Hi Dee.. :-)

Isn't that interesting no veggie gardens on the tour.

I started gardening in the 1980s when I visited a friend's house and they had an organic vegetable garden. I was fascinated. So that was our first gardening project,adding a 25x25 foot vegetable garden. I have to say that it remained my focus for the next 10 years and gradually I began to add perennial beds and in the past 4 years we have been renovating the shrub borders.

We also would not be without a vegetable garden. Our garden is small. Smaller than when we started. Right now I only have four 4x4 raised beds, one 10x3 raised bed and a lot of large containers.

I love the vegetable patch that we just renovated. It is fairly attractive as vegetable areas go. Planning every year to make it more attractive too. I've always loved potagers. We have tried to make it a destination in the yard, with an arbor entryway. Nothing fancy, but neat.

We have tried lots of different vegetables over the years but right now we are growing tomatoes [of course (g)], cucumbers, string beans, bush and pole, zucchini, watermelon, pumpkins, butternut squash and basil. I normally grow eggplant and peppers but this year I just didn't get them in on time. We used to try to do a spring and fall garden but since we are working on perennial and shrub borders we have had less time.

The vegetable garden gets just as much if not more attention than the rest of the garden. Actually, I think if you want to have an attractive yard and have a vegetable garden too, it takes a fair amount of attention to keep it looking good.

For some reason, I feel that I make more of a connection with a beautiful productive vegetable garden than I do with a perennial/shrub border. [g] I find that interesting and wonder why. lol

pm2

Hi Dee,
this is the first veggie garden in a few years but it is small. At times, in other cities, I had ones up to half acre! But this one is about 8" x 10" and is right outside the kitchen door. 4 tomatoes, 2 eggplant, 2 each yellow and green squash, some cukes, mesclun salad, spinach and arugala. Because it's small and I walk by several times a day, if I spot a weed I just pick it out. Sit on the porch after dinner and water it. So far fresh salad every day has been wonderful! /Abi

I, up until recently, didn't have the space to veggie garden but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having, at the very least, tomatoes. I just always put them in with my flowers. I even tried peapods last year on my arbor with the roses and clematis. My biggest fear was that they would be irresistable to the many "walkers" in my neighborhood, seeing how the arbor was at the end of my front walk. I had that problem with a cherry tree located near the sidewalk as well. I didn't get alot peas but I was thrilled that I had incorperated it into my garden without distracting from the beauty of the rest. Lisa

That is interesting.....maybe they were hidden lol? We wouldn't be without our 8 tomato plants and our MUST haves? Hot, hot peppers! My partner is from the west and I too grew to love them after living in Denver for 25 yrs. It's sooo much fun to pick some, stuff them with Goat cheese and do poppers.......ahhhh. But primarily he slices them up and cans them. We'll get a good 25 jars from those plants in addition to others that we use during the season.

Also herbs right out side the kit door mixed in with the flower beds.

I do both. I always try to do more than is sensible and thus wind up not having time to stake the tomatoes or figure out what it is that disfigures all my roses this time of year. I have four 8 by 3 raised beds and use other containers. This year I am growing about 15 tomato plants, 3 types of onions, broccoli, summer squash, cukes, corn, soybeans, string beans, and chinese red noodle beans. I haven't planted my arugula seeds or beetberry seeds yet. I have to check to see whether the arugula will grow in hot weather. I hope to have a few strawberries, many blueberries and raspberries, harvest tiny walking onions and I planted shallots. I am growing peppers for their variegated foliage, but will probably give the peppers away.

Veggies? Oh yes! I love my flower beds but I also love my two 4 x 4 raised beds. I do them in a sort of square foot gardening method, and always have tomatos, at least one hot pepper, and whatever herbs I can stuff in there. And marigolds, because they just seem to go with veggie gardening somehow. The raised bed and the neatness of everything makes it look quite nice. I'm sure I spend 2-3 times the amount of time and attention on the veggies, if you go by a care-per-square-foot basis. :-)

It's good to see we've got some vegetable gardenes among us! As I said, this is kind of new to me, but now I don't think I would ever be without at least a small veggie garden. Like Abi says, having fresh salad each day is great - can't wait for the tomatoes and cukes to add in to it!

