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joegardenpa

Pennsylvania Vegetable gardens

joegardenpa
14 years ago

Hi all. Just wondering how many Pa veggie gardeners we have here. I check the Vegetable forum alot, but find it difficult to judge my gardens prefomance based on those in Florida, Texas, Oregon, etc.

I am south central. Wonder what everyone is harvesting right now?

Comments (19)

  • redroselady
    14 years ago

    I have a small veggie garden but I had a
    late start this year. I only have Tomatoes
    and peppers and some basil.

    What are you growing?

  • ajpa
    14 years ago

    First time veggie gardener. Just a few things of each, mainly to learn how.
    Strawberries (in containers) just starting to fruit.
    In ground I have sugar & snap peas, Bibb lettuce, tomatoes, fennel, beets, carrots, garden beans, broccoli, okra, peppers (just planted). All are from wintersown seed except the strawberries (and blueberries but I took the flowers off them so I won't see any this year).
    The only thing I have harvested so far are the peas & the lettuce.
    I have little pale bugs on the lettuce ... and just saw a huge number of thrips on my flowers. Anyone else have thrips? I think I may try Spinosad.

  • kr222
    14 years ago

    I have expanded my little garden by adding three 3x3' raised beds. I am trying to grow many things that I haven't tried before such as kidney beans, mini pumpkins, short-vined watermelon, carrots, lettuce, garlic, and celery. Oh and lots of different herbs. I have a new food dehydrator, so I thought herbs might be fun to dry...I mean try. :)

    I've grown tomatoes before but this year I'm growing heirloom tomatoes. I am also have green peppers, jalapeno peppers, chili peppers (new this year), and cucumbers.

    I have started to harvest some things from the garden. My romaine lettuce (Jericho and Little Gem), Burpeeana peas, cilantro is ready (although I have no tomatoes or peppers yet for salsa), parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, and chives. Three of my eleven tomato plants have started producing tomatoes and lots of peppers are starting to show.

    If you click on 'My Page' by my user name I'll try to attach a link to my blog. I try to post pictures of my garden (flower and vegetable) whenever I get a chance. Soon I will be adding a lot more tomato and pepper pictures.

    Kim

  • joegardenpa
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I have been planting veggies for a few years but not an experianced gardener by any stretch of the imagination.
    I have planted this year, lettuce (head and loose leaf) spinach, broccoli, beets, carrots, peas (snow & sugar snap)onions, leeks, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes(grape, roma, brandywine, big beef) and peppers (bell red & orange, sweet italian, anahiem) and a few herbs (basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, dill, cilantro, parsley).Black raspberries and new this year, blue berries.
    Have harvested so far my spinach, lots of lettuce, peas,beets,carrots,brocolli today.
    Without going into to much detail right now, I planted some things direct, started some from seeds late winter. Some things were successful, some were not. I also started garden journal this year.
    HavenÂt gotten anywhere with pictures but will have to work on that. Hope to share and gather more info here!

  • nhlivefreeordie
    14 years ago

    We went from a smallish 6' X 20' Garden to two large beds ( got to till under half the back yard :-) )one is 25' X 50' the vine garden is 15' X 75' and just for good measure, we put in a 100' strip of brambles.
    We have Beets, Onions, Carrots, Lettuce, Green Beans, Wax Beans, Eggplant, Jalapeno Peppers, Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Tomatos Heirloom, Roma, Mountain Fresh and Sweet 100, rhubarb and Snow Peas.
    Then in the vine garden we have Cucumber, Cantaloupe, Watermellon, Pumpkin, Zuchinni, Crook Neck Squash, Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash, and Bird House Gourds.
    Brambles include Blackberries, Black Raspberries, Red Raspberries and two types of Yellow Raspberries.
    Then, we also have some smaller gardens that include Honeyberries, Goji Berries, and 75' of Everbearing Strawberries.

  • anubis_pa
    14 years ago

    Very small experimental bed, first year with more than just tomatoes on the deck. Nothing is growing too fast, the Rutgers that were given to me (orig from a greenhouse) have a few small green tomatoes on them. Half of the rest I started from seed with the kids - inside in March. Supposed to be simple enough stuff, snap peas, bush beans, red sweet peppers; carrots, corn, pumpkins for carving and sunflowers that won't seem to sprout in my soil away from the bed.

  • greenc
    14 years ago

    I'm only harvesting cool weather veggies so far - lettuce and other greens, spinach, radishes, and strawberries. This is the first year for this garden and I'm still trying to work on getting the soil just right. Shade is also a new enemy. It has severely slowed down my snow peas - still no flowers.

    As for my other plants, tomato plants look healthy with small tomatoes coming along. My pepper plants have flowers, but no peppers, yet. I keep searching for new potatoes, but haven't spotted any - I keep hoping that they are just really deep, and I haven't been willing to dig deep for them. My eggplants are wishing for warmer temps - they haven't even doubled in sized since I first put them in. On a more positive note, my corn plants are about knee high. Soybeans, string beans, leeks, and cucumbers are thriving, but zucchini, acorn squash, melon, swiss chard, basil, and lima beans are barely hanging in there. I've had to replant squash seeds and I'm thinking about buying a small basil plant or starting some indoors because some little critter keeps eating my seedlings. But I'll take the bad with the good, nothing beats shopping for produce in your own backyard.

