what do I want to grow this year?

[sheeshshe]

My 6y old LOVES brussel sprouts. raw! he even takes them to school for snack he takes radishes too. see? I feed them healthy


yard longs, my neighbor grows those so I know they do well here.

potatoes, yeah.. maybe a maine variety is a good idea hahahahha.

fruits... I plan on strawberries this year. iput in trees last year, apples, plum, peach, and pear. and raspberries. i'll domore raspthis year and some blackberries as well I think.


I just can't seem to decide on my veggies at ALL!!!

[jal_ut]

Corn, plant at least 3 rows 30 inches apart, and space the plants in the rows 8 to 12 inches.

Corn is unique in that the type of pollen that polinizes the kernel will affect the sweetness. If both kinds of corn are SE type or if both are Su type, you will have no problem with them planted right together. If not, maybe you can get corn with two different maturity times so they are not tasseling at the same time, or stagger the plantings so they will not tassel at the same time.

I get around this by planting only SE types.

[garden5]

Jal, that's pretty interesting about the corn. I never knew that the pollen affected the fruit with this pant .

I did some heirloom tomatoes last year and while they tasted great, the production was lower do to diseases.

I wouldn't say to give up the brandywines all together, but just throw some hybrids in the mix as well if you want to make sure that you are not cut short on tomatoes.

Also, a neat pepper plant to try (I haven't yet, but want to!) is Hot Marbles

We're trying to make your choices easier, but I have a feeling that we're really making them tougher!

[sheeshshe]

I did corn last year and decided that I didnt want to do it again this year. for the amount of space it took up, the return was minimal.

OK, so if I do a sweet pepper and a hot pepper that would be good. MAN I need to order seeds like, now. I really need to choose something!

Tomatoes, I have beefy boy hybrid left I think. I may have another hybrid as well. is there a particular hybrid that you all enjoy the most?

[gardenvt]

For a sweet pepper, try Carmen. It grows well here in Vermont as does Jimmy Nardello.

My large tomatoes are all OPs this year - some I 've grown before, some new. Cherry tomatoes are all hybrids - Sungold, Suncherry, Sweetie and, last but not least, Apero from Johnny's. Apero has great taste (subjective) and is a good keeper once ripe.

I'm trying some mini melons here this year and some eight ball zucchini to save space. Also starting some strawberries from seed - Sarian which is an everbearing and should produce fruit this year from July to frost.

I am growing the onion family for the first time. Started the seed Friday afternoon and yesterday, some of them were sprouting. Today, almost all of the shallots and onions are up. Just a couple of the leeks.

We love Black Seeded Simpson and Lollo Rossa lettuce - they are so tasty. If you like pesto, you have to plant basil - I grow Genovese. I've tried so many and we just like this one best. If you want a bit of scent in the garden, cinnamon is really nice.

I've grown Diva cucumber for several years and Lemon once. This year will be growing Marketmore 76 (northern standard), Tasty Jade (long asian) and Alibi (true mini so they say).

I am also going to try the carrots and radishes again. I think my error was in not giving them enough sun so they will occupy a sunny spot this year.

What is a garden without beets? Found some lovely Chioggias at a farm stand last year and they were so sweet and delicious raw - even better roasted. The bonus with beets is that you can eat the whole plant and even as baby plants in your salad.

There are so many options when it comes to planning a garden and all of those seed catalogs are so enticing. I started looking at 2010 catalogs last fall once the garden was put to bed for the winter. I considered what we have grown, what we liked, what we wanted to try and started making a very long list. In the end, I shortened the list to match the size of the garden - clever, huh?

[sheeshshe]

I love beets. and radishes. I just haven't been successful! I will try yet again though.

those are some good points and good ideas. back to the drawing board LOL