Posted on Monday, 8/31/2009 - 8:31 p.m. PDT — by washingtonian
I'm in Antioch and have a series of raised bed gardens and wanted to swap notes with some other green thumbs in the East Bay to find out what works and doesn't. Any other veggie gardeners out there?
Joined: Aug 2005
Current Posts: 7
Count me in, Washingtonian. I also live in Antioch. What do have growing in your garden? My vegetables were pretty much a bust this year except for my cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes. My tomatoes just didn't do anything and although my yellow squash is looking better, it's not getting pollinated despite the number of bees in my yard.
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
Hi Joan,
I started this thread and then our modem died so I haven't been online. I'm sorry for that. I should be back in business now.
Let's see, what have I had growing. This summer I had a couple kinds of tomatoes, yellow squash, beans, lemon and burpless cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins, cantaloupe, basil, eggplant, and peppers. That's strange to think your squash didn't do well, mine has flourished the last few years.
My lemon cucumbers were the big winner, along with the sweet 100 tomatoes and eggplant. I can't believe how many lemon cucumbers I got, and they are still coming fast. The watermelon did great as well, I got 4 melons from one plant. Really, almost everything did great with one exception.
The beans were a total bust. They were full of aphids no matter what I did and seemed to get every disease out there. I ended up tearing most of them out early so they didn't affect the other things. I never had enough beans at a time to make anything with them. I had some trouble last year, but nothing like this year. I may not even try next year.
I started planting one of my fall/winter beds. I planted beets, turnips, carrots, and peas so far. I grew peas last winter and they did great. I'm looking forward to more. I'm also going to try broccoli. My starts aren't doing very well, the germination rate is only about 50%. I've never tried growing broccoli before. Usually I just do beets, turnips, radishes, carrots, and peas in the winter.
I'm intrigued by the sweet potatoes! Tell me more! How do you do it? And have you tried onions?
Joined: May 2009
Current Posts: 21
my tomatoes were a bust as well, nothing over the size of a quarter. That's two years in a row.
Three raised beds in Danville. Zucchini and potatoes did well. I also have these purple German beans that are really prolific. Vines actually produce in a couple of waves.
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
RW, what kind of beans are they? I've had the worst luck with beans and have tried many kinds, including purple varieties, I can't remember the name right now.
I had 4 tomato plants last year and got ZERO tomatoes. It was crazy. I decided to try one more time and I had hundreds from my 6 plants. I had 3 cherry tomatoes (sweet 100), a Lemon Boy, an Early Girl, and a Brandywine.
The lemon boy stopped for a while in August, grew a bunch more vine, and I picked 7 today and there will be another 12-20 in the next few days, with more coming for a few weeks after that.
I have had no luck with Roma tomatoes producing. I'm not sure what is up with that, but I'd like to grow something Roma-like, anyway.
Joined: Feb 2009
Current Posts: 273
I have been growing tomatos in a large plot I have in Danville that gets sun ALL day. I plant a dozen "early girl" variety tomatos and I have very good success with them. They don't get very big some years (this year they averaged about 2" to 3" in diameter, but they are very sweet)
The perplexing issue for me is water, experts will tell you not to over water but if you under water it is just as problematic. I listen to Bob Tanum on KSFO every Sunday morning and he says if the leaves are curling, your over watering. One year I took his advice and all my plants browned out by the end of Aug. Last year I watered them everyday (my garden gets HOT during these warm days, I mean REAL HOT!) I was still setting fruit in the first week of Dec. This year they crapped out again toward the end of AUG with this same watering regime...go figure!!
I am also a firm believer in the merits of chicken manure. I start out with a cheap six pack in early March that I put in one gallon containers each so I can move them to protection on possible cold nights, I then put them in the ground in the third week of April and they grow like weeds. My plants this year were at least 4'x'4 and loaded with blossoms!
Joined: May 2009
Current Posts: 21
I have had the same debate. I hear if you water too much you get all plant no tomatoes. But I feel like perhaps I don't water enough based on the small tomatoes I get and limited yield.
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
The tomato water debate...I think you've got to water them on these super hot days, I'm not sure the people posting this stuff for the Bay Area take our extreme heat out here into account. My tomatoes are doing quite well. I've dropped down to watering every 2-3 days now, and they seem happy with that. I water every day on those 95+ days, though.
