batteries and greens

[quietann]

Does anyone out there use 357 button batteries? I have a bunch I got for my old insulin pump, but the new one uses AAAs.

Also, I am considering growing various salad greens in my brand-spanking new veggie garden this spring. I have proven that I can grow these from seed. What are peoples' opinions on any of the following, in terms of ease of growing, taste etc.? What are good early-season greens?

deertongue lettuce, beetberry, corn salad/mache, malabar spinach vine, purslane, New Zealand spinach, french sorrel, orach, tah tsai

Any others you would recommend? Easy vegetables in general? (Given that I live in New England, have a fairly short season, and somewhat hot/humid summers. The veggie bed will get full sun for most but not all of the day.)

Comments

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Fresh broccoli is out of this world, as are English (aka pod) peas. Radishes are really easy.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

We get our seeds from Seedsavers, which has really nice heirloom varieties. We're planning to try out kale and chard this year. I'll let you know how they go. We've done a couple of varieties of lettuce from them and all of them were hearty and did well in this climate.

[amysuemom.livejournal.com]

Honestly? Grow them all, I love a variety of greens. Some of them will be less productive in the height of summer, but will come back as the weather cools in early fall. I also grow herbs, heirloom tomatoes, peas and cukes. I have a large lavender bed as well.

Vegies

[msss.livejournal.com]

We had snow peas this year, which grew fairly quickly and tasted amazing. And you don't need to peel them or anything. They don't last long on the vine though - you need to eat them as soon as they're ready.

I understand that they're part of the legume family, which means that they host nitrogen fixing bacteria in their roots. This makes them good for growing in rows between green leafy vegetables that need high nitrogen. Apparently, ou should not pull up the dead vines after harvesting to take advantage of this - just cut off the top parts at ground level and leave the root systems behind.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

We are planning on cucumbers, green beans, and some sort of peas. I guess seed is cheap so I'll just try a bunch of different ones...

[tb]

Ideally your veggie garden should get at least 6 hours of sun a day. Mine only gets that in midsummer, but it does well enough. You'll also need to put up some kind of fence to exclude woodchucks (and rabbits). Woodchucks love legumes, and crucifers, and pretty much anything you're likely to grow.

Peas (I like snow peas, too) are great cool-weather crops (traditionally planted here around Patriot's Day and done by July; I haven't yet figured out the timing for a fall crop). Peas don't seem to have much in the way of insect pests. Most lettuce-type things also prefer it cooler, as does kale.

New Zealand spinach does quite well and will likely re-seed itself for future years. Cukes and green beans are warm-weather crops and do better in drier years. Both of those are pretty easy, though there are some pests to look out for.

I'm a fan of Fedco Seeds, mainly because I like their curmudgeonly approach and the interesting heirloom varieties they have.

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

I've never grown greens, but found both squash and cukes to grow quite easily.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

Grow brussels sprouts.

Because they look freaking bizarre growing.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I hope they make a nice ornamental, because heaven knows they're not edible. Yuck.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

I use quite a number of 357 batteries and would be downright delighted to have them if they're still on offer.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

Steamed, or lightly boiled, with a bit of butter, I don't actually mind them at all. Now, I didn't used to like them, but they beat collard greens any day.

[http://users.livejournal.com/cgull_/]

Yes! These are perfectly good hearing aid batteries, and are especially good for occasionally-used batteries, compared to the currently-common sort. I'd take them, too.

[http://users.livejournal.com/cgull_/]

And asparagus, though I'm not sure I'd call that "gardening"-- I've nibbled fresh asparagus coming up through the grass.

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Growing asparagus is a multi-year project, even if you don't start from seed.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

The veggie bed is by the barn, across from the addition. It gets sun from roughly 9 a.m. on in the summer and is a pretty warm spot. It is a raised bed with a gravel/concrete block foundation that goes about a foot down, to discourage woodchucks. (Of course, as soon as we got the dirt in, some voles found it and settled in!) It's fenced with ~4 foot wire mesh.

I was thinking snow peas or snap peas would be a good idea. Cucumbers, green beans, and green bell peppers are favorites around here. I *may* try eggplant, though Ben won't eat it. (Nor will he eat squashes, but I am not as fond of them as I am of eggplant.) I've had tomatoes in whiskey barrels for several years now.

I'll admit that I'll probably buy started nursery plants for everything but the greens, simply because I am lazy :)

[tb]

The location sounds great. Just make sure your wire mesh fence is sturdy (woodchucks can use a loosely-strung wire fence as a ramp and belly-flop over it to get in) and fine enough to keep out the babies too. I added a strip of 1-inch chicken wire around the base of my garden after discovering the hard way that the little ones could get through a 2" opening just fine.

(Why yes, I have had a lot of experience inadvertently feeding the local fauna :-). Figured I'd try to save you re-climbing that particular learning curve.)

Starter plants are a good idea for the warm-season stuff such as green peppers and cukes. For peas and beans, there's really no point: the seeds are large and easier to plant than deal with transplants, and they grow fast.

You'll want some kind of trellis support inside the garden for the peas (also beans, if you grow pole beans instead of bush beans). I once tried using the outer fence for that, and the woodchucks were happy to "trim" my plants for me.