Laura comments:
“Your grocery row garden looks fantastic – so lush and green, not to mention full of food! I know in a video like this you can’t point out every plant in the garden, so I’m curious: do you have any long beans or jicama in there?”
Both of those crops are not in the garden this year, but they are good additions.
When we moved here back in August, we had a few projects we really wanted to continue.
The priorities were:
- To maintain cassava production
- To continue growing an abundance of true yams
- To press on with the okra, corn, pumpkin, watermelon and cucumber landrace projects
- To grow an isolated plot of an exceptionally large-kerneled variety of corn a Good Gardener snuck in from Peru
- To get most of my trees and perennials re-established after transplanting over from the rental
We got those all going now. However, there are quite a few good crops we don’t have rolling this year, due to lack of time, or space, or organization, or just plain forgetfulness.
We wanted to grow more cucuzza squash and didn’t get to it. We also have jicama and yard-long bean seeds that never got planted. We only planted a few velvet beans. We also lost our bush bean crop to a frost early in the year – and then to some bad seed – and then didn’t bother replanting again. There are less sweet potatoes in the garden than there should be, and we haven’t gotten around to digging up some of the Russet potatoes hiding in the Grocery Row Gardens somewhere. The tomatoes never got staked, and we really should have gotten the weeds out of the most easterly row before they completely ate it.
Yet we’re doing okay. Next year will be good.
There are plenty of crops we know would do well that we just don’t manage to pull off every year.
Each garden has its own flavor, especially when we’re constantly experimenting with new things and pursuing new projects.
It’s a good question, Laura – and I still recommend both crops.
8 comments
For the type of you guys have had, I think you are doing awesome. Keep it up.
Type of year*
Could you post after harvest some day how your Peruvian corn went? I am considering planting it and I would like some input about how it grows
My exploratory crop this year is an old sorghum variety. I’ve never heard you mention sorghum for food, syrup production, or animal feed. I’m sure you have at some point. I’m in zone 6 and it’s doing wonderfully for me at about 8 ft tall. I don’t have plans to make syrup this year, but we will probably try that next year.
I grew some about a decade ago – it was fun to watch grow, but I didn’t really know what to do with it.
I never got around to getting my drying beans in this year and now it’s too late for my season. I just finally planted corn today because of a number of hurdles, so it probably won’t make it, but oh well. Every year is different. :)
I’m gearing up for my late summer/early fall garden, despite the forecast showing 95-100 degree days for the next few weeks. I’ll be utilizing shade and healthy(er) soils to combat this. I love challenges….
I have a very small space for gardening – septic tank and field lines and water lines prevent utilization of more space. I am REALLY interested in PERENNIAL VEGETABLES that will grow in my 8b rainy Mobile County area. I recently acquired a tree collard. Canb you suggest others? I already have two different varieties of peaches, pears, figs, blueberries, but I want to add a mulberry and pawpaws. Can you suggest a southern or local source for these? As well as the perennial veggies? (BTW – I am 86 years old!)