123 replies to this topic

[KennethT]

So I finally got around to taking pics of my urban garden.. very small, but considering there's only 2 of us, it works out well - plus part of it is still in progress.. the nice thing about doing things indoors is that you can continue to start and plant things all year long...


This is a Paul Robeson heirloom tomato - it's about 2-3 weeks old. Got the start from Laurel's. This weekend, I'm going to attach a string to the ceiling and train it up the string as support. It should produce about 5-6 tomatoes a week for the next 8-10 months.


Dwarf lime tree - probably about 7 years old - bears standard sized limes. It was having root rot problems for a while until I discovered the miracle of Hygrozyme, and now it's much better and it's the first time I'm letting it fruit in about a year.


L-R: Rouge Grenobloise Batavian lettuce - I actually harvested half of the head last Monday, and it's basically grown back to full size since then; Basil; Thai basil. On the way (not pictured) is rosemary, french thyme, fl parsely, more lettuce, tarragon, cilantro, etc... In the past, in this setup, I grew Gailan, bok choi, arugula and some oddities like chocolate mint, variegated lemon geranium, coconut geranium, and lime thyme. Mint is a bad idea in this setup because the roots wind up taking over the whole trough.

[heidih]

I absolutely love that you are attempting this and being successful. I advocate alternative gardening ideas to many and will use you as an example. I also love Laurel's tomatoes - I propagated from seed some of last years Berkeley Tie Dye in our green house and am about to set them out. Will be visiting her when she is open as I am minutes away.

[KennethT]

Last year I grew a Goose Creek tomato plant in the spot where the Robeson is now. Those were probably the best tomatoes I've ever had, but sadly they were unavailable this year, and unfortunately I didn't save any of the seeds. The GK was a good learning experience - once the plant got to be about 5 feet tall (up to the ceiling) I had the great idea to top it so it would stop growing..... Hmmffff it had other ideas and turned into a giant bush with tomatoes lurking everywhere. It took over the entire corner of the apartment and threatened to take over the whole thing until it roots grew into the nutrient fluid fill hole completely clogging it. One day I came home from work to a flood of about 15 gallons of nutrient liquid on the floor! It looked like a small pond in the middle of my living room. Suffice it to say Ihad no choice but to kill the plant to find and eventually fix the problem. Now, a few modifications to the system later and hopefully I won't have that experience again. So yes, it can definitely be a challenge, but it's lots of fun!

[Pierogi]

In coastal Los Angeles, my Beefmaster tomato plant (one of which was ultimately a *roaring* success last year, 'though scarily slow to set fruit) already has 4 itty-bitty baby tomatoes on it !!!! And lots of blooms. YAY. Nothing on the other two (Marvel Stripe and a Big Cherry) yet, but it's still way early. Tomatoes comin' soon.....yum !

[thirtyoneknots]

Ate the first padron peppers yesterday, blistered in olive oil and sprinkled with flaky sea salt. This is why I garden.

Sighted the first haricot vert today. Life is good.

[Genkinaonna]

Part of the reason I haven't been on for quite a while is that I've been playing in the dirt! I had 4 3x3 garden beds built for my bitty tiny yard, and between that and a 20x20 space I'm renting from a farmer about 5 min from my house I should have a ton of produce this summer. Right now I've got two kinds of oregano, regular thyme, lemon thyme, summer savory, three BIG parsley plants, tarragon, rosemary, stevia, sugar peas, three kinds of strawberries (two june bearing and one overbearing), Paris Market carrots, blueberry bushes, huckleberry bushes, garlic chives, regular chives, society garlic, peas, kentucky wonder beans (damn slugs are eating the hell out of them though, really need to put up the copper tape I bought) and four kinds of lettuce. I have starts that I've grown from seed for 7 varieties of tomatoes, and I bought starts for 13 more varieties. I also have a bunch of basil starts almost ready to put out in the garden, and some swiss chard that was hanging out from last fall. I can't wait til things really get going!

[rod rock]

I envy all of you with those huge gardens... I wish i don't live in apartment. Best thing about your own garden is what you eat is what you sow without any toxic material in food. I call it pure natural food!

[KennethT]

Rod, just because you live in an apartment, doesn't mean you can't have a nice garden. It's just different - maybe a little more work, maybe not. See my pics above? That's in a 800sqft. apartment in NYC. I have it a little easier because I have big, southern facing windows, but if I didn't, I would be using more lighting. Right now, I'm using lights to supplement the window lighting - especially for the lime tree and tomato plant. So far, the herbs/leafy greens don't need the extra light.. .I doubt they will anyway - I was growing Chinese Broccoli in the leafy herb area back in Feb/March and it grew great with no additional lights.

[rod rock]

Unfortunately, i don't have conditions to make it in my own apartment. It is not big place you know. And second thing is too much dust from very busy street.
By the way, nice view from your window Kenneth! Plants are enchanting that view, very nice! :)

[thirtyoneknots]

Any chance there is a community garden in your area? Or a place to start one?

[KennethT]

Community gardens are great - there's a really good one not too far from my apt., but I don't know how much time commitment they'd need, and how much I have!

