Can I get food out of cruddy New England dirt?

In another thread, we were confessing what we'd never grown, and I had to confess I had never grown any food in my garden. Lettuce sounds like a great idea in November but I grew up spending summers on a vegetable farm in Northern Virginia. Their dirt is red and rich and mine is bland and rocky. They had greenhouses and sprinklers and I have a wheelchair and a couple kids and a DH who don't really like vegetables. Should I give up? Is there a very easy way to grow veggies that anyone will eat? I know they'd eat corn, but I think that's a whole lot of work for not much return. Anything that would blend in with my flower gardens? Snow peas? Carrots? Lettuce? Spinach? Ideas?

xxxx, Carrie

Check your local library for Eliot Coleman's book Four Season Harvest. Should give you some good ideas.

Maybe you could container grow a tomatoe plant or two? Cherry tomatoes will survive just about anything (myself, being of the brown thumb kind of gardener :-). There are types that don't need very much space - maybe plunk down a pot among the flowers with some "store bought" top soil in it. Because they'd be above the ground, they might be a little easier to harvest.

By the way, my kids didn't like veggies and even most fruits because they had had only store bought stuff. Once we moved near to a farmer's market and they ate "real" tomatoes, peas and gosh-darn-wonderful-corn-from-the-field-that-morning, they suddenly liked them. Ditto with peaches hours from the tree. Cherry toms are great in that you can just pop them in your mouth straight from the vine. And when I went Ewwwww when a big old tomatoe worm showed up, my son (then about 8?) thought it was great to catch it and dispose of it for me (I never asked what he did with it!)

Good luck!

I grow Scarlet Runner Beans on the front fence. Red and Yellow swiss chard and kale are all pretty in the flower beds(or cantainers). Lettuce looks pretty planted in with pansies etc in the flower bed(or cantainers). My grandkids think tomatoes are snack food so I get plants coming up all sorts of places. As long as they are in my "water range", I just let them grow and the kids pick and eat them. This digging in the dirt stuff in flexiable. Have fun. I always put some lettuce in big pots for my MIL. She's 85 and can't get around to water a garden. Loves having a pot of lettuce and a couple patio tomatoes.

if ou are interested in growing tomatoes in containers it can be done quite easily. you will need a 5 gal bucket of larger. if you go onto the container garden forum check out tplant who uses eb's (earth boxes) which are self containing and self watering containers, by that i mean you still have to add the waer but you can never overwater. i have two myself. just follow the directions and you will have terrific look and terrific tasing tomatoes as well as any other veggies you want to grow. usually, if you can grow it in the ground you can grow it in containers.

you can also see tplants pictures of his eb's.
hope this helps

The lasagna method of gardening might be helpful to you. Do a search on this forum for "lasagna" and you'll find plenty of explanation. It's an excellent way to build up beautiful soil within a single bed, veggie or flower.

Also, check out "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible." The writer is in New England too, and gives many, many ideas for soil improvement. His vegetable gardens are also full of flowers. Good luck!

Edited to add that any child, given a small garden (even 3'x3') will become very interested in eating what he or she grows. My kids like planting the quick-growers like beans, tomato plants, and cukes. But the winners are always the "buried treasures" like potatoes and carrots. They also like planting "soldier plants:" marigold and nasturtium.

This message was edited Feb 26, 2006 9:12 AM

For something pretty and tasty, try Swiss chard. I grow the variety "Bright Lights" with five colors of stalks and dark green leaves. It does well in containers and light freezes won't harm it.

I'm relying more and more on my Earthboxes. I have them set on concrete blocks and that is a good height for my rolling tractor seat bench. Here in 8b I can double crop - tomatoes, peppers & cukes in summer and lettuce and assorted greens in winter. I especially like the variety "Rouge d' Hiver" with solid red leaves that are crisp like romaine. "Miracle of Four Seasons " is exceptionally cold-tolerant and has lovely coloring. You could extend your season considerably with a cold frame.

And then are many herbs to consider. A window sill garden and containers. Garlic chives are easy to grow and you'll like the pretty pink flowers. Basil for pesto. Mints for tea. Etc.

In spring try planting a strawberry jar. Have someone drill some holes in a length of PVC pipe to insert in the center of the container; watering from the top only allows the water to run out the side openings without giving the plant roots enough moisture. (Hmmm- wonder how strawberries would do in an Earthbox?)

And on the subject of growing food, consider other fruits. Dwarf apple trees would be lovely in among your flowers. Miller Nurseries has varieties for northern gardeners. Blueberries should do well for you.

Thank you, all of you, who answered my plea. It occurs to me that the child who likes some vegetables spent time the last few summers on the vegetable farm mentioned above. The younger, pickier child was judged too young and too picky to send alone, so pretty much all she'll eat is iceberg lettuce and some peeled cucumber once in a while. I know Home Depot sells vegetable seedlings - will they be okay? I, er, um, well, I don't do seeds. Yet.

xxxxx, Carrie

This message was edited Mar 3, 2006 4:42 PM to fix the italics!

This message was edited Mar 3, 2006 4:46 PM

Those HD should be fine, but you have some great seed companies online in your neck of the woods, too. Johnny's might be a great start, and they're reasonable and ship quickly.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/home.aspx?ct=HG

Some vegetables, such as carrots, wo't be available in six packs - seeds are sown directly into the garden bed. I mark my carrot rows with a few radish seeds which sprout and mature quickly. Radishes are good for a child's garden because eatable results can be had within thirty days.

Thanks, Yuska, for the tip, but I don't think any of us, even me, would eat a radish! How about parsley, or dill? They eat those all the time, they just don't know it.

I have some roses in some beautiful planter/lattices my DH made for me and they are right outside the front door. Any climbing vegetable (peas?) that wouldn't mind sharing the limelight (or the fertilizer and sun and H2O) with my roses? Do all veggies and fruits require full sun?

My worry aboutour soil is that it's not only rocky as NE soil should be, it's URBAN. I worry about lead and mercury. I worry about that everyone else on our street has CHEMlawn treat their grass every summer. I guess that leaves me with containers!

Thanks again, xxx, Carrie