What's in your garden 2011?

I just noticed that the "What's in your garden 2010?" thread started a year ago, so here's one for 2011! What's everyone growing?

I'm still planning what I'll be growing in the spring but I'm going to try to get some seeds in the ground this week and cover them with a cold frame. I hope to have Oregon Sugar peas, French Breakfast Radishes, and a few lettuces in the ground by this weekend.

Discovery Arugula
Genovese Basil, Pelleted
Turkey Craw Beans (Pole, Buff)
Provider Beans (Snap, Bush, Green)
Dragons Tongue Beans (Snap, Bush, Multi)
Royal Burgundy Beans (Snap, Bush, Purple)
Carson Beans (Snap, Bush, Yellow)
Red Ace (F1) Beet, Red
Touchstone Gold Beet, Yellow
Blue Wind (F1) Broccoli
Rubicon (F1) Cabbage, Small Napa
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage, Small Pointy
Sugarsnax 54 (F1) Carrotts, Pelleted
Crème de Lite (F1) Carrotts, White
Snow Crown (F1) Cauliflower
Romanesco Cauliflower, Green Fractal
Graffiti (F1) Cauliflower, Purple
Purple of Siciliy Cauliflower, Purple
Mirai Sweet Corn Corn, Synergistic
Standard Cover Crop (Buckwheat)
Mammoth Red Cover Crop (Clover)
Annual Rye Grass Cover Crop (Rye)
Sultan (F1) Cucumber, Beit Alpha
Salt & Pepper (F1) Cucumber, Small White
Orient Express (F1) Eggplant, Long, Dark Purple
Raveena (F1) Eggplant, Long, Green
Fairytale (F1) Eggplant, Small, Purple
Gretel (F1) Eggplant, Small, White
Windsor Fava Beans
Zefa Fino Fennel
Goldie (OG) Ground Cherry
Red Russian Kale
Toscano Kale
SSE Lettuce Mixture Lettuce
Arava (F1) Melon, Cantaloupe, Green
Halona (F1) Melon, Cantaloupe, Orange
Bush Sugar Baby Melon, Watermelon
Mizuna (OG) Mizuna
Burgundy Okra
Clemson Spineless Okra
Crimson Forest Onions, Red Bunching
Aji (Crystal) Pepper, Hot, Yellow
Purple Beauty Pepper, Sweet, Purple Bell
Chervenea Chushka Pepper, Sweet, Red
Jimmy Nardello Pepper, Sweet, Red
Apple Pepper, Sweet, Red Small
Numex Heritage Big Jm Peppers, Hot, Green
Padron Peppers, Hot, Green
Ace Peppers, Sweet, Red Bell
Easter Egg Radish
Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Marina D' Chiogga Squash (Winter)
Galeux d'Eysines OG Squash (Winter)
Potimarron Squash (Winter)
Bush Delicata Squash (Winter)
Zephyr (F1) Squash (Zuke, Bi-Color)
Sunburst (F1) Squash (Zuke, Patty Pan)
Flying Saucer (F1) Squash (Zuke, Patty Pan, Multi)
Eight Ball (F1) Squash (Zuke, Round Green)
Meteor (F1) Squash (Zuke, Yellow)
Bright Lights Swiss Chard
Tatsoi Tatsoi
Purple Tomatillo
Isis Candy Tomato, Cherry, Bi-Color
Black Cherry Tomato, Cherry, Black
Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato, Cherry, Red
Snow White Tomato, Cherry, White
Sun Gold Tomato, Cherry, Yellow
Carbon Tomato, Large, Black
Nyagous Tomato, Large, Black
Paul Robeson Tomato, Large, Black
Chile Verde Tomato, Large, Green
Green Zebra Tomato, Large, Green
Jaune Flamme Tomato, Large, Orange
Jubilee Tomato, Large, Orange
Kellog's Breakfast Tomato, Large, Orange
Evas Purple Ball Tomato, Large, Red
Momotaro Tomato, Large, Red
Zapotec Pleated Tomato, Large, Red
Thessaloniki Tomato, Large, Red
Illini Gold Tomato, Paste, Orange
Opalka Tomato, Paste, Red
Elberta Peach Tomato, Small, Bi-Color
Hakurei (F1) Turnips
Golden Crown (F1) Watermelon, Yellow Rind


Sorry, this may be TMI...