BTW, Rod, a good thing to check is UrbanHydro.org - the Urban Hydroponics Growers Union... a bunch of people who are experimenting with trying to push the boundaries of urban gardening... Some of what they do is in yards, but some is completely indoors - in closets, 4'x4' tents, etc... it hasn't been updated in a while, but there was some interesting stuff there the last time I checked them out.

I understand your lack of space and other issues - I'm just saying that if you want to do something bad enough, where there's a will, there's a way!

[thirtyoneknots]

After a few false alarms, finally got my first blush on a tomato today--a Super Sweet 100 cherry tomato planted on March 13. If you're keeping score at home that's a 65 day variety giving a ripe fruit after 50 days. Not that I'm complaining.

[Kouign Aman]

Thanks for the reminder, got to get a sungold going.

[qrn]

im jealous,we still have until the 15th to when we go to the nursery to buy the tomatoes,they will have set fruit by then,so they will get a goodstart.(late frosts,,,,)
Bud

[thirtyoneknots]

I've still got a few weeks or more to go on most things, though all four squash plants are producing so that'll keep me satisfied for now. Having a few problems with blossom end rot but not too bad. Only thing not flowering yet is the okra and some of the melons that have gotten off to a late start--cantaloupe is blowing up all over the place though.

Thing about gardening in Texas is, you can never really be sure about frost--but you know it is going to get hot enough to kill pretty much everything you plant, so better to take chances and get a crop. Last year I planted the first weekend in April (Zone 8, down near Austin) and essentially got nothing to speak of out of my summer garden it was so hot. Lesson learned.

[rod rock]

Thanks Kenneth i will check this site it seems interesting,maybe i will find some good idea from where to start. And you are right about the will, it is on the first place before everything :)

[sparrowgrass]

From the top--lovage, asparagus, strawberry plant (I have 74 more, of 3 varieties), poles for Kentucky Wonder beans (asparagus row behind, tomatoes will be to the right, garlic and broccoli/cabbage in front), thyme in the pot, and Herb in his garden--catmint behind him, monarda in front, some lavender in the lower right corner.

I have planted 19 tomato plants so far--trying hybrids along with my heirlooms, because I had some blight last year. Goliath, Taste of Country, Romas, Big Boys (my mother insisted on those), Ananas Noir--all I can think of right now. I have half a dozen more plants to set out.

Half a dozen Mucho Nacho jalapenos--they did so well last year, early to fruit, big thickwalled peppers with great taste, wonderful for Atomic Buffalo Turds! Purple and yellow bells, and some little bells that are multicolored.

Burgundy bush beans, and burgundy okra. They both turn green when you cook them but they look so pretty in the basket.

Butternut, hubbard, pattypan and zucchini squash, a 'Cinderella' type pumpkin (Rouge de something) and several varieties of gourds, just for fun--nest egg, snake and apple.

Peas, lettuce, potatoes and kohlrabi are all up--we have eaten some lettuce and I snitched one peapod yesterday.

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[qrn]

well today it was safe for frost,pretty much,went to local old time plant place and got 4 really nice big tomato plants,they had already set some fruit,so I will let em sit till tomorrow and plant them and will wait for the great fruit these folks sell, they have been doing it since the 40,s,and do a great job,
now gotta find the Genovese Basil plants,and all will be well...

[Yajna Patni]

So I finally got around to taking pics of my urban garden.. very small, but considering there's only 2 of us, it works out well - plus part of it is still in progress.. the nice thing about doing things indoors is that you can continue to start and plant things all year long...


This is a Paul Robeson heirloom tomato - it's about 2-3 weeks old. Got the start from Laurel's. This weekend, I'm going to attach a string to the ceiling and train it up the string as support. It should produce about 5-6 tomatoes a week for the next 8-10 months.


Dwarf lime tree - probably about 7 years old - bears standard sized limes. It was having root rot problems for a while until I discovered the miracle of Hygrozyme, and now it's much better and it's the first time I'm letting it fruit in about a year.


L-R: Rouge Grenobloise Batavian lettuce - I actually harvested half of the head last Monday, and it's basically grown back to full size since then; Basil; Thai basil. On the way (not pictured) is rosemary, french thyme, fl parsely, more lettuce, tarragon, cilantro, etc... In the past, in this setup, I grew Gailan, bok choi, arugula and some oddities like chocolate mint, variegated lemon geranium, coconut geranium, and lime thyme. Mint is a bad idea in this setup because the roots wind up taking over the whole trough.

wow... your set up is amazing! I am trying to do a little apt gardening too. I have not had luck with tomatoes in teh past. I have done best with leafy greens that I can tear off a few for salads.
I have a thai lime tree that is just a few years old, it never gives limes, but the leaves are the thing and they are plentiful. I also have scallions , lemongrass, and my most hard producing... pea sprouts! in a shallow pot, just dried peas from the super market, they make about a salad a week.
I need to figure out the tomatoe. IN the past they have flowered repeatedly and not set fruit. I had a hot pepper that did the same thing.
Your set up is super impessive1

[thirtyoneknots]

My garden is finally coming into its own. This is part of the take from just this week (less what we had eaten before this afternoon )



Pickling cucumbers, variety of squash, tomatoes, and the first eggplant--a baby variety called Fairy Tale. A few beans off of some of the more precocious vines but not enough to do anything with. The main bean crop will begin in earnest next week I think.

