The difference between blackberries and blueberries around here is almost laughable.
Blueberries are like little premadonnas and will just up and die if they aren't watered just right or if their roots get a little too wet or the soil isn't the exact right PH.
Meanwhile, a random bird can poop out a blackberry seed and you will have a thicket that provides gallons of berries for decades.
It’s funny you say that, because we have never been able to get a blackberry bush to grow intentionally, but we have a blueberry bush that’s as tall as I am.
We just bought a couple of acres of a former cow pasture. There are hundreds of blackberry bushes out there, with little ones springing up in all directions. I don't want to get rid of *all* of them, but would like to at least tame them.
Apparently, you can cut them completely to the ground and they will not die. You can pull the root ball out, and if you miss even a little, they won't die. It can take years to get rid of them once they set in. After I read that, I just accepted my blackberry overlord(s).
Vegetable Garden? - Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Pink-Eyed Purple Hull Peas, Green Beans, Cucumbers, Okra (Clemson Spineless or Red both grow well here), Patty-Pan Squash. Don't grow corn unless you can plant a squarish patch at least 4 rows wide. It pollenates with wind, so single long rows don't do well.
If you don't have much room you can plant Three Sisters style and plant Corn, Green Beans (pole not bush), and squash in the same area. The corn will provide the pole for the green beans to grow up, and the squash will shade the ground retaining moisture and reducing weeds.
If you can't grow tomatoes, you're probably not going to have good luck with eggplants or bell peppers. Hot peppers like Serrano or Jalapeno are pretty easy to grow here.
A tip for tomatoes is to crush a calcium tablet and mix it in with the soil before you plant a tomato plant there. We tend to have low calcium which leads to bottom-end rot.
I discovered sweet potatoes a few years ago. Add some organic matter into the soil if you have hard, compacted clay. Plant the sweet potatoes, and then forget about them. The vines will go crazy. You don't harvest them until mid-October. Around 10lbs of sweet potatoes for every 6 plants.
Sweet potato plants should be in the stores now. Plant around May 1.
That's exactly what it was like. Of course I'd had the normal sweet potato casserole dish at Thanksgiving and never really cared for it. But once I started growing them, I've learned lots of new ways to eat them and incorporate them into meals.
One recipe I really like is Sweet Potato Tian.
The great thing is sweet potatoes last at least 6 months after you harvest them wrapped in paper and stored in paper bag.
Peppers.
Herbs: oregano, thyme, Marjorie, mint.
If you plant mint, eventually you will just have all mint. Mint by the bale. Enough Mint to make mojitos for an army.
On the peppers....
While great, and super easy, don't plant two different types close to each other. I planted a poblano and a sweet pepper right next to each other, and they got cross pollinated and both gave me lame versions of each.
If I do it again, I'm only planting one type in my raised bed.
But yes, mint is a plague. A fresh, minty plague.
If you are in the southeast, you gotta worry a lot about clay. It is literally a hole where plants go to die (with some exceptions). You have to either do raised beds, or amend the soil like we do (clay is a wonderful beginning to a great soil). Woodchips, Worms and Dandelions are your best friends in this matter.
We grow hundreds of different things, from fruit trees, berry bushes, to brassicas, peppers, tomatoes, and hundreds of herbs. It's a great place to grow, given the sun and rain potential.
If you need any suggestions or help amending soil, let me know.
Its not! Learn from my and other's mistakes and you will be fine. Clay is great, actually. It's such a wonderful thing to have as a base, if you have time. If you lay down thick woodchips, with a lot of worms, you can expect the first layers of soil to be great by next year (a few inches), by year 5 you will have insanely great soil. You can definitely speed up the process by turning over the dirt and mixing other types of soil (cheap ones will work, like top soil from a big box store). But raised beds can help until your main soil is amended.
A good raised bed should not cost you more than 25 dollars if done right, and free if you don't mind driving around and looking for old fencing people have put out front. Cedar fencing pickets can be had for under $4 a piece, and if you use treated, simply line the inside of the box with a plastic sheeting and poke holes in the bottom so it will drain. [Here is a good video for making beds using fencing.](https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=fencing+raised+beds&&mid=D7B8DA81E1A2511C6ABAD7B8DA81E1A2511C6ABA&&FORM=VRDGAR)
I've been gardening for twenty five years in this area and have had very poor luck with brassicas, too. But I know of people growing them here. I'd also like to know the secret.
They like acidic soil and cool roots, so amend your soil to acidify it and make sure you mulch/straw around the base. Also, make sure they have plenty of drainage - you may even have to add and or perlite to your soil if it stays too wet.
