MissFixit

Does anyone have any vegetable garden experience? I have herb boxes, which I adore and use often. Planning a vegetable garden and need tips. We had them when I was little and all my grandparents had them, so I have some experience with them. But, I have been unsuccessful in the past with tomatoes and I would like to plant some.

Questions:

1. Do you start with seeds or plants?
2. Are there tomato varieties that grow better?
3. How much shade do they need? (I have totally exposed areas and totally covered areas, not much in between).
4. What other veggies are easy to grow? Squash, cucumbers?

CodeJob

1. Plants
2. What do u want to eat or taste? Big red juicy slices or something smaller and more apt for making sauces? Hybrid or heritage seed? Your Master Gardeners or local extension office may publish recommendations or even have a test garden.
3. Sun. Total sun is good for them.
4. Snap beans if you want to grow them up? Hot peppers. Pumpkins are fun.

Enjoy!

MissFixit

HI

I was checking out the Burpee website and looking at the heritage tomatoes. There are so many available, but only a few with plants rather than seeds. That is a good idea about the master gardeners and agri-extension place.

CodeJob

You could do both seeds and plants. I have bad watering tendencies. I drown seeds and watch my plants suffer in the summer heat... My neighbor had great success growing hers in hay bales. She had an awesome harvest that year and it is nice to have them elevated.

readerbaby71

I've found that Romas are hearty and easy to grow. They're good for sauce, sandwiches, you name it. I love them.

MissFixit

Thanks.

I meant heirloom, not heritage, oops.

I have an L shaped backyard, so I am thinking about doing a long garden down the side of the house rather than a rectangle set off on its own in the back. Measuring it off and building the bed this weekend. Very excited.

SoaringSpirits

Tomatoes need full sun (all day sun) and they love heat. Ask a nursery in your area what varietals are best for your climate. Depending on your area, plant as soon as the ground warms up. Test the soil and make sure you don't have too much nitrogen, or you'll get too much foliage and small fruits. Put some black plastic on the soil around the plants to get the soil around the roots really warmed up, then remove it once the weather is warmer. Also there is something called "Wall-O-Waters" you can purchase at places like K-Mart, it's a little mini greenhouse full of water. Great for starting tomatoes early.

As an aside, gardening really saved my butt when I kicked my alcoholic husband out three years ago. I rekindled a long forgotten passion, and have been throwing myself into it ever since!

MissFixit

Thanks! Those are good tips about the black plastic and the nitrogen. My soil is being tested this week by people installing sod. I will ask them about the nitrogen.

I like plants too but have not had much luck in the past. My herbs have lived several years and the ferns have survived a couple of winters, so I am gaining confidence. I just bought a small gardenia that I am growing inside until late april/early may.

I live in Charleston, SC, so the weather is very warm most of the year. A lot of people have tomatoes, so I am hoping they do well. Tried a tomato plant from Lowe's several years ago. Few tomatoes grew and the tomatoes that did grow tasted horrible. Want to do a real in-the-ground staked-off vegetable garden like my grandparents had.

dandylion

MissFixIt---you have already had some really good tips. I have done a lot of gardening as I grew up on my grandmother's farm. She saved her seeds from year to year--and she had lots of heritage-type tomatoes. Pink ones; red ones:yellow ones. HOwever--she was a master with a lifetime of experience--grew all of our own food.

For me--with my more urban situation--and a little less patience than my grandmother---I have not done so well with seeds (for vegetables). Healthy plants from the gardening center has been my best bet. Seeds are much more of a challenge. I do grow lots of annual flowers from seeds, though.

Most important factor. Tomatoes like full sun--all day long. You have a fantastic climate in South Carolina!! Follow the basic rules--and you should expect success.

My most success has been with the small cherry tomatoes and the very small ones that grow in grape-like clusters. They produce volumes of fruit--and the flavor is intense.
I like them because I use them predominately in salads--or just to eat as finger food.
Heritage-types have lots of flavor, also. Just depends on how you plan to use them.

