Go Garden!
by
Ted Slater
on Apr 21, 2008 at 1:13 PM
I love fresh tomatoes, as I've mentioned before on The Line.
I was tomato shopping a few months ago and found myself wrestling over whether I could justify paying $4 for a fist-sized bag of cherry tomatoes. I couldn't.
But I was able to justify buying a four small bags of tomato seeds from the local gardening store. The seeds have sprouted, and I anticipate transplanting them from the little cardboard cubes that they're emerging from into something larger within a month or so, as soon as the weather outdoors is reliably over 40 degrees.
I'm excited to be growing my own food. It'll taste better than what I can find at the local grocery store, and will be significantly cheaper.
In an article we published last week, "Go Garden," Kimberly Eddy talks about the many benefits of gardening. The cool thing is that she provides a number of practical gardening tips as well.
OK, I've told you about my garden. Tell me about yours!
1. Holly had the following to say on Apr 21 at 1:24 PM:
Oh man! I am so excited about the garden. I've never ever had a garden before, so it's all new and great. We live in Central Texas, so I put the plants in the ground about a month ago -- there's zucchini and tomatoes and bell peppers and jalapenos and onions and carrots and watermelons and a couple of herbs. Hopefully some of it go!
I have two little girls - almost 3 and a newly minted one year-old. They're a hoot, and I'm stoked about them seeing where food comes from. BigSister recognizes which plants are which, and loves seeing them progress. Both girls are crazy about watering. Anyhoo, that's the part of gardening I'm most excited about, is letting my kidlets see how food grows.
Woo-hoo for gardening!
2. Tami had the following to say on Apr 21 at 1:37 PM:
I love growing herbs. There's nothing more fun than being able to "spice up" your homemade food with herbs from your own garden.
What's also great about herbs is that they can grow in containers. My backyard has serious gopher issues, but they can't dig into the roots of the plants if they're in big pots. :)
Growing in containers is also a good tactic if you live in an apartment. Granted, for herbs you need *some* sun.
3. obewan had the following to say on Apr 21 at 1:38 PM:
You can kick me for saying it, but it is a real plus for the so-called global warming alarmists. OK if you don't buy that, you will save all that diesel fuel that is used to haul from California. I suppose you are not as bad as the New Yorkers and their 3000 mile salads though. The big deal at virtually all the so-called "peak oil" websites is getting people to support the local agriculture rather than trucking industry. They call them "post carbon communities". My problem is I live in a condo, so I can only grow about 6 small pots. There is a local farmers market in Jackonsville, but I would have to drive about 15 miles each way, so it is not worth it.
4. Laura Grace had the following to say on Apr 21 at 2:33 PM:
Tons of young couples and singles at my church are gardening (and composting!!) for the first or second time this year. It's such a great way to reduce waste and feed amazing food to your family. My roommate and I are doing tomatoes in pots on the porch of our apartment.
I'll probably end up giving a bunch of canning/preserving demos at the end of the summer since I grew up in a house where we "put up" 100-150 quarts of tomatoes every year. "Extending the harvest," you might say, well into the winter. Nothing beats cracking open a jar of tomatoes and putting them in a pot of chili in February, knowing that they came from your own garden!
5. Louise had the following to say on Apr 21 at 2:48 PM:
Yup it's definitely garden time.
Here in northern IL one shouldn't plant until the middle of May, but the next few weeks I'll be planning my 2008 gardening projects.
Home grown tomatoes are the best!
Can't wait!
6. BDB had the following to say on Apr 21 at 3:35 PM:
Obewan (#3) wrote:
>>OK if you don't buy that, you will save all that diesel fuel that is used to haul from California. <<
Perhaps you're thinking of Baja, California, Mexico. With the shortage of field workers these days, more and more agriculture is shifting to Mexico. I was in Ensenada this weekend. The area is surrounded by fields that are operating on U.S. contracts - requirements on which pesticides they are and are not allowed to use, etc. These are radishes, onions, other garden vegetables. And the climate is basically the same as Southern California, so things grow just as well. Seems like it would cost more to bring in radishes from so far away. But that's where the workers are who pick them...