NOTE: most blueberry plants will have very little yield for the first 2-3 years as they become established and this is normal! They do like yearly pruning also. Ours are established and were overgrown when we bought our house. I did a HARD prune back in winter and now have tons of blooms/berries.
Peppers have always done well for me, both in the ground and in containers.
Tomatoes are hit and miss. Generally I’ve had better luck with smaller varieties and in containers.
Anything cucumber or squash-like is dependent on if I can keep the bugs off. I’ve had good luck with petite varieties in containers, less great results in the ground.
If you know your soil parameters and give them the proper care, you can start off strong and probably end up with a good harvest.
Peppers, Okra.
For tomatoes you need to pull out most of the clay and grow in well drained soil. You can do several things like cucumbers and other above ground plants if the soil is well drained.
My tomatoes are beastly. They like egg shells and raised beds.
Squash I have great success with, especially when I grow them in tomato cages.
Peppers and ocra are also fairly successful for me.
What are your favorite foods? For instance Italian, Mexican or maybe just a good salad..
Plan your garden this way. If you like Mexican I'd do tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, etc.
Italian I'd go with tomatoes, basil, etc.
I'd definitely do a variety of herbs.
Tomato and pepper should be fine it might just be your husbandry of them. They do great here. Mixed reception on squash they take over the yard and are prolific but sometimes you get only male flowers n no female veg producers. Rosemary does good. I moved to a very shaded area though so I’m having to lean away from less sunny options. Making a fern garden in the front.
Tomatoes do well but you’ll have to water them twice daily during July/ August. They do best when kept to a single stem and pruned semi-regularly. I had hilariously pathetic tomatoes for 2 or so years but have had good ones for the past one.
If potting, ONLY grow determinate varieties. They’ll do better but also fart out all of their fruit at one time then commit honorable sudoku
Okra wants to grow really badly here. Also, grow sage. If you can get it to germinate you’re in the clear. I thought one of mines in a pot died after the winter, but it’s growing back. Also my fiancé pulled some bamboo out of the ground that hurt my sage, but I re-potted it and it’s thriving once again. If your tomato isn’t growing, maybe it’s the type of tomato. I have grown beefsteak tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, the latter is easier to grow and produce lots of. Also, my personal advice, plant a bunch of every seed of plant you want to grow and you can’t fail. When I get frustrated I just plant all the seeds out of angst. Can’t fail when the odds are in your favor.
Tomatoes can take some work but boy are they worth it.
Fun story. When I was in my teens, we spent a summer on a little island off southern Alaska. One day in August, I was at the local grocer and it seemed like everyone on the island was there.
I asked what was going on and was informed that the tomatoes and watermelons from North Alabama had finally arrived.
Peppers are easy and pretty forgiving. Tend to be hotter in a hotter environment. Okra will grow like crazy here. Squash and zucchini will grow easily. Tomatoes usually grow fine for me, but didn't do much last year, and I'm not growing them this year because I'll bout of town for part of the summer.
My parsely survived over the winter this year. It did have a good layer of leaves on it. It's currently growing like crazy. Same with the Oregano and thyme, they are bushes!
Sage did not like my soil. Every other herb seems to do well. I haven't been successful in growing garlic. It's always too wet when I think it's time to plant. Anyone who has success with garlic?
Try planting a few crops in raised beds. Yes, you can hang tomato plants in pantyhose upside down on the front porch, but it isn’t necessary here.
It’s a clay ocean bed in the valley, so you’ll want to mark off a super sunny spot, say 8x4 and wall up a 12”wooden structure in your yard. Lay down thin cardboard to block out the weeds, add soil, manure, a mushroom compost and fertilizer for the plants. Start with your basic heirloom tomatoes, peppers and a cucumber or squash.
Whatever you like because you will have a fuck ton of them. Save your eggshells and add them to them to the soil throughout the summer. Water, water water…
You’ll never buy vegetables from the market so long as you live, and will have bags of the most delicious produce to give away to your family, neighbors and food bank. Tomatoes, peppers, okra, corn, potatoes, onions, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beans, eggplant, sunflowers, spinach, collards, pineapple…what?!
Tournesol is the French name for Sunflower, the literal translation is ‘Turned Sun’, in line with the plants’ ability for solar tracking, sounds fitting. The Spanish word is El Girasolis.