Careful not to over water or over fertilize. Like I said--stick to the basics--as a beginner.

Good luck.

I have spent my adult years more focused on flowers than vegetables. I am going to incorporate some wild Queen Ann's Lace with my other flowers, this year.

Some say that golf is analogous to life. I say Pfffft! Gardening is analogous to life!

dandylion

Hawkeye13

full sun, plant deep (stalk will send out roots so don't be shy), buy a bag of manure and enrich soil

local farmers markets are good for plants since they know what grows well in your area and you get a head start. Some kinds do better in colder areas, some in humidity, etc.
That is a good place to find heritage types, which are the main kind I grow as I think they taste better and are sustainable

Cooks Garden is a bit expensive but has some nice heirloom plants.
Seeds are fun but take time / work for tomatos, peppers, and eggplant so plants might be easier for these the first time. Other things I mention below are easy from seed

I agree with Roma / paste tomatos. Great in any use and very easy and productive.

Also, try any Sunsweet, Sunsugar, Sweet Million "cherry" types. (Any Lowes or Walmart should have plants--they are hybrid types but very good anyway)
They grow like crazy and I love a mix of red, orange, and yellow.
I actually trellis these as most are indeterminite (keep growing upwards all season)

Check out this book:
A great "starter" for any gardener and lots of good info

http://www.amazon.com/The-Garden-Pri...rbara+damrosch

Summer squash are really really easy but get big so allow room. If you can trellis or stake near a tree (yes, they will keep going and going and going),
try "Trombocino", a climbing italian sqush. Amazing flowers as big as your hand and the best-tasting nutty squash ever. Pick fairly small.
Radishs sprout right away and are very rewarding. I saute their green part with the radish with garlic. Tres yummy. Spinach and lettuces also quite easy early crops.
Other tips: Garden barefoot, lay down a soaker hose instead of watering from above right when you make the bed,
and put a nice chair in the middle of your garden to sit in and have your coffee in the morning. Don't forget nice flowers like zinnias, sunflowers, and cosmos, calendula and daisy.
These are all easy to start from seed and they are pretty and good for bees

dandylion

Hawkeye---YES. MANURE. My grandmother used manure, exclusively, for fertilizer. (from the barns).

Now, you can get the "processed" kind from the garden center. I highly recommend this!!!

dandylion.

Katchie

Hi there! I love to garden but I don't claim to be a master...I just grow what I grow. I have started some things by seed and others by starter plants. The veges I've grown from seed directly in the garden bed are squash, zucchini, okra, green beans, little mini french melons, lettuce, and cucumbers. I have seeded tomatoes before but for whatever reason I'm not always successful doing tomatoes that way.

Tomato varieties I've planted and done well with are Cherokee Purple, Roma, cherry, and jet star. Most I've planted are heirlooms with the exception of Jet Star tomatoes, which my grandmother always planted. As far as how much shade they need.. well, depends on your climate. I live in Oklahoma and sometimes we have some pretty brutal summers. Last summer was pretty hot and I just watered more often trying not to get water on the plant itself because my grandmother always told me that it could cause sunburn. Is this true? I dunno..I've never gone against grandmothers wisdom!

While its still relatively cool, lettuce is super easy to grow and keeps coming back. I like the leafy varieties in different colors esp. those bright green leaves with red freckles; I think its a Rocky Mountain variety..cant remember. Squash and Zucchini are super easy but watch for the stupid squash bugs that burrow..hate those rascals. Okra is also easy as well as cucumber. If you havent been to Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co website you should go..LOVE shopping on that site. Im actually thinking about making a visit to their farm with a friend.

Hope that helped...Happy gardening!

MissFixit

Wow, All! I knew you ladies would have lots of info.

Dandylion, Thanks. We do have a great climate. It gets a little too hot in the summer now and humidity is out of control in July and August, but all good for plants. The woods here certainly get very jungle like in spring and summer, so that must mean its a good area for plants.

