Author Topic: Vegies with your fruit?  (Read 17750 times)

Conden

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #25 on: May 13, 2012, 09:54:05 PM »
I also have very large vegetable gardens, where my most common crops are heirloom tomatoes, turnips, golden beets, sugar snap peas, rampicante squash, various greens, and peppers.  Much of this is in earthboxes, though I also have raised beds for perennials such as yacon and swiss chard.  I have high hopes for my three baby moringa trees. 

johnb51

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #26 on: May 13, 2012, 10:04:27 PM »
I also have very large vegetable gardens, where my most common crops are heirloom tomatoes, turnips, golden beets, sugar snap peas, rampicante squash, various greens, and peppers.  Much of this is in earthboxes, though I also have raised beds for perennials such as yacon and swiss chard.  I have high hopes for my three baby moringa trees.
 

3600 ft. elevation.  That's great.  I envy you!
John

Conden

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #27 on: May 13, 2012, 11:38:26 PM »
Some times I do wish it was warmer up here, but the mild weather is great for growing vegetables and many subtropicals. 

fruitlovers

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #28 on: May 14, 2012, 01:26:23 AM »

But the good thing about CA is that it always cools off at night (except for the desert), which vegetable plants benefit from.  In FL we don't have that luxury in the summer.  In TX it was the same thing--and that makes summer hell for people and plants! :P

The problem is not the climate, it is people's accustomed palate to cold weather veggies. They want to keep growing lettuce and broccoli, when they live in the tropics. You all in Florida summers need to switch to perennial edible greens. Suggest reading the excellent book Edible Leaves of the Tropics, by Franklin Martin. It's out of print, but you might be able to get it in a used book store or your library.
Oscar

Mike T

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #29 on: May 14, 2012, 02:35:18 AM »
Conden your climate must be very similar to the Atherton Tablelands adjacent to me where a big diversity of fruit and veg. grown in volcanic soils.I forgot about my cassava and yes there are many tropical vegetable options.With tomatoes thai pink arkansas traveller and tropic are good examples of varieties grown for the tropics.There are many tropical shallots,egyptian spinach,jicama, wing bean and many others to grow.

johnb51

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #30 on: May 14, 2012, 09:09:50 AM »

But the good thing about CA is that it always cools off at night (except for the desert), which vegetable plants benefit from.  In FL we don't have that luxury in the summer.  In TX it was the same thing--and that makes summer hell for people and plants! :P

The problem is not the climate, it is people's accustomed palate to cold weather veggies. They want to keep growing lettuce and broccoli, when they live in the tropics. You all in Florida summers need to switch to perennial edible greens. Suggest reading the excellent book Edible Leaves of the Tropics, by Franklin Martin. It's out of print, but you might be able to get it in a used book store or your library.

Excellent point.  Thank you. :)
John

Jackfruitwhisperer69

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #31 on: May 14, 2012, 09:10:35 AM »
Hi,

I watched a vid about grafting vegatables, they are using close related species as a rootstocks to improve productivity and disease resistance.

Is anybody also grafting vegies?

I want to try to graft green pepper with root stocks of Bishop's crown to improve productivity.

And grafting watermelon with Muganga-Cucurbita ficifolia as rootstock. I think since it also belongs to the Cucurbitaceae, it should be compatible. The muganga here is a perennial and a vigorous grower, I think grafting watermelon  with a disease resistant pumpkin rootstock, should benefit from this union.
Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of your life!

Guanabanus

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #32 on: May 14, 2012, 09:54:46 AM »
Yes, "Edible Leaves of the Tropics" is great.

ECHO's bookstore is perhaps the best place to find books on this subject, including the above.

Other good reads on vegetables:

"Tropical Leaf Vegetables in Human Nutrition", by H.A.P.C. Oomen and G.J.H. Grubben, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, 1978.

"Manual of Minor Vegetables", by James M. Stephens, Florida Cooperative Extension Service-IFAS, June 1988.

"Unusual Vegetables", ["79 vegetables you can grow when you're tired of tomatoes, bored with beans, and sick of squash"] by editors of Organic Gardening and Organic Farming, Rodale Press, 1978.

Also good, but extremely dry, reading--- to look up something in when you have already noticed that something looks tasty but you don't know if it is OK to eat:

"Vegetables in the Tropics", by H.D.Tindall, Macmillan Press, London, 1983.

ECHO's Inventory of Tropical Vegetables", by Franklin W. Martin, E. victor Doku, and Ruth M. Ruberte.

"Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants", by Stephen Facciola, Kampong Press, Vista, California, 1998.

In Portuguese:

"Hortalicas Nao-Convencionais da Amazonia", by Marinice Oliveira Cardoso et al, EMBRAPA, Brasilia, 1997.
Har

Conden

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #33 on: May 14, 2012, 08:01:30 PM »
Conden your climate must be very similar to the Atherton Tablelands adjacent to me where a big diversity of fruit and veg. grown in volcanic soils.

