Gardening For Consumption?

[ThomWV]

Poll question: Gardening For Consumption?

How many of your all grow a garden with things in it you intend to eat? Anything from an acre or more to a single tomato plant, or something similar, in a window counts for this one if you planted it with the expectation of eating a tomato from it.

[azmouse]

1. I have 11 citrus trees and 3 pecan trees in my backyard.

The homegrown fruit is so much tastier than the fruit bought in stores.

[ThomWV]

12. Yummy!

I just put in 12 grape vines and 4 blueberry bushes last year. Fruit trees are pretty much out for us because of the deer. I tried for years but you just can't shoot them all. In truth I only have faint hope for the blueberrys. Birds. I guess we'll try netting when the time comes but I don't expect to see anything from the bushes until next year.

[bicentennial_baby]

2. I did before I moved to a 5th floor apartment

x(

I used to have a HUGE garden. At least 10 tomato plants, strawberries, peppers, onions, potatoes, collard greens, squashes...Sigh, I miss it.

[TechBear_Seattle]

16. Do you at least have a balcony?

I manage pretty well with herbs and some vegetables. Fruits are a bit tricky, as I don't get a lot of pollenating insects, but strawberries do nicely. Nothing better than going out in the morning and picking fresh and very ripe berries. :hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

21. Yes, but...We're east facing, and get no sun after 10 am in the Summer...

That, and I'm concerned about the effects of auto exhaust on the veggies. Gawd I want to move back to the country.

[TechBear_Seattle]

23. Yeah, that would be a problem

My balcony faces south, so I get good exposure year round. And being on the 4th floor, I don't worry so much about car exhaust.

[I_Will]

3. I've just laid out (on paper, so far) my square foot garden...

...though I have no idea what I'm really doing :)

I thought it would be fun and educational for the kids to get connected with the food supply.

(edit to correct subject)

[NMDemDist2]

9. be sure to join us in the gardening group

lots of knowledge and encouragement over there

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=246

[eleny]

4. Not the greenest thumb here but home grown tomatoes are my thing this year

It even snowed today. So no planting until the end of May - and then it'll have to be a large plant from the greenhouse. But I can hardly wait!

And we have some fruit trees. The wildlife gets most of the goodies but we do get some apples.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

5. I thank my father

for showing me the hidden economies available to those who are willing to spend some time getting their nails dirty.

I can also grow edibles that are the specific variety I like, those that grow best in my home climate.

Let's face it: nothing tastes better than food you have generated by your own efforts.

and in the coming hard times, I'll be ahead of the curve!

[NMDemDist2]

6. I am not working this spring and as my contribution to the household

I have/am putting in a big garden for the two of us

my kitchen garden already has maters, carrots, lettuce, radish, eggplant and peas in it. I have a larger plot that will have melons, corn, more maters, beets, beans, squash, onions and peppers in it.

I also grow chives, basil, parsley and marajam

:hi:

[Richard Steele]

7. Yup- not a terribly big one, but it's all intended for our consumption.

With the way food prices keep skyrocketing, I reckon
our dozen containers full of dirt will save us a couple
hundred dollars at the grocery store when all is said
and done.

[newfie11]

8. Yes, grow and can or freeze almost all our winter vegetables

I started doing this in the 70's and even home canned tastes better than the store bought stuff.

[grasswire]

10. I'm doing a wading pool garden this year

We have an unused driveway that gets lots of sun. I'm buying several big kiddie wading pools to put there and fill with vegetables. I have trellises that beans and cucumbers can climb. We'll put a patio table and chairs out there, too. I'm hoping it looks festive.

[MercutioATC]

11. I've been considering it as a backup, but

time is more valuable to me right now than money.

It's less responsible, but quicker, to go to the grocery store.

[deminatl]

13. my wife and i buy from a local farm

She tried to have a garden last year,
but with the drought and water restrictions
it did not do well

[otherlander]

14. I did last year...

Lettuce, swiss chard, lima beans, and string beans. But this year I'm moving out at the end of summer, so no.

[TechBear_Seattle]

15. My 3 x 5 patio garden includes...

Various kitchen herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, mint and sometimes sage and basil), berries (strawberries; my blueberry bush died this winter) and what edibles I can find room for (radishes, onions and occasionally nasturnums -- the flowers are edible and make a bright addition to salads.) I'm trying a micro variety of sunflower this year; they grow only two feet tall. I won't have many seeds, but they'll look pretty.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

17. Regarding the nasturnums...

The leaves are also edible and add a nice peppery taste to salads. Just thought you might find that useful. I grow them every year in my salad garden.

[TechBear_Seattle]

22. Yes, but they aren't so colorful

There are also a number of wild plants (aka weeds) that are edible, and I've used a lot of them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_purse">Shepherd's Purse is very common and young leaves and seed pods also make a nice addition to salads (more mature leaves become bitter and need to be blanched, but they go well with other cooked greens such as mustard and collards.) Mustard, of course, is another common weed.

Alas, when I gave up a yard I gave up wild plants, as I'm not keen on gathering plants from areas subject to car exhaust, pesticides and wandering pets. :hi:

There are also a lot of edible flowers and other plants we don't normally think of as being food. Rosehips are a good source of vitamin C; dried, they can be used to give a light citrusy taste to hot drinks. Some sunflower roots are edible (the Jerusalem artichoke is a closely related species.) Dandelion, burdock, watercress... who needs a garden?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

18. I do

I love nothing better than my fresh veggies straight from the garden. :)

[kestrel91316]

19. I grew most my own veggies for 12 years, and lots of fruits for 8.

The house I was in had 2 fig trees, a lemon, an apple, two apricots, and a loquat. Oh, and an olive.

The apartment has a balcony, but it is now starting to get a tiny bit of afternoon sun so I CAN put a few veggies in pots on it. I'm thinking Italian parsley and spinach to start.........

Oh, and definitely fresh basil, if the sun's adequate.

[jpljr77]

20. Oh hell yeah. Tomatoes, squash, hot peppers, bells, greens...

We actually tore up some more of our grass in the back yard to expand our garden from last year. It was mildly successful, but it was our first full season in a new house in the 'burbs and it took a year or so to figure out the sun and heat and all that. We were spoiled in our old place.

Speaking of which, if there are any folks living in DC apartments that want to garden, I highly recommend the big victory garden in Glover Park. We had a plot there for 4 years and it's a really great time...tons of cool people and interesting gardening. You have to put your name on a wait list that's physically located at the garden, and there is typically a wait, but it's worth it. The garden runs along 42nd St. NW and starts at New Mexico Ave.

We got some collard greens to grow in that garden 3 years ago and the experience has emboldened me to try a little lettuce and greens this year in Silver Spring. Wish me luck.

[Broken_Hero]

24. Our garden is roughly

50 foot long, by 25-30 ft wide....

We grow and consume everything we grow...

Tomato's, Bell peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, mustard greens, onions, potato's, cucumbers....

Our fruit tree's didn't survive the past three ice storms, all four are now dead.