What should every garden have?

[davaroo]

What should every garden have? For starters, whatever is high priced in the stores or local farmers market.

There is little point beyond the esoteric in growing what can be had for little money elsewhere. Tomatoes and peppers are good examples. So go to the store and let the sticker shock be your guide. If you are appalled by the cost, that is something you should consider growing.

Some other things to consider are crops that are high in nutrition. For example, eggplant is a fun-to-grow luxury crop, but it's not terribly high in nutrition.
So if you are interested in those plants that are traditionally grown for food value, we're talking about legumes (beans/peas), cabbages and their kin, root crops, potatoes, maize, onions.

And of course, you should always grow what you love. I ALWAYS have some sort of melon - this years its Green Nutmeg and Prescott Fond Blanc. And Lori loves cucumbers and radishes, so those are represented.

 

[Whitewater]

Sticker shock is why there are 4 baby raspberry canes in my back yard right now (speaking of which, we got our first raspberry today! Yay!) . . . 3 oz of the little suckers are $2.99 ON SALE at our local grocery store and organic ones are even more expensive. Same with blackberries and blueberries.

Thank you, no. I'm going to grow my own! And next year, folks, now that the raspberries are recovering from being eaten down to the ground by rabbits, we're going to have more raspberries than we know what to do with. I can't wait!

That was supposed to happen this year, but . . . (darn rabbits!)


Whitewater (who is growing strawberries, apples and herbs due to cost, also tomatoes due to cost -- and taste, store grown tomatoes are NASTY. But I'm also growing beans, cucumbers, peppers and squash besides for two reasons; A) for fun and B) because home grown organics are better for my health and taste better than what you get in a store.)

 

[davaroo]

...store grown tomatoes are NASTY. But I'm also growing beans, cucumbers, peppers and squash besides for two reasons; A) for fun and B) because home grown organics are better for my health and taste better than what you get in a store.)

This is the esoteric I mentioned above. "Nasty" tasting, "fun" and the supposed benefit of organically grown crops all fall in the realm of the subjective.

 

[ducks4you]

Tomatoes, onions, zuccini squash and leaf lettuce are always easy to grow, and you get great confidence about your gardening skills. I differ from some here, because I keep my herbs in a separate garden. Oregano grows like a weed!! Common sage keeps coming back with NO CARE!! Even my borage reseeded from my original planting last year. The only problem children for ME are basil and lavendar.