Actually, I forgot to add this in my original post - while I always had tomato plants, I usually bought starts, and the idea of a whole vegetable garden was kind of a foreign concept to me until really two years ago. I did a winter-sowing program for my local library, and had about 20 different varieties of (flower) seeds for the participants to choose from. I was literally caught speechless when one man came up to me and said, "No vegetable seeds?". The thought of vegetable seeds had never even crossed my mind because when I thought of gardening, I thought of flowers. Ironically, this particular gentleman thought only of vegetables. He wasn't interested in the flower seeds at all.

Now I look through the vegetable seed catalogs with as much enthusiasm and interest as the flower seeds.

I'd like to incorporate my two gardens together more. The part where my vegetable garden is located is rather functional though - raised cinderblock beds. Nothing pretty, lol. But I've got to put it where my sun is, which is solid rock ledge. I do plant alyssum and marigolds in the holes of the cinderblocks, though, and petunias to trail down the sides to try to hide the concrete. Makes it a little better to look at.

Thanks for all your replies. Interesting reading! I love to hear what everyone else is doing.

:)
Dee

transplanted iowan here with a suburban yard south of boston, where only the shade beds are vegetable-free. i swear i *do* try to keep the vegetables and flowers separated, but sometimes they have other plans. in the sunny mostly-flower beds, there's an asparagus patch between dahlia & rose, rhubarb flanked by delphinium & daylily & whatnot, gone-to-seed leeks looming behind the nicotiana, herbs tucked in here & there. and nasturtiums & violets & a few boxwoods found their way into the mostly-vegetable beds (twelve raised beds laid out in a grid in the middle of the front yard).

now that you mention it, i suppose it *is* a little odd. :0)

There is nothing finer than stepping outside with my 3 year old daughter to pick strawberries and rhubarb (for cobbler), eating fresh raspberries off the vine, picking lettuce for salads, etc.
I have a 20x25 foot plot of brocolli, cauliflower, many types of peppers, several tomato varieties, cucumbers, few eggplant varieties, lettuce, onions, basil, cilantro, dill, nasturtium...
Then I have a few tee-pees for beans, pumpkins, summer squash, zuchinnis, etc.
I have separate areas of blueberry bushes, raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, etc.

I love flowers and perennial beds, but there is nothing like august for a chance to fill a bountiful bowl of homegrown organic veggies for the neighbors and friends. Its always topped off with a fragrant lily.
Enjoy the harvest!

I have both flowers and veggies - food for body and soul. While my veggie patch isn't particularly decorative, I think it is attractive - neat, with paths mulched differently than the beds. It's just a large rectangle, maybe 20 x 40 feet. It's whatever size was already here when we moved in, and I take pleasure in continuing the tradition of planting veggies in the same area where they have been for who knows how long at this old farm house. (We found an old harness bell in the garden from when it was plowed by horses!) I love my flowers, but I also love the taste of fresh veggies and knowing that they haven't come from the other side of the country and are grown without chemicals. I can grow varieties that I can't find at the grocery store or farmer's market - King Richard leeks, Early Cascade tomatoes, and oriental eggplants. Even when life has been particularly crazy and I haven't had time to do much with my flower gardens, I always have a veggie garden.

I think that maybe garden tours aren't geered toward a balanced view of how most people garden; they end to be slanted towards beauty only - the eye candy of the gardening world.

It is interesting reading all the responses here. I have large pots of different tomato varieties and herbs on my porch in containers. I would love to have a garden in ground but with all the critters I think it would be impossible! I've had much more luck growing in containers. Having fresh herbs: dill, oregano, basil(!), mint, chives, rosemary, etc. is a necessity and so easy in containers. Especially when you consider how expensive herbs are at farmer's markets and stores and the convenience to boot.

