My Beginner Tip would be: don't give up just because something didn't work out for you on the first try. Sometimes you can do everything right, but the conditions that year were not optimal for that plant. Heat loving plants don't thrive in cooler wet years, plants who really love to have lot's of water won't flourish in very dry weather. Not everything is your fault! Every garden year is different. But it is worthwhile to find out why something might be struggeling. Another point for starting out with just a handful of plants, so you're not overwhealmed. Go grow something lovely!
Future video request: perennial veggies to grow in 5B/6. Just 5 minutes south of MI in IN. I’m preparing for my older years now wanting to establish more perennials in addition to my rhubarb, blueberry bushes, raspberry canes, strawberries (which I need a better variety), dwarf apples and a small Swiss chard plant that surprisingly came back 2 years already (love that!) Julie 🌷
I'm over near Cleveland in zone 6 and would love this too. I work long hours. I have my first home now and would like to promote permaculture....and even grow some veggies in my front yard if possible!
You already have a lot of berries, but blackberries grow like weeds. My mom in Indiana always has more blackberries than she knows what to do with. Also, artichoke is a great one. If you don’t harvest it, it just becomes a beautiful flower. Sorrel and lovage are leafy green perennials you’d be able to grow. Edit: I almost forgot, he mentions dill in this video, and while dill is an annual, people people mistake it for a perennial. It seeds so easily, you don’t have to replant it each year. It will just pop up. Seeds will often blow into your grass, and start growing faster than the grass if you don’t mow for a few weeks.
Melons and cucumbers were pretty complicated and tricky when I was starting. Also peppers were just so bipolar and tricky. Had so many that I started good and bushed out and wen I finally thought it was time for some peppers things just went wrong and something bad would happen to the leaves or the plant.
If you can handle the vining habits, one reason maybe to prefer indeterminate tomatoes is the spread-out harvest. We eat tomatoes over time - lots of tomatoes in a short period will mean either gorging yourself on tomatoes, wasting them, or being prepared to preserve them, and if you're just beginning canning too, that last is going to be a skill hurdle. You could try succession planting of determinate ones for steady overall harvest, but that's another skill hurdle to clear.
I agree, and I actually find indeterminates to be easier to keep alive because they can recover from damage more easily. Last spring a deer came by and lopped off the tops of several of my tomato plants, but since they were indeterminates, they simply formed a new main stem and kept growing. Similarly, if they suffer damage from disease or weather, they're more likely to grow back than a plant with a restricted growth cycle. For tomato preservation, the most efficient method I found was to slice and oven dry them. I've tried other methods, but they simply took up too much space and energy.
Jeff, if comes down to knowing the difference (and that there is a difference). When I was growing up mom canned tomatoes off what didn't seem like many plants. My 1st year gardening I grow the same and despair because there aren't enough ready at the same time to DO anything, lol.
@@jjc2323 True, but they took up way too much room in our freezer, which uses a lot of electricity. I ended up having to take the tomatoes out and pickle them.
Good reminder. I decided to simplify to what I do well and actually use for food and medicine. So often I get side tracked by " shiny things" that end up being flops or things that end up in the compost.
I'm doing the same thing like 2 types of slicing tomatoes, 1-2 cherry tomatoes and 1 paste variety; zucchini but not squash because I personally think zucchini is more versatile, fewer varieties of lettuce and beans, etc. There's not much point doing jalapeno peppers because I am the only one that eats them so I might try poblano instead
I loved Luke's encouragement to stick to what you're good at and only experiment 10% or so. I try to balance what I can reasonably expect to grow with what I am excited to try each year. Last year was my first success with carrots! I keep trying new things, but keep "old faithful" in heavy rotation. And only grow what we want to eat!!!
@@juliecarns - I'm a huge fan of the Chinese noodle bean. It's a really nice purple. Easy to see. I can grow 2 crops during the growing season in NC. Enough for the full year
We moved to new place and I planted several of everything. I had to see what would grow in our new sand soil n what wouldn't. Almost everything grew. I had issues w animals more then anything. But I found chili powder around plants helped a lot w that. ! After each rain I liberally threw chili powder out all over the garden n it worked !
I'll give ya a tip. When an onion in the kitchen starts to sprout, put the entire onion in the soil with your other plants and just let it grow all season with everything else. Nothing seems to like the smell so it helps keep a lot of stuff away. As a bonus you will have onion seeds you can harvest by the end of the season.
