Homegrown

[Mobasser]

As a kid, I had a great uncle ( my mom's uncle) who was a huckster. After he retired from farming, he bought about four acres of rich ground along the Missouri river near the small town of Parkville Mo.                             He grew almost every type of vegatble here. Sweet corn, tomatoes, okra, melons, squash, and green beans, and sold them from the back of his truck at a roadside vegtable stand. I worked for him for four summers when I was between the age of twelve to sixteen.                   He taught me a lot about growing things, and what to look for, to tell homegrown vegatables from store bought.           Here's a few things he taught me: homegrown tomatoes rarely look perfect. They usually all have some imperfection of some sort. The skin of homegrown tomatoes is more dull, and not shiny. Many big grocery stores order tomatoes which are grown down south, picked early, and artificially ripened under lights, or injected with a dye. This is all done to make them look perfect by the time they reach grocery stores.                                                      When I helped my uncle run the vegtable stand, things would slow down around 1:00 in the afternoon. Around 3:00 each day, he'd take two big tomatoes, and a Black Diamond watermelon, and cut them into bite size pieces. He called these the " tasters", and always encouraged folks to try some.              Once they tasted them, they always bought some. The stand would be busy between 4:30 and 6:00. I'd be loading peck baskets, and bushel baskets with all kinds of fresh vegetables, and helping load the large dark green Black Diamond watermelons. These were always a big seller just before fourth of July.                                          I still grow tomatoes each year. The taste of fresh, homegrown tomatoes is far better than any you can buy at a grocery store.                                        Do any BR members like to garden, and grow vegetables at home? The taste is beyond compare.

[GreenPig]

I grow tomatoes, okra, eggplant, and a acre of watermelons. 

[TnRiver46]

We usually do some okrA, green beans, and peppers 

 

growing up when we went to the grandparents, they grew everything and we all survived off of it. I’ve dug many a tater haha

 

my aunt had a fridge magnet that read “in the summer, the garden consumes us. In the winter, we consume it”

 

in east TN there is little to no flat land so everyone plants small gardens for subsistence not profit 

 

the profits all come illegally from clear whiskey and a few other controlled 

 substances 

[Bluebasser86]

We do tomatoes, peppers, and watermelons. Going to do some green beans and some seasonings like cilantro this year as well. I ate so many tomatoes last year, big ones and cherry tomatoes, and still gave away hundreds and my wife made several big batches of salsa that I took to work and shared with everyone. 

[Jig Man]

I used to have a 6000 sq ft of garden but cut back over time.  Now I am down to an asparagus bed, a row of strawberries and a place for a few tomato plants.

[Catt]

I'm a Cajun living in rural Southwest Louisiana, we still grow everything, we'll buy a calf or hog for butchering. My brother raises chickens & gets a dozen eggs every other day.

 

[TOXIC]

When I lived in Iowa, I had a 2 acre garden, a 40 tree orchard of different fruits, with a ground crop of asparagus under it and grape vines.  Went to the sale barn and bought cows and hogs and took them to the local butcher.  About the only thing we had to go to the grocery store for was spices, dairy and things like flour.  We canned and put up vegetables and fruit.  Had a root cellar.  Simpler times.  Food was fantastic.  

[Bird]

Wife and I both grew up in households with large gardens and you are correct sir, home grown is leagues ahead of store bought. 

We moved from the valley up into the mountains where a garden is merely a pipe dream. ?

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, Bird said:

Wife and I both grew up in households with large gardens and you are correct sir, home grown is leagues ahead of store bought. 

We moved from the valley up into the mountains where a garden is merely a pipe dream. ?

You could hunt for morels, chanterells and ramps . I’ve even known some people that eat hickory nuts 

[T-Billy]

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

the profits all come illegally from clear whiskey and a few other controlled 

 substances 

Corn don't grow at all on Rocky Top. Soil's too rocky by far. That's why all the folks on Rocky Top get their corn from a jar. ?

[TnRiver46]

17 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Corn don't grow at all on Rocky Top. Soil's too rocky by far. That's why all the folks on Rocky Top get their corn from a jar. ?

Hahah! You read my mind. I was actually going to post that but I didn’t know if anyone would get it. It is true though, lots of rocks around here! I think all the dirt “warshed” away with the glaciers 

 

if it wasn’t for fish and deer people give me, I would have to buy all my food! Beans, okra, “may-turs” and taters is what everyone seemed to grow when I was young. We had corn that was delicious also but I think other parts of the country outsell it. “Silver queen” was always my favorite corn, but now most people grow “peaches and cream”

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, GreenPig said:

I grow tomatoes, okra, eggplant, and a acre of watermelons. 

That’s a lot of melons!!!! Now I’m hungry 

[Bird]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You could hunt for morels, chanterells and ramps . I’ve even known some people that eat hickory nuts 

[Mobasser]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hahah! You read my mind. I was actually going to post that but I didn’t know if anyone would get it. It is true though, lots of rocks around here! I think all the dirt “warshed” away with the glaciers 

 

if it wasn’t for fish and deer people give me, I would have to buy all my food! Beans, okra, “may-turs” and taters is what everyone seemed to grow when I was young. We had corn that was delicious also but I think other parts of the country outsell it. “Silver queen” was always my favorite corn, but now most people grow “peaches and cream”

Peaches and Cream is big in Missouri also. My uncle grew a variety called IowChief. It was developed in the late 50s at Iowa State University. Big, thick, yellow ears. It was delicious.                 Back then, Big Boy was the #1 tomatoe. Now they have Better Boy, which is more disease resistant. Both are great.