7. Dave had the following to say on Apr 21 at 3:38 PM:
Living in a basement with about a foot of snow outside at the moment makes me think that I probably won't be gardening anytime soon.
8. Rachael had the following to say on Apr 21 at 3:52 PM:
I love fresh tomatoes!! Yummy. Can't plant a garden, but I can have pots if I want. My last remaining pot is on my back porch, with a few green weeds that have replaced it's once pretty flowers :). Have never bought a tomato plant, but I might one day...last fall or winter I attempted to buy some kind of herb. It died and I threw it away. Maybe it would've come back in the spring? Hmmm...
And here's a yummy sandwich suggestion - I first had it in Japan:
*shredded cabbage (can buy in the 'cole slaw' packages)
*tomato
*cheese
Yum!
9. tom had the following to say on Apr 21 at 3:52 PM:
One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons:
A produce stand has two displays of tomatoes. One sign reads, "Tomatoes: 49¢ a pound." The other reads, "Tahmahtoes: $1.49 a pound."
10. Becca had the following to say on Apr 21 at 4:23 PM:
Yay, gardening!
I currently live on the 7th floor of a building with no backyard - but I'm doing my best to grow delicious chard and kale on my windowsill...
This summer I'll be moving to a place with a backyard, and even more excitingly, where the other people in the building are really into composting. I'm hoping that if I move in by mid-June, I'll be able to have some nice quick-maturing crops (like radishes, maybe) grown by the beginning of August!
11. Rachael had the following to say on Apr 21 at 4:54 PM:
PS
Can I give you another good sandwich suggestion? It is garden related in that you can grow one of the items in your garden :):
*cucumbers
*cream cheese
(first introduced to this idea in a HS English class after watching "The Importance of Being Earnest" [the old version])
:)Happy Sandwiching!!
12. kaj had the following to say on Apr 21 at 5:16 PM:
ugh...you guys are making me hungry (:
13. Joy W. had the following to say on Apr 21 at 6:16 PM:
My all-time favorite sandwich:
sliced tomatoes still warm from the sun (from the garden, obviously)
colby cheese
Miracle Whip (mayo is okay if you don't like MW)
multigrain bread
It's the best ever! My mom said she lived on colby & tomato sandwiches when she was first pregnant with me, so maybe that explains my love for them. :)
14. Chris had the following to say on Apr 21 at 6:56 PM:
Just finished tilling over the garden today. My wife usually handles the planting (I'm disease/pest/rabbit control), and she'll start the snow peas first. (Fresh snow peas lightly sauteed with garlic....yum). We usually do carrots, green beans, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, spinach, and a few herbs. This year, we're trying pumpkins.
For those who buy seeds online and haven't tried them, I suggest Burpee. They will actually send you extra seeds if their testing shows less viability that what they expected. They'll also let you know how much extra to plant so you won't be disappointed.
15. Kenya had the following to say on Apr 21 at 7:24 PM:
Kimberly's article inspired me to go find a strawberry pot and grow a garden in my apartment! Growing by my window, I now have some newly planted strawberry seeds, as well as some basil and chives.
I can't wait until they're able to get harvested!!
16. Elizabeth had the following to say on Apr 21 at 8:01 PM:
My mom and I just took cuttings from our over-wintered impatiens. I'm so excited to see them send out little rootlets! And, we've been out trimming back dead branches from last year's perennials. Now to brave cutting back the blackberry patch... And maybe in a few weeks I'll be able to try out my new rhubarb recipe! I love spring, especially after a long, hard winter!
17. BDB had the following to say on Apr 21 at 9:55 PM:
I did grow a garden when I was a kid - my own, not one my parents helped with. Snowpeas, carrots, onions, beets (yuck!), leaf lettuce. My yard came fully landscaped - I can't bring myself to rip anything out to put in a vegetable garden.