Best. username/post. combo. ever.

All that should be about enough for 50 CSA customers + 10 weekly restaurant deliveries. Split over roughly #25 x 4' x 250' beds. Don't ask me about how much my compost will cost...

Don't recall the cultivar names for many of the seeds I have, or am ordering. The list includes some perennial herbs.

Have growing: sage, rosemary(potted), marjoram(potted), thyme, chive, mint and oregano. Intend to add lemon basil, lettuce leaf basil, Italian parsley, and maybe some winter savory. I've had red shiso growing wild for years. Removed fennel and tarragon with some difficulty a few years ago. Sort of miss the tarragon, so may bring it back.

Have some garlic and shallots in the ground from last fall. They seem to have over-wintered well. Will add other root vegs: carrots, rutabaga, salsify, leeks, spring and summer radishes, golden beets, and prob'ly some onions.

Have a trellis for gherkin sized cukes, another that will probably get scarlet runner beans.

Some arugula and leaf lettuce. Potted nasturtiums and calendula. If I have any room left, a few paprika class peppers, and may try some ginger in containers.

I skipped the garden last summer and kind of missed it. I am gathering seeds this week. So far we have some Chioggia Beets, Artichokes, some heirloom tomatoes, fava beans, some strange radishes, a mix of carrots, and a bunch of greens (romaine, arugula, bibb, etc).

Skipping pretty much anything that takes up a ton of space (squash, zuchinni, etc) and anything I can get for real cheap at my local farmers market (regular radishes, beans, green onions).

I have an herb garden that comes back every year (except for the basil) as well.

Planted seeds in peat pots indoors on Sunday. A lot of boring standards (Early Girl, a plum and a yellow tomato, jalapenos, red bells, tomatillos, basil) a few new items: lacinato kale, thai peppers.

I'll be putting garlic in in the back container garden tomorrow, and starting sweet peas indoors to go in ASAP, as well as a new test variety of basil ("Christmas" - anyone seen/tried it?) for MUCH later. But my big excitement for the week was noting that with just a couple of days of warmish weather, my June-bearing strawberry border in the front garden are suddenly sprouting like mad! I'm very pleased. Bought the plants from Lloyd Nichols's minions at the Evanston FM last May, and I'm itching to let them know that they easily survived not only having 3+ feet of S&S-plowed snow inundating them, but also evidently being run over by a car (!). Such are the perils of an urban garden. . .

Also making great gains this week: self-seeded flat-leaf parsley and chervil, sage, chives. If I didn't know better, I'd think they were feeling the peer pressure of my overachieving tulips, narcissus, and alliums, some of which are 2+ inches tall already. On March 18th! Go figure.

UPDATE: finally got the garlic in today. Started the santaka chiles, "Christmas" basil, branching delphinium, and dwarf sweet peas inside; they are now nestled away in mini-greenhouses in my laundry room, warm and cozy atop my heating pad. Also made a really great scratch pizza. Very productive day!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Oregano and lemon thyme have suddenly made their reappearance, as has the dreaded anise hyssop and my old reliable (and much used) French tarragon. Also, the June-bearing strawberries purchased from Lloyd Nichols last summer at the Evanston FM have multiplied like mad - there are now at least a dozen fledgling plants now. What an unexpected treat! I will just plotz if I have enough to make a batch of jam. I feel like a Beekman Boy.

Seedlings: I think every single delphinium seed sprouted(!). If all goes well, midsummer should be a riot of color out there. Flavor, too!

