Annie, it all sounds wonderful. It doesn't sound like too many veggies to me. Maybe about 12 years or so ago, I used to grow lots and lots of different veggies. Nowadays I just grow my tomatoes and cucumbers.

Annie we are still way too wet here to til or plant. My tomatoes are getting huge and need to be in the ground. More rains predicted tonight and tomorrow...which we don't need.

I have tomatoes in the ground, but there are many, many more waiting to go out. I have Red Brandywines, Stupice, Juliets, San Marzanos, Beefsteak, Beefmaster, Big Boys and Supper Sweet 100s. I grew flats of each. Only have a few of some varieties in the ground.

Peppers:
2 varieties of Hatch, Red Bells, Jalapeno, Big Bertha Bells, and Mexibells. Flats of each and only some in the ground.

In the ground:
Crook Neck Squash, Dark Green Zucchinis, Mexican striped Squash, Bush Beans, Red Pontiac Potatoes, Broccoli, Cabbages, Romaine lettuces, Cilantro, Beets, French Breakfast Radishes, and Onions. (The beets didn't do good for some reason - I grow them to make Pickled Beets to give to my kids for Christmas at their requests - they love them and so do we).
So, I am going to replant the beets and radishes. Not growing carrots this year.

Going to have to replant the squashes. They are just sitting there. Been too cool. They may come out if it gets hot before they kick it, but I am going to replant them anyway just in case. I can always give away or freeze the extras.

There will be Okra, lots of okra (and Corn maybe) if I can get the rest of the garden cleaned out and tilled. I have to have okra. Can't cook my Cajun recipes without it!

There are Hale's Best Cantaloupes in the ground, Market Best Cucumbers, Lemon Cucumbers and a few Pumpkins too. they look sad too. It was hot and then it turned back to cool. They like HOT weather.
Bummer.

There are six kinds of Basil and Italian Leaf Parsley.
Chives and my other cooking herbs.

And then the Cherokee pole beans (Black beans) and lettuce that I planted today. But there are Blue Lake Pole beans to go in the ground and more bush beans when the others finish.

I hope everything does good this year. I use a lot of tomatoes, okra, onions and peppers.

At the back of the garden are Asparagus, and Ozark Beauty Strawberries and Cardinal Strawberries in another area. I have harvested a lot of Asparagus this year and started picking strawberries last week.

I grow a BIG vegetable garden!

Okay, LOST, my favorite show besides HOUSE, is coming on here in a few minutes, so TTFN...Tah Tah for Now!

~Annie

Annie, you have some scrumptious sounding veggies in your garden or ready to go into your garden. I have in all my cole crops and tomatoes, planted them in a protected bed back in March. I moved them to the veggie garden yesterday and they look as happy as can be. I took my old tomato cages (trying something new this year) and tied the legs together with wire, then turned them upside down and planted peas around them. I can't wait to see how they do. I think they will be just the perfect height for peas. Tomorrow I have to plant the rest of my seeds, bush beans, carrots, melons and cantaloupe, several herbs, pickling and table cucumbers, crook neck squash. I need to buy some onion sets still. I am soooo looking forward to fresh veggies this summer!

MeMo

Wow Annie, you are planning a huge garden. I have never tried okra,but it sure sounds like your one heck of a cook. I love veggies.
Tammy

I wasn't just talking about all the seeds I have for veggies. I have two huge plastic tubs full of flower seeds and still can't resist buying more when I see something pretty. Sheesh.

But, as to my vegetable garden, I will seed Zinnias and Sensation Cosmos in the garden too. At the back behind the Asparagus, Sunflowers. There is also Dukat and Fernleaf Dills which I plant in amongst the cole crops and Genovese Basil in with the tomatoes. Keeps bugs away and they benefit from one another and are delicious for eating fresh or in cooking and canning. Generally speaking, if it tastes good together, they grow well together, like peas and carrots, beans and corn, or tomatoes and basil. :)

I plant my potatoes and beans in alternating rows - it fools the potato beetles and they grow well together.

Tammy, Okra is the easiest crop to grow. No pests and nothing to do but run the soaker hose around it once a week. It also is great mixed in (at the back) with flowers, if they are planted where you can access them every day. They are a member of the Hibiscus family after all, so have beautiful flowers. The flowers will attract pollinators, which makes the okra produce better and the flowers hide the tall okra stalks if you have nosy neighbors that complain about veggies growing in your city yard. (wink)

Okra starts producing pods even before they finish growing to full height. If you pick the pods every day, they make pods all the way to frost.

You don't have to have a vegetable garden to grow vegetables. Peppers grow really well in with flowers, as do tomatoes, lettuces, radishes, and cabbages, etc. Melons too can be grown on fences or on any kind of support. Gottagarden came up with a very clever (and cute) solution for growing melons and gourds and even tomatoes - she grew them up onto step ladders that she painted in bright colors.

