I read through some of the seed starting stuff and have to ask, -where are you planting all of this, and what are you doing with the produce?! I'm talking about folks with regular sized yards, small family, not the ones growing for large families, giving to church or other charity, growing for market.
I'll see several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, etc. For example, if you have 6 -8 varieties of tomatoes, how many plants of each do you plant? What do you do with starts not planted?
Not putting anyone down, but just curious.
I don't grow as many as the others here. I do try to grow only a few at a time. But I do plant a few extra just in case. Papaya, I need one but the male/female/hermaphrodite ratio is 3:1, so I grow at least 10-12 seeds. They are slow to germinate and they do not always come up. I plant 3-5 of them. Most of the time I am lucky. I haven't had a true male yet but I have had pure females. The males get cut down, and as long as there is at least one hermaphrodite, I will keep the females too. The ones that don't taste good get cut down. To plant my three tomato pots I plant about 10 of each type. I will pick the best of the lot and get rid of the rest. Peppers, I keep them all. I only get about 8 from each community pot. They don't take up that much space in pots.
Mint needs to be divided regularly or it will choke itself. If I have enough, it goes into the garbage. Lettuce, I am still working on. I want to plant in succession about 10 heads at a time. Sometimes only three come up but sometimes, there are twenty and I have to make a decision to squeeze them in somewhere, give them away, or feed them to the worms. Can't really have too much lavender.
Mint needs to be divided regularly or it will choke itself. If I have enough, it goes into the garbage. Lettuce, I am still working on. I want to plant in succession about 10 heads at a time. Sometimes only three come up but sometimes, there are twenty and I have to make a decision to squeeze them in somewhere, give them away, or feed them to the worms. Can't really have too much lavender.
One word "freezer". I grow enough tomatoes to last me all year. I core and freeze them whole. When I want to make chile, spaghetti, mastacholi, stew etc..I pull out a bag. Occasionally I will buy a can of paste to thicken. Green beans are snapped and frozen. Peppers, green onions, okra and celery are chopped and frozen. Chard, spinach, broccoli and kale leaves are laid flat and frozen. I just put a straw in a ziplock, zip it tight to the straw, suck out the air and into the freezer. Great addition to any soup/stew for a change of taste and extra vitamins. All herbs are dried and ready for use.
I put 100-150 lbs of venison in the freezer every year in Italian, breakfast, brats, ground burger, roasts and stew meat. Most all sausages are made with herbs and seeds I grow. All this puts me at about 100 a month for a family of 3 in staple groceries plus another 50 for in between runs for milk, cheese bread etc...(and junk chocolate, ice cream) This forces me to take the time to cook everything from scratch which tastes much better and eat very healthy. Every year I try to step it up a notch and add something new to research and grow. This year is berries; Goji's, grapes, kiwi, blackberries. Freezer berries for smoothies yum....if I could just grow bananas here.
I put 100-150 lbs of venison in the freezer every year in Italian, breakfast, brats, ground burger, roasts and stew meat. Most all sausages are made with herbs and seeds I grow. All this puts me at about 100 a month for a family of 3 in staple groceries plus another 50 for in between runs for milk, cheese bread etc...(and junk chocolate, ice cream) This forces me to take the time to cook everything from scratch which tastes much better and eat very healthy. Every year I try to step it up a notch and add something new to research and grow. This year is berries; Goji's, grapes, kiwi, blackberries. Freezer berries for smoothies yum....if I could just grow bananas here.
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applestar
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It's an obsession. You seem to think there is a plan to all this. There isn't. I don't even have specific plans to give them away. I just enjoy growing them, and trying different ways to grow them. Every year, I learn something new. For me it's not about what to do with them, though finding what I and the rest of my family consider to be the best TASTING experience is an elusive hunt that is part of the whole reason behind growing my own.
...I'll figure it out if there are extras. Last year I thought about selling some, but it turned out there were enough losses due to circumstances that there were more than enough, but less than worth the extra time and effort to go about selling. I do enjoy sharing.
I greatly admire people who make money from their gardening efforts and who intentionally grow extras to donate for worthy causes.
We eat as much as possible fresh, freeze some and give away the rest. Lots of people do not garden but enjoy the produce. Some we give to the local cafe. Any extra we put in boxes at the Post Office. Everyone in our small village picks up mail at the PO, so everyone walks in every day. Sadly some gets composted but that is returned to the garden eventually.
