RE: Vegetable garden

Well Jim will have to tell you about humidity because I surely do not
have that problem here in the desert. But one experience I do have is
with heat. I get the earliest maturing varieties I can find for crops
like peas, lettuce, spinach, because we have such a short time between
last frost and 90F. I do that for corn too because when it gets over
95F, corn stops pollinating. At least it happens here, don't know if
it's heat that kills the pollen or the dryness. Bush beans don't
pollinate well in that weather either, and of course tomatoes stop - but
they'll start up again at end of summer.
I grow Oregon Giant snow peas, Blue Lake bush beans, Candy onions, and I
really like Ambrosia cantaloupes. You might do well with Vidalia onions
maybe. I almost always plant a couple Classica and Super San Marzano
tomatoes, those are both paste varieties. I don't stick with any other
tomato varieties, I get whatever indeterminate variety appeals to me
most in the current year's catalogs and says it's heat tolerant. I have
good luck with that 4-seasons lettuce (it has a French name I can't
remember), and Space spinach usually does well. I can't grow romaine or
any heading lettuce at all, so it's always loose-leaf types. Squash is
whatever looks pretty, it's always a success. Some of my favorite
peppers are Big Early, Corno di Toro, and Giant Marconi and I grow a
wonderful hybrid jalapeno called Mucho Nacho, it wins me 1st place
whenever I enter it in the fair.
Since I have lots of space I don't worry about how big the plants get,
but when doing squash and cucumbers it's something to consider. They can
take up a lot of space. When you get your peppers and tomatoes you'll
want to see if the descriptions talk about leaf cover, they can get
sunscald unless the fruit is nicely tucked under the leaves.
If you are looking for veggie seed catalogs don't forget my website at
www.gardenlist.com, check under the Vegetables section, there's lots.

Cyndi


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On
Behalf Of andreah
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 3:37 AM
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: [CHAT] Vegetable garden

Hi all-for this first time this year I am going to plant a true
vegetable
garden. I am researching which varieties do best in our heat and
humidity
but thought some of  you might have some suggestions. Jim???

My friend Liz has plenty of room and sun so we are going to do it at her
house. I know we want the standards, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes,
squash, green beans, peas, etc.



Any advice on what are the best ones to plant??  Or any other tasties we
might want to try?



We're also going to do raspberries, blackberries, watermelon,
cantaloupe,
and strawberries.



Thanks!
A

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