I just spent $31.40 on seeds

[spinbaby]

There is no WAY I'll grow $31.40 worth of vegetables.

[IntravenousDemilo]

1. If they were the right kind of seeds, you could make your money back in no time, though.

:hippie:

[spinbaby]

2. Yeah, but you can't mail-order those

I'm going to go out there and sweat and fuss and wind up with half a dozen split tomatoes, some lettuce with slug-holes, a dead zucchini plant, green-bean stumps (the groundhogs love those), and some wormy radishes. I put myself through this every year.

[NMDemDist2]

6. ROFL, dang, sounds like you need to rethink your methods

raised beds with fences perhaps?

[trogdor]

8. Pick the tomatoes while still green

As soon as they're finished growing, go get 'em and put 'em in your windowsill. They'll be red an a week and you won't know the difference, except they won't be split open.

I'm assuming by your description of the local wildlife and the stuff you plant that you live somewhere up north. I heard that if you plant chili peppers, the varmints will stay away, and the dried peppers (bam!) will last you a couple of years. Having a cat prowl around your back yard won't hurt, either, but some DUers are against the idea of letting your kitties loose to hunt. Do what you think is best. Oh, and zucchini craves water. Lots of it. We run our well dry (bad idea) watering the damn zucchini until it establishes itself. After that, it's a challenge to pick the damn things while they're still a reasonable size. They get pretty big and not as good to eat if you let them.

You might also try potatoes. Very low maintenance. Ours kicked ass last year. We gave about half of them away because we were afraid they wouldn't keep. Duh. Of course they'll keep. The ones we kept for ourselves lasted until Thanksgiving. We had the last ones with the turkey.

[spinbaby]

9. The vine borers get our zucchini

Unless the squash bugs get 'em first. Potatoes develop this crusty crud. But yet I persist.

[China_cat]

11. Can't help you with the rest

but tomatoes need a side dressing of calcium when the blossoms set (bone meal or the worm poop tomato formula) to stop blossom end rot and some serious watering to prevent skin split. Slugs can be controlled with a dish of beer. I didn't know anyone could kill zuccini. Maybe I needed you for my eggplant last year (which had fruit on it until christmas). Radishes and herbs do better in containers.

[zanne]

3. You should order from a small seed company in Maine...

Pintree Seeds sells small packets of seeds. I got all the seed I'll need for my vegetable garden and flower gardens for under $20. If I had to pay full price, I just wouldn't do it. (If you take your labor into account, it's kind of expensive). Fun though.

[spinbaby]

4. I went fancy this year

I ordered from the Kitazawa Seed Company. Lots of fancy Japanese radishes and kabocha and stuff. Not that they will do any better.

[zanne]

7. That sounds like fun.

I'm sure they'll grow well. You'll have to take some pictures to show us!

[Dangerously Amused]

5. One cannot put a price on the zen of gardening, grasshopper.

:)

[grasswire]

10. I'm going to plant my veggies in wading pools this year.

We have an unused paved driveway that gets full sun. We decided to buy several of those kiddie wading pools and use them for planter beds, along with a lot of pots. I have old trellises to accomodate climbing plants. It's going to be weird looking, but I'm hoping to avoid the cutworms and slugs this way.

[Courtesy Flush]

12. Mail order was your culprit

I just got back into gardening after a 20-year hiatus. I ordered some seed catalogs, and was shocked at the prices.

Go to your local home and garden center. The seeds are a fraction of the cost. Also check eBay for more hard-to-find stuff.

We're in the deep south and are eating from the garden regularly now. Mostly greens and lettuce so far. The rest will take time.