From: gwv@helium.cray.com (George Vandenberghe)
Subject: Re: essential veggies to grow
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 29 Dec 92 12:15:58 CST

In article <1992Dec29.144659.3004@hou.amoco.com>, zkym02@hou.amoco.com (Keerthi Y. McIntosh) writes:
|> 
|> Alice Ramirez writes:
|> > If we are going to discuss essential vegetables to grow, the ones that
|> > absolutely are inferior in the stores, I have to cast my vote for homegrown
|> > leaf lettuce.  There is no comparison between the tender, picked-slightly-
|> > immature leafs grown at home and those motheaten heads of pale, medium
|> > and/or reddish lettuce
|> 
|> 
|> I am going to start my FIRST garden this summer.  Santa was good and brought me
|> the book entitled "Square Foot Gardening"  I am planning to try the same concepts
|> but in big pots or wooden boxes.  I live in an apartment in New Orleans... long hot
|> summers  
|> 
|> 
|> The vegetables I am planning to grow are:
|> 
|> Any recommendations on what kind to buy and where to get them would be greatly
|> appreciated.
|> 
|> a. tomatoes ... just enough for me and my husband... I am thinking 1 plant with 
|>     three plantings
|> 
|> b. Lettuce.. I was thinking Boston lettuce... but I would like to try others... 
|>     store bought lettuce is expensive and you end up throwing most of it away.
|> 
|> c. Yellow, Red and Green Bell Peppers --- I am hoping they will be easy to grow.
|> 
|> d. Something else ... kind of exotic... but I haven't figured out what.
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> Keerthi McIntosh
|> 
|> 

    I had good luck with buttercrunch lettuce in Tallahassee in spring (Feb-June).
Peppers are an excellent choice; yes they are easy to grow.   I have
grown sweet 100  tomatoes in a hanging basket in Tallahassee.  I like Early Girl and Better Boy
but these are full sized tomatoes and need at least a five gallon pot and
six square feet of space per plant.  I have heard that Patio is a good 
pot tomato, growing about three feet high.  Burpee Pixie is also good
but smaller at about 18".   Both tend to set more fruits than they
can support and then the fruit quality suffers and the plant stops
growing new leaves and dies.   Blossom pinching 
prevents this problem.
     I found that day neutral strawberries were a real treat from March through
June.  If you get full sun, you might want to consider them.  Summer heat
beats them back but some will survive and make runners in the fall for next
year.  I got four to ten berries per day from four square feet of planting 
area.  I used sweetheart, a novel seed grown variety available from Park.
Tristar is probably better but I never tried it in the South.  They require
good drainage and like cool roots.  The combination of waterlogged soil and
heat is deadly.  I found my potted ones did better in sand with a LITTLE clay
than in various potting soils because the sand drained well.
    Garden stores or nurseries should have everything you need.  Tomato
, lettuce, and pepper seeds are also sold in hardware stores and even
grocery stores.  You need to get moving though, the lettuce can be planted
now and you can start tomato and pepper seedlings in early January for
planting outdoors after frost (Probably sometime in March in your area).