If you have some spaces in your flower beds, fill them with veggies that need the same growing conditions - i.e., soil, water and spacing size. I grow parsley around my roses. They grow beautifully together and benefit from one another. The parsley shades the roses feet and keeps them cooler, and the tomatoes give the parsley some protection as well. Parsley also helps ward off insects. Dill is very pretty in with flowers. Garlic loves to grow under roses and fruit trees, and are beneficial to them. Strawberries can be grown as edger plants along your paths. I plant Chamomile in my flower gardens and in with my strawberries and Asparagus. It wards off Asparagus beetles and attracts honey bee pollinators (and makes very delicious tea too). If you have a baby, you should grow Chamomile. It makes a soothing rinse for diaper rash and settles the upset tummy of a colicky baby. And Chamomile flowers are the prettiest little daisies and they reseed themselves. Makes a great filler plant in flower beds. Easy to grow. Scratch the soil, sprinkle on the seeds and water as you would your other flowers. Let them go and grow wherever they want to for a natural garden look.

Memo, your garden sounds great! Wow! You got more planted than I did and you so far north of me. Not fair. Humph! If you want to try to grow some okra, I have a variety that will produce in colder zones. I can dig the seeds out of my seed boxes and send you some to try, if you'd like to try them.

Have you ever grown celery? There is a lot of hype about how hard it is to grow. It is not at all! In your zone, it would be a great veggie to grow, and you know homegrown is so much better tasting and no eating all those pesticides that are in and on the store-bought veggies. If you've ever seen field workers in a lettuce field or celery field, you wouldn't eat that crapp in the store. They are caked with white powdery pesticide, and many of them end up sick and getting cancers. That is a travesty!

It is stormy again today. I am glad I was able to use the weedeater yesterday and clean up the garden paths and around things. It looks so nice. I pulled weeds too. My dogs loved being able to be out there with me all afternoon, now that the fence is up. It was nice for me too. Makes feel safer and gives me some company.
I got some things planted and re-staked my Tree Wisteria with two new support stakes. All in all, I did pretty good work for my first day back at it. My lungs are a little better today. Supposed to have three full days of hot, dry weather this weekend. Hurray!
...and DH said he would help me clean out the rest of the veggie garden. That would be so nice. We shall see. I may have to borrow the neighbor's cattle prod...

~Annie

Hmmmm, cattle prod; I have three of them! Actually mine is doing much better after we had a 'serious' discussion some time back.

Sounds like you did both yourself and the gardens some good yesterday. We are getting set for what could be another heavy rain period. Not looking forward to it at all.

It's very dark outside right now and raining cats and dogs. It is as dark out now at 9:30 a.m. as it was this morning at 5:30. The lightening is picking up and the rumbling thunder is pleasant. All h*ll is supposed to break out again tonight though.
Final tally on last week's tornadoes - On Monday there were a total of 24 individual tornadoes officially reported and scientifically confirmed in the state and then more that touched down on the next two days. Our yearly average is 50, so we are really looking at something beyond normal and in one day. Better batten down the hatches and get ready for a bad year. However, the TV news stations DO like to hype things up to increase ratings and encourage viewing. I know several years ago we had 118 tornadoes touch down in the month of October alone. I spent much of that whole month down in the "dungeon"...with my dog Mike and several wise cats.

Yes, the hot sunshine yesterday afternoon did my spirits a lot of good. My neck, arms and back are killing me today, and my knees and ankles, but my spirits are much improved. I am a sunshine girl, no doubt about it.
~*~*~

Annie, Glenda, you gals crack me up. Mmmmm, cattle prod another thing to put on my might need in the future list.

Wow Annie you've been busy, I think I need to have a rest after reading your list, you rock girl. I think you'll really like the Cherokee Trail of Tears beans, they have been a favorite of ours for many years. I'm not growing them this year as I have so many other heirloom beans to try, Uncle Steve's, Tennessee Cutshorts, Barksdale, Oregon Giant, Zelma Zesta, my Italians of course, 3 different rice beans and Bosnian Pole. Some we'll only get a taste as I'm growing most for seed. I'm was also lucky enough to be given a few seeds of Insuk's Wang Kong, from what I've heard a superior runner bean. There's a few more I haven't mentioned but it's going to be a very beany year here:).
I think you'll like the Croatian lettuce we love the taste and texture, quite often have it with a little minced shallot and oil/vinegar dressing.

I'm growing Cherokee Purple tomatoes for the first time, also a couple of plants of Box Car Willie and Black Sea Man, cherry tomatoes Snow White and Cherrio. I don't know if I'll have success with the Montreal Melons, it will depend on what kind of a summer we have.

I bought Diva cucumber plants by accident last year,I thought I had picked up Sweet Success. I must say a very happy mistake as these had a lovely flavor and sooooo crisp.