I saw a video about putting flowers in a garden to make it look pretty. I have since started mixing. My staple is tomatoes. Between the plants, we put in onions and lettuce. We also line the front with marigolds, the anti-rabbit, and the anti-deer plant!
Excellent video, Luke. I'm a beginner and have had lots of failures. My first year I'm writing off as a practice period. Seed damping off, animals, bugs, geckos, over watering, nematodes, etc. Installed a grow light over the weekend but hey, its October! Even in NE Florida we have to wait for spring so no seedlings until then. Well, maybe some herbs just for giggles. I did get some UC-157 asparagus to germinate so will be putting them into the ground asap. Thanks for addressing the needs of us newbies to keep us growing!
My hardest veg to grow yr 1 was chayote, also known as pear squash. Watch SEVERAL videos & ALL 8 never sprouted. I think it was the timing! Happy to say I tried again last week & this morning, (1-20-23), I have roots! Excited
For a bush bean I love Dragon's Tongue it has a nice nutty flavor. I just generally have poor luck with bush beans vs. pole beans but we use metal bean towers and twine as support. In our climate we really don't get beans until the fall. Surprised you'd recommend determinate tomatoes. I find that at least in my climate, if the determinates decide to start flowering during an especially hot or dry part of the growing season you get virtually nothing from them. We had a season or two of almost complete failure with determinate tomatoes when we first started. While the indeterminates give you many chances to get your tomatoes to flower and set properly. Yes they keep getting bigger but they can recover from newbie gardener oopsies much better. Just buy a cage. ;) Squash are great IF you don't have neighbors also growing squash. They are really tough as far as insect pressure if you live in a warmer area (anywhere south of Michigan :) ). If no one is growing squash nearby then you will have a few years of grace period but eventually you'll get squash bugs and squash vine borers starting to build up. You'll end up forced to pick or spray. I'm going to try floating row covers this year. Totally agree with you on peppers, though the seeds can be a little touchy to start. I have yet to have good luck with Broccoli, but it is in my greenhouse right now ... Totally agree on most herbs, they're pretty easy.
Awesome. One big thing to mention, MARIGOLDS!! They are a gardener's saving grace when it comes to pests! Plus they are easy and pretty. Grow short ones for young and short plants around, and tall ones for the more mature and taller plants around. In my several years of gardening, I have had zero pests (aside from wire worms in the potatoes).
Hello, first video for me after subscribing to your channel! I wish I would have found you last year…I learned what indeterminate tomatoes where the hard way 😂 I think I had 7 or 8 planted in the same raised garden bed. It was a JUNGLE! This will be my 3rd year gardening, and I do still consider myself to be somewhat of a newbie. I’m self taught, and gardening was my at home project the first year COVID came out. What a hobby to pick. I’m in love with it. My second year (after a lot of success with peppers the first year) I went NUTS buying anything just like you said and everything that sounded fun 😅 of course I had a few failures, but that’s all in the fun of learning, right? Haha thank you for the informative video(s) I will be exploring more. This was a great video to start off with as an intro to your channel. Luckily, I’m finally on track with what you are saying is feasible. Also, it’s nice to find a UA-camr that’s close to me (IN). Thank you!!
Took me a couple of years to get the hang of Indeterminates. The key is to learn about suckering and growing vertically, to control the jungle. My favorite cherry, Super Sweet 100, will feed a family of 4 all summer long! There are indeterminate slicers that will do the same, such as a Black Krim. One plant of each is plenty--just learn about your pruning (simple, once you get used to it). Welcome to the gardening world! 👩🌾
@@lauriedavis4045 My first year of gardening I bought a couple of Black Krim tomatoes. They were planted in a wooden window box type planter, stayed small, produced very few fruit. Zone 6a, can’t remember whether the summer was wet or dry, but I do have trouble watering correctly. I use a water meter, but I don’t know at that number tomatoes and peppers should be kept. I tried to water when the pointer was below half, but maybe it should have been kept at a high number. I still have no clue. I got only 3 tomatoes and I wouldn’t call them “black.” 😅
You were mentioned tonight (Jan 17) as a seed supplier by Doug from Off Grid with Doug & Stacy. I was sitting there going "Yeah! I buy from them too"! Thought this might make you smile. 😁
Yes! Like to grow bush beans. I grew them when my son was 3-4 years old. So much excitement when we saw them sprouting. In my recent gardening I "relearned" that good soil makes a big difference.