  • antiqueorchid
    14 years ago

    I live in york county and have had a veggie garden for about 5 years now. I have giant belgium, ab lincoln, coustralee, parks whopper, roma, and black krim tomatoes. I also have squash, cucumber, oinion, asparagus, marai corn, and yellow beans.

    The only thing that I have harvested is yellow squash.

    I also have blueberry, blackberry, red raspberry, black raspberry, black currant, and red currant.

    I have started picking red raspberries and some blueberries. Blueberries were planted last summer so I have only picked about a couple of hands full.

    I planted some fruit trees last year but I doubt I will get any fruit this year.

    Denise

  • earthworm
    14 years ago

    Squash, crookneck, I have too much (6 plants), huge.
    Beans, very slow to germinate, but now, finally, too much.
    Strawberries, millions of them. Start with two plants, within a four years, too easy to have hundreds...
    Transplant time again next early spring..

  • kr222
    14 years ago

    Joe- I had the same problem finding information based on gardens in PA as well. That's why I recently started a blog based on my Pennsylvania Vegetable and Flower gardens to help out others around here. My garden isn't huge, but I make the most of it. I include many pictures with my entries and list specific varieties that work well for me near Reading, PA. Here's the link. I hope other PA gardeners find this helpful.
    Kim

    Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Pennsylvania Garden

  • georgeiii
    14 years ago

    Hello, allow me please to introduce myself. My name is George Davis, I'm an Artist, Photographer, Capricorn, Humanist, Computer Nerd, Meta-morph and Plantperson. I usually hang out in the Container section. Everything I grow is in continers. Here's a few pictures.

    {{gwi:46346}}

    It might be easier to go to Photobucket and search for Christian Warlock
    I've been growing tropical plants in Reading for more than 25 years and vegetable gardening for 5. I've invented my own system of gardening and incorporate other systems as well.

    This year again I'm trying to grow Altantic cross watermelon and Big Max pumpkin's in SWC's.
    Best part about the garden this year? The whole thing was grown on rain water and (P)ee.

  • nhlivefreeordie
    14 years ago

    The garden has absolutely exploded with this run of warm humid weather and all the rain.
    Tomatos are ripe, we have picked dozens of Zuchinni and Crook neck squash, pumpkins are HUGE but obviously still green, and I just did the first picking of Beans, I got 7 gallons of wax beans and 4 gallons of green beans, they all were picked and canned the same day, those will be good come January.. :-)

  • julie_in_york
    14 years ago

    I am harvesting tomatoes, green beans, eggplants, peppers, swiss chard, trombone squash, garlic, potatoes, onions and arugula.

  • kr222
    14 years ago

    After what felt like weeks of rain, I've had a lot of tomatoes succomb to some serious cracking...or should I say exploding. Things are starting to pick up now with their ripening though. Hopefully we won't have anymore downpours any time soon.

    Peppers on the other hand are doing beautifully. I made my third set of stuffed peppers today. I have 8 Fat n' Sassy plants and have harvested over 30 bell peppers already. I use them green. I can never hold out until they turn red. My Mucho Nacho jalapenos are going wild too. I think the new raised bed was a great investment for this year. They are thriving in it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's PA Garden

  • billy3p
    13 years ago

    I erroneously posted to the Herb forum so here I go again. I am searching for some used and clean 5 to 8 gallon plastic pails to use for deck gardening. I live near Media so should anyone in my area have some to share I will gladly drive to get them. Second, which varieties of tomatoes will provide best yield for my area?

    Thanks

    billy3p

  • craftlady07
    13 years ago

    I've been gorwing tomato plants for years but this year we're putting in a real garden :) My husband and I started 9 different kinds of peppers from seed and those I plan on waiting until the end of the month to plant out along with 2 eggplants that I bought. I have 4 wonderboy tomato plants and 4 roma tomato plants that I bought and those will go in the ground this weekend. I want to try horseradish and garlic - these were both impulse purchases and it wasn't until after I bought them that I started reading about them and I realized I should've probably planted these both in the fall. Oh well, live and learn I suppose. I also have some bunching green onion seeds and some green bean seeds to direct sow.

    my garden will definitely be a "learn as I go". I don't plan on doing any cucumbers since we have friends that grow them and I'm not big on melons and we don't like brussel sprouts. my mom is big on herbs so I don't plan on doing any other than basil. next year I'd like to try carrots, regular onions, potatoes and lettuce.

    We have a 12'x20' bed that gets full sun, lots of drainage and we amended the soil with homemade compost. We had 18" of topsoil to start with.

    What I'd really be interested in knowing is when people start their veggies. That shat I seem to struggle the most with.

  • PRO
    LEM Me Do It Dezygnz
    8 years ago

    Oregano will come back yearly...parsley and chives are fairly hardy as well at least in Southeastern PA "zone - ish" 6-7 depending on the reference used.

  • PRO
    LEM Me Do It Dezygnz
    8 years ago

    What out for that horse radish it will spread like bamoo!!!

    Keep it contained in a large vessel.

  • Nicki Billotte
    7 years ago

    Hi i'm nicki. We are getting our seed ready here in clarion county pa too. We are doing 10 different tomatoes. And 2 kinds of sweer peppers i got more seed than garden i think