Welcome to my vegetable garden of 2010! The typical weekend to plant vegetables here in Canada is the May 24th/Victoria Day long weekend, but since I'm working that weekend (and love to avoid the garden centres at this time since they are so busy!) I decided to plant everything today! As with last season's veggie garden, I don't have any ground to dig into so everything that I plant is suited for container gardening.
Since I learned a lot from last year - what was a success and what wasn't - I decided to branch out with the successful plants and try a few new things! One thing that I learned - anything that I started from seed just didn't grow very well. I think this was due to the fact that I didn't start the seeds indoors or early enough, and they just didn't grow properly. I went strictly with vegetable plant seedlings this year as they are a bit more durable and I was able to find a good variety this year.
I went to Grobe's Nursery in Breslau, Ontario for my plants. It is located just past Cambridge and Kitchener, before you reach Guelph. It was about an hour's drive away, but the variety of vegetables seemed to exceed anything that I could find locally in Brantford (if you know of a great place around here though, please let me know!). Grobe's had a fantastic variety of vegetables, herbs, and heirloom tomatoes!
The potted vegetable plants that I'm growing are: Hot Banana Pepper, Yellow Bell Pepper, Red Chili Pepper, Arugula, Spinach, Green Beans, Green Onions (Bunching), and tomatoes (listed below). The herbs that I am growing are: Basil - Thai, Basil - Lettuce Leaf, Cilantro, Lavender - Boysenberry Ruffles, Garlic Chives. Let's hope that the herbs make it this year - I seem to have terrible luck in growing herbs for some reason - they always wither away and die on me. I'm not sure if it is from too much sun / too much water / too little water ... and I'm not sure whether or not I should keep them outside or bring them indoors! I don't have a lot of light indoors, so I have always kept them outside in the full sun.
I am growing five different varieties of tomatoes, including some heirloom varieties, and all suited to container gardening.
Better Bush Tomato - Bush type plant produces good yields of flavorful 4" red tomatoes. Tomatoes are very sweet and meaty and have the "real tomato taste". This variety has a strong central stem capable of supporting 48" height with very little need for staking. One of the finest bush varieties on the market.
Tumbler Cherry Tomato - A superior variety for hanging baskets and containers! Tumbler has a graceful, cascading habit. Prolific plants produce up to 6 lbs. (2.7 kg) of cherry-type tomatoes, 1.25 in. (3-cm) in diameter. Extra-early! This variety is very sweet and tasty.
Note - apparently you are able to grow this type of tomato in a hanging basket and they cascade downwards - I am just growing it in a regular ol' pot. :)
Snow White Cherry Tomato - Very pretty cherry tomato that matures to a cream color. Plants are highly productive and the fruits are sweet. The ivory-cream color persists throughout the fruit when cut.
New Big Dwarf Tomato - Plants 2 1/2 to 3 ft. tall, compact with stout central stem, ideal for growing in pots or other containers but they still need a stake. Good yield of pink beefsteaks of medium size, flattened fruit, 5-6 oz, oustanding flavor, sweet and meaty.
Tiny Tim Tomato - Tiny Tim is an excellent tomato for growing in containers and does well in even the smallest of pots. They look beautiful in hanging baskets and are perfect for small patios. They usually grow only 12 inches tall so no staking is needed. Let them cascade over a hanging basket and they look wonderful. Fruit is juicy and has very good sweet/tart tomato flavors.
3 comments:
good luck with the garden! they get better every year:)
Your garden looks wonderful! good luck! I'm trying my hand at growing my own this year.. I'm growing tomatoes too! I've heard they can be tricky so I've got my fingers crossed!
You just have to make sure that they get lots of sun, especially the hot afternoon sun since they love it. The most sun possible throughout the day I've found gives great results - and of course, make sure you water them regularly! Last year, I got a TON of tomatoes when a lot of people were saying that they didn't get many, and I think it is because my plants get a lot of sun all day long.
Best of luck with your garden! :) It's very fun & rewarding!
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