I have been learning more and more about no-till gardening and it's related topic of soil health which relates to fertility, these past several years, and am so excited for my current and next gardens ! - I have kept on having to move, for various reasons and hope to get our own property this spring - . Anyways, I love MIGardener for so many things, but am very convinced of the truths and benefits of feeding the soil, not the plants/going even more natural than where Luke is at yet ( I see him growing that direction, no pun intended ;) ! ). Anyways, in case u or anyone is interested in more on that, by some other wonderful, wonderful gentleman, mostly long-time gardeners, go check out Charles Dowding, Huw Richards, Jim Kovaleski, and lastly, Singing Frog's Farm for scientific coverage of supposed issues with compost such as "too much nitrogen", & their beneficial hedgerows ( see interview on that topic w them, by Curtis Stone/The Urban Farmer) - all here on YT. I DON'T mean any offense to Luke, his teachings are amazing (!!) and also don't think he'll mind me sharing this info here !
Hey Luke, I have ordered several orders of your seeds for the first time this year. On the web site, could someone please put more information in the description box for tomatoes (beefsteak, Rutgers, ect.)and some other plants? It would be more helpful to all gardeners. There isn't anything telling you how many ounces, pounds, or about the size they will grow. I know you all are doing the best you can filling orders and I thank you for all your hard work.
I have growing experience and this will be the third year of my yard garden. But I still found the video helpful and full of information. This year I decided to concentrate on growing what I know I can grow and to downsize. I also decided to grow most of my food in my greenhouse. I live in San Francisco and the weather here is kind of screwy,lol.
6:15 that’s good advice, but I also wouldn’t write of indeterminate tomatoes for beginners. They’re very rewarding and a good learning tool to get into more finicky plants My first cropI grew was an indeterminate cherry tomato and it wasn’t perfect but I learned a lot from it.
Hey I live in Michigan! Heard about you through another UA-camr. I will be making a trip to the store and I’m so very excited! God bless you! We’re gonna need our garden to survive the food shortage
I went all in on Sweetie tomatoes (indeterminate) last year, my first time vegetable gardening. Although I had a great harvest, they were hard to manage as the vines got 7 feet high before I had to top prune them. And they still grew up!
I have been gardening for three years now, and its surprising that I still find things in your videos that teach me. What I mean is that you have info both for the beginner and the novice/intermediate gardener. What a good channel, thank you.
As a beginning gardener.... I needed this! Must admit to failing miserably growingcucumbers, squash, peppers, and broccoli. Am willing to try again, though.
Year three here, I thing my biggest step this year is planting in different places. The large garden has micro-zones, some getting extreme evening heat, etc. I'm shuffling the placement of vegies in hopes that the Oklahoma weather kills fewer things this round. I am excited to have a fair number of MI Gardner seeds this time.
I’m doing that in containers due to tree roots. At least the plants get evening shade (Tx) I am trying to start some of these MI seeds in between cold fronts row cover) as I’ve never been able to get spring plants going early enough.
Last year was my first year gardening, and I had the most success with radishes. I grew several rotations of them and they were way more flavorful than ones you can buy at the store.
I just ordered some seeds from your store based on this video. Thanks so much. I don't have yard space so I grow in containers out back on the deck. My best success has been with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. For some reason I've not been able to get more than a few beefsteak tomatoes each year, so I'm gonna try growing a determinate variety this year.
I harvested my parsley this past fall, leaving the root system in the container, in my garage in WI. The parsley decided to keep growing despite it being below freezing outside. I thought it lost it when my husband left the garage door open for 30 min when we had sub zero temps before Christmas, but most of the new growth bounced back and is still thriving and growing in my garage. I haven't even watered it in months and despite being near a window it gets very little sun. They sure are a hardy little plant.
I listened to you about determinate tomatoes. Not as a new gardening, but as a gardener who lives in the desert with summer temps well over 95 degrees for more than a month or two in the summer, every summer. Determinate will let me grow an early crop, the rest, then start new in August for a second crop. Less frustration. more harvest.
