The other day, my breakfast consisted of fried eggs with a dash of hot sauce, and freshly squeezed orange juice. The eggs were from a friend’s chicken, the oranges from her tree, and the hot sauce was homemade using Meyer lemons and hot peppers grown by my brother-in-law. Knowing that just about every item came from someone’s garden made it that much more special to me.
That’s one of the reasons I keep trying—despite repeated failure—to grow stuff to eat in my garden. Sure, it takes time and work and patience, but the payoff is worth it. Not only are you rewarded with produce that’s often superior in freshness and flavor but you also enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from pulling off a “garden to table” meal. If you share that sentiment, then this post is for you!
We’ve talked about growing herbs before, so now let’s talk about veggies. Tell us:
Do you have any tips for growing vegetables?
I’m not much of a gardener. Oh, I love plants—flowers, vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, shrubs, majestic oaks and diminutive crocuses, willowy bamboo, stubby succulents, ornamental grasses … I love them all. My father has the heart and the hands of a farmer, but with the way things have been going for me, I suspect it might skip a generation. I’m still trying though!
In an attempt to make me look good, my friend Lacey shared a few tips for me to pass on. She just planted 839 vegetable plants, so she knows her beez-neez. (And okay, I think it was more like 52, but in my book, that’s just like 839.) She’s been doing it for some years now, planting corn, peppers, snow peas, beans, cabbage, you name it. She starts all her vegetables from seed, and this is what she does:
1. Plant 2 to 3 seeds in a little peat pot. Water well and put in a sealable bag.
2. Seal bag and keep in a place where it won’t get too cold. Keep the bag sealed, almost like a mini greenhouse, and don’t open it or even water it until seeds begin to germinate.
3. When shoots are about 2 inches high, take the peat pot out of the bag and transfer to your vegetable garden or a larger container with soil.
It sounds easy enough that even I can’t mess it up. Seriously, how badly can I mess up instructions that mostly involve keeping a bag in one place and doing and touching nothing? I can’t wait to try her method out! Of course, it goes without saying that you should always check for any special instructions specific to the variety of vegetable you’re planting. The method above seems to work well for the Southern California climate; you may have to vary it depending on where you are.
How about you? Do you have any tips for growing vegetables? Favorite veggies you like to plant each year? Any particular challenges planting specific varieties? Any questions that other gardeners here may be able to answer? Come share below!
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krg on 3.29.2015
my bathroom vanity. or under the kitchen sink. or the laundry room cabs….
Karen R on 3.26.2015
@Erin R – lay chicken wire or some other type of metal fencing down over your bed when you put the seeds in the ground. The seeds will grow up through the fence holes but your naughty kitties won’t be able to dig into to that wonderfully soft fluffy dirt.
Lacey Meier on 3.26.2015
We keep the bugs and caterpillars off our veggies by mixing cayenne pepper (1 Tbsp) with water in a spray bottle. Spray the plants every couple days. It doesn’t change the taste of your veggies and for us it seems to keep the critters off
Erin R. on 3.25.2015
Does anyone know how to stop cats pooing in the garden beds? The little jerks (my own little jerks) dug up ALL my baby spinaches and killed them. (sigh) But my cabbages and turnips are still alive and growing and I just saw two little pea vines poking up today. So exciting! I’m trying to grow kohlrabi this year because it’s so expensive to buy that I’ve never even eaten it before. Oh, and they finally legalized rain collecting here, so we just put in barrels under all our downspouts. Hopefully I won’t have to use the hose much this year. One tip I’d never heard before but got from a farmer I was talking to at the store a couple of months ago, is to plant rows of root veg alternating with rows of leafy or viney plants, because things that grow up attract different pests than things that grow down. So it’s a way to kind of make barricades and stop your whole garden from getting overrun. Also, I just barely figured out that you don’t have to space your rows 18 inches (or however many it says on the seed packs) apart if you have garden boxes. The plants aren’t going to expand in only two of the four directions, the spacing is just so you can walk between the rows if you have long garden beds. So if you have boxes, you can plant all the seeds close together without spacing rows.
tammi korbmaker on 3.25.2015
er, ahem, poop. i have a 4×4 foot plot in my front yard. last year i grew enough tomatoes to feed half the city, the most prolific garden i’d ever had, and i have to attribute it to the bag of compost i mixed into the soil before planting. it’s actually a manure/compost blend, and my plants were going gangbusters from the first week. my dad always added steer manure to our garden when we were growing up. i guess it didn’t seem ‘new age’ enough for me, so i never used it until last year. great sh*t, pun intended….
