Veggies by value

TF:

You can buy less plants than that. I figured I had room for the 24 plants. Try one of the bush ones if you're short on space. Here's a link to SP varieties that I got from Farmerdill: http://members.aol.com/SPVine/garden/garden3.htm The Vardeman is described as a really good bush one.

I can't get my children (now grown) or my grandchildren to eat tomatoes. They love spaghetti and pizza -- why not tomatoes? Well, we know what the supermarket tomatoes taste like; don't we. I keep telling them they need to try really good tomatoes, but it's not helping any.

When my sister lived in Huntington Beach CA, Hunt's Tomatoes had a huge patch right at the end of their street. After the automatic pickers had been through everyone in the neighborhood would go down and get the leftovers that were growing too close to the utility poles for the pickers to reach. Now, those were really wonderful tomatoes. Since Hunt's was going to use them for canning and sauce, they didn't care if they had a long shelf life or how pretty they were or whether they were all the same size and shape, but they did care how they tasted.

That's why people who like pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce don't like fresh tomatoes from the market. They're not the same tomatoes.

I used to get good tomatoes by buying those expensive ones still on the vine. Now they are tasting like cardboard, too. I think they've taken to picking them green and turning them red with the gas like the others.

Oh, canned asparagus is really awful, but it does make good Cream of Asparagus soup. If you get a bed established it will produce for 20-30 years. My mom bought the frozen usually, but she always cooked it too long. Yes, our tastes established in childhood, good or bad, do hang in there. LOL.

Karen

Freshly opened can! : ))) That's great.

What a nice thread. It's funny how some threads catch fire and others just dribble away.

Farmerdill - as always, a great photo - that field of SP sure is inspiring!

The trouble with SP for me, is that they don't store very long. What to do?

My trouble with SP is the "curing" step. I dig them in October, but by then it is too late for the 8 to 10 day suggested "curing" stage at 80 degrees, for sweetening them up. Mine don't seem to get as sweet as some of those I buy from the store. Last year I grew Vardeman, which produced well, and they were nice size, but not as sweet as I would have liked. I don't know how to do that 80 degree plus curing stage. By October, our 80 degree temps are a thing of the past!

Claire

Claire,

Maybe you could try a variety that has a shorter growing season so you can harvest earlier. Georgia Jet is 80-90 days. Those I've seen comment on growing Georgia Jet just loved them. How cold is it there in October? George's Plant Farm says to cure them in an open building for a week where it does not get below 55 degrees and is dry and out of direct sunlight. I didn't know the curing had to do with making them sweeter. I've heard that turnips will be sweeter if left in the ground until after the first freeze.

Karen

We usually have our first frost in early October. I brought them indoors last week but I keep the house around 62, so it was definitely over 55, but not in the 80s like I thought it had to be. Well, now I'm confused. I thought that some of the starches were converted to sugars in the curing stage. I need to investigate this some more.

My parsnips are definitely sweeter if I leave them in the ground until after a few frosts. I often still dig some in January. They are so yummy by then. Same with carrots - they get sweeter too. I never tried turnips yet!

Claire

Thanks for that tip, Karen; I'll go there. I won't have any trouble 'sweetening up' those SP's; we'll still be sweatin' in October. Summer here just gets longer and longer. :(

Speaking of curing veggies for maximum flavor, I remember my mom always said that collards weren't good till after a frost. Well, you know what might freeze over before we got a frost - at the right time, that is. Still, I love collards and all the other greens, too, so frost or not, I'll be planting some this fall.

Karen, have you tried giving the kids and grandkids those sweet little cherry tomatoes? They're like candy and I've never known a kid that didn't just love those. I have Sungold (new to me, but it's supposed to like this climate) and the few that have ripened already are super sweet. Now I can't grow a giant beefsteak no matter how hard I try. That - to me - would be a very high value crop.

Sweet potatoes keep till June for me. I don't do anything special, just leave out lying in the sun for a week or so, wash them and store them in bushel baskets in a shed until cold weather (temps below 50 degrees) . It is customary to did them at first frost further north, but thats too late for me,. They quit growing when daylight shortens, which is late September first of October. You Yankees may to dig and cure them earlier, But Indian summer typically follows the first cold spell, giving ample curing time.

I dig in October, but cure them inside at 88°....in a small room with its own heat....plus adding humidity the USDA way...They keep till summer.

Claire,

Yes, I've heard that about the carrots and parsnips, too. Do try it with turnips. Like TF says, collards, too.

Purdue agrees that part of the reason to cure sweet potatoes is to turn the starch into sugar. I hadn't heard that before. This article gives a couple of ways to achieve the curing of them: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-136.PDF I'm far enough south I'm going to try curing them like Farmerdill does.

Indy,

That's one of the ways given to cure the SP, but I don't have that kind of area to do it in. Wish I did. I would grow orchids in there. LOL.

