Iowans - what do you plant in your home gardens?

[Tenacious E]

This coming spring we are going to start a garden. We have a pretty good sized area if we wanted to use it all. Probably 30 feet long. Could be as deep as 10 feet, but to start we will probably keep it to a single or double planting row, so maybe 6 feet or so. This particular area had the typical awesome Iowa soil unintentionally stripped out as casualty of war from a previous project in the back yard, and it struggles with having plush thick grass grow. We will need to add fertilizer and such. It also gets a ton of direct sunlight. I know we will do tomatoes. I would like to grow peppers but we have tried to grow them in the past with little success. I like the idea of zucchini. What do you guys plant? Do you use planters or beds, or just plant directly in the ground?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Tomatoes for fresh eating as well as canning
Onions
Green beans ( pole)
Snap peas
Cucumber
Radishes
Peppers ( bell, jalapeño, Anaheim)


In the back half I do sunflowers and watermelons. ( next year will do sun/pump as my soil isn't sandy enough)



Pro tip: don't plant cherry tomatoes, you will never get rid of them, if you really want cherry tomatoes, put them in a bucket.



My focus is stuff I'm actually going to eat or enjoy. I make fresh salsa or marinara, or can dilled green beans. I dont want to grow a bunch of lettuce because I don't eat lettuce.

 

[Tenacious E]

Tomatoes for fresh eating as well as canning
Onions
Green beans ( pole)
Snap peas
Cucumber
Radishes
Peppers ( bell, jalapeño, Anaheim)


In the back half I do sunflowers and watermelons. ( next year will do sun/pump as my soil isn't sandy enough)



Pro tip: don't plant cherry tomatoes, you will never get rid of them, if you really want cherry tomatoes, put them in a bucket.

Good stuff. I am currently thinking tomatoes, green beans, snap peas, bell peppers, some spicy peppers, and and zucchini. I will start planting basil too, to make a fresh pesto. I am not sure what other herbs I will plant, if any...

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Good stuff. I am currently thinking tomatoes, green beans, snap peas, bell peppers, some spicy peppers, and and zucchini. I will start planting basil too, to make a fresh pesto. I am not sure what other herbs I will plant, if any...

Garlic takes a couple years to establish fwiw, you don't get a production your first year.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

With beans you can do beans that grow as a bush or as a vine that needs something to grow on. If you put a couple post on the backside of your garden and ran twine for 3 or 4 layers you could have a decent crop of beans/ snap peas on the back side of the garden, not shading the rest, and taking little space.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Also, check out your timeline of everything, Radishes go in early and come out before most things are really taking off, you can keep them closer to tomatoes and you won't shade them out.

 

[lonestar50]

I wish I had more room than I do Some in a raised bed, some in the ground

Tomatoes
Green Beans
Cucumbers
Peppers

Herbs
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Dill. You'll only need to plant once.
If you do grow mint, grow it in a planter, otherwise you'll never get rid of it

I love the way that corner of the backyard smells.

If you grow from seed, Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah is a good place to order from.

Garlic takes a couple years to establish fwiw, you don't get a production your first year.

Plant it in the fall you'll get a harvest in the summer. You thinking asparagus maybe?

 

[FranklinHawk]

Over the years I've backed down on the garden a bit, used to grow everything on Whiskey's list along with lots of potatoes. Now it's pretty much tomatoes, green onions, and peppers (bell, jalapeno, and every couple years red chili peppers that I dry and chop to sprinkle in things like chili). Large onions and potatoes I decided it's easier to buy them than try to keep large quantities good in storage.

 

[QChawks]

 

[Tenacious E]

I wish I had more room than I do Some in a raised bed, some in the ground

Tomatoes
Green Beans
Cucumbers
Peppers

Herbs
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Dill. You'll only need to plant once.
If you do grow mint, grow it in a planter, otherwise you'll never get rid of it

I love the way that corner of the backyard smells.

If you grow from seed, Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah is a good place to order from.


Plant it in the fall you'll get a harvest in the summer. You thinking asparagus maybe?

I'm pretty pumped up about this. I guess that means I am getting old.

