Vegetable Gardens Are Booming in a Fallow Economy

paul1149 · #31 30th May 2012, 06:29 AM

Not at all. That is awesome. I'm amazed at how many people are seeing tomatoes already. I have had much adversity in my garden this year, mostly with a slug invasion. I'll post separately on that.

Food prices just keep on climbing, and quality is suspect. I think growing your own is a very wise way to deal with present conditions.

San54 · #32 31st May 2012, 11:59 AM

Paul and friends perhaps this is common in other parts of the country ,but a local farmer has a huge garden filled with fresh healthy produce. He provides 5 pound buckets with which you can fill with your choice of veggies for 10 dollars.

Being a town girl that is retired from years of working indoors, I enjoyed the fresh air and even getting my hands a little dirty.This was the next best thing to harvesting from your own garden.Next time I will carry bug spray though.

The only draw back is snakes.They are plentiful this year I hear,so it slows you down watching for them.Hubby grew up on a farm so he is an expert picker and we soon had a full basket.

I cooked fresh green beans and potatoes from our bounty and had enough greenj beans and zucchini left over to share with my mom and a friend.

Happy gardening.

keith99 · #33 31st May 2012, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by gideon123

Hi folks ... I'm a newbie gardener. For exactly the reasons in the title of this thread.

I started last summer, and had pretty good luck with the tomatoes. The peppers were also OK - I just started them a bit late. I got some fruit trees growing, and began our first attempt at homemade jam preserves (plum jam). My lettuce did not do well ... can't quite figure out how I could mess up lettuce (Hahahaha !!! - I think I just didn't water it enough when the plants were young).

I did build a pretty good garden box last year. That was helpful :-)

This year (2012) I'm going to try to expand my growing quite a bit. I really should get some potatoes growing. It's mid-Jan and I am in California. So I need to think about some vege's that will be appropriate for Spring.

Hey Birdie: Are you a bird watcher? I did succeed in getting a nice hummingbird garden going in my backyard. I am going to expand it, and make it more of a nature garden this year. We have several hummingbirds that feed regularly in our garden ... they are very active every day. That includes 2 baby hummingbirds that are not much bigger than your little finger. Very cute !!
That's lots of fun. I will try to expand this year to include a butterfly garden as well. :-)

cheers,
Gideon123

Bolding mine.

If it is Southern California odds are pretty good you messed up Letuce by planing far too late. When it is time to plant a lot of the summer crops it is just about the end of the lettuce season. And if you tried head lettuce it makes the timing worse, you can push the season a bit with leaf lettuce.

Peas, Lettuce, Broccoli, Cauliflower and cabbage are all winter crops in Southern California. Carrots are year round.

keith99 · #34 31st May 2012, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by paul1149

Fruit and nut trees are a great idea, because they're perennial. I put in two apple trees last year, and four berry bushes just before Winter. There is a highbush Cranberry which doubles as an aesthetic and doesn't need swampy conditions. I'd like to go with a walnut tree too, but I'm not sure how long I'll be here.

Be careful with Walnut trees. Most that are available use black walnut rootstock and it is toxic to many plants. Fine if there is plenty of space, but rather limiting if you do not.