best plants for beginning gardener

[enjoy the ride]

With people talking about square food gardening in this site, I thought I would look into getting the new book but when I went to Amazon to check it out, the reviews were very consistant that the first book was much better. They said that the new one has little new information, was very repetative and full of statements about how his system has saved the world.
So I didn't purchase it- has anyone here bought that new book and what do you think?
The first one was interesting and useful even if not followed precisely.

 

[lorihadams]

I know that we tried pumpkins when I was pregnant with Maddie but that was a disaster...I kept getting dizzy when trying to tend to them and Chad was just clueless and the beetles got them. I was so upset. But that's just how it goes...nobody's fault we just couldn't keep up with me being preggo.

We eat tons of broccoli, corn, berries, green beans, Chad likes yellow squash but I just can't eat much of it, I like zucchini and okra...there is nothing better than fried zucchini and okra...I could make myself sick eating it. We eat lots of salads, so lettuce and spinach, love raw spinach in a salad, I would love to can some diced tomatoes and maybe some plain tomato sauce for spaghetti and sloppy joes and such. I love red and yellow peppers, like rhubarb but have mostly eaten it in pies and such, never had swiss chard so i wouldn't know what to do with it.

I have grown Basil and other herbs before with some success. BTW, did you know that basil will deter mosquitoes? We lived in the middle of the woods in an apartment over a horse barn when we first got married, and we had 3 or 4 pots of basil on the front deck and never had mosquitoes!

I have thought about container gardens because we are considering moving soon, or raised beds, but I also have to deal with the chickens cause they free range in the yard where I would plant stuff so I would need fencing. My neighbor down the road plants a garden every yr and has had success with maters, potatoes, squash, zukes, cukes. He has given us a lot of stuff from his garden but he stores potatoes in the crawl space under his house.

I'm sure I will plant something but with us house hunting I may have to do some containers and just wing it for now. What would be good for containers? I know tomatoes and lettuces, herbs and such but what other veggies?

 

[FarmerChick]

Lori

I don't remember you saying you were house hunting?

where are you going?



but if you are leaving in the near future, I sure wouldn't go overboard with a garden. Just do what is needed to eat fresh but put the time and effort into your new home.

cool you are having a new adventure. I love looking at houses...just so much fun!!!!

 

[keljonma]

I'm sure I will plant something but with us house hunting I may have to do some containers and just wing it for now. What would be good for containers? I know tomatoes and lettuces, herbs and such but what other veggies?

Anything can be grown in containers. When we lived in an apt, I had my "garden" on the deck off the living room. Herbs, veggies, flowers. We grew red skin potatoes, tomatoes, fennel, peppers, basil, mints, sages, thyme, parsley, sorrel, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, peas, carrots, rosemary, and lavender, among others.

 

[lorihadams]

Really!? You grew potatoes in containers...never thought you could do that. Hmmmm...maybe I will just stick to containers this year. I thought about raised beds too but that is going to be too much for right now.

We don't know if we will be moving soon or not. Our house is not on the market yet, we have just started looking the next county over...better school systems but higher property taxes and home prices. We may just stay here...hard to say. If Chad could get transferred to Bedford or Roanoke or Franklin County we would go in a heartbeat. They offered him WV but it's a ways from our family...just couldn't make that big of a leap.

We would like a house with a basement and decent land for the chickens, dogs, cats, rabbits, and a garden. We could do it here but I would probably try my hand at homeschooling if we did. We only have a year to make up our minds.

Anyway, what kind of tomatoes do ya'll use for canning? I use a lot of diced tomatoes with juice and tomato sauce. We don't eat much in the way of slicers.

 

[keljonma]

Anyway, what kind of tomatoes do ya'll use for canning? I use a lot of diced tomatoes with juice and tomato sauce. We don't eat much in the way of slicers.

When I'm canning, I mix the paste and slicers together, unless I'm making something like tomato paste. We grow lots of tomatoes, because the ladies of the flock love them too.

My favorite paste tomatoes:
Linguisa Polish Paste
Amish Paste
Roma Paste

My favorite slicer tomatoes:
Brandywine
German Johnson
Abe Lincoln
First Lady
Hillbilly
Celebrity
Better Boy

My favorite grape/plum/cherry tomatoes:
Red Pear
Christmas Grape
Gardeners Delight

Everyone in the family laughs when we say that we grow First Lady tomatoes... because all our hens are named for the First Ladies.

 

[keljonma]

Really!? You grew potatoes in containers...never thought you could do that. Hmmmm...maybe I will just stick to containers this year. I thought about raised beds too but that is going to be too much for right now.

Yes, I found the information in a library book and ran with it.

Here is a link that is helpful.

http://www.the-organic-gardener.com/growing-potatoes.html

 

[lorihadams]

Thanks for the link! I can use all the help I can get. The list of tomatoes is crazy...I was thinking of romas but I have never grown them before, do they do well in containers?

 

[ams3651]

I agree lettuce is easy, and dont shy away from tomatoes. If you want a bountiful crop plant one variety to come on together for canning. Im going to try potatoes this year as they seem pretty easy. Also if you have the room, pumpkins, watermelon, cantelope are easy just take a lot of water and some fertilizer like manure. I dont think corn is hard just needs nitrogen (chicken poop is good) hot days and cool nights. Im going to try planting in squares this year as they need to be together to polinate. Dont be afraid to try even just a couple of something. I prefer to buy tomato plants rather than grow from seed but other things I mentioned are easy right from seed.

Oh and I love www.rareseeds.com too!

romas will work in containers with a trellis just keep them away from peppers as they will stunt the peppers.

 

[keljonma]

The list of tomatoes is crazy...

I like Totally Tomatoes. I have never gotten bad seeds from them. http://www.totallytomato.com/