 

[soonerinlOUisiana]

I wish I had more room than I do Some in a raised bed, some in the ground

Tomatoes
Green Beans
Cucumbers
Peppers

Herbs
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Dill. You'll only need to plant once.
If you do grow mint, grow it in a planter, otherwise you'll never get rid of it

I love the way that corner of the backyard smells.

If you grow from seed, Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah is a good place to order from.


Plant it in the fall you'll get a harvest in the summer. You thinking asparagus maybe?

True dat on the mint. When I was a kid, our neighbors planted mint on the other side of a chain link fence, and it migrated into our yard. Eventually, they paved and landscaped their entire back yard to put in a pool, and replaced the fence with a brick wall. I continued to smell mint along the wall for decades there after whenever I cut my parents’ grass.

 

[lonestar50]

I'm pretty pumped up about this. I guess that means I am getting old.

Yep. That was my thought when I started to get excited about it too. Just embrace it and enjoy it.

It's a joke in my house that I'll check on my tomatoes after work before asking how my wife's day was

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

I wish I had more room than I do Some in a raised bed, some in the ground

Tomatoes
Green Beans
Cucumbers
Peppers

Herbs
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Dill. You'll only need to plant once.
If you do grow mint, grow it in a planter, otherwise you'll never get rid of it

I love the way that corner of the backyard smells.

If you grow from seed, Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah is a good place to order from.


Plant it in the fall you'll get a harvest in the summer. You thinking asparagus maybe?

Maybe.... I had garlic at my old place and thought it took a year and haven't put it in the new garden yet.
Asparagus is like that I believe.

 

[jasonrann]

No clue what would be practical these days, but when I was a kid in NW Iowa we had a killer garden.

Potatoes
Tomatoes
Carrots
Green onions
Kohlrabi
Radishes
Green beans
Cucumbers

We had a bowl of green onions, radishes and carrots in the refrigerator at all times that came out with every meal. We always had a jar of cucumbers too. The garden was something I didn't appreciate at the time, but sure do now.

 

[cfbfan23]

Maybe surprise plant some squash for the wife?????

 

[InsaneHawkJJP]

We have a huge garden so we plant a lot. Just planted some garlic a couple weeks ago.

Last year we planted:
6 varieties of tomatoes
3 varieties of potatoes
6 varieties of peppers
Green beans
Onions
Peas
Kohlrabi
Cabbage
Carrots
Kale
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts
Lettuce
Egg plant
Celery
Spinach
Swiss chard
Edamame
5 varieties of pumpkins
Zucchini
Watermelon
Musk melon
Beets
Radishes
Cucumbers
Okra
Sweet corn
Plus lots of different beneficial flowers and we already had various herbs and asparagus from previous years.

Edit to add: we have raised beds and we plant directly into the ground. We also have two big mound gardens that are very productive.

 

[Lindemann]

We grow everything mentioned above plus:

Sweet potatoes
Kale
Cabbage
Beets
Brussels sprouts
Parsnips


The kale and brussels sprouts will produce late into the fall. In fact we just picked brussels sprouts and kale the week before Thanksgiving. The temps have to get into the low 20s to kill them off. They're gone now as the temps got down into the teens since.

Home grown sweet potatoes are great and will last all winter if properly stored, but man they vine out a LOT and take up a lot space even though all the potatoes grow within a couple of feet of where you put the plant in the ground.

I've also plant parsnips but have had limited success. The seeds take forever to germinate and at least for me, the germination rate ends up being pretty low.

Good luck and try to keep it well weeded. My favorite weeding tool is a sharpened shovel. Push it in front of you just below ground level and you'll mow down a lot of them quickly. This works as long as you don't let them get out of control.

 

[Tenacious E]

We have a huge garden so we plant a lot. Just planted some garlic a couple weeks ago.

Last year we planted:
6 varieties of tomatoes
3 varieties of potatoes
6 varieties of peppers
Green beans
Onions
Peas
Kohlrabi
Cabbage
Carrots
Kale
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts
Lettuce
Egg plant
Celery
Spinach
Swiss chard
Edamame
5 varieties of pumpkins
Zucchini
Watermelon
Musk melon
Beets
Radishes
Cucumbers
Okra
Sweet corn
Plus lots of different beneficial flowers and we already had various herbs and asparagus from previous years.

