I plant heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. I used to do a lot more, but it was also a lot more work.

I have a year-round herb garden in pots on my back steps. I can keep some of them alive into December with careful covering on frosty days, and some are perennial.

Here the main problem is keeping them watered in the hot months. The nice thing about pots. I can move everything over to the semi-shaded side of the deck in July-August.

Last week I seeded some beets, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, and herbs like mints and tarragon.

Sorry to hear about the deluge

It was weirdly warm here very early, then it would get chilly and rain for a few days..... I had the maters out a bunch too. It took no time at all to harden them off this year.

I have never had any luck with beets. I might try in the fall again. Many people don't like beets, but they are much better fresh and not too big.

I do a vinaigrette with minced fresh young ginger, finely chopped chive, sherry wine vinegar, garlic , a dash of sesame oil, and a little pepper sauce. I toss this in with cubed feta cheese ( and beets) and I'm happy

The leaves are a great addition to any salad as well. Sometimes I toss them in a wok with bokchoi, ginger, garlic , other seasonings and toasted sesame seeds.

I've been trying to master beets and only had some success last year. I made sure the soil was loamy and high in phosphorous.

Yellow beets are really good too. Sauté them up with some kale and nom! Is it too hot for beets that far south right now? Or can you grow them shaded there? I think of them as spring/fall crop in NC.

The thing about fresh garden produce, nearly anything cooked simply is delicious. With garden tomatoes, I gnaw the little bit of left-over ripe tomato off of the dried stem scar sometimes. It would never occur to be to do that with a grocery store variety.

So it fares well - right now it is blistering hot, so I am taking a bit of risk. Better time to do it is during "rainy season" but I was impatient lol. They're gonna get some shade under a mango tree.

And fresh picked produce - nothing like it... I've even eaten fresh young okro #noshame.

a few in New Hampshire, one in Seattle, a slew in Pennsylvania, and the last 25 in Raleigh NC.

Smaller garden this year - probably only 50-70 containers for my tomato, eggplant and pepper R and D - too much book related travels - aren't around sufficiently to make them really successful

Here is mine, plus there are three more with just seeds on the other side of the deck. I'll roll them all together in a few weeks to make watering easier.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

I plan to perfect my gravity-fed watering system this year, so in theory, it will be maintenance free until fall. I tried to build one last year, but the tubing was too wide and I couldn't get the siphon to work.

too hard for me, plus since hubby has lung cancer, I would have to do all the weeding. The straw bale garden is just outside my side door and won't need weeded. I will be planting tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, one zucchini plant, cucumbers, green and wax beans, collard greens and Swiss chard and lettuce.

Keep us updated on your progress. Sorry to hear about your husband

Mine is square, with a 3' wide opening and wires running along metal fence posts on two side to tie the tomatoes and cukes up.

This year I will have one each tomato and bell pepper. I kept my 12' long bean trellis, however, and will plant one row of Malibu green pole beans and one row of Christmas limas. I have parsley, basil, sage, and dill weed growing in pots. Some red Romaine lettuce, but it will give out as soon as hot weather gets here.

But I missed the fresh tomatoes. Nothing is quite as good.

especially in sandwiches. We can buy them at the farmers market fairly cheap to put up salsa and sauce. I just want to grow enough to eat as they ripen during the summer. Sliced tomatoes are part of most meals. The green beans produce enough for me to eat all summer, plus share with friends. The Christmas limas are very productive, I freeze enough to eat once a week during the winter.

I refer to them as 'breakfast tomatoes' because I eat most of them in the morning when I sit outside on the deck and drink my coffee. I'm too greedy to wait until an appropriate hour Speaking of which, I might need to buy a cherry tomato plant. I ordered seeds, but those got shipped too late and they missed the seed starting project.

I usually grow them. I pick a handfull and eat them as I walk around the garden checking it out.

I used to have a 4' x 12' raised bed just for tomatoes and peppers. This year it is about 3' x 4'. It has the tomato and the pepper plant plus three dill weed plants.

I will miss just picking my dinner at the last minute, but we have a small local farmer's market with a good variety of my favorite veggies, so I can get them fresh once a week.