What do you wish you would have planted more of this season?

[K8-EEE]

Next year I'm doing way more of these "Mexican sunflowers"

http://www.botanicalinterests.com/store/search_results_detail.php?seedtype=F&seedid=108

Right when everything starts to look kind of heat-weary and stressed and I'm making covers and babying stuff -- these babies are like "Bring on the heat!!" They laugh at 100 degree days and don't need a ton of water or feeding or any special treatment at all, just started flowering like mad last week, they most cheerful corner of the garden. If you have hot summers I definitely recommend these!

[Blue Gardener]

1. Anything resistant to powdery mildew

We've had such a wet year here in Iowa, the powdery mildew has been especially hard to deal with. The cucumbers were the first to go, and now I'm afraid the zinnias are next. The sunflowers are doing great though! Maybe I'll follow your suggestion and plant more of them next year.

[K8-EEE]

4. Oh amen, WTF with the PM!!

We had some unusually muggy (at least for Los Angeles where dry heat is the norm) weather early in the summer and it SO squashed my squash!!! Only the yellow zucchini survived it!

[BOSSHOG]

2. Jalapeno Peppers

Gonna try tomatillos from seed next year.

[K8-EEE]

3. Have you tried them stuffed with peanut butter???

Don't laugh -- it's delish!! My friend from Denver told me about these -- apparently they are big up there.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Stuffed-Jalapenos/Detail.aspx

[BOSSHOG]

8. Yes

it is very good. We still have some growing. I like to remove the seeds, chop them into slices and use them as a dip chip.

[sazemisery]

5. Did tomatillos from seed this year

They are great. We make the salsa verde from the Rick Bayless cookbook, Everyday Mexican (I think).

Very easy to grow and prolific

[BOSSHOG]

10. Thanks for the info

I think I have half green thumbs. What I plant either produces nothing or grows like weeds and produces all season. I saw a pineapple tomatillo in a catalog that sounds tasty. I always look forward to the new seed catalogs in the mail. In about another five weeks I'm planting broccoli.

[K8-EEE]

12. sold!

Homemade verde with homegrown tomatillos!

OK.....I'm doing tomatillos next year too!

[Dover]

6. I'm afraid the grasshoppers won this season

I just wasn't prepared for such a plague. And of course we are in the worst drought in some
time. Barely any rain in the last couple of months with triple digit temps almost every day.
So the watering I did just made my plants all the more a lure for pests and desperate animals, etc.

The grasshoppers have now even eaten my shrubbery (mostly nandina), which I had thought was pretty much immune. The neem oil helped somewhat at first, but by the time I added floating row covers
it was too little too late. Very disheartening to watch all the work disappear bite by bite
and to be helpless to hold back the tide. The elements have won this year. Live and learn.

[K8-EEE]

13. I had a grasshopper problem with flowers, but they left the veggies alone!

They sure did eat up my bedding flowers though. Bastards.

[bvar22]

14. Sorry to hear about the grasshoppers.

:(
Keep the faith.
The row covers will help next year.

[Dover]

19. Thanks you guys. Sigh...yep this was just prep for NEXT year. Onward!..n/t

[Vinca]

7. Ground cherries! I never tried them before and they're delicious.

Next year I'm growing lots so I can have enough ripe for pie at one time.

[Dover]

9. I've never heard of 'ground cherries'. Please do tell...!...n/t

[Vinca]

11. Here's a link to a brief description and photo.

They're kind of like a small tomato, but have a definite fruity taste. I'm using them as a fruit. The flavor is citrusy. They remind me of large blueberries that are yellow and taste like an orange. I haven't tried drying them yet, but I bet they'd be fantastic in cookies or muffins. I happened upon a few plants at a local nursery last spring and treated them the same way I do tomatoes. The plants get huge and spread out, so if you have a good chunk of garden along an edge, that would work out well. I haven't had any problems with deer eating them or pests - so far so good. I'm in zone 5, by the way. I think they're more of a perennial way down south. I like them so much I'm mulling over a way to create a business around a product made from them.
http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/ground_cherry.htm

[Dover]

22. Thanks! Well now I'm very curious and want to taste them. So they're tropicals.

I guess I'd have to find them some partial shade but make sure they have plenty of water.

