What's in your vegetable gardens this year?

[ok_nurse]

I know some people have some really interesting vegetable plants that they grow for reasons I've never heard of. About the most interesting I get is that I grow beets to boil for my family. This year I hav the yellow long squash and a few zuchini plants are making it. My lettuce all dried up from the 90 degree heat even though I brought it indoors with the air conditioning-now it doesn't get enough sun. Well, I got a few good salads from it. Roma tomatoes are doing well as are the brussel sprouts. I think i'm going to go out to the clearance racks of the hardware store today and see what else I can find there to save!

[Pushin-up-Daisies]

I have a small garden spot but it has corn,carrots,butter beans, green beans, yellow cukes & marigolds for bug patrol.I'll take a pic. I have 1 pic on my album site but its grown since then.:

[Mandy]

We planted our usual veggies this year but we also decided to try celery plants and red cabbages. Well a bunny came along and chewed down the celery, then chewed the red cabbage, ignoring the green cabbages rt. next to them. Now we could fence the garden off but it's quite large and my hubby likes to til in between the rows to cut down on weeds. I put marigolds around since the scent supposedly deters them (it hasn't worked so far!). I was telling this story to my sister-in-law and said they ignored the broccoli and brussel sprouts that were growing rt. next to the celery. She started laughing and said they sound just like kids, you can't get them to eat broccoli or brussel sprouts either! Lol.

[AlphaDog]

This year I have a row of corn, cucumbers, okra, yellow squash, spaghetti squash (hehe), sweet basil, sage, lemon balm, parsley, and I've already harvested my radishes. My mother and I devoured them! lol

That's about it for my veggie garden this year.


You guys' gardens sound great! I'd love to see pics!!!

And tell me about the marigolds. What do they keep out?!?! Never heard of that!

[bhscarlett]

when i was little my mom used to make beet soup with sour cream, it was good, no one likes it here but me ,:0):hello

[Mandy]

Supposedly their strong scent will keep rabbits, deer maybe ground hogs, I'm not sure, away from whatever you want to protect. The idea is to plant the marigolds close to whatever you want protected. Aybody else ever hear of this?

[Mandy]

Bhscarlett I want that beet soup recipe!!! We grow lots of beets and that would be a great and different way to serve them other than boiling them. Pm me please!!!

[ok_nurse]

That soup sounds delish!! I want it too!
Now I can make a great cabbage soup with tomato base and sour cream. Boy (I'm getting hungry!) We can't seem to grow cabbage very well here. My hubby didn't get the radishes in the ground in time so I'm envious Alpha-love them radishes! How do you cook your spaghetti squash and what do you use lemon balm for?
I know marigolds are supposed to deter aphids on tomatoes.

[angmf2233]

Whats that soup taste like? I only have ever eaten beets in pickled eggs? Where have I been? I never had a plain beet duh.

[Mandy]

Oh Angie there is nothing like fresh beets rt. out of your garden, delicious. Ok nurse we make our spaghetti squash almost like a casserole. Cook the squash first, either in oven or microwave, scooping out seeds before cooking. After cooked scoop out insides, it'll look like spaghetti. Then we mix it with spaghetti sauce and mozzarela cheese and bake til heated thru. Can't beat it. I'm glad you planted some Alpha Dog. I'm curious about the lemon balm too, what do you use iy for. Im jealous you can grow okra, I love it and I don't think we can up here in PA.

[AlphaDog]

I put the lemon balm leaves in my tea. There's a lot of different things you can use it for, I just can't remember all of them. I've also used the leaves in salads. Most times I put 5-6 little leaves in a bowl of salad and it makes every few bites taste a little lemony.. lol Lemon Balm has the aroma of a Lemon Dum-Dum sucker. It tastes like artificial lemon flavoring. Its a member of the mint family. Its a perennial. More like a weed. lol If you want to grow it, do so in containers. If you want it in the ground, plant it in a container then plant the container in the ground. If you don't, it'll take over everywhere!! Spreads pretty fast and is very invasive!

This is the first year I've grown okra in my own garden. I'm ready for it to start producing. But a friend of mine has grown it for YEARS and has a bumper crop every year. I can't wait to harvest!

[Pushin-up-Daisies]

This is going 2 sound stupid but here goes, my mom who is 80 & has grown okra plus all kinds of veggies in her life time & grew up on a farm in South Ga. told me u had to whip okra to get it producing okra. As it it is growing u take a switch( thin limber branch)& beat the ground all around the okra to stimulate it & it will produce more pods of okra, she should know. I haven't ever planted any okra my self but whatcha got to lose "right".

[bhscarlett]

the best i can say is start with a small batch and try it you will either love it or hate it,, I say if you love beets,, this is a yummy sensation for the palate of many flavors,, similiar to a cabbage soup,, but made from beets,, Blessings,, Beth

[zuzu's petals]

Mmmmm, beet soup, cabbage soup, salad with lemon balm this thread is making me sooo hungry ...
... do we need a recipe thread???

[Pushin-up-Daisies]

yes zuzu lets have a recipe thread, I love to eat,yum,yum come here banana