TF:

Nope, they won't even try them. Isn't that pitiful? Stubborn brats! Does it get too hot in Phoenix for the larger tomatoes? What about growing them in the winter months? I lived in Phoenix for a year and a half. I very unfondly remember the summers. However, my brother has lived there for about 20 years, and I think I remember that he grew a lot of veggies during the winter back when he was still doing a garden. If it's that the sunlight is too strong maybe you could shade them. I had a volunteer tomato plant last year. It planted itself in an area that was quite shady and hard, red clay. I was so sure the tomatoes would not ripen that we called it "the green tomato plant." Well, not only did they ripen, but they were the best tomatoes I had. I'm trying to start some plants this year from seeds I saved. I may be too late, but I'm giving it a shot anyway. So, we'll see.

Karen

CMoxton - You might look for a Reliance Peach. When I lived near Lansing, Michigan some years ago I had one. It produced wonderful fruit.

Now I'm in Mexico and searching for a peach with a low chill hour requirement. I have some raspberry plants that look like they may do OK here. I love them. I think fresh raspberries with fresh mangoes would be a dream combination.

katiebear

katiebear,

How low do the chill hours need to be where you are? This site specializes in low-chill requirement fruits - several between 150-300 hours. http://www.davewilson.com/br40/br40_trees/peaches.html

Lots of nurseries in San Diego County sell his trees. http://www.davewilson.com/br40/retailers/bycounty.html#sandiego
Scroll down to SD County.

Karen

Thank you!!

kb

Shelling/green/English pea? I never knew how they could be a commercial crop. Finally I tried Lincoln peas, and had a fabulous crop, well into warm/hot weather (This was in the mountains of Virginia) Strawberries, Fairfax, no comparison, except for wild strawberries.

I used to grow lots of tomatoes until I learned I'm allergic to nightshades, I get stiff and sore, like arthritis. Severe pain sometimes. Tomatoes, potatoes(not sweet/yams) green or any peppers, asparagus. The Big Drug companies don't have a cure, so few know about this allergy. When I was twenty years old, I hurt all over, thought I was 200 years old. If you hobble around stiff, might be from nightshades.

kb,

You're welcome. I had to get low-chill fruit trees, too. I had to order them shipped here, but it will be much cheaper for you to just go get them in San Diego.

Molamola,

Asparagus is part of the lily family, but eggplant should be on your nightshade list. I sure feel for you with that allergy. I would really hate to give up tomatoes, potatoes, and bell peppers. About 30 years ago I found out I am allergic to black pepper and white pepper. The white pepper, of course, is made from the inside of the black peppercorn. It's very difficult for me to eat in restaurants or use any kind of pre-made seasoning mix. I LOVE black pepper, but it sure doesn't love me back. LOL.

Karen

Thanks for the sweet potato link, karen! Beauregard looks good for my zone since it matures in 90 days. From the article, it sounds like they'd cure well in a greenhouse (?).

My friends who won't plant a veg garden now live in Harlem, GA, near Augusta. You'd think with so much warm weather, they couldn't resist. We are always trying to figure out how to extend the growing season up here.

I highly recommend Cavendish strawberries - they are the best I have ever tasted. I'll check out Fairfax - I don't know if they have them here.

CompostR,

I would think a greenhouse would be fine. Each article on curing is very definite about how to do it. However, since the method in one article is often different from the last article I read, I suspect that the curing is not entirely as precise as indicated.

Like you, I would think your friends, now in GA, would be planting lots of veggies. Sometimes people think that veggies are harder to grow than ornamental plants and flowers. I certainly haven't found this to be true.

I'm growing Eversweet strawberries as they are supposed to be very good for hot and humid areas. I looked up Cavendish, and it sounds like a real winner. I want to plant a second type next year, so thank you for the recommendation on the Cavendish. It's good for my zone, too. Couldn't find anyone selling Fairfax. Apparently, it's a very old variety which may be out of favor. Often this happens when new varieties are pushed by the nurseries so they can charge a higher price. Fairfax was developed in the 1920s and would be considered an heirloom now, I think.

Karen

Yup, My sister tried to hand carry some Fairfax strawberries on one airplane flight from D.C. to Miami for her husband. She said she was soooo careful and gentle with them, but they were moosh that evening when she made it home.

Once long ago I somehow got a catalogue of commercial varieties of fruit trees. "Good keeper, thick skin, colors up before ripening, good shipper" Wowee, zero about flavor. But then when you're in the store you look for the unbruised fruits.

A while back I came across some really nice peaches. Oh, phooey, I don't care how much they cost, they smell divine and they're soft... Four dollars each! Sorry! The lady said they'd been flown in from Peru.