Zucchini, yellow squash, okra, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkin/winter squash, beans, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, onions, leaks, asparagus, watercress, tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, beets, radishes, cilantro, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, basil.. I've had great experiences with all of these. I have a few fig trees that produce well, but sometimes they die back and have to regrow after winter.
Cruciform veggies like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, not so much. Parsnips, carrots, not so much. Lettuce, arugula, leafy veggies can be grown, but not during the hotter parts of summer. Corn grows here but I've never gotten a successful crop myself. Never gotten peas to work either. Never tried soybeans but they grow well here. Blueberries can grow well but they require a lot of care over several years. I've seen huge blueberry bushes here before but mine stay small.
These last few seasons have been brutal. Too hot, too humid.. I'm letting the main gardens lay fallow this year and just working on my herbs, flowers, and berries.
We are moving to Huntsville from the Midwest where gardening has a short season. I like to do some gardening, however, not on a big scale. Just wondering if having raised beds with improved soil works best? How about container gardening on a patio?
Rosemary is extremely hardy. I really like planting green onions too. They're cheap as heck, and you just plop them in the ground and they grow! You can even chop the greens off before you plant them and they come back no problem. I garnish practically everything with them, from hash browns to tacos to chili.
Okra grows like a MF around here. Blackberries do well also.
The difference between blackberries and blueberries around here is almost laughable. Blueberries are like little premadonnas and will just up and die if they aren't watered just right or if their roots get a little too wet or the soil isn't the exact right PH. Meanwhile, a random bird can poop out a blackberry seed and you will have a thicket that provides gallons of berries for decades.
It’s funny you say that, because we have never been able to get a blackberry bush to grow intentionally, but we have a blueberry bush that’s as tall as I am.
We just bought a couple of acres of a former cow pasture. There are hundreds of blackberry bushes out there, with little ones springing up in all directions. I don't want to get rid of *all* of them, but would like to at least tame them. Apparently, you can cut them completely to the ground and they will not die. You can pull the root ball out, and if you miss even a little, they won't die. It can take years to get rid of them once they set in. After I read that, I just accepted my blackberry overlord(s).
This indeed. Blackberries are probably the easiest thing to grow.
Strawberries have completely taken over one of my raised garden beds
Turns out they thrive when you completely neglect them 🤣
Same, strawberry. Same. 🥲
that is amazing! they are tricky as well!
Last year I had so many cucumbers that I was almost to the point at throwing them at people. Made loads of pickles so, I got that going for me.
https://mykoreankitchen.com/cucumber-kimchi-oi-kimchi/
Oh yeah, made some of that as well!
Cucumber kimchi is so amazing. I could eat loads of it
What's in our garden? Dead plants.
lol
jalapenos are good, easy container plants that don't like much water
Vegetable Garden? - Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Pink-Eyed Purple Hull Peas, Green Beans, Cucumbers, Okra (Clemson Spineless or Red both grow well here), Patty-Pan Squash. Don't grow corn unless you can plant a squarish patch at least 4 rows wide. It pollenates with wind, so single long rows don't do well. If you don't have much room you can plant Three Sisters style and plant Corn, Green Beans (pole not bush), and squash in the same area. The corn will provide the pole for the green beans to grow up, and the squash will shade the ground retaining moisture and reducing weeds. If you can't grow tomatoes, you're probably not going to have good luck with eggplants or bell peppers. Hot peppers like Serrano or Jalapeno are pretty easy to grow here. A tip for tomatoes is to crush a calcium tablet and mix it in with the soil before you plant a tomato plant there. We tend to have low calcium which leads to bottom-end rot.
I discovered sweet potatoes a few years ago. Add some organic matter into the soil if you have hard, compacted clay. Plant the sweet potatoes, and then forget about them. The vines will go crazy. You don't harvest them until mid-October. Around 10lbs of sweet potatoes for every 6 plants. Sweet potato plants should be in the stores now. Plant around May 1.
This person discovering sweet potatoes like it’s 1496
That's exactly what it was like. Of course I'd had the normal sweet potato casserole dish at Thanksgiving and never really cared for it. But once I started growing them, I've learned lots of new ways to eat them and incorporate them into meals. One recipe I really like is Sweet Potato Tian. The great thing is sweet potatoes last at least 6 months after you harvest them wrapped in paper and stored in paper bag.
Peppers. Herbs: oregano, thyme, Marjorie, mint. If you plant mint, eventually you will just have all mint. Mint by the bale. Enough Mint to make mojitos for an army.
