Thread: Does anyone plant a garden?

I have had good seasons of Roma tomatoes and then one year I got that dreaded tomato caterpillar. Didn't enjoy that nasty thing soi have avoided growing them since. My problem is I forget about them or go on vacation and they get neglected and wither.

I have tried and tried to garden in South Texas, but have never had good results. My Father, though, only living about 20 miles alway, has a wonderful garden that yeilds an over-abundance of goodies...

He has enriched his soil for many years (chicken coop) and added several ingredients (sand, compost) to his patch. He also is retired and has the schedule to water, weed, attend, pick through for bugs before they get outta control, and in general just DOTE OVER his patch. I, on the other hand, work full-time and do not put that much time, effort, or energy into my plot.

I have had good sucess with a few patio produce items. I had one Jalepeno that survived for about four years, over Wintering, and everything!! But over those YEARS, he only yeilded about half a dozen (and I am being very generous in the estimation) peppers. This year, I tried an Italian Yellow Peppercini plant - who spewed out probably two dozen wonderful little peppers, and who is currently trying to make about another six even in the cold weather!

My daughter brought me a (native weed) Chili Piquin seed, which is now two years old and bloomed this past summer. We HAD 16 peppers on it, but when I brought it inside (just as they were beginning to turn red, to overnight in the warmth on a COLD night), apparently one of the dogs discovered that she had a taste for hotttttt stufffffff ... so when I harvested them off, found only 9 remained.

I think gardening in these tougher climates requires a bit more attention than when I was a kid in Virginia. There, we had about a 1/2 acre garden that was wildly successful with very little effort -- other than weeds and bugs, we only added rabbit fertilizer! Water was not an issue.

I plant mostly flowers. Lots and lots of them. I have done a couple tomato plants some years, but since I'm the only one who likes tomatoes I don't do a lot.
I have tried the odd plantings of lettuce and peppers and Basil amongst the flowerbeds with very little success.
Bruce is opposed to any mention of doing a real "vegetable garden". He insists we don't have the space because he feels they are ugly...and we only have the space for ornamental plantings. It's not worth the "discussion" trying to change his stubborn opinion, so I just don't bother.

I also don't do much in the way of planting flowers from seeds started indoors. I have never had good luck with that. I get sprouts but invariably kill them before they are actual seedlings big enough to transplant. I've tried several times but they just don't do well. And our blooming season here in Wisconsin is just too short to plant seeds in the ground and get anything that blooms before September.

Originally Posted by threeovens

I really, really, really like those Italian frying peppers. I saved some seeds and planted them today ha ha ha. If they are hybrids they won't produce anything.

Speaking of the hot peppers - I grew some from seeds, but they were 10 times hotter than the originals. The plants grew inside for a year, then I brought them with me when I bought the house and planted them in the yard. Liz used to like to bite them, then bark at them for being too hot! I moved them to another part of the yard and killed them.

Last year I got good yield from yellow pear grape tomatoes, some pretty brown and red grape tomatoes. The eggplant grew the best. I had the Japanese kind that are long and thin and purple. I grow the herbs on my patio and they do great - if I can keep the dogs out. They love herbs. Last year, I brought most of them inside, but when I went back the next week to get the rosemary, it was gone! This year, they have been warned! I still have a big bush of it.

Ahhhh, your dogs "graze" too... LOL~! We have Herbivore Pit Bulls - today they were eating turnip skins. Tomorrow they will get Collard Stems, their favorite!

I have nothing to offer but your post has inspired me to try a vegetable garden of my own this year. My house already has a nice vegetable patch that the previous owner used to plant her garden so i'm planning to dig that out and start anew there. Red potatoes seemed to grow very well here as there was still a few leftover when I moved in.