Seed, Sorrow and Success

Those glossy pictures in the seed catalogs are so enticing! I am one of those guilty to succumbing to their siren call. Summer is the time to decide which seeds to order for the cool weather garden and many vegetable gardeners like to try new varieties, especially if they have been disappointed with types they have planted before. If you want to have a good yield, however, it is best if you stick to the varieties that you have found do best in your own garden.

For instance: Many trials have convinced me that Chandler strawberries give the best results as far as strawberries go. I always plant some Detroit red beets along with Golden beets, because I know that the Detroit variety grows like a weed, here. I avoid regular chard because it grows to a giant size and, for the limited space in a raised planter, takes up too much room. The smaller, colorful chards are ideal and the leaves are SO tender. I have tried many types of lettuce but my favorite is Burpee's Buttercrunch . Perfecto is our favorite radish and even grows faster than Bok Choy, another easy plant to grow here. We like the Touchon carrot. I always include a curly leaf spinach along with other loose leaf lettuce varieties. no problems noted. Have had trouble growing the following: French Breakfast radish, celery ( very bitter ), Brussell sprouts ( aphids) cabbage (aphids) cauliflower ( aphids). Last year's broccoli was great and refused to flower, even after I wanted it to...it just kept putting out sweet delicious buds! ( But I have had aphids in the past on broccoli, also.) I was enchanted with endive but found out that six plants are too many! Two should supply your needs. Just nip off leaves for salads as you need them. We did not like the mushy consistency of yellow pear tomatoes. Winter tomatoes work well, planted in the same place yearly, but watch out for frosts...they need protection!

I have tried the French intensive system , the Square Foot system and the row system in our raised planters and have come up with a cross between all of them, which seems to work best for us: Lettuce, carrots, spinach... French Intensive. Beets, Bok Choy, Radishes,onions... rows, spaced close enough together to allow for development of the vegetable. The Square foot system works best for larger vegetable plants...Summer and winter squashes, melons, tomatoes.
We have a growing tower for beans and peas. Pole beans were not successful ( small yield ) but we always have loads of sweet crunchy pods and peas. Planted directly in planter, in a circle around the pole. ( Burpee Sugar snap and Super Snappy ) Bush beans provided a good supply but took up too much room in the raised planters. Will try in lower planter, next season. Red onions grew easily along with garlic, which were planted along with beets and tomatoes. No gophers appeared in that bed . ( gophers ate the beets, last year )
Onions may have been a deterrent.

I plant individual pockets of parsley, cilantro, basil and other herbs in flower beds. The artichoke and eggplants have their own drips in other locations in the yard. Both of them are handsome plants as stand-alone specimens. When the artichoke died back, my husband thought it was a goner and pulled it out. That plant gave us artichokes for three years! It will have to be replaced.

Borrego vegetable gardeners! Let's hear from you. Maybe we can come up with a list of vegetables that are perfect for our area. We would be especially interested to hear where you purchased the seed or transplant,( or- did you save the seed from original plant ) along with the variety. Send your comments!