Grow your own veg

...any recommendations?

[ectect]

There have been a few foo posts about growing your own fruit and vegetables here and it seems a few members are into it so thought I'd get some recommendations.

I'm going to go a bit experimental this year with varieties and through a few seed swaps and purchases have got some seeds on the go from different places..

Tomatoes
Evergreen (USA)
Jet Star (USA)
Moneymaker (UK)
Shirley (UK)
Mallorquin (Spain)
Bloody Butcher (UK)

Peppers
Piquillo (Spain)
Padron (Spain)
Californian Wonder

would anyone like to recommend anything else?

[Demaestro]

I tried out Beef Steak Tomatoes last year and they came out bigger than my fist and had a really sweet taste to them. I am going to try them again, and I always do some Romas.

Is there a tomato from your list you'd recommend trying? This is will be my 3rd year growing.

[LifeinAsia]

Basil complements tomato plants very well.

Last year, my wife and I had dinner out on the back patio (where our limited garden is). Brought out a knife, olive oil, some bread, sliced mozzarella plates, and a small bowl of water (and some wine of course!). Sat there, sipping wine, and pulling and washing tomatoes and basil directly from the plants. Freshest Capri Salad you could imagine!

[Demaestro]

LIA that sounds like a portion of my ideal day. That description has me excited for the season!

I also do the fresh herbs, Basil and Oregano mostly but I get some Rosemary in there which is amazing with some baby potatoes and butter in a frying pan, and I brought it inside when it got cold and it made it through the winter inside.

I'm going to try Cilantro this year as well, I used it a lot this winter and I am all about it now.

[wyweb]

Had excellent luck with Jet Star.

It's all about the dirt though baby. You throw good plants in crappy soil and you can guess what happens next.

[ectect]

Never grown Jet Star or Evergreen before but the write ups look very good.

Padron are my favourtie pepper, one in 12 blows your socks off while they're still green, they are delicious fried in olive oil with a bit of salt. Pepper roulette is a great evening game on the allotment.

I've grown Mallorquin before, we rub them on toast with olive oil and salt. They're great keepers and hang up in the shed until Christmas. Still have tomato pulp from the Roma last year for pasta dishes. Bloody Butcher I'm growing for the name alone along with Green Zebra and Tigerella.

Piquillo peppers are great barbecued with the burnt skin removed, also very good for stuffing.

Demaestro, if you'd like to pm me, I'd be happy to send you on a selction of seeds as I'm all sown up now :-)

[tonynoriega]

We grew US cherry tomatoes one year... i loved just walking out there, picking a few, not even dusting them off and eathing them like candy... of course we didnt have a huge garden, so we had all natural soil and no pesticides...

We found that after several hundred of them fell off, and the seeds got turned back into the soil...the year after we didnt event have to plant any new bushes, they just re-grew...several of them...

[arieng]

It doesn't grow well everywhere, but here in the southwestern US we love our New Mexican chiles. Start with one of the milder classics like the Big Jim. It can be roasted on the grill when green and put on burgers, in enchiladas, or just about anything. Or wait until they turn red, then dry them for use in sauces and stews. You could even make a ristra.

The change in flavor between green and red chile is like growing two different varieties, and both are excellent.

[tangor]

Depending on climate, snap peas (string beans) and cucumbers are low care, easy to grow in addition to all the above.

[bluntforce]

If you use green onion in the kitchen, you can plant the little leftover white end with the roots, it regrows well.

Lettuce roots pretty shallowly, we've grown it in 3-4 inches of soil in a raised bed. Like basil, you can take leaves from the plant and leave the main plant growing.

[weeks]

Go to your garden center (not a big box, but a speciality store. Farmers' Markets are good this time of year, too) and get yourself some herbs to add some flavor to your life. Fresh herbs are different than dried spices. Sometimes much better, sometimes not as good. You get to decide.

Green beans are fun to grow and eat. I've tried other varieties, but good ol' Kentucky Wonder has, for me, the best taste, are tender and thrive in my garden. You have build a trellis; make certain they don't shade your other plants.

I've stopped wasting my time on growing carrots and potatoes. The tiny yields I get make me look like an idiot. Zucchini and yellow squash take up a lot of room in the garden and they're not impressively better in taste from what I get from the supermarket.

The tomato called Lemon Boy has returned to our garden centers this year. We liked it so much we grew it from seed when we couldn't find it.

It's all about the dirt though baby.

wyweb knows of what he speaks

[wyweb]

I have crappy soil at my house. In the past I've grown my plants in buckets. Search "tomato growing in buckets" and that's me. As well as peppers (5 different kinds), cukes, strawberries (in raised beds), zucchini. Buckets allow you to control each and every aspect of the growing process. It's time consuming, expensive and labor intensive but if you want plants, which I do, you'll go the extra mile.

My G/F at the time also planted various herbs and so forth, mostly medicinal. I'm starting to become more interested in that now but at the time I just wanted something I could put on my plate and eat. Thus the mainstays.

The important thing is to learn what each plant needs and then tailor it to them. What part of the country are you in? That factors in as well. How much sun can they get - that's a big one. How much water do they need?

I made a small fortune growing a certain crop back in the early 80's in North Texas. If it got dry I'd take the plants water by boat and give them a drink. And fertilize, but be aware of overdoing it. You'll know if you do. The leaves on your plant will turn up at the edges and they'll have a burned look. It's time to back off then.

I'm going with a co-op this year and for the first time in years I'm going small. Some tomato plants, some cukes.... that's about it.

And have fun! Get your hands in the dirt. That's what it's all about.

[Fribble]

If you're interested in trying Hawaiian chili peppers I would be happy to post you some. They're super-spicy, and like lots of sun, heat and very little water.

We've use an aquaponics system and chives and basil are great too. They grow like weeds and can be used in a lot of recipes.