lisa
Happy Spring!
Lisa Z
Our Vegetable Garden
When I first began growing veggies many years ago I got caught in the bug of growing lots of different types of veggies. What I soon learned was that although having the full gambit of fresh vegetables was nice, but having that many varieties had many different harvesting and care requirements. So over the years I have come down to growing a few of our favorites that we in addition to eating fresh, preserve by either freezing or canning to enjoy after the season is over.
A few other factors play into my choices: what is available locally grown by other growers that I might not want to grow–like salad mix. A local organic farmer grows this and I prefer to buy at the Farmer's Market every other week then grow it. I also do not grow selections that must be fussed over or as I call them are bug magnets. Eggplants we like, but don't love, however they are frequently attached by a beetle that I rather not have in my garden–so no eggplants for me. I'll by at the Market when we want them.
What we grow: bush string beans, tomatoes of several different varieties, peppers, zucchini, squash, sweet corn, early peas, fall greens, basil and onions.
I will be back to give details on how easy it is to fill your family, freezer and pantry with these staple veggies!
Lisa Z
Growing Veggies in Containers
Just about everything can be grown in containers, however there are a few tips that I'd like to offer that will lead to fewer chores, more bounty and just healthier plants. These ground rules apply to flowers and herbs as well as vegetables.
The container: the bigger the better. The larger the mass of soil the less often you will have to water. When you pot up a small 8-10" pot with a transplant all looks pretty good, but once that plant reaches maturity, the roots are typically crammed in the pot. This means you can't possible water it enough unless you water a couple times a day, which is out of the question. In a large, deep pot with plenty of room the roots will have more room to stretch and grow as well as the pot can store some moisture. My personal choice is no pot under 16" across and 9" deep and bigger is better. A plant planted in a large pot will out-perform and out-produce the same planted in a small pot. Buy the biggest pots you can afford. I prefer terra-cotta and wood containers, they are the natural choices. You have many to choose from–just be sure the pot has a drainage hole.
The soil: good quality potting soil is essential. I find that "beefing-up" the potting soil I have is the best mix. I collect all those pots from last season that are sitting around full of soil, plants long gone. I dump all the soil from the pots into a wheel barrel. Using my hand trowel I chop it up and remove any debris. I do not use any soil from pots that may have had insect or disease issue last season. I then add equal amounts to the soil volume of compost and coco fiber and mix well. This produces a great soil mix, recycles what you have and uses sustainable products to enrich it. We add dry organic fertilizer at planting.
The plant choices: most everything can be grown in a container, however using a little plant sense will make it easier. Choosing dwarf and compact varieties when available, Tomatoes are a good example; if you grew an indeterminate tomato it would quickly overtake the container and everything around it. By choosing a Patio Hybrid Tomato that only grows 24" will certainly change your experience. Just keep in mind if you want to grow a big plant you will need a big pot. Some of the easiest veggies to grow in containers would be: lettuce, radish, greens, patio tomatoes, peppers, chard, onions and many others. You can even grow beans or peas on a trellis. Think outside of the box- I saw a squash in a half whiskey barrel container thriving.
Finishing Touches: once you have planted your containers, all we want to do is to sit back and wait for the produce right? Well it's not quite that easy, but you can make it pretty painless. Mix organic dry fertilizer in the soil when you pot up your plants. Be sure to keep the level of the soil at 2" below the edge of the pot for easier watering when planting. After planting, mulch your pots just like you do your flower beds. We often use –are you ready—gumballs from the gum tree as mulch in our pots because it tends to keep the squirrels away. Seems those spiky balls annoy them as much as they do us. Water your plants in well and plan on sticking your finger in the soil every morning to check for moisture to see what your watering schedule will be. As your plants grow you will need to water more, most likely every morning.
We also use a liquid organic fertilizer monthly as a boost since we are asking so much of our plants.
Hopefully this will get you thinking about gardening on your porch or balcony!
Happy Gardening!
Lisa Z