Edit to add: we have raised beds and we plant directly into the ground. We also have two big mound gardens that are very productive.

 

[Tenacious E]

We have a huge garden so we plant a lot. Just planted some garlic a couple weeks ago.

Last year we planted:
6 varieties of tomatoes
3 varieties of potatoes
6 varieties of peppers
Green beans
Onions
Peas
Kohlrabi
Cabbage
Carrots
Kale
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts
Lettuce
Egg plant
Celery
Spinach
Swiss chard
Edamame
5 varieties of pumpkins
Zucchini
Watermelon
Musk melon
Beets
Radishes
Cucumbers
Okra
Sweet corn
Plus lots of different beneficial flowers and we already had various herbs and asparagus from previous years.

Edit to add: we have raised beds and we plant directly into the ground. We also have two big mound gardens that are very productive.

i have to ask, how big is you garden? That must take up an acre.

 

[InsaneHawkJJP]

I’m sure I forgot something too.
We also have fruit trees and bushes. I’d like to get some raspberries this year if anyone has any good recommendations.

 

[Rifler]

Nothing at the moment,.. snow to clear this evening.

 

[InsaneHawkJJP]

i have to ask, how big is you garden? That must take up an acre.

It’s big, probably 100 ft by 200 ft, but we try to utilize as much space as we can with vegetables so weeds don’t have anywhere to grow, but they still find a way.

 

[soonerinlOUisiana]

Does Iowa let you grow your own weed?

 

[jasonrann]

At the plantation here in Kansas, we typically have:

Multiple pepper varieties
Multiple tomato varieties
Strawberries
Cucamelons
Basil
Rosemary
Chives
Thyme
Dill
Tons of fresh flowers

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Does Iowa let you grow your own weed?

No

 

[Lindemann]

At the plantation here in Kansas, we typically have:

Multiple pepper varieties
Multiple tomato varieties
Strawberries
Cucamelons
Basil
Rosemary
Chives
Thyme
Dill
Tons of fresh flowers

I'm not familiar with the cucamelon. Are they hard to grow? How do you eat them?

 

[Tenacious E]

I'm not familiar with the cucamelon. Are they hard to grow? How do you eat them?

Please. Everyone knows that Melothria scabra, commonly known as the cucamelon, Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber, Mexican sour gherkin, mouse melon, or pepquinos, is a species of flowering plant in the cucurbit family grown for its edible fruit. Everyone also knows that its native range spans Mexico to Venezuela, and that its fruits are about the size of grapes and taste like cucumbers with a tinge of sourness.

 

[Lindemann]

With beans you can do beans that grow as a bush or as a vine that needs something to grow on. If you put a couple post on the backside of your garden and ran twine for 3 or 4 layers you could have a decent crop of beans/ snap peas on the back side of the garden, not shading the rest, and taking little space.

Fresh grown green beans are fantastic. As Whiskey said, if you have something for them to grow on, pole beans will produce a lot while taking very little space.

We drive 3 metal posts into the ground and stand a cattle panel up against them and zip tie the posts to the panel.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/feedlot-panel-cattle-16-ft-l-x-50-in-h

 

[jasonrann]

I'm not familiar with the cucamelon. Are they hard to grow? How do you eat them?

They're oddly delicious and very easy to grow. We have a very long growing season here in KC and plenty of room to keep them in a bed in direct sunlight. They taste like a watermelon flavored cucumber, not very sweet. We either eat them alone (the kids love them), or put them on a salad.

This Teeny Tiny Melon Is a Must-Grow in Your Garden, We Promise

Cucamelons (Melothria scabra) are tropical plants with fruit that tastes similar to cucumbers and watermelons. Learn how to grow cucamelons at home.

www.thespruce.com

 

[jellyfish10]

I don’t have as big of a garden as @InsaneHawkJJP but a fairly sizable one. One thing I have focused on is growing things that truly do taste better growing it yourself as opposed to store bought items. I do 6 varieties of tomatoes, between 20-30 different peppers, radishes, snap peas, carrots, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, raspberries, asparagus, chives, etc. some of these I rotate. I don’t use a chemicals so that can be a struggle as far as weed control. I compost so use that mainly as my fertilizer outside of organic fertilizer.