Herbs on the porch:

Tomatoes (last years photo):

This *is* an interesting topic. I started with vegetables, but slowly migrated to annuals, perennials, and shrubs, but always having a big veggie garden right in the middle of my yard. I started noticing that it took an incredible amount of time, though, and then 2 things started to happen.

First, I'd come home from work and the flowers would be calling me - Hey, just look how gorgeous we are; aren't we beautiful and fun? The veggies would be calling, too - If you don't pick us right now, you'll be sorry, we're going by and you'd better get out here and take care of us. If your plants don't talk to you, you'll no doubt think I'm nuts, but this *is* the Internet, after all, so it doesn't really matter.

The second thing was, I'd be walking around the yard in early spring with a pot or 2 - ok, maybe 5 - of some wonderful new perennial or a shrub I'd just scored, looking for some space for it (them) and hoping it would not be someplace where I'd have to move something else out of the way, amend the soil, etc etc. There would be that big empty vegetable garden, soil: perfect and deep, exposure: great, space: plenty ... and gee, I could just use a corner of it for this wonderful new plant. As a result, my vegetable garden is now home to a Willow Oak, a Merrits Supreme hydrangea, a Franklinia altamaha, mums, allium, angelica gigas and archangelica, several kinds of iris ....

There's still room for 2 tomatoes; sometimes I squeeze in 4 or 5. There should be room for basil, there was *last* year, though I'll be darned if I can find that space now, so the basil's sitting on the deck in pots, waiting.

I'm thinking I might find a new spot for vegetables, somewhere out of the way. But it will only be for tomatoes and basil, everything else is available, locally grown, at a market nearby. My plan for the old veggie garden is to add a stepping stone path through it, connecting several other parts of the garden. I'll miss it, but more for the fun of tilling and planting, than for the actual produce.

dtd-- half of the space in my raised veggie beds is currently being used to host first-year perennial seedlings, so I definitely relate. *G*

I started growing just veggies about 10-12 years ago. I love to have the accomplishment of growing your own food. Kinda like they did many years ago. My girlfriend and I do alot of canning. It is nice to have your own veggies in January.

My veggie garden runs about 6,000 square feet. Yeah I know, a big one. I have all kinds of things growing in there. Here is what I have growing:

Zucchini Born Free, Summer Squash Saffron, Butternut Waltham, Watermelon Million Bucks, Honey Dew Super Dew, Muskmelon Super Sun, Cucumber Pickel Bush & Sugar Crunch, Okra Cajun Delight, Beets Lutz Long Keeper, Bell Pepper North Star, Marconi Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Collards, Radish, Lettuce Sierra & Nevada & butter crunch & Green Tower Romaine, Tomato 4th July & Boxcar Willy & Super Tasty & Amish Paste & Wayahead & Raad Red, Bush Beans Derby & Gold Mine, Purple Top Turnips.

Think thats about it!

A garden that size keep you busy. With heat the last two day the veggie garden just took off. It loves the heat. Today June 28th, I picked my first zuccini of the season. I dont remember getting them this soon.

I never really had interest in growing flower until a few years ago. I always did the annual trek to the local greenhouse and paid big money and a couple dozen flats of some annuals.

Now I grow all my own flowers. I took a few years to completely understand each flowers specific needs.

Now I grow flats of Impatiens, Petunias, New Guinea Impatiens, Zinnia, Browallia, Annual Redbeckia, Black Eyed Susan Vine, Moon Flower, Ivy Geraniums, and Datura.

Careful, Boxcar, you will soon find yourself eying a few perennials, and then notice some really nice, unusual shrubs, and then ... before you know it, your vegetable garden will turn into a tree nursery.

Vegetables are the gateway plants for serious addicts; take it from one who started out innocently dabbling in zucchini and now stays up 'til the wee hours re-reading old Heronswood catalogs on a regular basis.

I loved the photos of all the CT gardens.