Or, grow indeterminates for more than one season or even years. If they over winter, they have a major head start in the spring. I also want to let you know, that even though they're not tomatoes, I have two pepper plants still producing that I planted in Spring 2020. I leave them in the ground all year long. (9b)
I'm so glad you posted this video. I have been trying to grow spinach for a long time with no success. I was going to try again but I think I won't because it's Summer here in Melbourne, Aus. Thanks Luke
going into year 3 of my gardening adventure and I try to only add in new varieties of things i know how to grow so far and only add in a couple new types of plants to me. I did cheat a little and get way too many new types of flowers this year but hopefully It wont slow me down! Growing in zone 3b is tough enough without adding even more variables to my garden :)
I’ve been watching your show for 4-5 years and have learned a LOT from you. I live in Northern Canada, zone 3. The growing season is short, May 24th to first frost that can appear anywhere from the end of Sept , Oct. This short season also affects Compost making. It freezes solid for 6 mths. I use the ‘No Dig’ approach to growing my veg and fruit. Any advice from you will be welcomed
Wow. Do u/have u watched any of Richard Perkins'/Ridgedale permaculture's content ? They are also in a very short growing season, in Sweden ( he's British, speaks English). From the "no-dig" I'm guessing you already follow Charles Dowding or have read his books... ? I love his channel too. I love Luke here so much for so many things, esp. the teachings on the individual vegetables, I get a lot of very helpful tips that way, which I didn't know. But the others are great for the overall, no-till gardening approach ( and some other stuff) which I LOVE and am having great success with. Also doing no-dig/no-till ( I know they're not technically the same thing, but these people are teaching the same things TO do) & are great to learn from or just follow for the joy of it, are : James Prigioni, Jim Kovaleski and Huw Richards .
Peppers have a long grow time, but they are tanks. A few years ago we had a big storm that wrecked a lot of plants. One of my pepper plants had its main stalk and even the support rod completely break. There was a small bit of flesh holding it on barely. I thought that pepper would just die, but the wound healed up, and the pepper plant started growing sideways.
Nice way to break it down for some of the newbie’s. Thanks for sharing all your hard work and knowledge Luke. Big fan. Hopefully I can make it to the new seed shop and greenhouse this year.
Ha! I’m a beginner gardener and everything you just mentioned except carrots is what I will be growing this year! I got very picky with what I wanted to grow because I wanted to be as successful as possible as a narrowing it down just seemed Ike the best approach.
This was great - and the timing was perfect for me. I have several friends who have recently become interested in gardening (some relieved your seeds from me for birthdays or Christmas 😉). I told them about your page, and now I am sharing this video!!! Your videos are getting me excited for spring, so I will be doing some winter sewing in February, lol. Thank you for all you do!!!
This has been very informative. This is my second year gardening and this is the information I needed to plan for my spring garden. Can't wait to receive the seeds I ordered from your site. Happy gardening!!
Thanks Luke! Love all the information! Bought 2 of the grab bags this year, so excited to try what you sent...but wish there were more indeterminate tomatoes in the mix. Will try the indeterminate varieties you sent, but don't really have the room. Want to come visit your store in MI, live in OH!
if you live somewhere with a lot of pests and/or fungal disease, i recommend growing flat leaf greens especially as a beginner. curly leaf greens tend to harbor pests and diseases a lot more in my experience.
I wish I had known about determinate tomatoes in the first two years of gardening. Now, we're in year three and since I have had zero luck with indeterminates, I've got Rutgers and another determinate type to see how it goes!
Great advice!! I just received my first seed order from you and I posted a seed haul video on my channel. Now I'm waiting for out of stock items for order #2!
Winter squash can provide you with food throughout the growing season if you prune and eat the leaves. There is also nothing wrong with harvesting a winter squash early and eating it like a summer squash. Conversely, you can leave a summer squash on the vine to mature and cure if you want to collect the seeds, at which point it stores much like a winter squash. The reason this works is because they're different breeds of the same species. When it comes to peppers, I find that bell peppers are the hardest because you only get a few peppers per plant. You have to protect them for much longer to let them get big enough, and because herbivore pests are more likely to nibble on them since they're not spicy. The easiest peppers are the ones that produce a large number of small pods, as there's more room for error. The most productive pepper varieties in my experience are jalapeño, habanero, pimenta diomar, and Carolina reaper. I've had pimenta diomar plants produce hundreds of pods in just one season.