I've also have quite a few herbs, lots of winter thyme and I'll be buying more as I never seem to have enough to see me through the winter, egyptian onions, a winter hardy rosemary, horse radish, fennel, sweet cicely and several different types of chives. My greek oregano went belly up so will have to buy more as well as french tarragon. Parsley I buy, for the amount I use I'd need a couple of rows of it.

I've been trying to change over to all open pollinated varieties in the last couple of years so I can save my own seed.

Annette

Annette,

Thank you again for sharing with me. You do it so often! I feel loved! I am sure I will love the lettuce and the beans. I like black beans a lot. I grew the Tennessee Short Cuts one year. They were okay, I guess. It was a nice novelty. Can't say there was much difference in taste from other pole beans, but I liked them fine. I grew the Purple Cherokee toms too. No one but me ate them. I couldn't even sell them at the Farmer's Market, so I gave up growing them. They have a smokey, sweet anise flavor. Really dark inside and out. Pretty color. They are slow growers, like Brandywines and make big fruit like Brandywines too. The Boxcar Willie didn't do well for me, but that was a bad year for tomatoes, so will try growing them again. I love the Snow white tomatoes. The were like eating little cream colored cherries. Very sweet. I just ate them right off the vines while out in the garden. Great snacks! Good way to get kids that don't like regular tomatoes to eat them.

I grow Italian beans every year, too, but just for me. DH doesn't seem to care much for them, the idiot, but he isn't much on eating beans of any kind except regular green beans. I just steam cook my beans until they turn dark green, al dente, and add a little butter. Then top them with toasted sliced or slivered almonds. They are de-licious! Even my grandkids that don't like green beans like them that way. They come back for seconds.

I missed getting to go to the herb festival this year, so wasn't able to get any French Tarragon, darn it. Glad you mentioned them. I have to find some plants somewhere. I love it with chicken or fish and I like to make my own Tartar Sauce. The Mennonite people have a nursery about 15 miles from here. They tend to be a bit pricey, but if they have Tarragon, I will pay the price.

Glad you mentioned Fennel, too, as I need to getting some new plants. Neither my Bronze fennel or French Fennel reseeded themselves this year for some weird reason. Darn it! I like to make rolls & breadsticks sprinkled with fennel seed and also make my own Italian sausage with Rye bread and fennel seed. Talk about yummy.

What do Bosnian Poles taste and look like? That sounds intriguing. I like the old world veggies very much. They haven't been bred for mass production into tasteless things. They taste so much better and I am sure they MUST be better for you to eat. They can't mass market them in America because they don't have as long of a shelf life. But in Europe you go buy them fresh at the market every day or every few days, so they don't sit on a shelf or in a refrigerator for weeks. Food Companies won't grow them and sell them. (and that is the only reason why we get inferior produce nowadays) $$$$$$$$

Glad you came on here and posted things about your gardens.

Thank you all so much.
~Annie
~*~*~

Annie, the Bosnian pole beans are new to me, will let you know how they taste when we try them. We have always eaten beans in the green stage but this year I'm going to be adventurish and try shellies. I'm also growing some Chinese Red Noodle for stir fries and some Pretzel beans, both of these I'm growing in the greenhouse as they need a warmer summer then we usually have. I'm still planting Celebrity tomatoes which have been our favorite for years but I'm looking for an open pollinated determinate tomato to take their place. Any suggestions?

Annette

Can you talk to me about soup beans? I buy a package of beans at the store called five bean soup, it comes with a ham flavoring packet. My daughter and I just love that soup! I throw in a couple of smoked ham shanks with it and cook it in the crock pot all day. The left overs are even better tasting the next day. I would like to grow some beans for drying and storing but I have no idea what type of beans seeds to buy and have little knowledge on drying and storing them. Can any of you veggie growers enlighten me?

MeMo

MeMo, here's a link that could help, there's a couple of threads on soup beans. These are from the Beans, Peas and other Legumes Forum my second favorite forum on GW.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Bean Info....

MeMo, here's a link that could help, there's a couple of threads on soup beans. These are from the Beans, Peas and other Legumes Forum my second favorite forum on GW.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Bean Info....

Great! Thanks, Annette.

MeMo, Go to the link below and search soup beans, you'll probably find what your looking for there. I haven't got passed the green bean stage yet :). I tried to link you right to the threads on soup beans but the gremlins wouldn't let me do it.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Beans, Peas & Legumes Forum

Annie, you are full of info. I have nasturtiums and marigolds planted int he potager right now along with herbs basil, marjoram, and thyme. I planted some bronze fennel seed today along the edge of a bed outside the potager since I read they were bad spreaders. I am growing many new to me varieties of tomatoes this yr. Mortage Lifter, Black Krim, Blacl Plum, Brandywine,Supersweet 100's,and Sungold Cherry. And the usual Early Girl. I cant wait for fresh garden tomatoes. Outside the potager, along the fence, I have some sunflowers, Purple coneflower,butterfly weed, cosmos,foxglove, and more. Right now mostly what I see are tiny green sprigs and white blind plant markers.
Tammy