Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Tomato - Better Boy

I got a really late start on my garden this year, but it is doing its best to catch up.

I took this picture last Friday (April 27).

So far I have tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet corn, radishes, basil (three kinds), mint (two kinds), marjoram, sage, thyme and rosemary.

I'll for sure add okra, and most likely bush beans.

What do you grow?

6 comments:

Anne said...

Sadly, living in an apartment, I can't speak for myself (my only plant is an orchid), but I can speak for my parents.

Veggies: tomatoes (cherry, roma, beefsteak, green zebra, early girl, and others depending on the year), peppers (poblano, ancho, jalapeno, hatch, paprika), pumpkins, butternut squash, onions (red & yellow), shallots, garlic (a few different varieties), cucumbers, green beans, potatoes (a few varieties).

Fruits: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, plums (elephant heart, green gage, and wild ones), apricots (Blenheim, of course), Meyer lemons, oranges, apples (fuji, pink lady, gravenstein), grapes (concord and some sort of merlot grape, I think), quince, figs, roses (for rose hip jam).

Herbs: rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme, lemon balm, lemon verbena, chives, basil, oregano, mint, sage (regular, Mexican, Russian, and pineapple varieties), sorrel, bay laurel.

Things grown at one point but not anymore: corn, wheat, carrots, zucchini, artichokes, asparagus, bush beans.

I love love LOVE their garden, and am devastated that a local quarantine due to a new crop pest might mean that I won't get to taste any of their produce unless I eat it there. I grew up helping to tend the garden, and it gave me a huge appreciation for locally (preferably home-) grown food: how much better things taste when they've been picked just that afternoon, when different things are in season and why, and so on.

Brave Sir Robin said...

Wow Anne! They must have a huge place.

I do have a Meyers Lemon Tree which is quite prolific, and a Rio Red Grapefruit tree that hasn't produced yet. (But maybe this year!)

I may plant some winter squash later on.

It just gets so damn hot here, some of those things you listed just don't make it.

I also live in town, so it is only a small backyard garden.

I grew up out in the country, and my dad always had a huge garden, and we had plums and pears and grapes and peaches wild behind the house.

I might add a peach tree this year.

I would love apples, but I don't know what types would produce in this heat.

Anne said...

I think they have about half an acre (maybe 2/3) dedicated to fruit/veg gardening. It definitely keeps them busy! And yes, the Meyer lemons really are prolific. But for some reason my parents planted a couple more bushes recently--bringing the total number to five. I don't think they'll ever run out of lemons now.

I used to ask my mom to grow peaches, pecans, and grapefruit, but their climate isn't warm enough. She'd also love to grow okra, but again, not the right climate.

Your apple options are probably few and far between. I doubt that you get enough cold weather down where you are for apple trees to flower and bear fruit... Pity.

Camera Obscura said...

Dandilions, mostly.

Seriously, I have one pot on the front porch that I stick new annuals in as the old ones die off. The other porch pots are just houseplants that want to be outdoors in the warm weather for their sanity (begonia, Xmas cactus) or mine (asparagus and Boston ferns).

One stretch of the driveway border has completely lost whatever the previous owners had in it, so last summer I de-chat-ed it and amended it a teeny bit and stuck some coleus and impatiens in it. Too much shade for the impatiens to do lots of blooming, but the coleus loved it. I've got to refill it for this year.

Other than that, the ground-cover-ish perennials the previous owners planted have slowly squeezed out the other perennials. I have tons of ajuga, liriope, and lambs ears. Want some?

Brave Sir Robin said...

The coleus is good in the shade right?

Brave Sir Robin said...

Oh, I also have a loquat tree in a pot that is going into the ground any day now.

:)

I'll add a picture.