One thing I find interesting is that when I first started my own garden and didn’t know what the fvck I was doing, I had some insane yields. As time went on and I gained more knowledge, I have had years where I thought I would have a bountiful crop only to be somewhat disappointed. Sometimes mother does what mother does.

Enjoy OP. It is a fantastic hobby, peaceful, soothing, and so worth it even if your harvest isn’t what you would hope.

 

[Tenacious E]

I don’t have as big of a garden as @InsaneHawkJJP but a fairly sizable one. One thing I have focused on is growing things that truly do taste better growing it yourself as opposed to store bought items. I do 6 varieties of tomatoes, between 20-30 different peppers, radishes, snap peas, carrots, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, raspberries, asparagus, chives, etc. some of these I rotate. I don’t use a chemicals so that can be a struggle as far as weed control. I compost so use that mainly as my fertilizer outside of organic fertilizer.

One thing I find interesting is that when I first started my own garden and didn’t know what the fvck I was doing, I had some insane yields. As time went on and I gained more knowledge, I have had years where I thought I would have a bountiful crop only to be somewhat disappointed. Sometimes mother does what mother does.

Enjoy OP. It is a fantastic hobby, peaceful, soothing, and so worth it even if your harvest isn’t what you would hope.

Follow up question, which vegetables actually taste better when home grown? @The Tradition says tomatoes, and I believe him. But do peppers, peas, and green beans actually taste different?

 

[Herkster5]

Squash
Cucumber
Tomato - For canning spaghetti sauce, tomato basil soup, and salsa
Green Pepper
Jalapenos - Peppers are used for pepper jelly and salsa, as well as regular consumption
Green Beans - To be canned
Asparagus - Obviously not planted yearly, but have started two clumps of plants the last 3 years, eat fresh and can
Onions - Salsa
**Edit to add zucchini**

And pumpkins.

 

[jellyfish10]

Follow up question, which vegetables actually taste better when home grown? @The Tradition says tomatoes, and I believe him. But do peppers, peas, and green beans actually taste different?

JMHO, potatoes and green beans are two that I have shied away from. Not bc I don’t love them, simply bc the others I mentioned are more noticeably different tasting than the others. I have shrunk their space down to enjoy the things I truly love, or love more I should say.

 

[lonestar50]

JMHO, potatoes and green beans are two that I have shied away from. Not bc I don’t love them, simply bc the others I mentioned are more noticeably different tasting than the others. I have shrunk their space down to enjoy the things I truly love, or love more I should say.

That's funny because I was going to say green beans. I guess it depends on the variety. Some of the most fun for me is picking out the carpet I'm going to grow.

For green beans I found I really like Dragon Tongue. More of an earthy flavor.

Peppers I like fish peppers (hot), Jimmy Nardello (sweet frying pepper)

 

[InsaneHawkJJP]

Follow up question, which vegetables actually taste better when home grown? @The Tradition says tomatoes, and I believe him. But do peppers, peas, and green beans actually taste different?

Tomatoes, green beans fresh and canned, carrots, beets, snap peas, zucchini, melons, radishes, lettuce, kohlrabi, kale and cucumbers all taste better to me than at a chain grocery store.
I’m lucky to have a food co-op in Decorah that has lots of local organic produce that is very comparable to what I can grow in the garden.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

I concur with most of the above.

FYI, if you plan on planting strawberries, realize it will take several years before a good harvest.

If you like rhubarb, that will grow crazy right away.

Never had problems with most veggies.

 

[artradley]

Yep. That was my thought when I started to get excited about it too. Just embrace it and enjoy it.

It's a joke in my house that I'll check on my tomatoes after work before asking how my wife's day was

If she’s like mine, there will be hours for her to tell you how her day went…

 

[artradley]

Follow up question, which vegetables actually taste better when home grown? @The Tradition says tomatoes, and I believe him. But do peppers, peas, and green beans actually taste different?

Definitely tomatoes. It’s not even like the same food. Then green beans.

 

[Tenacious E]

Definitely tomatoes. It’s not even like the same food. Then green beans.

Which kinds of home grown tomatoes taste the best and most different in your opinion? There are a million varieties…

 

[Colonoscopy]

rudabagas