Laura Corin Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 What would you do as a first-year experiment? I'm planning for next year. I don't have a greenhouse, and I live in a cool climate. I was thinking about salad leaves and patty-pan squash in the first year. Salad costs a lot to buy and I can't get patty-pan squash, which I used to love when we lived in Asia. I'm planning on stripping back some turf, building a small raised bed with a kit and using bought-in specialist veggie compost in the first year. What do you think? Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natalieclare Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm in the Pacific NorthWest, so maybe a little similar to you in climate? I have no greenhouse and we put in raised beds with trucked in dirt. This year we threw in some old horse manure, which seems to make all the plants very happy. We have been veggie gardening for 3 years now. Our best crops are lettuce, kale, spinach, zucchini, and green beans (both bush beans and pole beans). Especially green beans--we really can't get enough of them! I really wanted my long asian style beans to grow, but alas, they didn't. I'm trying cruciferous veggies this year for the first time, and I can tell you...the bugs love them. I hope I get a chance to! I think I grew patty-pan squash (are we both talking about the same thing? Lol). I didn't enjoy it because I kept forgetting to harvest it when it was small enough, and I don't care for the flavor/texture once it's large. However, it grew just fine. I couldn't get okra, corn, peppers or eggplant to grow. Most herbs have done well with the exception of basil. I just can't get basil to grow outside. I have a few friends who grow basil inside, in a kitchen window. I am harvesting my lettuce now, and I will probably have a chance to plant and harvest at least one more time before it's too late in the year. I think the veggies you mentioned sound very likely to grow well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Salad greens are an excellent idea and if you make a hothouse frame (simple wooden frame with glass or plastic panels) to set over a few of your plants, you can extend your harvest by two or three months. Snap or Sugar peas are cool weather crops. Corn takes heat and so do peppers. If you have solid 70 days of decent weather you can probably get green beans (bush beans) as they don't mind heat, but don't need a lot of it either. Also, radishes only take about 45 days and make a nice addition to salads. If you start a grape tomato plant indoors and just keep it in a 5 gallon bucket, you can get it to a nice size in the spring before the weather breaks, keep it out for the summer, and bring it back in for the autumn. You can use a small dehydrator to preserve all of your extras. We eat them all winter long on salads and we don't reconstitute them first. They are delicious just tossed on to the greens with dressing. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 If you have any space inside, you can grow sunflower lettuce. That takes about a week to grow. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Peas, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, onions, garlic (you can plant garlic in the fall), and carrots. I think those all grow okay in a cold climate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Rosie, what is sunflower lettuce? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Plant sunflower seeds, and the green stuff that grows before the first true leaves develop is sunflower lettuce. I tried planting it outside, but the conditions meant they didn't grow as high before the true leaves appeared, so I couldn't really harvest any. It's pretty good. When I am in the groove of growing it, I add it to salads, stir fries, as garnishes and in smoothies. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Zucchini. I am the world's worst gardener, yet I always get tons of zucchini. I'm sure a similar squash would work for you. I cannot grow greens for the life of me. It stays chilly here for a while, but it heats up quickly. My poor greens wither away before I can get to them. You would probably have better luck in your climate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Lettuce, kale, cabbage, leeks, broad beans and peas etc. On the real seeds website there are some early tomatoes that mature quickly. I found squash don't grow very reliably and I live in devon. Sweetcorn never grows properly either. We found lasagna gardening really useful when setting up extra raised beds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 I found squash don't grow very reliably and I live in devon. That's a shame. Maybe I'll try the squash in pots on my suntrap patio. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 We found lasagna gardening really useful when setting up extra raised beds. I suspect I'll use bought-in compost for one bed the first year, but if that goes well, I'll lasagne garden more beds. We have lots of grass and I collect cardboard year-round for composting. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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