Yes, it sounds similar except I'm too high for things like mangoes that I've read grow in Atherton. 

mikesid

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #34 on: May 18, 2012, 02:52:07 PM »



Steven pythons get my geese and ducks once in a while and the biggest have been 17 feet.I have bandicoots and goannas that mess with the garden some times.
mikesid that is a great spread and is that major planting sweet potato?Is it a lake or river just behind your backyard?


Hey, here is a better pic of the E-4 canal which connects two main lakes (Lake Ida and Lake Osborne). I live just west of the highway here (I-95)....just under the overpass to the right in the pic and you'll be in Lake Ida in two minutes by boat...I do have some 'Baeuragard' sweet potatoes but I think the major planting you see is my green beans(several diff varieties)with successive plantings every couple days...I usually harvest around ten pounds per 8-10 sq feet--enough to freeze a bunch!



nullzero

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #35 on: May 18, 2012, 03:39:46 PM »
I love growing vegetables, currently though I have not really planted many annual vegetables this year. Right now I have the following vegetables growing (some in just small amounts to trial them); Nopales (Opuntia sp.), Egyptian walking onions, Potato onions, Oca (Oxalis tuberosa), Malva crispa (tasty leafy green), Sculpit (Silene inflata), Minutina (Plantago coronopus), Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), Chilacayote (Cucurbita ficifolia), Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius), Taro, Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor). Also have naturalized populations of Dandelion and Purslane which I harvest for its leaves.

Been mainly trying to focus on perennial tasty vegetables that require minimal inputs to produce.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Mike T

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #36 on: May 18, 2012, 06:25:00 PM »
Wow great spot mikesid and what a selection nullzero and I have a few of those.


I don't mind crowding my greens and letting the smaller ones take over as I pick the largest.I seem to get more over a long period that way.

Guanabanus

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #37 on: May 19, 2012, 08:29:52 AM »
I like all your gardens!

Nullzero,
I will have to try some of those perenial vegetables on your impressive list!
Har

nullzero

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #38 on: May 19, 2012, 01:14:33 PM »
Thanks for the compliments (I just wish I had a couple large raised beds planted out with these vegetables), If I have extra tubers/divisions/seeds I will share some if anyone is interested.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Jackfruitwhisperer69

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #39 on: May 19, 2012, 05:34:27 PM »
 
Hi Mikesid...are you using water from the canal to irrigate your crops?


I luv garden pics....awesome! Thanks for sharing Mike and Mike ;D ;D ;D
Time is like a river.
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Enjoy every moment of your life!

Jackfruitwhisperer69

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #40 on: May 19, 2012, 05:38:16 PM »
I love growing vegetables, currently though I have not really planted many annual vegetables this year. Right now I have the following vegetables growing (some in just small amounts to trial them); Nopales (Opuntia sp.), Egyptian walking onions, Potato onions, Oca (Oxalis tuberosa), Malva crispa (tasty leafy green), Sculpit (Silene inflata), Minutina (Plantago coronopus), Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), Chilacayote (Cucurbita ficifolia), Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius), Taro, Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor). Also have naturalized populations of Dandelion and Purslane which I harvest for its leaves.

Been mainly trying to focus on perennial tasty vegetables that require minimal inputs to produce.

Hi Nullzero,
What do you do with Cucurbita ficifolia? I make a killer Jam with Muganga. :P
Impressive list BTW ;)
Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of your life!

mikesid

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #41 on: May 21, 2012, 06:59:20 PM »

Hi Mikesid...are you using water from the canal to irrigate your crops?


I luv garden pics....awesome! Thanks for sharing Mike and Mike ;D ;D ;D

I do on occasion use the water from canal.I have a pump to irrigate my yard that draws on the canal...just a little weary from all the run-off....I would rather hand water with rain water from collection tank I have. I also use water from my 1000gal aquaponics tank to water with..

mikesid

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #42 on: May 21, 2012, 07:04:43 PM »
    Here is my afternoon take from the garden...just green/yellow beans today..The varieties are Kentucky Wonder and Gold Rush. I average about 8lbs per 10sqft on the first take and another 4lbs on the second take(about a month later) and then the plants get pulled. I succession  plant so I pull this amount every month during spring and summer. Getting my freezer stocked up with these badboys too!! I love to saute my green beans with some ginger and garlic! I can tatse it already!

nullzero

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #43 on: May 21, 2012, 09:51:12 PM »
I love growing vegetables, currently though I have not really planted many annual vegetables this year. Right now I have the following vegetables growing (some in just small amounts to trial them); Nopales (Opuntia sp.), Egyptian walking onions, Potato onions, Oca (Oxalis tuberosa), Malva crispa (tasty leafy green), Sculpit (Silene inflata), Minutina (Plantago coronopus), Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), Chilacayote (Cucurbita ficifolia), Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius), Taro, Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor). Also have naturalized populations of Dandelion and Purslane which I harvest for its leaves.