I hear you on chicken manure...we have our own backyard chickens so we have a good supply...we age their manure in our compost bin and then add it in the spring.
Joined: Aug 2005
Current Posts: 7
Ah yes, the great tomato water debate. Bethallyn Black, the former head of the master gardener's program in Contra Costa (when the county cut its funding, Bethallyn had to look elsewhere and found a dream job in Marin), knows more about gardening than anyone I've ever met. She argues that you need to cut back on water once the tomatoes set fruit. She says you're only watering the foliage and who cares if the plant looks beautiful. I just can't do it, though. Too painful to watch.
Joined: May 2009
Current Posts: 21
I got the seeds from a friend of my fathers in the South Bay. They are purple when fresh and turn green when they are cooked. I planted a couple of late season tomato plants last month. In other years I've had tomatoes until Thanksgiving. Also just put in this fall's lettuces.
Joined: May 2009
Current Posts: 21
sweet potatoes and potatoes are really easy...those old potatoes that sprout? just bury them. It was funny this spring when I was turning the soil I found a couple of sweet potatoes that I had forgotten that I'd planted.
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
sounds like the beans I had...they too turned green when cooked, though the name was different. I loved the look of the purple growing. I do love fresh beans, I'm just so tired of all the bean issues I seem to get every year.
What kind of lettuce did you start? I was thinking of doing that but decided to wait until this heat wave is over. I'm also kind of waiting for my other crops to slow down...but my eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash are all going strong still. My one fall bed has started coming up...beets, turnips, and carrots. Waiting for the peas to pop up still.
Joined: Aug 2005
Current Posts: 7
The saga of my sweet potatoes: My mom loves, loves, loves sweet potatoes, but after a few weeks of eating one almost every day, she gets a little tired of them. I found one that had sprouted, so I decided to put it in my raised planter to see what would happen. It took off and went a bit crazy, so I had lots of sweet potatoes to keep her happy. After the leaves had died back and I'd gotten all the ones I could find, I pulled it out when I was cleaning up my beds for spring planting. I had my cucumber and tomatoes in when I noticed a green vine growing among them. Yep, it was the sweet potato, living again. Now that my cucumber is slowing down and dying back, the sweet potato vine is really taking over the bed. I haven't dug around yet for any potatoes, but it's like having a little treasure, just waiting to be discovered.
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
I'll have to try this! I love sweet potatoes too, well, all potatoes really. Thanks!
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
I also meant to ask how big the vine is? Do I dare put it in my raised beds? I have nylon trellis netting.
Joined: Aug 2005
Current Posts: 7
My bed is 6 x 3, and the vine has pretty much taken over everything. But I would think you could train it onto a trellis. It was pretty much in check while the other plants were active, but now that they're dying back, it's getting bolder. I'm not sure why, but you aren't supposed to plant cucumbers and sweet potatoes in the same bed (not sure if they compete too much for soil nutrients or space). I didn't plan to put sweet potatoes in there again, but it was one of those happy gardening surprises. I've dug up two for my mom in the past few days. Feels like there are a whole lot in there, and the vine continues to bloom. And grow.
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
that's interesting about the sweet potato and cucumber, that's not one I would have guessed. When I removed my beans 3 weeks ago, the tomatoes completely took the space over. You can't even tell where they were. Some plants just want to take over everything, I guess. I wouldn't mind something different to vine around, I looked in my Sunset Western Garden book and it looks like they are a good match around here. I'm going to look into sweet potatoes. My beds (I have 6) are about the same as yours...3x7.
Joined: May 2009
Current Posts: 21
lettuces planted last month are thriving. I am able to trim a few leaves for a salad 2-3 x per week. I still have beets in the ground so I add a few of those younger leaves as well. Just great! I also did a second wave of tomatoes which are doing well in this heat.
Joined: Apr 2009
Current Posts: 56
I planted some romaine and chard today...and threw out some more beet seeds.
Joined: May 2009
Current Posts: 21
any ideas on keeping rats out of the garden? They've mowed down my lettuces, nibbled on the ripe tomatoes. I've tried little plates of rat poison and traps, doesnt seem to work. any other ideas?