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| The other day I was talking to an older friend of mine about gardening. He never really did much gardening in his life but now that he is retired he is a little interested in doing this. I say a little because he has some health issues and so he probably cannot do a whole lot for the plants. So we were discussing about what veggies he can try which will be mostly trouble free and low maintenance. I am a gardening newbie, but from my last years experience I suggested tomatoes. I know he needs to cage them or give some kind of support, so I offered him help with that, But he is not a big fan of tomatoes. So I ask you, which all veggies do you suggest as the most trouble free and low maintenance, if there is one? Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by farmerdill (My Page) on Tue, Feb 25, 14 at 20:29
| Most of the common vegetables are as easy as tomatoes. What vegetables does he like that are better fresh. always grow something you like. |
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| Swiss Chard - Tasty trouble-free greens all summer long. Turnips - Good for roots and delicious greens. Trouble-free. Butternut Squash - Productive, high quality winter squash which are not susceptible to squash problems such as squash vine borer. Stores well. Bush Beans - Quick to produce (make two or more plantings during the season) and trouble-free (unless you have Mexican bean beetles). Jim |
This post was edited by jimster on Tue, Feb 25, 14 at 20:37
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| total agreement with Jimster, plus garlic, pole beans, mustard greens, lettuce. If he has space and patience, asparagus. If you can describe the soil, we can help further. |
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- Posted by robert2014 5B Central IL (My Page) on Tue, Feb 25, 14 at 20:58
| Thanks a lot farmerdill, Jim and glib. I will talk to him tomorrow about what veggies he prefers. I know for sure he likes squash and beans. He also likes pumpkin pies :). The soil I believe would be pretty similar to mine, which is silty clay. My garden soil is pretty productive I believe. Overall typical central IL soil. |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Tue, Feb 25, 14 at 21:06
| It's not the actual gardening that's hard to do, but the preparation IMHO. With the plants in and properly mulched there's not a bunch you have to do except water, pluck a few weeds and pick and prepare. If he's not interested in winter stuff, it's not difficult to collect some cardboard from the grocery store to prevent weeds. If he has raised beds (he might want to hire someone to prep these) you don't have to till often if at all. I do just to mix in my home made compost. What are his favorite veges? That's the way to go! Once he has FRESH veges he will probably be hooked! Take him to a farmers market to get the hang of eating fresh fruits and veges! I've been vege gardening for years, but have been hooked on FRESH fruit for the last few years! I just don't know if I want to commit to fruit trees! You get soooooo much! I'm better off stealing from my neighbor's trees (with his permission, of course!) and rewarding him with a jam or apple butter! Have him start small (you might want to look into square foot gardening or container gardening) I actually have 3 3'x8'x12" planters raised up to about 3' Great for the back! Also, there is a forum for limited motion gardening here you might want to check out! Good luck! Nancy |
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- Posted by theforgottenone1013 5b/6a MI (My Page) on Tue, Feb 25, 14 at 21:06
| Kohlrabi are very easy to grow. Any potential cabbage worm/looper damage is insignificant since you peel the "bulbs" anyway. Peppers are easy as long as you don't have pepper maggots. And shallots basically grow themselves. Rodney |
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| Always sow a packet of zinnia seeds in your vegetable garden, California Giants preferably. Nothing is more rewarding. Jim |
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| I found sweet potatoes to be very easy to grow. I grew mine from slips of a store bought one that had sprouted. Peas and beans are easy. Don't buy bush peas. He'd just have to have someone put a trellis up for him. If he could install some type of drip irrigation, he wouldn't have to hand water. |
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- Posted by courtneysgarden none (My Page) on Wed, Feb 26, 14 at 7:25
| Kale is really easy and doesn't seem to mind clay soil. My Swiss chard does great too, and the only thing that seems to bother it is snails. Both produce a whole lot from each plant, just keep picking off leaves & they keep making more! Plant once and enjoy the harvest for months or even years depending on your climate/zone/weather. They are pretty heat and cold hearty too, though kale tastes much better in cool weather than hot. Chard seems fine no matter the weather. |