Years ago, my husband said it is almost a no brainer to grow tomatoes, and he is right. I only have three 3' x 6' raised beds as that is the sunniest place I have left after I take care of roses. I love tomatoes, heirloom and cherries, plus a couple regular and plum types. Nothing beats a tomato eaten right from the vine.

But I love growing pole beans!!! Talk about adding height to the garden. It is nice to have something growing up, like I have with some of my roses and clematis. Beans are so easy. I also grow of few of those round carrots. A bunny ate the green tops last year, but I still had carrots.

Thank you all for your replies. It's been fun reading everyone's thoughts and not only *how* they vegetable garden, but how they *see* their vegetable garden, philosophically speaking.

Has anyone else noticed, though, that no one has replied saying that they do NOT have a veggie garden? I bet those that don't do veggies probably aren't even interested in opening up this thread to read it, lol! That would have been me a few years ago. But now, I'm going outside to cut some lettuce for my dinner salad, and to admire my little green tomato babies.

:)
Dee

Dee Do Monique and Les get partial credit for their raspberries and blueberries and cooking with their lavender?!

I have a vegetable/herb garden, but my success has always been hampered by my battle with the local woodchucks and deer. I even went so far as to completely enclose a 4Â x 8Â raised bed with removable panels. Last year I finally got a serious fence erected to replace my series of joke fences/deterrent methods. It is 24Â x 36Â which seemed like enough at the time, but the usable space is reduced by my well culvert thingie, shade from a tree, giant rocks and way too many "pretty" paths. I may have to hack back more of the jungle, move Mt. Brushmore and expand! I think that the thwarted deer and woodchucks have gotten their revenge by siccing the chipmunks and birds full force on my strawberries. I was so frustrated I ripped most of them out and reused the space. I know I will do strawberries again in the future, but I will have to figure out an ultra-super-duper-mega security system for them. What I am growing this year: basil, carrots, endive, lettuce, scallions, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, watermelon (an experiment), zucchini, leeks, rhubarb, horseradish, lots more herbs, and am growing birdhouse gourds and luffa. There is more I wanted to grow, but ran out of space and time.
Deb

Oops, Deb, you're right - I stand corrected. I forgot that Monique had those berries. She had them so well integrated into her flower beds that I guess they slipped my mind.

Good luck with the garden this year, and let me know how you make out with the watermelons. I tried some one year and got a grand total of one SugarBaby melon. But it *was* in a 5-gallon bucket, so maybe if I tried them in the ground or raised beds, they would do better.

Dee

Dee - This is a Sugar baby too. Was it tasty? I'm REALLY hoping that it doesn't take up too much room or it will have to go out into the path! Or am I really just hoping it grows? Right now it is still pretty small - from seed. I have to do the same thing as you - build a raised bed over some underground ledge. Then maybe I will have room for potatoes, onions and maybe a pumpkin (over the edge) - next year!
Deb

For years I had a large organic veggie garden at my previous house. I had a few perennials and annuals, but not many because I thought flowers were too "froo-froo".

When I moved to this house 5 years ago, the only full sun was in the front yard, and that consisted of pathetic grass, weeds, vinca, and mostly invasive shrubbery (true invasives - honeysuckle, burning bush, etc). So began the laborious effort of digging these out along with many roots and making garden beds, a project that has taken years.

I didn't want to put a veggie garden in front (too unsightly? too fish-bowlish?), but now there are large mixed borders with small trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and grasses. After some tree work Fall '05, there is now a little full sun in back too so I put in a small veggie garden this Spring. A few tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, pumpkins, and herbs. I am thrilled!

Btw, I don't think flowers are froo-froo anymore, I love them! So do the butterflies, hummers, bees, birds, and the other critters. :)

Hi Dee,
Yes, I may not have veggies currently, but I have a huge amount of raspberries, 6 blueberry plants, a small strawberry patch that the dogs eat, and 2 large deck-mounted hayracks of herbs. I even have 6 cabbage plants scattered around for their blue/gray foliage LOL. I have a service berry tree, which the birds eat and I only can grab a couple.