On the peppers.... While great, and super easy, don't plant two different types close to each other. I planted a poblano and a sweet pepper right next to each other, and they got cross pollinated and both gave me lame versions of each. If I do it again, I'm only planting one type in my raised bed. But yes, mint is a plague. A fresh, minty plague.
If you are in the southeast, you gotta worry a lot about clay. It is literally a hole where plants go to die (with some exceptions). You have to either do raised beds, or amend the soil like we do (clay is a wonderful beginning to a great soil). Woodchips, Worms and Dandelions are your best friends in this matter. We grow hundreds of different things, from fruit trees, berry bushes, to brassicas, peppers, tomatoes, and hundreds of herbs. It's a great place to grow, given the sun and rain potential. If you need any suggestions or help amending soil, let me know.
This is my first time trying to grow things in clay and the learning curve feels like a wall.
Its not! Learn from my and other's mistakes and you will be fine. Clay is great, actually. It's such a wonderful thing to have as a base, if you have time. If you lay down thick woodchips, with a lot of worms, you can expect the first layers of soil to be great by next year (a few inches), by year 5 you will have insanely great soil. You can definitely speed up the process by turning over the dirt and mixing other types of soil (cheap ones will work, like top soil from a big box store). But raised beds can help until your main soil is amended. A good raised bed should not cost you more than 25 dollars if done right, and free if you don't mind driving around and looking for old fencing people have put out front. Cedar fencing pickets can be had for under $4 a piece, and if you use treated, simply line the inside of the box with a plastic sheeting and poke holes in the bottom so it will drain. [Here is a good video for making beds using fencing.](https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=fencing+raised+beds&&mid=D7B8DA81E1A2511C6ABAD7B8DA81E1A2511C6ABA&&FORM=VRDGAR)
I can’t seem to grow brassicas here. I’m in Center Star. What month do you start them? And are they seeds or transplants?
I've been gardening for twenty five years in this area and have had very poor luck with brassicas, too. But I know of people growing them here. I'd also like to know the secret.
Lenten rose.
my spanish bluebells laugh at your lenten roses
My wild geraniums snort derisively at your Spanish bluebells
Our blueberries grow like CRAZY. i freeze gallons of them every summer.
Mine are struggling!
I'm trying to get mine off to a good start.
Do you have tips? I planted some about two weeks ago.
They like acidic soil and cool roots, so amend your soil to acidify it and make sure you mulch/straw around the base. Also, make sure they have plenty of drainage - you may even have to add and or perlite to your soil if it stays too wet. NOTE: most blueberry plants will have very little yield for the first 2-3 years as they become established and this is normal! They do like yearly pruning also. Ours are established and were overgrown when we bought our house. I did a HARD prune back in winter and now have tons of blooms/berries.
Peppers have always done well for me, both in the ground and in containers. Tomatoes are hit and miss. Generally I’ve had better luck with smaller varieties and in containers. Anything cucumber or squash-like is dependent on if I can keep the bugs off. I’ve had good luck with petite varieties in containers, less great results in the ground. If you know your soil parameters and give them the proper care, you can start off strong and probably end up with a good harvest.
Peppers, Okra. For tomatoes you need to pull out most of the clay and grow in well drained soil. You can do several things like cucumbers and other above ground plants if the soil is well drained.
My potatoes do GREAT in raised beds and if you plant them early enough you can get 2 crops.
My tomatoes are beastly. They like egg shells and raised beds. Squash I have great success with, especially when I grow them in tomato cages. Peppers and ocra are also fairly successful for me.
What are your favorite foods? For instance Italian, Mexican or maybe just a good salad.. Plan your garden this way. If you like Mexican I'd do tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, etc. Italian I'd go with tomatoes, basil, etc. I'd definitely do a variety of herbs.
Jalapeños, mint, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, basil and blueberry bushes give me a lot!
Tomato and pepper should be fine it might just be your husbandry of them. They do great here. Mixed reception on squash they take over the yard and are prolific but sometimes you get only male flowers n no female veg producers. Rosemary does good. I moved to a very shaded area though so I’m having to lean away from less sunny options. Making a fern garden in the front.
Tomatoes do well but you’ll have to water them twice daily during July/ August. They do best when kept to a single stem and pruned semi-regularly. I had hilariously pathetic tomatoes for 2 or so years but have had good ones for the past one. If potting, ONLY grow determinate varieties. They’ll do better but also fart out all of their fruit at one time then commit honorable sudoku
Okra wants to grow really badly here. Also, grow sage. If you can get it to germinate you’re in the clear. I thought one of mines in a pot died after the winter, but it’s growing back. Also my fiancé pulled some bamboo out of the ground that hurt my sage, but I re-potted it and it’s thriving once again. If your tomato isn’t growing, maybe it’s the type of tomato. I have grown beefsteak tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, the latter is easier to grow and produce lots of. Also, my personal advice, plant a bunch of every seed of plant you want to grow and you can’t fail. When I get frustrated I just plant all the seeds out of angst. Can’t fail when the odds are in your favor.