Planted onion sets and spinach yesterday. Sugarsnap and snow peas planted two weeks earlier are emerging, but I still have their clear plastic sheeting more or less in place. The plastic stabilizes soil moisture and warms the soil for better germination and early growth.

Running behind.

Seeds arrived from Baker Creek on Friday.

Had planned to direct sow spinach & lettuce in an EB today but put it off because of thunderstorm that didn't happen.

Instead, I'm failing at being handy. Trying to set lights up on a shelf and get everything else started (may wait for cucumber & melon, had no problem with direct seed last year so the only reason to seed them now is to get a head start before transplanting on 5-15).

This is supposed to be fun, isn't it?

May be jumping the gun, but planted radishes (French breakfast) and lettuces (arugula and microgreens) yesterday. Putting in sugar snap peas tomorrow.

Excited, found source for burdock root, Hopi red/yellow bush beans: http://www.horizonherbs.com/

Nice lady down the street is starting cucumbers, squash and kale for me.

Things I will not be planting this year based on bad past experience: carrots (mine always look deformed, so hard to clean/peel, and they're so abundant from other, more capable sources).

My curly leaf parsley came back, growing in the uniform rows I planted last year.

Don't get all fired up about your parsley. As a biennial, it will head out within a couple of months and promply croak.

teatpuller wrote:Don't get all fired up about your parsley. As a biennial, it will head out within a couple of months and promply croak.

I did not know that. I'm happy with "a couple of months," but it sounds like I can't count on it to go the whole summer?

My sage, however, is eternal: it comes back every year, beautiful and lush.

David Hammond wrote:I did not know that. I'm happy with "a couple of months," but it sounds like I can't count on it to go the whole summer?

My sage, however, is eternal: it comes back every year, beautiful and lush.

You can extend it a bit by continuing to lop off the flower shoots. I'm just guessing you could get to June 1.

I planted a few things this weekend myself. I put in radishes (French Breakfast and White Icicle), Carrots (Nantes, Chantenay, and Imperator), sugar snap peas, lettuce (Little Gem, Tango, Cimarron), and greens (arugula, chard, cress). Based on past years' experiences they should all do fine. I'll do another round in a week or two. I have a few things started inside including brussel sprouts, watermelon, and leeks.

I started a number of things in a cold frame back in February and they all did pretty well. I was getting pea shoots and the radishes were almost ready to eat by the middle of March. Then I forgot to open the frame a crack on a sunny day and everything got fried. I came home to find the soil temp at 100 degrees and all the plants dead.

Tomato plants
Basil
peppers of differing varieties
cucumbers
rhubarb
sage
rosemary
chives

and anything else I see at Planter's Palette. I have a tiny garden and also plant the herbs in pots on the patio.

The question is how to keep the rabbits and other vermin away from the tender plants.

SaintPizza's parents are mad mad gardeners and sent us seeds for a bunch of tomato varieties. Along with some chilies (habanero, jalapeno, cayenne), bell peppers, cucumbers (several pickling varieties), and eggplant (I believe it's a smaller Thai variety). I hope to add a few more types of chilies and some other things but currently I have seedlings going for most of the following tomato varieties:

Alisa Craig
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Baselbeiter Roeteli
Beaver Lodge Slicer
Black Krim
Black Prince
Box Car Willie
Brandywine
Brandywine (Sudduth's)
Carbon
Cherokee Purple
Czech's Bush
Dagma's Perfection
Delicious
Earliana
Early Girl V
Eva Purpole Ball
Green Sausage
Green Zebra
Italian Tree
John Baer
Large Red Cherry
Lime Green Salad
Mortgage Lifter
Nyagous
Orange Banana
Paul Robeson
Polbig F1
Purple Russian
Rev. Morrow's Long Keeper
Rose
Siberian
Siletz
Silvery Fir Tree
Stupice
Sub-Arctic Plenty
Sunset's Red Horizon
Taxi
Tigerella
Trust

I am therefore working on expanding the area of our vegetable garden out back, where the best light is. However, we also have a long windowbox and 2 side areas that don't get a ton of light but that we'd like to take advantage of. Any more experienced gardeners have suggestions for ways to use these areas?