I had ended up with a Bell pepper variety " Lady Bell" this past year, which I'd never even heard of b4, and it WENT TO TOWN ! Wow ! LOTS of BIG peppers, and the ones I left ok long enough to, started turning colors - rare for me here in zone 4 WI ! ( not sure but guessing it was a hybrid too, so, maybe thus the high production ? I have usually been growing mostly OP). Mine were protected from deer etc. by a fence we had to put up anyways, as a nursing doe - turns out they'll eat EVERYthing but the marigolds, ALL my other flowers set out front 😂 - living here in our rental's yard, whom the landlord who also lives here ( a relative) likes to see and didn't want scared away ( no shooting over her head/at her feet... ). Anyways, I loved it. Plenty for stuffed peppers and chipping up w onions for the freezer, salsas ( I can't handle a lot of heat yet). On squash : the very mature/harder skinned zucchinis keep really well, even the medium ones keep awhile in a cool place, up to several weeks but keep em checked over ! I do this to pick em b4 they're total monster-sized and to keep the plant producing more, and while not able to eat or deal w em all just yet. Some catalogs leave out a lot of very relevant info on things, so, I learned after the fact the not all winter squash store reliably all winter long ( WI winters...). That I'd accidentally been growing one of the best storage ones in the past, Butternut, but my favorite, Buttercup, doesn't keep for nearly as long ( only a few months on average). I've never eaten them immature on purpose, the under-ripe ones I tried, baked like usual, were NOT tasty, but I was looking for winter-squash flavor. Winter squash are generally among the easiest things to grow, so, I'd been surprised to not see them on this list, but I understand his reasoning. I did used to have increasingly horrible issues w cucumber beetles, 1st on cukes then on all squashes too, til I started putting a palmful of tobacco in the soil at planting time. Works great ! This idea was from the classic " Carrots love Tomatoes" book, and is supposed to be for squash bugs I think, which I also haven't had any more problems with, but it doesn't stop the vine borers. Mostly I do fine as the vines out down their addtl. roots. Thai chile peppers put out tons. I also had major harvest with the only other peppers I planted last year - we had an extra-sunny summer - were bananas, Anchos and Pasilla bajios. I'd gotten what was left in late June, at a local store after moving.
Good info. When I first started gardening and still to this day, the completing part, is how much of what to grow for your family size and needs. I still spare with this when trying new things. It would be helpful if you could help in that info. I appreciate your advice always.
I found tomatoes were really fun and easy. They do take some time to trim them back and getting the timing of transferring down can take a few seasons to get right. Carrots from seed sown directly in the ground is also really easy. Bush beans are incredibly fun and simple to grow. Squash and turnips are really easy too. I really don't like leafy greens only because I can't tell if I'm picking lettuce or a dandelion or some other yucky bitter weed that took root in my garden.
My chives last year did not grow at all, the end of the season they were the same size as when I planted them. I grow parsley for the swallowtail caterpillars.
I've become good at growing things, now I have the fun of keeping the pests, especially the rabbits and squirrels from eating everything without covering the entire thing in hardware cloth!
It’s easier to grow perennial plants like lovage perennial parsley. With perennials you don’t have to worry about replanting them unless it gets to cold in your area like Okinawa spinach and Chaya is hard to grow in cold climates but grow very good in warm climates.
tomatoes are so easy. and they do better with a bit of abuse. when I take my plants to sell at our plant fair in may they are short (10 t0 15 cm) but fat stemmed. they are easier to transport and so gratefull for any love that they fruit a lot, which is why I have so many repeat customers. I have bought some tall,skinny plants (for trial and seeds) and they produced only a handfull.
My one issue with determinate tomatoes is that I have chronic health issues and I can't process determinates fast enough. The trickle of indeterminates works better for me, even with the pruning and tying.
Actually I was surprised that you did not list radishes, potatoes, onions and peas. For me, these are even easier than some you listed. Perhaps these are so easy for me is that I am in zone 7, not in 2 or 3.
He sells seeds, rather than bulbs etc. He grows his onions from seed (omg the struggle) and doesn't sell seed potatoes. I grow onion sets from local feed stores and farm markets and they do amazing. I grow potatoes pretty well, and I love them, but I have a bad wire worm problem. I wouldn't have recommended them for beginners either.
Not sure if it has to do where someone lives and their Climate but I found Cayenne peppers are the easiest to grow. Unlike other varieties they will just seed themselves but you do have to thin them out as I was getting cayenne shaped cluster sprouts all over my garden. They fruited the fastest and thrived during droughts too. Other peppers took some attention to thrive.
re: peppers - some bees may not recognize some peppers as a viable food source, so won't pollinate them. I always have to hand-pollinate my habaneros (central IL) - bees take care of everything in my garden except those.
I’m new to gardening. Last year what my first! Totally relate to 20% good and 80% sucky. I had great bush beans BUT I did stake them bc mine started to flop over! Can I just let ‘em flop? 🤷🏼♀️
I was wondering something about my container gardening. Our deck is a white nylon type that reflects a lot of sunlight and it gets pretty warm in the summertime. Was wondering if that could be the reason why I've had problems getting tomatoes and peppers to grow, that maybe they shut down from excessive heat. I give them plenty of water and use a potting soil recommended by a local nursery, but for some reason I don't get much fruit from them.
