Hi Autodidact,

People show up at the farmers' market aaaalll the time - lookin' for pickling cucumbers. They very seldom find 'em. And my experience has been that it is so rare as to absolutely startling to find pickling cukes at a supermarket.

Up until this year and its Disastrous Cucurbit Spring, we grew lots of slicers & lots of lemon cukes, too. And, a lot of people use slicing cukes for their Summer salads. Only a few make pickles. If you make pickles, my suggestion is to grow 'em.

If you want the freshest greens - you absolutely know you can't find them at the supermarket. Grow them, too.

digitSteve

I agree with Steve, lettuce, chard - if you eat it, peas, green beans, peppers only if you eat a lot of them or love salsa - they take awhile. Pickling cukes if you make pickles, beets if you like them are some of the things and of course tomatoes. Edamame is one of those that may grow to maturity one year and not the next year.

I've grown edamame - you'd probably need that specific soil inoculant for soy, it will triple the yield, which isn't that great per sq foot. You'd want to stagger your plantings, with a couple-three plants every few days, because on each plant, they all have a habit of getting ripe at once. Fresh edamame is great, but to be honest, after trying it for two summers, now I just get the frozen stuff-in-a-shell and eat that - last time I looked, it was around $1.00 a lb, and the taste wasn't that different.

For pickling cucumbers, if you make pickles, and I do, I'd plant maybe 4 -6 vines - you can pick every 3 or 4 days enough fruit to fill a couple qt jars, and get top quality. With that many plants, you'll make an awful lot of pickles. They're also good fresh, sliced, and eaten in salads, and so on, so no need to plant other kinds of cukes.

We "do" pickles every other year, so I'll set out a dozen plants, and thats enough to keep me busy for a couple of weeks canning pickles, and I end up with a two year supply; 30 - 40 quarts. We try for the 3" long ones, 1 " in dia. And then, we end up throwing out a couple of wheelbarrows full of yellow footballs at the end of the season, which would make up a drum of of bread and butters. That many plants takes up a lot of space, however.

This year, I tried for 6 plants. Four never made it, and the two that did, I managed to get enough cukes for a salad or two. And discovered the sliced / put in a bag / red wine vinegar trick. Will add onions next time......

Thanks everyone. Anyone grow asparagus? Worth it?

I have asparagus and would not do without. But only if you have room: just be sure to follow directions, plant crowns in trenches, donÂt pick ANY the first year and only a few the second and remove ferns in dead of winter.

One year I burned the ferns too late in winter and killed all my plants. Now I just remove them in late January or early February and burn them in a different place.

If you like garden greens think about Choi Joi. I planted it for the first time this year it is on my "for sure list" next year.

Be sure to read all the threads about winter sowing. It works!!!!

Bonnie

I used to think I was smart NOT to plant asparagus. There was plenty, plenty, plenty along the river and one of my veggie gardens was right on the river. Literally on a bank, with nothing between me and the water except the shoreline (and asparagus :o).

Then the word got out that NOTHING coming up from the river sediment was safe - all was contaminated with heavy metals from mining!

So much for being smart . . . if I had more room in the backyard and didn't have the gardens scattered from hell to breakfast on other people's property . . . well, I should have planted asparagus a long time ago.

digitS'

The wild asparagus have gone way down around here, I dunno why - maybe the 2002 drought. But I never thought I'd need to plant any, we could go out and walk 100 yards down the borrow ditch and back on the other side of the road, and pick a couple pounds. Not now - maybe a dozen plants left in that whole stretch.

I have a few new crowns from Mexico that are just getting established.

I've read and heard so many stories about asparagus and how hard it is too grow. I've grown for several years. Not even sure how long. It is the easiest to grow and least maintenance of any veggie I can think of. And can't wait for it fresh every year. I started out planting in trenches. Now I just dig a big hole 10-12 inches deep and fill up about half way with a mixture of manure, dirt and compost. Then put the asparagus in and spread the roots. Then fill within 4 inches of the top. After the first sprout get several inches above ground line fill the rest in. Then start adding mulch. I add manure and cottonseed meal (or and equal) on top of the mulch every year and then add another layer. Before I mulched so much I burned them off in the dead of the winter. Now I just fire up the mower and mow them down and then spread the cuttings down as much. That is all I do every year besides pick it. With the mulch I have no week problems. I just added some more this year. I put it along the north side of a chain link fence and it takes up little room. The spot is probably 2' wide and runs along the fence for maybe 40'. I do have good sandy soil so have no experience with other types of soil. Wouldn't be without it. Jay

My first year of gardening has been a mixed success; not to be deterred, I'm planning for next year, as well.

I have a very limited area in which to grow things, so I think I'll heed the above advice and plant only pickling cucumbers. Is there a pickling cucumber variety that does better/produces more than others, particularly in Northern Colorado?

I'm also interested in asparagus -- I've heard it can be grown in containers(!) but need to find more information.