The Orchid Garden

The clueless gardener in Chicago

Question:

Sanders) writes: : I just rented a 20′ by 20′ city plot to start a beginner’s vegetable : garden.  I am looking for advice on which vegetables are the easiest to : grow for a first time gardener like my self.  Also, people are telling me : that I need a fence to keep rodents out.  Is this necessary?? Carla and others, following the new convention in rec.gardens, let’s take this discussion to the thread called "EDIB: Clueless in Chicago".  I have a few recommendations there!

Watch out for dog poop.  If this city plot has been used as a dog toilet, you may want to sterilize the ground by putting clear plastic over it for a week or so till the sun can bake the ground.   There was a thread running a while about about harmful (bacteria?) (viruses?) from dog poop that can get into people’s eyes and cause blindness.  Was this upheld or refuted?  On what authority? Polar

Response:

: I just rented a 20′ by 20′ city plot to start a beginner’s vegetable : garden.  I am looking for advice on which vegetables are the easiest to : grow for a first time gardener like my self.  Also, people are telling me : that I need a fence to keep rodents out.  Is this necessary?? : Thanks…Clueless Carla Carla, welcome to the wonderful world of gardening!  As another Chicago gardener with a small plot, I’d like to suggest a few things: 1) Stick a few radish and snap pea seeds in the ground _right now_!   Especially with peas, it’s almost too late, so do this first thing.  Then go to step 2: 2) Read the book "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholemew.  It’s a treasure, and particularly useful if you’re trying to get maximum yield from minimum space. 3) Easy things to grow for a first time veggie gardener: radishes, Swiss chard, tomatoes, leaf lettuce, basil, pak choi, parsley, chives, beets. In Chicago, it can be difficult to get squash, cukes, or zukes to outlast the dreaded squash vine borer, but you may be okay this first year (maybe they won’t have discovered your plot yet).  I and my gardening friends in Chicago have mixed luck with peppers; some claim the season is just too short.  But I always have at least a few habanero or jalapeno plants. You can order seeds, though it may be a little late for that.  (See the post on how to get the FAQs for this newsgroup.) Since this is your first year, you may want to just buy seeds locally.  They’re at most grocery stores (if you’re the yuppie or holistic type, check out Whole Foods on North Ave. for "Seeds of Change"; they’re heirloom varieties and varieties which support sustainable agriculture), some drug stores (e.g. Osco, Walgreen’s), hardware stores, and of course, garden stores.  For tomatoes and peppers, you’ll probably need to buy plants already started. 4) I haven’t needed a fence to keep out "rodents" (which type are worrying you?), but I have finally discovered that row cover does a nice job of keeping squirrels away from the pea seedlings.  Otherwise, I have not had animal problems.  Your garden will have its own rewards and tribulations; the only way to find out what they will be is to stick a few seeds in the ground and see how you luck out! Congratulations on getting started; good times ahead! Laura

Response:

: I just rented a 20′ by 20′ city plot to start a beginner’s vegetable : garden.  I am looking for advice on which vegetables are the easiest to : grow for a first time gardener like my self.  Also, people are telling me : that I need a fence to keep rodents out.  Is this necessary?? Carla and others, following the new convention in rec.gardens, let’s take this discussion to the thread called "EDIB: Clueless in Chicago".  I have a few recommendations there!

Response:

I just rented a 20′ by 20′ city plot to start a beginner’s vegetable garden.  I am looking for advice on which vegetables are the easiest to grow for a first time gardener like my self.  Also, people are telling me that I need a fence to keep rodents out.  Is this necessary?? Thanks…Clueless Carla

Response:

I just rented a 20′ by 20′ city plot to start a beginner’s vegetable garden.  I am looking for advice on which vegetables are the easiest to grow for a first time gardener like my self.  Also, people are telling me that I need a fence to keep rodents out.  Is this necessary??

