Hi Renee,
Like your plans. I would think the cucumbers would benefit from the rich soil, but maybe they aren't as heavy feeders as some of the other vegs.

I do see you are growing several ground cherry plants, and I am growing my first this year. I have my seed started already.
What kind do you grow? Why so many plants? (or maybe that isn't a lot) Any special tips?
thanks!
Dana

I really like your plan. I think the cukes would like the spot of the compost pile. I didn't have luck last year with the nursery bought seedlings of cukes. I'm trying some from seed now. Do you grow corn? Even if you don't want to eat it, grow some indian corn or edible corn for the stalks for Fall decorations.
Julie

Dana, I have never grown ground cherries before. I got the Baker Creek seeds as a gift. I direct sowed the seeds, and I have started some indoors for insurance. I read somewhere that they get about enough fruit per plant for one pie, so I thought four plants would give me enough pie to share, but will probably end up with two plants because of space limits.

Julie- my cukes croaked last year too- from root knot nematodes. I thought it was the heat, but unfortunately, the nematodes may have come in with the seedlings. Perhaps I'll try seeds as well- I love the "Japanese" style cukes. I love the way corn looks in the garden- it is so beautiful.
Renee

Nice plan! I didn't know anything about root knot nematodes before so I looked them up and found that, "Tomato varieties with VFN after their name are resistant to most root knot nematodes" so you could maybe try planting them in your fallow area? The info is from the link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: UC Davis integrated pest management

Bush beans. I plant a short row of bush beans, then another row once the first starts to flower. By the time the first row poops out, the second row is flowering. Then I pull up the first row, and plant another row of bush beans in the original first row. I get good yields alternating all summer this way. Or plant your cukes there, sending them up a cage of concrete re-enforcing wire, and plant cantaloupe or baby watermelon on the compost pile.

Thanks for the link, onion. I'm going to try that next year, after I turn in the marigolds and starve the nematodes for a year.

Sue, bush beans are just the right thing. The problem with corn is the height- they block the sun from reaching the other veggies. Bush beans! Perhaps I'll try a cantaloupe with the cukes. I can grow the cukes up the cage and let the cantaloupes sprawl.

Renee

after I turn in the marigolds and starve the nematodes for a year

I think it was one of the Robert Smaus books, where he said to throw the marigolds out, not compost them or turn them in...the marigold roots attract the nematodes, you pull the whole thing and trash....

Nice veggie garden! :)

Hi,
I'm reviving this thread to ask how your ground cherries turned out. I am growing them for the first time this year, and so far they aren't looking the best. I've got one sharing a bed with some eggplant which are doing just fine; at first it was growing vigorously, but now it's wilting and yellowing. There are a couple in another bed where everything is growing inexplicably slowly. Wondering if there are some tips or tricks for getting them to grow well...I'd gotten the impression that they were not too fussy, but clearly they are unhappy with something.
Thanks!
Sara

Hi Quesera,

Those ground cherries tasted terrible. Imagine the taste of a moldy wine grape from the back of the fruit drawer in the fridge- slightly sweet, a bit rotten, and mildewey tasting. Ick. I don't know why anyone would eat them unless they were starving, but I do know why they never took off commercially.

Have you tried pulling out one of the plants that is not doing well and looking carefully at the roots? Root knot nematodes love ground cherries. I think I produced a population explosion when I planted ground cherries in that bed. The nematodes interfere with the plant's uptake of water, so they yellow and wilt quickly and die young.

Good luck. Don't feel like you have to eat them just because you grew them :D
Renee

Thanks for the input! I had ground cherries a few years ago in Wisconsin, and they were yummy. I also tried a couple from my plant before it started dying, and they were like a cross between grape and tomato. A little tart, but I don't think they were completely ripe. I'll try to take a look at the roots if the plants continues to do so poorly. It's possible that it just wasn't getting enough water, but that would mean that it needs a lot more water than does eggplant. As for the others, they look healthy aside from the slow growth. Everything in that bed is growing slowly for some reason, though one of the ground cherries recently took off.

I'll let you know if I get any success.

Thanks,
Sara