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- Posted by courtneysgarden none (My Page) on Wed, Feb 26, 14 at 7:31
| Oh and herbs of course. Also lettuce is really easy too and I have had good luck with it & it's doing well as a container plant .Snow peas do well for me too & seem less finicky & quicker producers than snap peas. Cherry tomatoes are easier than other types as far as hardiness & disease & seem to produce more too. |
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| For me, peppers are easy and if you have too many, just core and cut into strips for freezer bag. We like things like pepper burgers and sausage and pepper grinders so it's nice to pick some to cook up. I think your friend would enjoy most the veggies he likes to eat. I agree with green beans (bush variety). Spinach is easy for me as long as I plant it early enough. Kale. Swiss chard. Beets. Cucumbers. Most herbs. My husband put up some reinforced concrete mesh panels as semi-permanent trellis. Stakes with steel posts but eventually the bottom of the posts rust off. Sugar snap peas are very popular with my family. Some summer squash/zucchini varieties don't suffer badly from squash bugs. But in some areas, people give squash away so maybe he doesn't need to grow his own. BTW chard that gets hit by cold weather sweetens up to an incredibly wonderful flavor. I can buy some here in NH that is grown in winter unheated hoop houses. Wonderful! |
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| I agree with beans. Some of the easiest things I grow, and they have a lot of of uses. Canning, pickling, freezing, dry beans snap beans. Radishes are another easy-peasy that also are quick from seed to harvest. Summer squashes/zucchini is almost too easy, and you wind up with fruit coming out of your ears, as long as they don't get hit by pests. |
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| I agree with Nancyjane, preparation is key. If he has a friend (you) to help prepare the beds, that's a good start. Set things up so the hose or whatever you will use to water it right there, so you don't have to drag a hose out to use it. Give him a hand with fall cleanup and spring mulching. If you can help with all that, you are a true friend, and he will get a lot of enjoyment from growing, watering, and harvesting. |
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| If He has trees in the garden, he can grow Luffa, long Squash around the trees and let them climb on the trees. |
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- Posted by robert2014 5B Central IL (My Page) on Wed, Feb 26, 14 at 20:58
| Thank you all for all the great suggestions. I told my friend about this and he thanks you all as well. He is not at all savvy about computers, otherwise he would have posted himself. So after discussing with him about all the suggestions I got here, he decided that he will try chard, beans, winter squash, radish and lettuce. He was very keen on squash, but after hearing that I lost all my zuks last year to svb and squash bugs, he dropped that idea. Nancy, excellent point about preparation. I am a noob so I have no idea about how to make a raised bed. i mean I can construct one, but no idea about what would be a good soil mix. I was thinking I will do for him what I did in my garden last year. Just till it real good and add some compost, and keep fingers crossed. It worked alright for us last year. My next question is how many of each plants will he need? Thanks a lot everyone. Really appreciated, |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Wed, Feb 26, 14 at 21:11
| You also want to find out how much prep/freezing/canning etc he is interested in doing. I personally prefer my food saver and freeze as much as I can. This involves making sauces, blanching, baking etc. If he's not ready to do these things he might be better off finding a neighbor who wants to share (maybe for a price), someone who wants land to garden in exchange for some of the produce, one of those things where you pay monthly and they bring you seasonal produce (there are also organizations here that do meats etc!), a community garden area (socialization!) I find farmer's markets to be quite pricey! He might want to do some of the above on craigslist or some similar thing like freecycle (Be sure he's doing it in a safe manner!) Reading this thread makes me think of adding an extra row and feeding some elderly people! I like it! Nancy |
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| https://www.google.com/search?q=long+squash&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xqAOU5LJIbLJsAS524GYBg&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1241&bih=615 Long squash is easy to grow, less insect problem, it is a hot season crop, taste good too. |
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- Posted by robert2014 5B Central IL (My Page) on Thu, Feb 27, 14 at 20:07
| Nancy, he is not going to can anything. He will probably freeze some if he has enough. |
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