Been mainly trying to focus on perennial tasty vegetables that require minimal inputs to produce.

Hi Nullzero,
What do you do with Cucurbita ficifolia? I make a killer Jam with Muganga. :P
Impressive list BTW ;)

Have not had fruit yet, have been trialing the vegetable. Will update when I do get some fruit.

Mikesid,

Great harvest of green beans btw.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

nullzero

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #44 on: May 28, 2012, 05:19:07 PM »
Been eating leaves from Malva verticillata var. crispa. This is one of my favorite new greens, taste is mild lettuce flavor with no bitterness and a nice crisp flavor. Pests seem to leave this one alone, a good lettuce replacement. Heat & Drought tolerance seems to be pretty good, though plants have not experienced temps above low 80s yet.

Malva crispa


Now waiting to trial some of the other vegetables. Chaya cuttings are still establishing, so won't have any greens to sample until maybe end of summer. Buck's Horn plantain, had a good flavor with a slight bitterness, Scuplit had a good flavor with a slight arugula flavor.

I am looking to sprout some Culantro, molokhiya (Corchorus olitorius). Perhaps I will have enough various leafy greens by mid to late summer to make a nice mixed leafy green salad.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

MangoFang

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #45 on: May 28, 2012, 05:59:18 PM »
Did I hear the Desert mentioned?  Well, it is a minor crop for me, but I do grow a few types of tomatos and basil in between the mango trees, some bunching onions (also called scallions I think)and green peppers under the newly planted stone fruit trees.  That's about it.  Planting time is very specific here with the onset of serious heat around the middle of June (100+).  I've found planting tomatoes in Sept and kind of overwintering them allows for early production in springtime, though i often plant a couple more plants around March 1st.  Did you folks know that tomatoes won't throw out flowers when the temp. hits 100?  I just tear them all out by Mid-July to August as the remaining tomatoes finish ripening.  Green peppers, on the other hand, don't mind shade and will do fine over the summer and then start producing come the end of Sept or so.....

The summer heat is unrelenting of course, but mulching helps a LOT.  They grow lots of melons and other crops in some large truck gardens just a few miles from here at the east end of the Coachella Valley. It' s a huge business.

By the way, we've had 16 days over 100 degrees already this year, and last year we had only 5 by this time....

Some of you have serious gardens there that look really nice.....


Gary

ericalynne

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #46 on: May 28, 2012, 07:53:15 PM »
I love the pics of the raised beds! I am jealous! I grow veggies in south-central Florida and there is quite a bit that takes the heat. I learned what I know mostly from ECHO - took a summer veggie course there. I don't have the funds for the raised beds and so just use a variety of large pots. Very little will grow in the sand that makes up most of the soil I have. I have done the studies -  veggies in pots produce about 4 times as well as veggies in the sand, even with a lot of feeding. The only thing that does well in the sandy soil is sweet potatoes and watermelon.

I have had to adjust from northern growing to put up for the winter, to just growing and eating what is ready in the yard. It turns out that it doesn't take much to supply me with daily veggies. My sweetie thinks green veggies are poisonous  ;D so I am just feeding me.

In the heat of summer, I grow sweet potatoes (3 kinds), tomatoes (heritage), eggplant, okra, tomatillos, yard long beans, jack beans, peppers and perpetual spinach. Also edible hibiscus, amarantha, and some other leafy vegetables I have forgotten the names of. It sounds like a lot, but I only have about 3 plants of each.

Erica

mikesid

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #47 on: January 14, 2013, 05:36:23 PM »
Garden Update---Everything is growing good---Lost 1 pot of sugar snap peas to blight...tomatoes are really starting to flow...carrots are excellent...could be sweeter though..lost cucumber for third time to powdery mildew....must get resistant variety. Broccoli is beautiful and sweet!

What I'm having with dinner tonight!


bangkok

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #48 on: January 14, 2013, 08:28:15 PM »
I have tried many tomato's and paprika's but they don't grow/fruit well here. Only the small tomato's i could harvest.

Now i have a big problem with my new raised bed. A waterplant that looks like a small lotus has come out of the pond and is spread all around my garden. First i thought it was cute but now it is in my raised bed and i want to get it out before i fill the bed with loads of organics and compost.

That plant has a white root and spreads really fast. It died in the pond and only lives around it now.

If i put a 30 cm of compost in  my bed and dont water it for some weeks will that plant die then? If not then it will spread all over the bed and when the rainingseason starts i m sure it will grow like crazy.

I allready spent many hours getting that white roots out of the soil but it is a terrible job.

CTMIAMI

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Re: Vegies with your fruit?
« Reply #49 on: January 15, 2013, 09:06:15 AM »
I have citrus in pots in my yard. I plant herbs in them, there is plenty of room. This pictures is cilantro growing under a Kaffir Line. It beats the sotre bought cilantro by far, always fresh.

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