KrissyC EsMommy on 3.25.2015
I don’t have much for tips but I wish you the best of luck. Ido agree that good soil is a big thing in the gardening world. We started growing after we purchased our house 10 years ago and the first few attempts were pretty bad. Then we started composting and using the compost “soil” in the garden and we have had great success since then. I have a hard time waiting every year for the frost risk to drop so I can garden. Good luck! I hope you get some good things to grow.
KM on 3.25.2015
Only grow what you love to eat! Yes there are Vegetables that grow easy and fast but if you do not enjoy them don’t grow them.
Ask for help, from people you love to people in the market everybody that loves to grow things loves to talk and help with it.
Start with only a few things. You don’t have to go all self-sufficient. A few Salads, Radishes from Seed and Tomato’s and a Zucchini’s as a Garden Ready Plant are enough for a start and if it’s not working no harm done.
Not everybody needs to be as crazy as the woman with the 70 Tomato’s, 5 Cucumber’s, 9 Zucchini’s not to forget the Strawberry Popcorn on her Bedroom windowsill. I talk about myself but I just know this will be the year of the Tomato.
Just get some seeds, get a little earth in a pot or a little bit in your garden and give it a go and have fun.
Stephanie on 3.25.2015
To be a good gardener you need good soil to start with. Have your soil tested & add what is lacking in your soil. Sometimes it needs lime, potash or just tilled really well. We add leaves back to our garden in the fall & till them under after chopping them up with the lawn mower. It also helps to rotate what is planted in a space. Corn takes a lot of nitrogen out of the soil, but beans put it back into the soil. So if you swap spots the next year, each plant will be very happy. Another thing that is overlooked is planting at the right time of year. You can’t expect a plant to do it’s best if you plant in the hottest time of the year. Most seeds are planted in the spring. We live in SC we usually plant seed crops, bean, corn & the like in March or April. Seed potatoes are planted in Feb. or March. Plants or seeds for cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash are usually planted around Good Friday, give or take a week or two either way. Keep a garden journal of what variety you’ve planted , the date & if it did well or not. We don’t do well with cantaloupes, so we no longer waste time or space planting them. We do very well with potatoes, sweet & red, corn, green beans, butter beans with a lot of rain, crowder peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, peppers & sunflowers. By planting early you avoid a lot of the pests that can take over your garden & the plants are well established by the time the weather turns hot & dry. If you are planting a container garden they need a lot more babying, because containers will dry out really fast. It might help to have a local friend who has been successful at gardening to help you figure out what might be going wrong. It also helps to see if where you’re trying to garden is getting enough sun. Never underestimate the power of weeds either. They fight with your plants for nutrients, water & sun. Good luck & happy gardening!
kim on 3.25.2015
I didn’t grow up around gardeners, but 15 years ago or so, while I was living in the city with just a tiny courtyard, I had the urge to plant a little garden of some sort. I was lucky enough to find a book called, “Bountiful Container” and that first year I grew just two tomatoes plants and one pepper plant, but I was hooked. When we moved out into the burbs I thought I’d be able to have a “real” garden, but a herd of deer and a slew of groundhogs brought me back to a more realistic container garden.
After many years of trial and error, and keeping notes each year about what works and what doesn’t, I now grow a pretty good garden on my sunny front porch every year. I’ve found the toughest part is not planting too much. I want every new tomato I see!
I’ve learned that my tomatoes grow best in very large deep containers that give their roots plenty of space. And while I know it makes sense to only grow determinate tomatoes, and patio varieties at that, which don’t get so tall, I can’t help but plant a San Marzano and a Sweet 100 tomato each year, so I make sure to furnish the pot with a much bigger, stronger taller cage than I think I’ll need.