Most of what I've had so far are the tiny cherry or grape tomatoes, but the big boys are on the way:



Black Krim, getting as much hangtime as I can spare. Knock on wood, the birds have left things alone up to now.

[KennethT]

wow... your set up is amazing! I am trying to do a little apt gardening too. I have not had luck with tomatoes in teh past. I have done best with leafy greens that I can tear off a few for salads.
I have a thai lime tree that is just a few years old, it never gives limes, but the leaves are the thing and they are plentiful. I also have scallions , lemongrass, and my most hard producing... pea sprouts! in a shallow pot, just dried peas from the super market, they make about a salad a week.
I need to figure out the tomatoe. IN the past they have flowered repeatedly and not set fruit. I had a hot pepper that did the same thing.
Your set up is super impessive1

Thanks.... When your tomato plant flowers, how do you pollinate it? Most, if not all, tomato plants do not self pollinate - they rely on the wind, bees, etc to do it. So, indoors (greenhouse or apartment) you have to do it manually. The easiest way to do this is with a electric toothbrush. It vibrates at the right frequency to shake the pollen out - it's actually similar in frequency to bees wings! Just hold the toothbrush under the truss with flowers on it and press lightly. You should see pollen dust fall out of the flowers. Best to do I the morning, or late evening. I'm not sure if the same is true for peppers. Some hot peppers are notoriously difficult to set fruit indoors. Keep me posted as to your results!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Here's yesterday's haul; it's the last I'll see out of that garden since I'm moving. I'll try to take as many of the plants with me as I can, but the ají pepper bush is too large to move ( )

[Yajna Patni]

wow... your set up is amazing! I am trying to do a little apt gardening too. I have not had luck with tomatoes in teh past. I have done best with leafy greens that I can tear off a few for salads.
I have a thai lime tree that is just a few years old, it never gives limes, but the leaves are the thing and they are plentiful. I also have scallions , lemongrass, and my most hard producing... pea sprouts! in a shallow pot, just dried peas from the super market, they make about a salad a week.
I need to figure out the tomatoe. IN the past they have flowered repeatedly and not set fruit. I had a hot pepper that did the same thing.
Your set up is super impessive1

Thanks.... When your tomato plant flowers, how do you pollinate it? Most, if not all, tomato plants do not self pollinate - they rely on the wind, bees, etc to do it. So, indoors (greenhouse or apartment) you have to do it manually. The easiest way to do this is with a electric toothbrush. It vibrates at the right frequency to shake the pollen out - it's actually similar in frequency to bees wings! Just hold the toothbrush under the truss with flowers on it and press lightly. You should see pollen dust fall out of the flowers. Best to do I the morning, or late evening. I'm not sure if the same is true for peppers. Some hot peppers are notoriously difficult to set fruit indoors. Keep me posted as to your results!

I had not thought of it needing pollination! I will try that out. I will be getting some plants in the next few weeks. I have an electric tooth brush even! thank you!!! I will let you know.

[ScottyBoy]

First time with the green cauliflower and it seems like my garden loves to grow the chokes!

[thirtyoneknots]

Scottyboy, your artichokes look terrific. I planted one in late January/early February and it has grown some but I wouldn't quite say it is thriving. I didn't expect it to necessarily make chokes this soon but I'd appreciate any tips you might have, or even just what to expect out of it. I put a 6-8" tall plant in the ground and now have something that is about 2-3" across but the outside leaves tend to yellow and eventually fall off, which sort of negates new growth.

[ScottyBoy]

Well I'm looking at Texas in your location. Too much sun? I'm kinda spoiled to be in California, artichoke territory...

[thirtyoneknots]

North Texas, yeah (Zone 7). It gets some morning shade and has a tree about 12 feet to the south of it, so it's not in total sun. It always seemed to have growth spurts after rainy cold fronts...I just can't seem to nail down whether it does most of its growing during the warm or cool months--seems to depend on where you live.

Like so many interesting plants, it may just be too damned hot for it here. Ah well.

[Chris Hennes]

Well, it only took me three years, but I've finally managed to coax a decent yield out of my tomato plants here in Oklahoma:



Those are Porter's Pride, it's a variety out of Porter, Texas, designed to set fruit even when it's very hot out. That, coupled with exceptionally fantastic weather since January, resulted in my first useable tomato harvest here. About time!

[heidih]

Congrats on the 'maters Chris! I have been picking zucchini, hot peppers and cucumbers from my little kiddie pools along with lots of herbs, A good number of the zuke flowers were fried along with the flower heads of oregano. A neighbor has a thriving vegetable plot and invited me to pick any green beans that come through the fence. It is chain link and she poked some of the tendrils through. They are tender and the essence of green bean. My tomatoes are still green but I have high hopes. We get "June gloom" here which has trailed into July so the sun does not come out till mid day.

[naguere]

heidih

slim and tender, i would slice those like French beans and steam them, pods and all.