Hawkeye, thank you for all of your knowledge. Will use manure (ick). Thats a good idea about local farmers markets. They will know what grows best here. I think our local one starts again in late April. It is only in Spring and Summer. What is a soaker hose??? Thanks for the advice about squash taking up lots of room, I didn't know that.

Katchie, thank you. I am glad you recommended Cherokee Purple. I was considering that and Brandywine Pink. There is a zebra striped one that is lovely but I don't know its name. I like the idea of the heirlooms as they are SO expensive at Whole Foods and I love tomatoes, but cook with Romas, so I need a few of those too.

I am now doing two separate gardens. One long ways down the side of my house and another along the long side of my neighbors house (he backs up to my yard but no windows on that side of his house, so its like a giant wall). The side by my house gets sun the first half of the day, the side by his house gets sun the second half of the day. Weird huh, just noticed that over the weekend. I guess the one by my house I'll use for tomatoes exclusively and the other one will be cukes, squash, peppers and melons.

I want everything to be in already and growing. Really excited about this.

Hawkeye13

Katchie; I really like that lettuce you mentioned:

It is called "Forellenschluss" which translates to "speckled like a trout" and it is a lovely romaine heirloom.

The striped tomato is most likely "Mr. Stripey" but there are many green and red striped "zebra" tomatos which are smaller salad types. A fantastic striped tomato is called "Striped Amish / Striped Roman" or sometimes "Speckled Roman" which is a paste type I've seen by several names-- my husband loves to roast these in the oven. Few seeds, intense flavor, and very beautiful orange and red coloring. Love that one.

The two choices of Amish Pink and Purple Brandywine are lovely beefsteak tomatos but they are big and take longer to mature with fewer fruits than some of the smaller ones so grow some of those too. I suggest a few cherry, a salad / medium or two, and your beefsteak choices for later in the season.

If you like summer squash, don't let me discourage you but maybe just one or two plants like a patty pan and a straight or crookneck. That's plenty for a family if you keep them picked

You'll want your peppers / melons in the full sun also. Grow a compact melon as they are space hogs too and the smaller sizes will actually trellis pretty well.

Don't worry about the manure smelling like manure. It really just looks like black soil and doesn't smell bad at all after it is composted

Yay for your garden! I get so excited when spring comes. My kale seeds are sprouting in their container already and iris are starting to green up and grow a bit.

As Edna St Vincent Millay says, "Spring has sprung, babbling like an idiot strewing flowers". . .

Hawkeye13

A soaker hose "oozes / weeps" water when you hook it up to a regular hose.
I place it where plants are to be growing either just under the soil or under the mulch if you are using it. This puts the water where it is most needed--the root system and it uses much less water and doesn't make plants as likely to mildew etc. with too much water hitting the leaves. It's also much less work over a long season than walking around dragging a hose and breaking off your precious plants when hose hits them accidentally. Any garden section will have them. Very cheap at places like costco or sam's club. Not too bad at other big box stores either.

When you want to water, hook up your regular hose to the end sticking out of the ground and power it up. Walk away and relax and come back to check dampness around plant roots until you are happy.
Generally, a few "deep" waterings a week are better than light daily water--roots tend to stay shallow that way and you want them to dig deep to resist drought and find nutrients which are good for them and you

I also hate weeding so I like to use fabric mulch (3 ft wide) and cover with chips or straw. Newpapers with soy ink are also an option under straw / chips if you don't like the fabric idea. Our campus newspaper is printed on soy ink so I use several layers around plants and put straw on top so it looks beautiful and stays in place. The newspaper also attracts lots of worms which is a great thing and by the end of the season, I can just till straw and paper scraps into soil to improve it for next year, so no waste and helps improve your loam.

dandylion

Hawkeye--exactly how does your husband roast the tomatoes? Can you use them in salads after roasting?

dandylion