Who has a Veggie Garden?

So who out here is doing the Veggie thing? My wife and I had grown a few Tomato and Pepper plants within a flower garden for years. Last year we decided to give the real deal a try. I shlepped out and bought a tiller, fencing, all the ingredients for the soil and many bags of licorice root mulch for the walkways.

We had a decent turnout last year and just got everything in for this year over the weekend.

In about 2 weeks, we can harvest the 75 heads of Garlic that was planted at Thanksgiving. They are at least double the size from our first try, but we also started with larger heads from Wegmans this time.

Also in are the following:

About 100 Onions - Red, White, and Yellow
2 different Rhubarb plants
15 Potato plants just for fun, not a serious plot but you get enough for a few meals of Home Fries.
40 Green Onions (scallions)
A full row of Peas (at least 100 individual plants climbing a fence)
Lettuce - Black Seeded Simpson and Romain
3 different types of Swiss Chard - Red, White, Green
24 Pepper plants ranging from Cayenne, Jalapeno, Rainbow Bell, Red and Green Bell and Yellow Banana
16 Tomato Plants - Orange, Yellow, Big Boy, Celebrity, Long Italian Paste, Yellow Cherries and Red Grape

Last thing to do is get the Soaker Hose all laid out and pinned down. I use a Timer set to 2 hours every other morning and that was one of the smartest things I did because it is hard to water a fully mature garden from around the edges and you are really not supposed to water the plants themselves all the time.

We try to keep it as organic as possible but that can be hard sometimes too. We also started the Compost Bin last year and that is getting full and will be ready to distribute at the end of the summer for next years planting.

What do you have growing? Pics to come.

We grow Tomatoes mostly. but, we have several fruit trees - orange, lemon and lime. The juice we get from the lemons is fabulous. One lemon from our trees produces more juice then 5 lemons from the store.

We had relatives in FLA who had Orange trees and they were just awesome. Nothing like fresh juice. Thanks Mike.

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Originally Posted by Shadowfax

We had relatives in FLA who had Orange trees and they were just awesome. Nothing like fresh juice. Thanks Mike.

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No problem. The kids get a real kick out of it too. It's good for them to know where the fruit comes from, the care involved and the whole process. They love working the fruit squeezer too.

That's a serious garden Brian. We did veggie gardening for a few years but the time needed to care for it wasn't there. We planted some edamane seeds in pots this year but that's it. I hope to get back into it though. If you're a reader, this is a good read:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oZvsDGngg1...bookcover3.jpg

Doug, I can tell you that last years Tomatoes may have cost me almost that each, but the initial investment is over so this year, maybe $20 a tomato :)

I planted my garden yesterday. While not quite on the same scale of yours Brian, it gives me more than enough fresh food for me. I have 9 tomato plants, 4 peppers, carrots, beans, kohlrabi, acorn squash, a few beets, cantaloupe, watermelon, zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, dill, peas, and radishes. Since I live so far north, I've never had any luck growing cantaloupe and watermelons but I put some black plastic down this year to try and keep the ground warm. We will see how that works.

In addition to the veggies, I have a few blueberry bushes, a raspberry patch, a small patch of strawberries, and an apple tree. It's more than enough to keep me busy.

The Harvest is beginning. This morning we picked and emptied a few hundred pea pods. Man they are so sweet you can just eat them right away without cooking. We have been eating Romain and Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce for a few weeks. By the time we get back from vacation, there will be some cherry tomatoes and a few peppers ready and it will be time to harvest the 75 heads of Garlic.

The onions and potatoes are a bit whimpy but it's all for fun.

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_3873.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR5C-JCI-eU

Harvested the Garlic over the weekend. They are not the largest of heads but it doesn't get any better or fresher. We made a batch of Chili using several of our peppers, scallions, onions and garlic and peas as well as a nice Swiss Chard pizza with the garlic and scallions.
This is half of the 75 heads...
http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...psfad524ce.jpg

This is the last of the Pea harvest. Many went too far while we were away for the week...
http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7a7bb138.jpg

And a shot of yours truly chopping everything up for the Chili...
http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5e0ac466.jpg

I have herbs growing and some green beans tomatoes at done for the moment I have fruit trees too. Soon it will be time to start the wither crop. This is my first year trying to grow my own food I learned a lot.

Gooch, very cool. Growing your own is very rewarding. It may keep some of us alive in the future. Save your seeds also as they will be valuable.

I enjoyed my first full size tomato last night. A nice sweet Lemon Boy. Not too much seed and goo, just soft sweet yellow flesh. Our Orange/Yellow Cherries are ripening now also and the few we had were real good. Since we grew a whole double row of Scallions, they seem to find their way into many meals.

I had to yank several German Plumb Tomato plants due to early blight like leaf death. If it spreads, they all go. Getting ready to plant a row of bush beans and hoping it's not too late.

I just read this thread's title and was totally curious; are there meat gardens?

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Originally Posted by NorthStar

I just read this thread's title and was totally curious; are there meat gardens?

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Maybe if you are Lady Gaga, but it was to differentiate from Flower Gardens

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Originally Posted by Shadowfax

Maybe if you are Lady Gaga, but it was to differentiate from Flower Gardens

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I thought of that after extensive thinking. :) ...After the fact; my post.