# ridiculous things i am growing this year...



## WilsonFamilyPicnic (Mar 27, 2008)

i just placed an order from Jung that included cascade and nugget hops...my SO wanted to grow something tall and viney up the side of the garage to hide it so i said, "hey, hops grows 20 feet tall..."  :wink: 

and i ordered luffa seeds after that darn luffa thread....they should arrive any day!!!!

i think those are the only really ridiculous things, unless you count that i am growing 7 different kinds of tomatoes....


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## IanT (Mar 27, 2008)

wow! what varieties of tomatoes?? I love cherry tomatoes and plum.. mmmmm mmmmm ...specially if the brix is high!

Hops is a fun plant to grow as well, you can use the buds for many things! it likes slightly acidic soil...


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## Tabitha (Mar 27, 2008)

Everytime I see a  luffa thread I am tempted- LOL!


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## WilsonFamilyPicnic (Mar 28, 2008)

Tabitha said:
			
		

> Everytime I see a  luffa thread I am tempted- LOL!



if all goes well we can have a fall soap and seed swap and i'll send everyone their own luffa soap and luffa seeds.


this year's tomatoes are the same as last year so i knowt they'll be good, heirlooms: cherokee purple, homer fike's yellow oxheart, tobolsk, persimmon, something else i can't remember and then grape tomatoes for salads.


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## Missjulesdid (Mar 28, 2008)

I'm growing Johnsons grass, chickweed, lambs quarters, dandelions, milkweed, plantain, goldenrod, ragweed, mallow, crab grass, wild violets, wild onion, creeping charlie, red sorrel, white clover, red raspberries, dogberries and sumac. 

We actually use the phrase "mow the weeds" instead of "mow the lawn"  I just don't see any point in having a manicured lawn, using pesticides and watering it and all.... It gets even worse... I actually PLANTED the violets to try to get rid of the plantain and sorrel....Didn't exactly work the way I had planned though.....

I sometimes grow tomatoes but not this year.


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## Bret (Mar 31, 2008)

One year when I still lived at my mom's, I grew 12 varieties of tomatoes. I can't remember the names anymore, but I had yellows, reds, purples, pink, etc. I took most of them to work. 

I tried two last summer, and I just don't have a good spot for them at my new house. You'd think of 7 acres... but unless it's right in the middle of the front yard, isn't going to work. So I'm going to get my tomatoes from one of the three farm stands in the area, and just do onions, basil and lettuce in pots.


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## WilsonFamilyPicnic (Mar 31, 2008)

my tomatoes were puple, yellow, orange, and red.

I just got my LUFFA seeds in the mail today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## IanT (Mar 31, 2008)

ooooh! post a growing your own luffa thread when theyre planted!!! i cant wait to see the outcome of that!!


Bret- you ever tried doing tomatoes hydroponically?? I used to be a bio major and we did an experiment with hydro plants, after that i was hooked and have become a hobby grower of all my culinary herbs (they charge like $3 for 1 oz of herbs in the store!!!! WHAAAAAAT!...with how much marinara i make, i use basil like its AIR! lol)...

but you can produce SOOOO much in such a little space, all youd need is a 10 gal rubbermaid storage bin or a 5gal bucket you can get at home depot or any similar store, cut a hole to fit a net pot, and buy a fishtank airpump, and an airstone, and some nutrients (not miracle grow..something made for hydroponics, I use FoxFarm because theyre organic.) heres an example of a simple DWC (deep water culture) system.

http://site.homegrown-hydroponics.com/dwc-cutaway.jpg


Its so easy, low maintenance and produces twice as much in half the space...the only thing youll have to worry about is what to DO with all the tomatoes you produce...

its said that " Supermarket tomatoes almost never have a brix rating as high as 6.  Carefully nurtured homegrown tomatoes routinely have ratings of 6 to 10 and can go as high as 14.  SunGold has been measured with 12 and probably could go higher." so you can pretty much engineer yourself the sweetest tomatoes, I like hydro because you can adjust you nutes exactly to ppm (parts per million) thus not wasting or over nute-ing, and you conserve ALOT of water too...plus no chem runoff into the groundwater means a cleaner Earth 


can you tell Im a hydro advocate!?! I just say if you havent tried it, try a side by side trial with a soil plant and hydro and youll be converted from then on...


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## WilsonFamilyPicnic (Mar 31, 2008)

IanT said:
			
		

> ooooh! post a growing your own luffa thread when theyre planted!!! i cant wait to see the outcome of that!!
> 
> 
> its said that " Supermarket tomatoes almost never have a brix rating as high as 6.  Carefully nurtured homegrown tomatoes routinely have ratings of 6 to 10 and can go as high as 14.  SunGold has been measured with 12 and probably could go higher."



alright i'll document the my luffa from soil to shower...   

what is brix?


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## IanT (Mar 31, 2008)

edit: and i look forward to the grow guide and comments!!!


brix: sugar content or sweetness; higher the brix, the sweeter the tomato or fruit (also used in winemaking, they determine exactly when to harvest the grapes by testing them with a brix meter, once theyve reached a certain brix they are harvested and processed within 3 days in order for the brix to stay as high as possible...the longer they wait between cutting and processing the higher the likelihood of a sour or bitter taste developing in the wine.)

also, has anyone ever grown San Marzano tomatoes?? they are the BEST for marinara sauce...although i could be killed for telling you that  :wink:


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## Krickett (May 9, 2008)

Hello All, just thought I would add my 2cp worth here today. My fiancee's mom has lavander all over the place, as well as a few other herbs. This yr. she is going to split the garden with us and let us take the bigger half. I have never grown my own garden and want to plant a few things. Tomatoes, carrots, raddishes, lettuces, squash, cukes, corn. Then out in the front around our flag pole I want to grow some herbs. So far I have only bought 4 kinds of seeds dill, thyme (common), mint (spearmint), and tarragon. Guess I am gonna just deal with those to start with and see how it goes. I am about to start collecting rose petals to try and make some scented oil as well as drying them for later use in soaps and oils. Any who that is it for me here, for now.


Krickett


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## IanT (May 9, 2008)

quick advice...grow the mint in a pot or container, it will take over the whole bed that you plant it in!! I had it growing next to lavender and it killed it  sent little runnners all over and took the window box over!!)


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## Guest (May 9, 2008)

I am growing alot of herbs this year.  I bought lavender plants, stevia, patchouli, aloe,  and comfery.  We also had TONS of tomatoe plants come up in the pig pen that we are transplanting to another garden.  100 pounds of potatoes, 700+ onion slips, beets, raddishes, carrots, and turnips not to mention my moms extensive heirloom daylilly collection.


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## jones10021 (May 9, 2008)

I had no idea tomatoes could come in so many colors, lol!


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## IanT (May 9, 2008)

La Oberhasli said:
			
		

> I am growing alot of herbs this year.  I bought lavender plants, stevia, patchouli, aloe,  and comfery.  We also had TONS of tomatoe plants come up in the pig pen that we are transplanting to another garden.  100 pounds of potatoes, 700+ onion slips, beets, raddishes, carrots, and turnips not to mention my moms extensive heirloom daylilly collection.



I envy you! I wish I had the space....one day...one day


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## Guest (May 9, 2008)

The trouble is that we have potatoes EVERYWHERE and no room for hardly anything else!  I had to plant tomatoes in the box gardens that I was going to do herbs in  :cry: Its nice, even though we aren't really in the country.  The city limits are right across the street.  We've found that a BIG garden, 10 goats, 30 chickens, two pigs, and 5 dogs exhausts 5 acres.


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