Grow Your Own Food B

Grow Your Own Food?

Of Course You Can! (Part 2)

Lee Young, Extension Educator, and Deb Andrus, Master Gardener

Choosing Wisely

Tips for Great Garden Mileage

• Throw out your pre-conceived notions of what a vegetable garden is supposed to look like.

• Only grow what you and your family will actually eat.• A small, well-maintained garden yields more than a big

weedy mess.• Harvesting a little bit over a longer time period is way

better than a ton all at once.

Container Gardening

If It Holds Soil, It’s a Container!

Gardening in Small Spaces

in-ground vs. containers

Easy Vegetables

• Lettuce*• Tomatoes*• Green beans• (not bell) Peppers*• Cucumbers• Beets• Snap Peas

• Chard*• Radishes*• Garlic• Kale*• Leeks*• Herbs*• Tomatillos

*suitable for containers

Salad, Anyone?

• Lettuce mix

What About Other Greens?

• Chard

• Beets

• Kale

• small in salads or mature

Salad, Anyone?

• Radishes

Salad, Anyone?

• Cucumbers

Salad, Anyone?

• Tomatoes

(not bell) Peppers

Green Beans and Snap Peas

Herbs

• Parsley

• Sage

• Basil

• Thyme

• Oregano

• Chives

Also consider….

• Garlic

• Leeks

• Tomatillos

Easy Fruits

• Strawberries

• Raspberries

• Rhubarb

Strawberries

Delicious, productive, ornamental

Raspberries•Red, black, purple and yellow•Perennial roots, biennial shoots•Summer bearing (“everbearing”) or fall bearing•Grow in a hedge

e.g. Heritage (everbearing)

• Prune to the ground for big fall crop

• Prune back half way for spring and fall crop

Rhubarb

A little more challenging…

• Zucchini/yellow squash (insect pests)• Bell peppers (N and water for fruit set)• Asparagus (establishment)• Blueberries (low pH site)• All the other members of the cabbage family

(insect pests)

A little more challenging…

• Eggplant (insect pests)• Onions (N and water)• Potatoes (space, loose soil)• Spinach (weather and nutrients)• Grapes (maintenance and diseases)• Blackberries (weather and maintenance)

Worth the Effort?

• Sweet corn, winter squash, pumpkins (space needs)

• Carrots, parsnips (soil needs)

• Melons (season extension)

• Tree fruit (leave to the truly committed)