We used to be able to give fresh produce to the nursing home in our area except Nebraska in all their wisdom has a law that nursing homes must BUY all their food including fresh produce from produce dealers. For safety reasons I guess. So they send produce to the homes raised in Mexico fertilized and watered using human waste rather than allowing home grown picked that day out of the garden real fruits and vegetables. (Rant finished).
We used to be able to give fresh produce to the nursing home in our area except Nebraska in all their wisdom has a law that nursing homes must BUY all their food including fresh produce from produce dealers. For safety reasons I guess. So they send produce to the homes raised in Mexico fertilized and watered using human waste rather than allowing home grown picked that day out of the garden real fruits and vegetables. (Rant finished).
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applestar
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...chuckling to re-read the OP and noting "6-8 varieties of tomatoes"
-- I think I'm looking at over 150 varieties.... And I think I'm planting more than one of each....
I guess this year's research project will be how to squeeze them all into a postage stamp sized garden.
I DO have a lot of dwarf varieties that I guess are still new to many gardeners -- I am primarily interested in finding varieties that are ideal for growing in smaller containers 2-3 gallon max for my Winter Indoor Tomatoes.
For the larger dwarfs, I AM planning on trying using different kinds of containers including DIY self watering designs max 5 gal bucket size.
I'm also trying approx. half dozen varieties that are sprawling type and grow well in 11-14" diameter hanging baskets .
I'm also attempting columnar pruning and training of several multiflora type cherry varieties -- these grow grape like massive trusses -- in 14" containers. And comparing performance of regular cherry varieties using the same growing technique.
I wanted to grow a White Sauce Garden -- growing all kinds of white fruited and white colored vegetables, so I have many many white fruited tomato and pepper varieties to try... and I plan on finding the best tasting to grow in the future.
I'm venturing into exploring variegated foliage tomatoes and peppers... As well as antho foliage and fruited ones.... Some of these are accidental finds, others are intentional cross-breeding projects. I was given some variegated pepper seeds from a German seed bank to try when I enthused about my supervariegated Fish pepper....
...and speaking of cross breeding projects, I'm trying to learn how to breed tomatoes and peppers, and have four of my own tomato crosses to grow out...
If anyone can tell me how to make money from having this much fun, I'm all ears.
-- I think I'm looking at over 150 varieties.... And I think I'm planting more than one of each....
I guess this year's research project will be how to squeeze them all into a postage stamp sized garden.
I DO have a lot of dwarf varieties that I guess are still new to many gardeners -- I am primarily interested in finding varieties that are ideal for growing in smaller containers 2-3 gallon max for my Winter Indoor Tomatoes.
For the larger dwarfs, I AM planning on trying using different kinds of containers including DIY self watering designs max 5 gal bucket size.
I'm also trying approx. half dozen varieties that are sprawling type and grow well in 11-14" diameter hanging baskets .
I'm also attempting columnar pruning and training of several multiflora type cherry varieties -- these grow grape like massive trusses -- in 14" containers. And comparing performance of regular cherry varieties using the same growing technique.
I wanted to grow a White Sauce Garden -- growing all kinds of white fruited and white colored vegetables, so I have many many white fruited tomato and pepper varieties to try... and I plan on finding the best tasting to grow in the future.
I'm venturing into exploring variegated foliage tomatoes and peppers... As well as antho foliage and fruited ones.... Some of these are accidental finds, others are intentional cross-breeding projects. I was given some variegated pepper seeds from a German seed bank to try when I enthused about my supervariegated Fish pepper....
...and speaking of cross breeding projects, I'm trying to learn how to breed tomatoes and peppers, and have four of my own tomato crosses to grow out...
If anyone can tell me how to make money from having this much fun, I'm all ears. -
rainbowgardener
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- Location: TN/GA 7b
I have a very small garden, really just 6 beds that are veggies (plus a lot of flower beds, containers, the native woodland plants hillside, etc). The beds are either 4x8 or 5x10 (and 2 of them are community gardens, not at my house).
