Planning a Vegetable Garden

So what’s growing in the garden now?  I’ve pretty much finished my modified raised bed main garden (just a tiny bit more to go), and most of the seedlings are in place.  Here’s what I’ve got so far.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes and More Tomatoes

I tend to grow lots of tomatoes as I am fascinated by their different sizes, shapes, colors and flavors.  As a result, I have plenty to share, as well as plenty of fruits from which to save seeds.

In the main bed, I have the following tomato varieties:

• Kellogg’s Breakfast (large orange beefsteak)
• Brandywine (large pink beefsteak)
• Loxahatchee (medium round slicer)
• Mr. Stripey (medium striped red and yellow beefsteak)
• Black Sea Man (medium black slicer)
• Tomatoberry (red cherry-sized fruit, shaped like a strawberry)
• Druzba (medium to large red slicer)

And that’s not counting the tomato plants I have growing in containers or the front garden!  (Told you I had a lot.)

Peppers (Sweet)

In the main garden, I have the following sweet peppers growing:

• Aconcagua
• Parks Whopper (sweet banana style)
• Corno di Toro

I also have in containers Purira, Pretty Purple Pepper and a jalapeno.  Lots more are in my “staging” area, just about ready to move into the main garden area.

In Praise of Bush Beans

I decided to plant bush beans instead of pole beans.  For me, it makes more sense, since I plant them in waves.  I planted a whole bunch, but some animals decided to dig up some of the seeds.  So for the moment, I only have about 10 or 12 plants growing.  More will some later!

Soybeans

I prefer to call them edemame, but in essence they are soybeans.  I started some seeds inside (oh-so-easy with this veggie), and planted them out…then we had some night temperatures gow down into the 30’s and I lost half of them.  Ah well, our cold weather should be in the past now, so I’ll have to start more seeds.

Anything Else?

Now that you mentioned it, yes, I have some other plants growing in some of the side gardens, containers and…bags!

In containers I have Sweet Success cucumbers; two are planted, and I am getting ready to start more seeds.

In the front garden I have some yellow straightneck squash (variety unknown).  All three plants are blooming now, adding a very bright yellow against the green of the leaves.  Also present are three cantaloupe plants (“Hale’s Best”).

Hanging from a bag (you read that right) I have two zucchini (“Contender”) plants.  They seem to like it, because they are growing to beat the band.  The bag is actually designed to grow strawberries, but I decided to see what would happen by growing zucchini vertically.

And finally, off to the side of the compost heap are two volunteer curcubits.  I think they are yellow squash…but I’m not positive.  I found them growing in the main compost bed and decided to save them and see what happens.  Who knows — I may discover a new taste sensation!  But it will be interesting to see what these plants actually are.

So that’s what I have for now.  I was going to include lettuce, carrots and radishes, but they like the cooler weather — and it’s in the 80’s now.  Well, there’s always the fall for them.

So that’s what I have growing in the garden, although I’m sure there’s more to come, given that I have a long growing season.

What about you — what are you growing, or planning to grow this year?