I used to grow a few veggies, but have given over to ornamental plantings. We are lucky to have many farm stands nearby that we frequent quite often for our native produce. I would like to grow greens for salad though. Does anyone have advice for growing mesclun greens in a large pot? Can it be harvested throughout the summer or is it a spring crop like other lettuce that bolt in the heat?

Hey--I love this thread.Can all you veggie growers share with me where you get your veggies? Starts or seeds? And what varieties grow well here? I'm a transplant and quite frustrated by the short growing season and unpredictable weather,but remain enthusiastic. I do tomatoes,basil,assoreted herbs,cukes and thi year a jack-be-little pumpkin I got at the swap. Would love to grow beans.What grows well here--bush or pole? and what variety. Is it too late to put anything else in? Like lettuce seeds? Thanks,Jardinista

Well, Jardinista, I'm probably not the one to be giving advice, since I'm fairly new to vegetable gardening, but I can tell you what I grow - or try to grow, anyway, lol.

For you and Monique, I wanted to mention that I always thought lettuce was *just* a cool-weather crop, and never bothered trying to grow it later in summer, or at least if I did try, I would plant it in partial shade. However, one of our vendors at the farmer's market, who I am helping this year, grows primarily lettuce, does so all season long, and does it at the local organic farm, in full, hot, dry sun. And she's got gorgeous lettuce! So I'm hoping to pick up some pointers this year as I help her, but I gotta say, so far she hasn't done anything especially different than I expected she would. Maybe we'll see what her secret is by season's end, lol!

Other stuff I've grown (all from seed):

lots of heirloom tomatoes - yes, a short season, but long enough to get in lots of toms. Wild Bill got me hooked on Gold Medal, and I also like Amish Paste, Purple Calabash, Black Krim, and this year I'm trying Celebrity and Marmande.

beets (Chioggia) - I have good luck with these in spring; may try a fall crop this year. Funny thing - last year was the first time I ever grew them, and I never realized that each plant yielded one beet, and one beet only. I thought ten plants would be more than enough for my family. Luckily, my kids don't like beets, and two or three beets were enough for each meal for DH and I, so I got at least a few meals out of my ten beets, lol.

spinach (Scenic) - first time this year. Kinda weird - not what I expected spinach to look like, lol, but tasty. I'm going to look for a variety called Tyhee or Tyree - they grow this at the local organic farm and I tried a leaf right from the ground, and it was to die for!

lettuce - again, great luck in the spring. I was going to try a fall crop, but since I'm working with the lettuce lady, I may not bother (I can have as much lettuce as I can possibly handle!). I love New Red Fire and Tom Thumb.

cukes - This year I'm trying Fanfare. I've had good luck with Salad Bush. I like the bush type because it's less work staking.

sweet peppers - these have been difficult for me - the fruit seems to bear too late to get a good crop, but I keep trying. One year (this is my third) I had a reasonably good crop in late summer/early fall, so I keep trying to replicate that. I'm doing a mix of red, purple, and green (Rainbow Gourmet Mix??)

Onions - again, first time for me. I'm trying Ruby Red and Copra. Hoping for a good result.

And of course, herbs - basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and I'm trying cilantro this year - not so good so far. It grew way too fast and was blooming too early. I tried to pinch back but they seemed to have all bit the dust. My chives were a bust this year too.

Two years ago the little boy across the street gave me a pumpkin plant he grew from seed. I never got a single, solitary pumpkin from it, but it gave out the most gorgeous, huge orange flowers. I sometimes think of growing it again just for the flowers!

Deb, I don't remember my Sugar Baby being anything spectacular, but considering that I had no idea when to harvest, it might have been my fault. Actually, that's my biggest obstacle in vegetable gardening - other than tomatoes, I never seem to know just when to harvest...

Dee

Ooh, I forgot to list my beans and peas!