Thanks Katiebear. A reliance peach sounds reliable! I will take a look for one of those. I did some googling on it and found several sites saying it is the most cold hardy peach that exists. I even found a couple of sites that said they grow in Iowa. Can't hurt to give it a try. Even if it doesn't produce every year, it would be nice to have peaches in a good year once in a while!

Claire

Some people really like Cavendish strawberries. When I raised them, I couldn't get the underside to ripen before the topside began to spoil. Perhaps your experience would be better.

glendalekid, I wonder if people shy away from growing veggies because it feels like you're losing more if they don't produce? I mean, if you lose a zinnia, oh, well! But if you lose a cantalope, even though you're really no worse off because you didn't have the cantalope before anyway, it just feels like more of a loss.

I've also felt a little defeated when I read about the vegetables because the books will mention all the pests and viruses and all that can happen, and it just seems overwhelming.

Yet we'll have kids at the drop of a hat! ;}

I'm having a hard time getting the strawberries to ripen all over, too. Is there a trick? Can you turn them? This is my 4th and final attempt at the things, and at least I'm seeing some!

I just read that Cavendish has uneven ripening problems if stressed by heat and humidity. So - maybe it's not great for some southern areas (?).

Indy - do you have these conditions even in Indiana? We have pretty hot and humid weather in July and Aug, but, Cavendish is about done fruiting by then. You could have a disease, but I'm not up on that stuff as we have luckily had no problems there. We do get lot of Japanese Beetles.

brigidlily,

You might very well be right about the psychological side to not getting veggies to produce. I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. However, most veggies are actually easier, IMO, to grow than a lot of ornamentals that folks fuss with all the time. Oh, yeah, we think nothing of investing 20+ years in raising a kid. LOL.

Last year the only problems I had with pests on my veggies were squash bugs on the zucchini, aphids on the tomatoes, and some kind of fungal problem on the strawberries. I squashed the squash bugs by hand. It was so funny. I started out using a paper towel, but soon graduated to just squashing them. The aphids went away after two treatments of soapy water with baking soda in it, and they were only on two plants anyway. For the fungal whatever on the strawberries I used a home-made fungicide (can't remember what just now) as a drench, and they were fine after that. However, I don't get really excited about every little bug hole in a plant. Unless it's going to actually do serious damage, I don't worry about it. I've got some bug holes in the leaves of some of my green beans now, but the beans seem to be staying ahead of the bugs. So no big deal to me.

Last year I tried straw bale gardening. For me, in this climate and with our drought, it didn't work out well. I used the decomposing straw to make lasagna beds over the winter. I also found out that I had planted the squash and melons in the wrong place. Need a very sandy area, especially for the melons. Most of my soil here is red clay which is the reason for the raised beds and lasagna beds, but there is an area that is very sandy. Wouldn't you just know it -- that's the very place we have been using as a pet cemetery because it's easy to dig there. We moved to AL with several very elderly pets, and they have passed on since. So, this year my melons, squash, and sweet potatoes are planted in that area. The graves are marked so there's no chance of digging into them accidentally. Because it's accessible to the deer, I'll have to fence it. I read that because deer can't see their feet, you can fence them out by laying dog wire, 3 feet wide, all around the edge of the area, that they won't cross the wire because it feels "weird" to them. Going to try that as it makes sense. Probably the same way cattle guards work.

My strawberries mostly do ripen on the bottom by the time the top is fully ripe. Since, that's not happening with yours, I don't see any reason not to try gently turning them over. My strawberries (1st year for them) didn't amount to diddley last year, and the few I got were not very good. I was very disappointed. But the same plants this year are producing like crazy and the berries are very sweet and tasty. I have picked about four pints this week. I have the Eversweet as they are supposed to do very well in hot, humid climates. I talked to a fellow in FL who raises this variety. He told me how to handle them and to just hang in there, which I am glad now that I followed his advice.

CompostR,

We had tons of Jap beetles last year. Since they amused themselves by eating small holes in the canna leaves and didn't bother anything else, I didn't do anything about them. Some of the cannas were only six feet away from my roses, and the beetles didn't bother the roses at all.

Karen

compostR,
Yes, it can be hot and humid here at strawberry time. The Cavendish were such lunkers and kind of firm that I suppose they can have that trouble more than the other varieties I raise.

I'm surprised no one from Louisiana has chimed in about strawberries. I know they were a big crop at one time in the deep South. Are they still or does anybody know? My grandparents were rural subsistence farmers and they worked - at least once - in the strawberry packing houses for extra income. I know this because one of my all-time favorite photos is a black and white of my grandma and grandpa in a pose eerily similar to the famous Gothic farmer couple.

I actually bought some strawberries at a little specialty grocery that taste terrific. They're on special this week and I'll be back for more. Too bad they don't identify the variety on the box; they are deep purplish red all the way through. None of that sour white core. Sure would like to know what they are. At $1.50 a pint, I do know they're a bargain!

They are $2.99/pint here --- you got a bargain for sure.

Karen