Carla, you learn to garden by experimenting and reading.  I’d suggest tomatoes and lettuce as easy plants for "first time" gardeners: root vegetables, like carrots and onions and beets are also easy if you have decent soil.  Pick up a handful of soil from your plot a day after a rain and give it a firm squeeze, like a nice firm (not knuckle- crushing) handshake.  Open your hand and look at it.  Does it crumble immediately, or when you give it a mild finger poke?  You’ve got sandy soil, and root crops will love it.  Does it crumble a bit when you give it a harder poke?  You’ve got loam, and most plants will be quite happy.  Does it hold the ridge markings from your fingers, even if you give it a pretty good poke?  Pretty much behave like modeling clay?  You’ve got clay soil, and root crops are going to be problematic for you. 20×20 is a pretty big garden.  Most first time gardeners get overwhelmed by planting all sorts of things, and trying to deal with all sorts of problems, and trying to keep up on the weeding, and the harvesting, and pretty soon the whole project gets abandoned because its Too Much Work.  Don’t do that to  yourself.  Figure out what you would like to try… keep it to 4 or 5 crops this first year, and think about some pretty flowers for cutting, too.  Marigolds are easy, and come from seed easily, and so are zinnias, and cockscomb  and cleome. Sweet alyssum makes a pretty edging plant, as do parsley and leaf lettuce. Let’s say you’re gardening by yourself, and you like tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, green onions, and cucumbers.  (Don’t plant zucchini… the other gardeners will beg you to take some of theirs!).  I’d suggest: 1-2 cherry tomatos (something like Sweet 100 or Red Cherry) 1 "main crop" tomato, an indeterminant variety like Big Boy, Better   Boy, Rutgers, Beefmaster or Celebrity (the more initials after   their names like VFNT or VFFNT the more disease resistant they   are) 1 "Roma" type "Italian Paste Tomato" (Roma, San Marzano, Royal Chico)   for sandwiches (they aren’t as juicy/sloppy/seedy, and they taste   good!) 1 Long Keeper, which doesn’t taste all that wonderful, but they   store well, and the taste of a fresh, homegrown tomato at Thanksgiving   or Christmas will keep you hooked on gardening. OK:  Tomatoes are usually sold (expensively!) as big singles, or less expensively in 3 or 6 packs.  Split the extra plants with your neighbors, or plant the extra at one end of the garden for "reserves".  Hoe them down when the main plants take off. Carrots:  Um!  Nantes Coreless is an old fashioned variety I like; you might also look at any of the carrots marked as "All America Selections" which means they’re pretty good cultivars that will do pretty well anyplace in the US.  Safe bets.   One package of seeds. Sow them *thinly* in rows, so you don’t break your heart thinning baby carrots later. Green onions:  Plant onion seed about an inch deep, thinly.  Harvest when they start looking like the scallions in the grocery store. Cucumbers:  Plant a few hills of one of the All America Winners like Sweet Success or Straight 8, or Fanfare. Lettuce:   Lots of choices here.  Look for leaf lettuce or "loosehead" lettuce, and look for the ones that are marked "slow to bolt" and "heat tolerant".  Lettuce is a cool season crop. so you won’t be eating it much in July and August, but you can replant in August for fall lettuce.  I like Salad Bowl, Red Sails, and Oakleaf for people who think lettuce should taste like iceberg lettuce at the store (very bland).  Butterhead and Salad Bowl are two of my favorites, and Red Sails is pretty and pretty tasty.  You might also try a packet of "lettuce blend", which is a mixture of different cultivars. Gives you lettuce for a fair amount of time, and lets you try lots of kinds without investing in a lot of seeds. Ring your plot in something cheerful, like dwarf marigolds or sweet alyssum.  Put something tall like Cleome at one end, also for cheerfulness. By this time, you may have planted 1/3 of your plot.  "Give" the rest to another gardener, or cover it in thick mulch, or plant buckwheat on it very thickly.  That will control the weeds on that part. On the part you’re growing crops on, USE MULCH.  Lots of mulch.  It will save you time weeding, watering, worrying about some of the fungal diseases, and it looks good.  4" or so of any organic material you can get: grass clippings, bags of leaves, spoiled hay, chopped corn cob.  Oh?  You’re in the city, with no car?  Consider several layers of newspaper, corrugated cardboard (1 layer will do) or old carpet (backing side up) rescued from the sanitation department collection crews.  Black plastic if you have to, but it’s not nice to work on in the summer. While you’re gardening there this summer, talk to the other gardeners, especially the old folks, or the ones that seem to have nice produce without expending terrific amounts of effort.  They can probably teach you some good shortcuts. Go to the library, and get a couple of books on vegetable gardening. The Time-Life book on veggies is good for beginners, as is Rodale’s Chemical Free Yard and Garden.  Read, but don’t get overwhelmed by all the details.  Plants do pretty well without being babied. Read a (very old, but still fine!) book called "How to have a green thumb without an aching back", by Ruth Stout, sister of Rex Stout, who wrote the stories about the orchid-growing detective Nero Wolfe. Watch for classes sponsored by Master Gardeners, beginners seminars at the library or community centers, at Morton Arboretum or Chicago Botanic Garden. Most importantly, ENJOY!!!!! Best wishes,

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