18. Loris had the following to say on Apr 22 at 6:50 AM:
I have sage and basil, a begonia, geranium, assorted pansies, and a hydrangea in pots on my apartment porch. So much pleasure out of those little guys.
19. Julia H had the following to say on Apr 22 at 8:29 AM:
It has been snowing for 4 days straight now. Today, my city is the coldest place on the PLANET. Yes, colder than Alaska, colder than Siberia, even colder than the north or south poles!
I can't wait to start my garden, but all this snow probably won't melt until at least halfway through May.
GO GO GLOBAL WARMING!!!!
20. cathys had the following to say on Apr 22 at 10:46 AM:
I started a garden about a month or two ago! I planted this tiny little tomato plan and now it's a huge bush. I should've prepared a bit more. ;)
Does anyone have any tips for natural pest control? There are these tiny green worms putting holes in my collard greens. :(
I also have strawberries, but something eats them before they can get bigger than a lima bean....
21. Laura Grace had the following to say on Apr 22 at 11:05 AM:
BDB, whatEVER!! LOL!
You can't eat landscaping! But you CAN put in pretty, ornamental plants that are also edible. Think rainbow chard, nasturtiums, anything that vines (peas, beans, cukes, zucchini, squash), peppers, cabbages, etc. Then tomatoes can go in pots on the porch.
Some friends of mine ripped out all the bulb plants in their landscaping -- lilies, tulips, daffodils -- and sold them or gave them away on Craig's List so they wouldn't go to waste. Same with other perennials. Annuals obviously went into the compost bin. Every spare inch on their lot is dedicated to growing veggies, even their old sandbox, which now houses onions and sweet potatoes.
22. DannieA had the following to say on Apr 22 at 1:05 PM:
Tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, chiles, parsley and basil....
oh and a good sandwhich suggestion
baggette type bread
feta cheese
tomatoe
red onion
basil
salt and peppr (unless you get a seasoned feta cheese)
olive oil.
Yummers.
23. KimberlyEddy had the following to say on Apr 22 at 2:34 PM:
Kenya wrote: "Kimberly's article inspired me to go find a strawberry pot and grow a garden in my apartment! Growing by my window, I now have some newly planted strawberry seeds"
Woo hoo, Kenya! Hey, if the strawberry seeds don't work (sometimes they are iffy) try strawberry "sets" (little almost dead looking plants) next year. Just thought I'd mention it. :-)
Cathys Wrote:
"Does anyone have any tips for natural pest control? There are these tiny green worms putting holes in my collard greens. :("
What I've always done is a small squirt/drop of dish soap in one of those sprayers that you attach to the hose. It seems multipurpose. Also, companion planting (usually marigolds or borage keeps most bad things away). If you googled "companion planting" you'd probably find more info.
24. Sara had the following to say on Apr 22 at 9:25 PM:
Reminds me of the saying, "Optimistic as a seed catalogue"!
I got some seeds at an organic seed show this year: There were lots of dreadlocks, and so many vegetables and flowers and things I'd never heard of... I'm trying heirloom tomatoes this year: Black and regular Brandywine and Green Grape and Sweetie Cherry... they're already coming up in their little pots and I'm terribly excited. I've been having to thin them out and it's heartbreaking. :)
Also, there's a new kind of lavender out called 'French Perfume' that supposedly blooms the first year (most takes two years, or so they say; I've never had any come up) and that's also supposed to survive cold winters well.
25. Joshua had the following to say on Apr 24 at 11:02 PM:
I just started planting a week or so ago. We got a plot at our apartment complex. I have a basic layout in mind. So far, the idea is to grow: spinach, tomatoes (Brandywine), carrots, parsnips, cantaloupes, cucumbers, peppers, peas, strawberries, and beans. I have to have a good chunk of time to finish the planting soon, though. Just as soon as I finish my I-waited-until-the-last-minute semester of online work for a class...
I should probably get back to that...