Grow Your Own

Post Reply New Topic

I love having fresh herbs growing outside kitchen, food taste so much better with really fresh ingredients. I've just got the one basil that I got from a heritage seed place, Finissimo basil. It is supposed to grow into a perfect little spherical bush with strong scented/flavoured leaves but I think I planted it too close to my curry bushes, the smell gets over powered.

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/herbs.html

i love growing herbs and vegies. i used to have a garden back at my old house and to the place i moved but now i have a new home and i havent gotten around to doing anything major with the backyard. i planted garlic and broad beans. the beans are coming along well but the garlic is looking pathetic. the sweet peas did not sprout at all. i can blame this on the position of the one patch of dirt in the yard- full shade, poorly drained soil. the odds are against me. i need to find vegies, fruit or herbs that grow in such adverse conditions. is it possible to uproot garlic and replant it? home grown is better. i dont know what comercial grower do to their produce but it just is not natural. the stuff thats grown naturally is supposed to look like a mutant freak not that steroid fed crap you get from supermarkets.

That Finissimo sounds a lot like boxwood. Here's a picture of boxwood:

Looks similar as little round bush but I think it is different, this page has the two as separate plants:

http://ramonasbasilgarden.com/basil-list/



"Finissimo Basil

Finissimo basil is also known as “Finissimo Verde A Palla” basil. It is a type of Bush basil and one of Italy’s oldest and favorite basils. It has tiny leaves that are full of flavor and smell wonderful. This basil is best used in Italian dishes but also compliments many other dishes nicely."


"Boxwood Basil

Boxwood basil is used mainly as an ingredient in pasta dishes. The little green plants make a nice addition to your garden and the basil can also be planted in a pot however they grow quickly and may over run your patio, so you should consider planting them in the ground."

I would love to have five acres!

Sadly I've just got a titchy back garden with clay bog and building rubble for soil to grow in.

Herbs

Many vegetables, including tomatoes and peppers can be grown in containers. 5 gallon buckets work well and can be often be picked up for free from local stores, bakeries are usually a good source.
There are many informative videos on You Tube about container gardening.

Check out this guys set up, it's one of the best. It isn't overly complicated but it does take a little construction. On the other hand, it can be as simple as dumping some potting soil in a container of your choice and plant away

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FC0j-mg7z0&list=UUVnDfVS8raCaGEM0BOypsLg&index=1&feature=plcp[/youtube]

A few years ago, I planted a small redcurrant bush. It's grown taller than me and very wide by now, and it has a net to keep birds from stealing the berries. There's also a lot of lemon balm in my garden, but that's an accident - I planted some of it in a controlled way, but the next year it had taken over. For some reason, there are two young oaks and a small pine tree growing in my garden. The pine tree is fine for now, but one of the oaks has to go as they're right next to each other..

I hope to clear two small patches of dirt in my garden, then plant some herbs there. There should be several bags of seeds in the shed and the kitchen.

Peanuts

well, right now I'm between apartments, but back when I had my own place I used a one foot by three foot patch of soil to grow:

green onions
basil
parsley
dill
oregano

Bought some chard, I've got just about enough room left for a couple of plants if I kill off the rest of the lawn.

Kale (bucketloads of it)
Collard greens
Baby spinach
Broccoli
Rocket
Some lettuces of various types
chilies of various kinds
bell peppers (a.k.a. capsicum)
tomatoes
carrots
sping onions
onions
Butternut squash
Mushrooms
Yuca (and a number of other roots and tubers not normally grow here)
Beetroot

Coconut
Limes
Mango
Pineapples
Lycees
Guava
Strawberries
Oranges
Plums
Plantains
Bananas
Avocados

Ginger
Garlic
Basil
Thyme
Sage
Marjoram
Parsley
Lemon grass
Dill
Oregano
Rosemary
Cilantro

I have much more but this was all I could think of at the moment. I live on a fair amount of acreage, so there is a lot of it. We sell what we don't use, except for the kale. I eat a fair amount of kale since I can't buy it here, so I sell the excess but there usually isn't too much between me and my housemate.

It's paid for itself many times over, not to mention my grocery list is very small if existent these days. I just have to buy meat and seafood for the week and we are usually good here. Unless I happen to run out of tea or coffee.

Put dishes of beer around and the slugs will crawl into them and drown. Really.

I had a pretty big garden at my house in Ohio. I grew a few uncommon heirloom varieties.

-Triple play sweet corn (heirloom)
-Butterscotch beans (original Boston baked beans-heirloom)
-Rattlesnake beans (heirloom)
-Scarlet emperor beans (heirloom)
-Painted pony beans (heirloom)
-Black beans
-Broccoli
-Eggplant
-Red cabbage
-Green leaf lettuce
-Spinach
-Zucchini squash
-Cucumber
-Marglobe tomatoes
-Beefsteak tomatoes
-Strawberries
-Red bell peppers
-Green bell peppers
-Jalepeno peppers
-Banana peppers
-Rutabaga
-Potatoes
-Cilantro
-Thyme
-Parsley
-Dill
-Basil
-Rosemary
-Chives
-Oregano
-Stevia rebaudiana

I can attest to this! It works like a charm. Something I always wanted to try as a pesticide, was diatomaceous earth. It's cheap, and only effects insects.

I am sooo jealous of you and Kjas, I would love to have a decent spread to grow stuff on.

I've tried beer traps in the past, the slugs ignore them and munch on my lettuce instead.