Beans - Fortex, pole beans. I love green beans - I love to grow them (so easy!) and I love to eat them (so tasty!). I've also had success with bush beans, but the Fortex do very well for me.

peas- Lincoln. I've grown these the past two years, and have so-so luck with them. Actually, they grow fairly well. It's just that it seems you need a ton of plants to get a decent harvest. But once again, my kids don't like peas, so I get to reap all the rewards of my work on this one!

Dee

I love reading this thread! Until last summer, herbs were really my only foray into this realm. . . then nine container-grown tomatoes came into my life, with all their delicious drama (I think of them as the divas of the garden-world.) And this year, growing under lights and Wintersowing (both new to me) added more seedlings for tomatoes, cukes, watermelons, cantaloupes, peppers, eggplants, parsley, cilantro, marigolds, sunflowers than I knew what to do with (memo to self: you do NOT have to plant every seed in the packet.) I was palming them off to the UPS man!
So THIS summer like a first-time mother I am spending 'way more time with my veggie patch, EBs, and other containers full of my veggies than with my flowers and shrubs. Maybe when I get to feel more confident I won't hover quite so much.

Seeing how many people are enjoying container vegetable gardening, I though I'd recommend a book that I found most helpful:

McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers
by Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Maggie Stuckey
ISBN-10: 0761116230
ISBN-13: 978-0761116233

Lots of good tips and easy to read sections on different varieties for container gardens. Many libraries have a copy so you can check it out before buying.

Sue

Hi all,
veggies are great! I forgot to mention my pole beans also (Great Lake seed) and the asperagus patch is over 5 years old! I have one each of sweet 100, roma, grape and a Brandywine (tomatos) from the swap. The sweet 100 and roma I started from saved seed. The grape tomato plant is from a vendor. Purple and white eggplants are from saved seed also. Dee, I grow lettuce all summer and fall with successive 2 week plantings. I use the mesclun mix and also do 2 or 3 plantings of arugula (rocket) Crookneck yellow squash and dollar store zuke seeds(cocozelle). This year I bought expensive "designer" cuke seeds and only one germinated. The marketmore seeds left over from a few years ago all came up! I have a seperate herb garden about 6x6. tons of cilantro, you must pick it early and make successive plantings. I buy the huge bottle of coriander seed in the $1 store spice dept and it germinates well. Dill. ditto. Globe basil from seed and perennial parsly, sage, rosemary and oregano. /Abi

Well, THAT's interesting. I always wondered if dill and coriander/cilantro out of a spice jar would germinate. Learn something new every day.

My husband detests cilantro, which used to annoy me until I read that to some people it tastes exactly like soap. It's a chemical reaction, and not something they choose. It happens to be my absolute favorite taste and scent, so now I try to include some somewhere in my garden, just so I can smell it while I'm weeding. Not as good as being able to cook with it, but well worth the space it takes up.

Jardinista -

If you are into growing from seed, Johnny's Selected Seeds in Albion, ME, specializes in varieties with shorter than usual growing seasons. I've been successful with watermelons, cantelope, eggplant, chile peppers, leeks, and other veggies that have a reputation for having a relativley long season. Some of their varieties are likely to set fruit in less than ideal conditions as well, such as cooler than ideal temperatures. They have a few plant varieties available, like onions and leeks.

Dee - I noticed Copra onions on your list. It's a great storage onion! If you have a root cellar and have planted enough, you can still be eating your own onions through March. (We often end up having a lot of French onion soup in March in a race to eat them before they begin to sprout.)

This year I didn't get my act together to order and start my seeds for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, so this summer I'm growing store-bought plants, but I like the option of choosing varieties for earliness, flavor, and ease of growing that starting my own plants allows. I find I'm much more successful when I do.

I don't bother starting tomatoes from seed because I like to have one of each of different varieties; a whole packet of seeds of one kind doesn't work too well. There's such a wide variety of seedlings available locally these days, too, far more choices than I've got space for.

At the other extreme I always laugh when I see cuke seedlings being sold - knowing it's been at most 2 weeks since the seeds went into the soil, and that a pack of seeds would catch up in no time.