To keep my husband involved instead of jealous of the time I spend tending, I make sure he picks a couple of plants himself each year. It makes him feel invested in the garden and more eager to help out. I’m sure this would work with children too. (Am I the only one who things most tricks that work for children are good for husbands too? Sorry fellas.)
One of my strategies is to grow produce that’s pricey in the store. I’ve found that a $1 seed packet of swiss chard can keep us in healthy greens all year, and a small bunch of chard at my grocery store is nearly $4, so that’s a great bargain. I also grow arugula, spinach and fancy leaf lettuces, all in nice deep plastic window boxes.
But we’re plagued with cute hungry squirrels and chipmunks, so, many times, just as I was ready to pick a big bunch of arugula for salad, I’d find Mr. Grinny got there before me and stripped the stems bare. Luckily a very generous and handy friend built me a huge wooden box with a tall wood and wire mesh lid. I put plastic garden benches in it and put all my window boxes of greens inside and now the squirrels and chipmunks can’t get to the goodies.
Last year I successfully grew corn, which was a hoot. I found a new Burpee variety that only grows about 4 – 5′ tall and was rewarded with about a dozen beautiful large ears of corn per pot. I can’t tell you how thrilling it was to walk out on the porch and pluck off four ears of corn for dinner.
So those are my experiences, and my advice is to just try it. No matter how small, a garden is a magical thing.
Beth B. on 3.25.2015
It’s been my experience that a successful or unsuccessful garden/plants have to do with uncontrollable things. One year we had the most beautiful cabbage – about 15 plants. They were lovely and green and beautiful. In a 24 hour period, a family of caterpillars ate most of the leaves off the cabbages. Last year we planted 10 tomato plants (different varieties). Because we had such a hot dry summer in the South, even watering the plants didn’t help much. We got 4-6 tomatoes off of each plant. The year before, there was enough tomatoes to share with family and neighbors. So, sometimes, no matter what you do, the elements are against you. HOWEVER, when all your hard work pays off, it is awesome! Working in a garden whether it be herb, vegetables or flowers is therapy to me. I love being outside and just enjoying the beauty of what God has created. So, even if you have a bad year, it does the soul good!
C. L. ( Cheryl ) "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser on 3.25.2015
Many people do not think you can have herb and vegetable gardens in Florida. I am here to share oh yes you can. I do and enjoy every minute. I also grow citrus on our land, oranges, lemons, limes, coconuts, bananas. Not too mention a screened in room of houseplants! I have always love gardening every since I received my very first plant at age 6. It is a lot of work initially but I feel strongly that it is so worth the efforts put forth. Happy gardening to all!!!
Kathryn on 3.25.2015
Just DO IT!
I have been repressed living in big cities for the last few years of my life. Recently, I was able to join a rooftop community garden, and I just have two little planters to grow my own vegetables. But I’ve been amazed at how much produce you can get, and how much healthier I’ve been eating. And, like you say, it makes your meal extra special.
Lettuce: very quick growing, and once it becomes mature, you can just pinch off the outer leaves and keep fertilizing. Then after a week or two, you can pinch off the outer leaves again, and repeat. Lasts 3-4 times! But better in slightly cooler weather.
Generally, find the right vegetables for your area and the corresponding season. Find a good mix of fast growing and slower growing things. Fertilize well. It doesn’t have to be too complicated. Enjoy.
Best tip: COMPOST! Even if you have little space, you can make a home compost system with just a covered bucket/trash can. The liquid that comes from this, when mixed with water, is a wonderful organic fertilizer. And by keeping compost, you can kind of keep an eye on how healthy your diet has been — and notice if suddenly you don’t have much going into the compost bin!
The thing I’m most excited about right now is an avocado seedling that has sprouted. I made a self-watering planter with an old water bottle: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/self-watering-bottle/. Then I stuck a seed in some soil there, and a couple of months later, it is finally sprouting!