As you know, I plant a ton of seeds and sell off seedlings in my Quaker Meeting's plant sale. At $1/ plant, I raise 200 - 300 $$ for the church. But after that it is just me and my little beds. And two of them are pretty shady and won't grow tomatoes. So I plant 2- 3 tomato plants in each of the three remaining beds, no more than two plants of any one variety, many of them just 1 per variety. It varies every year, depending on how things turn out, what gets sold and what doesn't, but I will likely end up planting between 7-9 tomato plants of maybe 5 varieties. This will give me enough tomatoes for eating and for canning some tomato sauce/ salsa. I also make a variety of things like lasagna. Make up two of them, eat one and freeze one.
After the plant sale, I usually end up with more stuff left than I can plant. Smaller stuff like herbs and flowers, I just pop in as much as I can, here and there in various containers, etc. But I always end up giving some away to friends, neighbors, colleagues.
I am planning to move probably at the end of the garden season. So I may slow down on the canning/freezing stuff this year. I don't think it makes sense to try to drag a bunch of that stuff down to TN with us.
As you know, I plant a ton of seeds and sell off seedlings in my Quaker Meeting's plant sale. At $1/ plant, I raise 200 - 300 $$ for the church. But after that it is just me and my little beds. And two of them are pretty shady and won't grow tomatoes. So I plant 2- 3 tomato plants in each of the three remaining beds, no more than two plants of any one variety, many of them just 1 per variety. It varies every year, depending on how things turn out, what gets sold and what doesn't, but I will likely end up planting between 7-9 tomato plants of maybe 5 varieties. This will give me enough tomatoes for eating and for canning some tomato sauce/ salsa. I also make a variety of things like lasagna. Make up two of them, eat one and freeze one.
After the plant sale, I usually end up with more stuff left than I can plant. Smaller stuff like herbs and flowers, I just pop in as much as I can, here and there in various containers, etc. But I always end up giving some away to friends, neighbors, colleagues.
I am planning to move probably at the end of the garden season. So I may slow down on the canning/freezing stuff this year. I don't think it makes sense to try to drag a bunch of that stuff down to TN with us.
I have three plots to fit the extras in, but sometimes, even that is not enough. I have ended up planting lettuce in the herb garden, but I consider it a cover crop until the herbs can be planted later. I have a lot of annual herbs that need to be replanted every year and some of them are seasonal. I can plant some things in my community garden better than in my home garden, but the community garden has a lot more pests and diseases to deal with because of the concentrated growing and some gardeners keeping their sick plants. In the end it all depends on how much space I have for everything. Sometimes I have no choice but to cull or pick the extra lettuce thinnings as baby greens.
I only have space for three big tomatoes, so there is no room for extras and I get more tomatoes than I need from those. Of course, the birds, slugs, and snails try to get them too.
You always have to plant a few extra because there will be casualties and work that into the plan. Some things have to be planted together so you can't plug the holes that easily. That is why I plant more corn than I need to, because I will have to cull some, but if they don't come up, I can't plant more or the tassels will not bloom in sync. Keep the best, give away, trade, or sell the rest. I have gotten some good stuff in trades, but then I have to find room for them too. My friend just gave me another squash and tomatillo. The tomatillo I am not to fond of, but while I like the squash, I already have two vines closing in on my gate. I guess, now there will be three.
Of course some people are planting hundreds of tomatoes of twenty or more varieties. Unless you have a large planting area, that is over kill. You would have to either be very picky about what you keep or have some other homes for them to go to.
I only have space for three big tomatoes, so there is no room for extras and I get more tomatoes than I need from those. Of course, the birds, slugs, and snails try to get them too.
You always have to plant a few extra because there will be casualties and work that into the plan. Some things have to be planted together so you can't plug the holes that easily. That is why I plant more corn than I need to, because I will have to cull some, but if they don't come up, I can't plant more or the tassels will not bloom in sync. Keep the best, give away, trade, or sell the rest. I have gotten some good stuff in trades, but then I have to find room for them too. My friend just gave me another squash and tomatillo. The tomatillo I am not to fond of, but while I like the squash, I already have two vines closing in on my gate. I guess, now there will be three.
Of course some people are planting hundreds of tomatoes of twenty or more varieties. Unless you have a large planting area, that is over kill. You would have to either be very picky about what you keep or have some other homes for them to go to.
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ElizabethB
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- Location: Lafayette, LA
Freeze and can enough for your family. You have options for your excess - sell at a Farmer's Market or donate to a local Soup Kitchen. Gift to family and friends.
After the Farmer's Market, family and friends donating to St. Joe's Diner is my option. They cook a meal 7 days a week. They will take ANYTHING.