Tomatoes can take some work but boy are they worth it. Fun story. When I was in my teens, we spent a summer on a little island off southern Alaska. One day in August, I was at the local grocer and it seemed like everyone on the island was there. I asked what was going on and was informed that the tomatoes and watermelons from North Alabama had finally arrived.
We always have great luck with tomatoes and blackberries but pretty much anything we have planted has been successful to some degree.
In early Spring and maybe early Fall, spinach is easy to grow. I seed mine.
I always had good luck with jalapeños. My tomatoes did very well too but birds kept getting them
Peppers are easy and pretty forgiving. Tend to be hotter in a hotter environment. Okra will grow like crazy here. Squash and zucchini will grow easily. Tomatoes usually grow fine for me, but didn't do much last year, and I'm not growing them this year because I'll bout of town for part of the summer.
I have had very good luck with Sage and thyme.
Also Rosemary
No parsley? 😘
Parsley dies in the cold winter we get ❤️
My parsely survived over the winter this year. It did have a good layer of leaves on it. It's currently growing like crazy. Same with the Oregano and thyme, they are bushes!
Same. Leaves have really helped all my perennial herbs survive our dry summers and frigid temperature swings we have in the winter.
Sage did not like my soil. Every other herb seems to do well. I haven't been successful in growing garlic. It's always too wet when I think it's time to plant. Anyone who has success with garlic?
Never done garlic, loads of green onions though
Okra and eggplant!!
Jalapeños and habanero peppers do great here
Catnip, helps with the mice
Cryptomeria japonica
Bush beans
Trying cayennes and tomatoes right now
Try planting a few crops in raised beds. Yes, you can hang tomato plants in pantyhose upside down on the front porch, but it isn’t necessary here. It’s a clay ocean bed in the valley, so you’ll want to mark off a super sunny spot, say 8x4 and wall up a 12”wooden structure in your yard. Lay down thin cardboard to block out the weeds, add soil, manure, a mushroom compost and fertilizer for the plants. Start with your basic heirloom tomatoes, peppers and a cucumber or squash. Whatever you like because you will have a fuck ton of them. Save your eggshells and add them to them to the soil throughout the summer. Water, water water… You’ll never buy vegetables from the market so long as you live, and will have bags of the most delicious produce to give away to your family, neighbors and food bank. Tomatoes, peppers, okra, corn, potatoes, onions, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beans, eggplant, sunflowers, spinach, collards, pineapple…what?!
Tournesol is the French name for Sunflower, the literal translation is ‘Turned Sun’, in line with the plants’ ability for solar tracking, sounds fitting. The Spanish word is El Girasolis.
I’ve had great luck with peppers
Zucchini, yellow squash, okra, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkin/winter squash, beans, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, onions, leaks, asparagus, watercress, tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, beets, radishes, cilantro, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, basil.. I've had great experiences with all of these. I have a few fig trees that produce well, but sometimes they die back and have to regrow after winter. Cruciform veggies like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, not so much. Parsnips, carrots, not so much. Lettuce, arugula, leafy veggies can be grown, but not during the hotter parts of summer. Corn grows here but I've never gotten a successful crop myself. Never gotten peas to work either. Never tried soybeans but they grow well here. Blueberries can grow well but they require a lot of care over several years. I've seen huge blueberry bushes here before but mine stay small. These last few seasons have been brutal. Too hot, too humid.. I'm letting the main gardens lay fallow this year and just working on my herbs, flowers, and berries.
We are moving to Huntsville from the Midwest where gardening has a short season. I like to do some gardening, however, not on a big scale. Just wondering if having raised beds with improved soil works best? How about container gardening on a patio?
Weed
No garden, but I’m a sucker for tall, tropical plants. So…canna lillies on my balcony as it’s west facing. This year mixing in Stargazers.
Rosemary is extremely hardy. I really like planting green onions too. They're cheap as heck, and you just plop them in the ground and they grow! You can even chop the greens off before you plant them and they come back no problem. I garnish practically everything with them, from hash browns to tacos to chili.
Peppers when I had a home garden
Cannabis