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:we also have a long windowbox and 2 side areas that don't get a ton of light but that we'd like to take advantage of. Any more experienced gardeners have suggestions for ways to use these areas?

I like to plant some lettuce, arugula, and basil in shady spots. I've found they can go for an extra week or two without bolting if they're in the shade. I tried some tomato plants in the shade once, and it was a total disaster. The plants grew but the fruit never ripened.

Harvested some asparagus yesterday:

teatpuller wrote:Harvested some asparagus yesterday:

You have an asparagus patch?

Grrrrrrr

"Patch" may be a bit of an exaggeration. It's about 1X8 feet in area. I kind of thought it would spread a bit, but not so much after three years. I'd guess I will get about two pounds in total yield.

I refuse to plant anything in my garden until it stops SNOWING!

It stopped snowing. I planted onion sets and potatoes today

New acquisitions this weekend:

Chiles: poblano & anaheim, from Nichols via the Evanston farmers market (1st outdoor market of the year)

Herbs: thyme & rosemary, from the St. Augustine Episcopal Church Plant Sale; will stop back tomorrow for one or two of their robust Supersweet 100 tomato plants

Also scouted antique garden ornaments both in Wilmette, and at Architectural Artifacts in my old North Center 'hood. Filled a small notebook with ideas.

Good way to spend a rainy, chilly day.

Taking that leap of faith today, and putting out a couple of my Santaka chile seedlings in the front (in-ground) garden, and perhaps the poblano start I picked up at the St. Augustine sale in Wilmette on Saturday. Poblanos are the only chiles I've grown over the years that just don't do well in containers - even Anaheims do fine. Ah, the mysteries of capsicums. . . .

Container Planting Day today: Russian white kale from Nichols, via the Evanston FM, Anaheim & habanero chiles, lemon/orange spice thyme. Yet to go: cannas/snapdragons in big-ass containers, the rest of the Santaka chile seedlings, and three robust "Tomatoberry" tomato starts that I couldn't resist, also from the EFM. Hey, at 3/$2, it's a cheap way to try a variety I've never seen, let alone tried.

Bulletins on the foregoing as events warrant.

My efforts at seed starting totally failed, so we ended up getting transplants from Gethsemane -

Our plant haul included -

1 Italian oregano

2 French thymes

4 ‘Red Express’ cabbage

4 ‘Bush Pickle’ cucumbers

4 ‘Rhubarb’ chard

4 ‘Gypsy’ sweet peppers

4 ‘Anaheim hot peppers

4 ‘La Roma’ tomatoes

1 giant rosemary

We didn't get them all planted until May 9th since the weather's been so crappy. They all seem to be doing well enough, except for the cucumbers, which just up and died a few days after we planted them.

This week we acquired a few strawberry plants and some hops, but they're still in their nursery pots in the kitchen since it's been cold again the last few days. We also have a bay tree that we've had a few years now, which is doing fantastically.

I'm hoping we have a much-deserved sunny and warm three-day weekend here so I can get the strawberries and hops into pots and enjoy some time outdoors.

Finally got the last of the chiles and the "Tomatoberry" tomatoes in the ground, as well as about 10 cannas. Also installed a mixed thyme border in the perennial garden, after yanking out most of the Chervil-Gone-Wild!; the border includes French, variegated lemon, grey, and lime varieties. Looks great! Also punctuated the border with a pineapple sage, as the corner of the garden ends with a rugged garden-variety sage. All of the foregoing were from Nichols, via the Evanston (downtown) farmers market.

BTW, nice potted herbs for cheap ($1.99) at Marketplace on Oakton today - couldn't resist another rosemary for the back deck. Big plant, 5" pot. Good variety available - if I didn't already have a lifetime's worth of oregano already, I'd have bought one.