Be generous. Donate your excess produce and feed people who have much less than you.
You have the added benefit of feeling good about yourself.
After the Farmer's Market, family and friends donating to St. Joe's Diner is my option. They cook a meal 7 days a week. They will take ANYTHING.
Be generous. Donate your excess produce and feed people who have much less than you.
You have the added benefit of feeling good about yourself.
I do share what I grow with friends and people stop by my garden asking for my citrus fruit. Some people just steal it from my garden. I have a couple of squash that got picked for me. I don't have the space to grow too many extra seedlings, I do give them away or grow them to sell at the garden center. I only have space for so much. I would never have enough space to grow a hundred tomatoes of 20 different varieties in all of my plots together and I wouldn't really be able to use that many tomatoes even if I could.
Right now I am contemplating planting my corn on top of my carrots, lettuce,and beets because they are nowhere near finished and I want to get my three crops of corn in.
Right now I am contemplating planting my corn on top of my carrots, lettuce,and beets because they are nowhere near finished and I want to get my three crops of corn in.
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applestar
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You know in One Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka mentions doing that with his crops -- Overseeding a week or so prior to harvesting the current crop. It hinged on being able to step on the emerging new seedlings in the field though. In the case of Barley, he said they *needed* to be stepped on.
When planting in precise rows or raised beds, there no need to worry as much about stepping on them.
I've been experimenting with this concept ever since reading about it. I've planted corn between peas and Favas -- which are planted with sufficient space for the corn between the rows -- before they finish up. I added compost when they were finished, cut the vine at ground level and left them on top of the compost as mulch. The corn seem to take off after the legumes finished up and died off. by the time corn needed to be hilled, pea-fava vines were sufficiently dried/broken down to just rake up to the base of the corn.
You could probably do something similar. Just make room for the corn by harvesting and sow or plant. Side dress with fertilizer later. The root crops would have loosened the soil nicely for the corn seedlings to root in.
When planting in precise rows or raised beds, there no need to worry as much about stepping on them.
I've been experimenting with this concept ever since reading about it. I've planted corn between peas and Favas -- which are planted with sufficient space for the corn between the rows -- before they finish up. I added compost when they were finished, cut the vine at ground level and left them on top of the compost as mulch. The corn seem to take off after the legumes finished up and died off. by the time corn needed to be hilled, pea-fava vines were sufficiently dried/broken down to just rake up to the base of the corn.
You could probably do something similar. Just make room for the corn by harvesting and sow or plant. Side dress with fertilizer later. The root crops would have loosened the soil nicely for the corn seedlings to root in.
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sweetiepie
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After canning, which is a lot since I am a hoarder, I will give the left overs to the chickens. I have a separate frig/freezer where I save rotten or extra produce for them during the winter. They only get the left overs if I am sick of canning. Due to me being a true hoarder, often I can it and then after 3 years I will then feed it to the chickens, to keep my pantry rotated.
I have been told we are getting pigs this spring, so I expect I will go even more crazy with the planting because I will have a great excuse.
I have been told we are getting pigs this spring, so I expect I will go even more crazy with the planting because I will have a great excuse.
Thanks Apple, I might do that. I am thinning out what is in my garden now so I have more room for the corn. My soil is soft but is drying out too fast, I think my organic matter has probably been used up. Maybe it will be possible to put the compost on top like mulch and maybe that will help. I only water my garden once or twice a week so I depend on the organic matter, rain, and morning dew to keep the plants alive.
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applestar
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The roots left in the ground is organic matter, too, though you might be talking about more carbon (cellulose and lignin). Did you read about hugelkultur? I don't do the full scale trench digging and hills of buried logs, but I do put roughly composted twig and sticks in the garden as well as crumbling stumps. (I realize termites is a serious issue in the more tropical climate, though.) Maybe more fibrous Palm type fronds as mulch?
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redneck647
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We actually do not like palms or coconut fiber in our mulch. It takes over two years to break down and it attracts unwanted pests. Not termites though, even they consider palms too much work and they have a lot of fiber not much sap. There is a new pest, the rhino beetle that came from???, it is slowly spreading and it likes to eat coconut crowns and drill holes in the trees that eventually kill the tree.
https://gallery.mailchimp.com/9a2eda3031 ... rifold.pdf
https://gallery.mailchimp.com/9a2eda3031 ... rifold.pdf