Hmmm.

[bvar22]

15. More Squash & Blueberries.

We added a couple of squash plants (Zucchini & Acorn) as a late afterthought this year. We stuck them into already crowded boxes.
They did extremely well until the heat and drought of July. Then the Squash Bugs got them.
Next year we will plant more, get them in the ground sooner, and give them more room. We will also give them some sort of trellis to keep them off the ground and prune the lower leaves to make it easier to police the squash bugs.

Also, I really wish we had planted Blueberries this Spring. We are planning on adding 10 - 20 plants this Fall.
We have a couple of Blueberry Plants that we planted in the Spring of 2007, and we harvested about a pint of very tasty Blueberries this year. In July, we visited a pick-Your-Own Blueberry Farm about 30 minutes away, and WOW!!!.


There were gallons of luscious, tart Blueberries on each bush.
These bushes are 20 years old, but according to the farmer, good production can be expected the 3rd year.
The bushes are hearty, low maintenance, Hi-Production, disease resistant with few natural pests. They grow very well here, requiring no fertilizer or pesticides, and minimal irrigation during dry spells. A couple of hungry cats can keep the losses to birds at a minimum.

We picked a couple of gallons at a reasonable price, but I want these in our back yard.
We have a Winter's supply of Blueberry Preserves and frozen Blueberries from our trip to the farm. The just plain refrigerated Blueberries have kept firm and fresh for a month. We have a recipe for drying them that sounds good.
Low maintenance/High Production/Nutritious/Tasty/Easy to Preserve....I like that.

We also wish we had planted more Strawberries, and a different variety of June Bearing berries.
We will next Spring. The Strawberries are very Hi-Maintenance/Low Production compared to the Blueberries, but worth it.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x7979

[K8-EEE]

16. Fab pix!!!

My squash is just about gonzo too....the yellow zucchini is the sole survior.

Last year I did a climbing variety of zucchini, called "trombetta di" something or other....it grew all the way up an arbor and was trouble free.

[zanne]

17. I wish I had planted green beans and butternut squash...

I'm enjoying my veggies so much that I wish I had planted a greater variety. The cukes and summer squash are great and the tomatoes look promising, but I wish I had more to harvest.

[EstimatedProphet]

18. Beans and peas

Mine didn't do too well this year.

[K8-EEE]

20. Here, we plant peas in Oct.

I jumped the gun and planted a few snow peas in the semi-shade -- hopefully the seedlings will not get burned out, in the winter they will be in full sun so I'll keep my fingers crossed!

[tigereye]

21. more morning glories, strangely enough

I had some seeds for multi-colored ones, and never got around to planting them.

I also had a bean vine I meant to plant. And my nasturtiums never came up,either. Weird.


With all the rain, everything thrived - all my hostas bloomed, and my wisteria bloomed early (and fully) and is trying to bloom again now!

[K8-EEE]

24. I have a love/hate with the morning glories.

I think it would be easier if it froze in the winter to put the brakes on them a bit....they end up taking over, growing into the house, worming their way into the attic, and then it's a question of getting rid of them!

I love the way they look in bloom though....both the purple and the sky blue, my fave flower colors.

Nasturtiums I had good luck with in the spring alas they are burnt out now but hopefully will come back in the fall. I tried a new kind in the square foot box, they are mini-nasturtiums and kind of do a cascading thing from the top tier there....nice!http://pic70.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1858/8987062/16558599/321342006.jpg

[asdjrocky]

23. Green beans and crook neck squash.

Those are everyones favorite, and that's what I seem to have the least of.