[VolFan]

I ate hickory nuts growing up in west TN - heck of a lot of work for not much return. We had about an acre of garden that I had to weed. More tomatoes, cukes, and okra than you could ever eat.  Now I live in the city and have a 12x12 raised bed and some pots. Still get good tomatoes, peppers, and cukes  but we’ve had a hard time with melons. 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, VolFan said:

I ate hickory nuts growing up in west TN - heck of a lot of work for not much return. We had about an acre of garden that I had to weed. More tomatoes, cukes, and okra than you could ever eat.  Now I live in the city and have a 12x12 raised bed and some pots. Still get good tomatoes, peppers, and cukes  but we’ve had a hard time with melons. 

Cucumbers! I forgot about those. They will grow anywhere, seems like everybody has them. 
 

Some other things we always grew that i forgot to mention were squash, zucchini, and green onions. I had a buddy show me how to throw it all together to choke out the weeds, an old Native American trick

[VolFan]

They grow like kudzu. I’d have more but my dog has developed a taste for them so I have to find them first.

[Mobasser]

I still think learning to grow vegetables and especially can and preserve them should be taught in school. Old skills which are always good to know.

[Way north bass guy]

We grow just about everything in the summer here, except for watermelons ( pretty short season here so they wouldn’t get too big).

At our last house I build a great little greenhouse that we used year round. We’d start all our summer plants in it from seed around the first of March or so, and then in the fall we’d plant a bunch of salad greens and harvest them all winter long. Nothing better in the dead of winter with 3’ of snow on the ground then to go into the greenhouse where it was about 80 deg inside and pick a big bowl of lettuce for a salad! If you closed your eyes, you could smell the dirt and feel the heat and “pretend” it was summer ?. Last summer we moved to a new place with 25 acres of big sunny fields, so as soon as the snow melts we’re building a huge raised garden and before fall I’ll have a new greenhouse built and ready for winter lettuce. There’s also been talk of a small chicken coop, so I guess we’ll have fresh eggs too. 
I grew up on a 120 acre hobby farm, so it’s nice to get back to being able to use our land to feed ourselves again. 

[Mobasser]

13 minutes ago, Bird said:

Give me some morrels, fresh crappie fillets, and some fresh tomatoes slices and I'll be a happy camper. Super good!

2 minutes ago, Way north bass guy said:

We grow just about everything in the summer here, except for watermelons ( pretty short season here so they wouldn’t get too big).

At our last house I build a great little greenhouse that we used year round. We’d start all our summer plants in it from seed around the first of March or so, and then in the fall we’d plant a bunch of salad greens and harvest them all winter long. Nothing better in the dead of winter with 3’ of snow on the ground then to go into the greenhouse where it was about 80 deg inside and pick a big bowl of lettuce for a salad! If you closed your eyes, you could smell the dirt and feel the heat and “pretend” it was summer ?. Last summer we moved to a new place with 25 acres of big sunny fields, so as soon as the snow melts we’re building a huge raised garden and before fall I’ll have a new greenhouse built and ready for winter lettuce. There’s also been talk of a small chicken coop, so I guess we’ll have fresh eggs too. 
I grew up on a 120 acre hobby farm, so it’s nice to get back to being able to use our land to feed ourselves again. 

Awesome!

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Cucumbers! I forgot about those. They will grow anywhere, seems like everybody has them. 
 

Some other things we always grew that i forgot to mention were squash, zucchini, and green onions. I had a buddy show me how to throw it all together to choke out the weeds, an old Native American trick

Many gardner's here in Missouri would plant pumpkins in between rows of sweet corn. I've read that native Americans did this also

[TnRiver46]

This was one of our little quarantine projects 

[Mobasser]

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

This was one of our little quarantine projects 

Looks great

[Mobasser]

Do you guys have any favourite varietys? I usually go with Big Boy or Better Boy tomatoes, California Wonder bell peppers, and Top Crop bush green beans. These have done well on my area. I get a truckload of horse manure from a local guy each fall and till it in. Let it sit all winter, and the soil is ready each spring. I try to avoid too much commercial fertilizer or bug spray if I can. Keep things as organic as possible. A little seven dust usually keeps most bugs away

Just now, Mobasser said:

Do you guys have any favourite varietys? I usually go with Big Boy or Better Boy tomatoes, California Wonder bell peppers, and Top Crop bush green beans. These have done well on my area. I get a truckload of horse manure from a local guy each fall and till it in. Let it sit all winter, and the soil is ready each spring. I try to avoid too much commercial fertilizer or bug spray if I can. Keep things as organic as possible. A little seven dust usually keeps most bugs away

My ground is good old Missouri clay, so it needs some help.

[Ski213]

I agree that there’s no comparison in taste. Last year I didn’t put out a garden but typically I do. I usually grow a few varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeños, broccoli,  and some type of green in a spot in the yard. Occasionally some cucumbers and squash as well. Out in the field I’ll sometimes grow a patch of silver queen corn. I try to keep it pretty simple.

 

I hope to get back on track this year, we have a lot of those stink bugs here and they’ve been pretty hard on my tomatoes. Probably a part of why I didn’t grow anything last year. Just part of it though. 

[GreenPig]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

That’s a lot of melons!!!! Now I’m hungry 

Yep. The deer get most of them.