Grow your own

Slartibartfast wrote:   Basil and cilantro tend to go good around here for a couple of months and then they flower and crap out.  Aww man, speaking of rosemary, that's one that I love to do a quick stroke with and inhale the aroma that gets on my hand.  The fragrance is fantastic.  It does fairly well in containers but doesn't seem to tolerate cold weather.  Parsley (we usually do Italian) is another one of those that does well for a couple of months and then flowers and craps out.

I planted potatoes into our backyard last summer. It's not really allowed since it's a ground floor student falt. Anyway, I got only 1 potato out of each one I planted, though all of them were a lot smaller. At least the yard got some taters. Next year I'll start sooner and plow the ground better, and during the night so that no-one'll come asking what I'm doing.

Dean wrote: Sean Trane wrote: basilic (that one is relatively tricky)   That grows like a weed whenever I plant it - being "soft" it doesn't like the cold, but in summer it goes completely crazy, but if you're growing tomatoes then fresh basil is a must have.

Equality 7-2521 wrote: I've grown strawberries the past two years. They're very frustrating to keep bug and rabbit free.

Strawberries grow wild behind my house. So do blackberries. I think there are boysenberries too.

Sean Trane wrote: Slartibartfast wrote:   Basil and cilantro tend to go good around here for a couple of months and then they flower and crap out.  Aww man, speaking of rosemary, that's one that I love to do a quick stroke with and inhale the aroma that gets on my hand.  The fragrance is fantastic.  It does fairly well in containers but doesn't seem to tolerate cold weather.  Parsley (we usually do Italian) is another one of those that does well for a couple of months and then flowers and craps out.   Cilantro (also AKA Coriander) is very much like parsley >>> the idea is to stop it from flowering (pinch it) and growing into seeds  >> if you do that the plants don't fan out, and you can harvest it for two years ... But if you do let it grow to seeds and collect them, you can replant it >> but somewhere else... it doesn't grow well in the same spot ..; but you're right, the flat leave parsley (aka Italian) is much tastier   One plant you should let flower is chives >>> the flowers are delicious, when sniped in a salad >>> like a perfumed fruity shallot     Rosemary.... you get the same kind of scent in thyme (or its variant the savory) and sage ... I find thart it is thyme that does not like cold and humid winters >> especially the critus-thymes (lovely smell , perfect for Thai foods).... Rosemary grows in bushes somtimes 1.5 meters high  and keep gren during cold winters  (it's probably the easiest to grow >>> don't mess (other than cuttting a branch or two) with it and it can live for 10 or 15 years >> superb blue flowers too....   All of these can be grown on a blaconny, but the fresh herbs (the ones that don't really dry up) should not be grown in full sunlight exposition, except maybe for basil

Yeah, I've tried pinching the tops off but that doesn't seem to help.  You've pretty much hit on all of the herbs we like to grow.  Sage is another one that's great brush your hand on. 

This is what we were growing last year:




I'm not sure why these pics aren't coming in bigger.
At the top we have basil in the middle apparently attacking the cilantro while the thyme (I think that was the thyme) is taking it's time.
Next up is the thyme again, mint, and rosemary.  You might be able to see tomatillo flowers at the bottom of the pic.
Third pic down is cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, and cayenne peppers.  The cayenne plant was very productive.
Fourth pic has a herb collection pot on the right.  Sage, chives, oregano,



Edited by Slartibartfast - February 10 2011 at 06:43

Thank you, it really is.  I would encourage any apartment dwellers who like the idea of growing their own food and like to cook to try container growing if the sun is right. 

Ahhh, but with the coming spring, we'll be back at the house and growing stuff in containers in our front yard, dealing with pesky squirrels and other critters, space won't be an issue though.  Even on the deck, which is on the third level, we got a tomato hornworm and it had gotten big.  I don't think I've ever seen one go at the house go after our tomatoes.  Squirrels probably eat them.

Edited by Slartibartfast - February 12 2011 at 16:07

timothy leary wrote: I built a pond in the backyard last year and I would love to have some koi in it but I am 100% sure the raccoons would finish them off in short order. Critters......sure they are cute but when they devastate the garden they become less cute. The deer here love to munch on the tender tops of a lot of veggies.

timothy leary wrote: ^ I totally agree here on the wet side gardening is a hit or miss venture. I still put it in every year and as you said, some years are good and some are not.

timothy leary wrote: Are there any gardeners here who are growing their own food and starting to get thew spring itch? I recently lucked out and found a free greenhouse on craigslist. It was a little rough but now it is ready and it  will be nice to get an early start on some veggies. Nothing in the supermarket compares to food you grow yourself.

Hi Tim! Is your greenhouse ready?

I grow my vegetables and some small fruits (and of course aromatic plants) as well every year for three years now. Last year: 100 tomato plants!

This year i'm about to grow ancient strains (some are more than a century old!) among which are orange, black, white tomatoes!

I'm much into greenhouse as well

Of course the taste of homegrown is unbelievable

Edited by oliverstoned - March 01 2011 at 09:48

An early start for tomatoes! The sooner the start, the better for an harvest not too late in the season. BTW, tomatoes love greenhouses.


Last year i had an orange tomato strain which tasted like passion fruit!!



Edited by oliverstoned - March 01 2011 at 11:37