I had bad luck with cucumbers... the plants flourished and went all over the place with tons of flowers, but I never got any cukes. Same with squash. Peppers are pretty darn easy, I'll admit. They are drought/heat tolerant and I agree they are fire-and-forget. Any of the mint family plants are hard to kill (mint, oregano, thyme, etc). Just ensure you plant them in containers. DON'T EVER PLANT MINT outside of a container.
pH could be your issue. Cucumbers are mostly a hand off crop, generally easy to grow. But if your pH is alkaline or acidic they just will not set fruits. Alkaline soils can also cause blossom end rot in cucumbers as well. A simple pH test will tell you. If it is acidic add lime to your soil. If it is alkaline add sulfur pellets. pH of 6.2 is your go-to range. If you can keep it there cukes should be really easy.( Hint as the grow season progresses you pH will climb some. Do not over correct. It is normal for pH to rise so 6.7 is ok. That is still within the vegetable range.)
Zone 9 + 10 gardeners will not find tomatoes to be easy! You have to start super early with heat mats and lights indoors and get them in the ground by March but then be ready to protect from cold snaps. They need to be fruiting by May-early June and then will stop as soon as days are 90 and nights are 80 - that's IF you can keep all the gnarly bugs off them! A lot of the plants you mention are only fall-winter-early spring for us.
0:01 - Intro
1:55 - Beans (bush)
3:34 - Leafy Greens
5:19 - Tomatoes (determinate)
7:32 - Cucumbers
8:52 - Squash (summer squash & zucchini)
9:56 - Peppers
11:31 - Broccoli (sprouting broccoli)
13:00 - Herbs (basil, dill, chives, parley, & oregano)
15:39 - Outro
Hi good evening i will try every thing you say this weekend
My Beginner Tip would be: don't give up just because something didn't work out for you on the first try. Sometimes you can do everything right, but the conditions that year were not optimal for that plant. Heat loving plants don't thrive in cooler wet years, plants who really love to have lot's of water won't flourish in very dry weather. Not everything is your fault! Every garden year is different.
But it is worthwhile to find out why something might be struggeling.
Another point for starting out with just a handful of plants, so you're not overwhealmed.
Go grow something lovely!
I encouraged a friend of mine to try carrots again after failing 2 years, and she had a great carrot harvest.
@@kari-gs4eq 🙌 Exactly! We gardeners have to be stubborn.
Also, look for alternatives to common stuff. Regular celery doesn't grow well for me, but Lovage and Chinese Celery and celeriac do great.
Future video request: perennial veggies to grow in 5B/6. Just 5 minutes south of MI in IN. I’m preparing for my older years now wanting to establish more perennials in addition to my rhubarb, blueberry bushes, raspberry canes, strawberries (which I need a better variety), dwarf apples and a small Swiss chard plant that surprisingly came back 2 years already (love that!) Julie 🌷
Asparagus! :)
I'm over near Cleveland in zone 6 and would love this too. I work long hours. I have my first home now and would like to promote permaculture....and even grow some veggies in my front yard if possible!
You already have a lot of berries, but blackberries grow like weeds. My mom in Indiana always has more blackberries than she knows what to do with.
Also, artichoke is a great one. If you don’t harvest it, it just becomes a beautiful flower.
Sorrel and lovage are leafy green perennials you’d be able to grow.
Edit: I almost forgot, he mentions dill in this video, and while dill is an annual, people people mistake it for a perennial. It seeds so easily, you don’t have to replant it each year. It will just pop up. Seeds will often blow into your grass, and start growing faster than the grass if you don’t mow for a few weeks.
@@nicholehillabush7211 Yes, it is my third year growing asparagus so
I’m hoping for a bumper crop. Julie
Elderberry, etable flowers,,your natives, dandelion, purslane,chives,kales
Melons and cucumbers were pretty complicated and tricky when I was starting. Also peppers were just so bipolar and tricky. Had so many that I started good and bushed out and wen I finally thought it was time for some peppers things just went wrong and something bad would happen to the leaves or the plant.
If you can handle the vining habits, one reason maybe to prefer indeterminate tomatoes is the spread-out harvest. We eat tomatoes over time - lots of tomatoes in a short period will mean either gorging yourself on tomatoes, wasting them, or being prepared to preserve them, and if you're just beginning canning too, that last is going to be a skill hurdle. You could try succession planting of determinate ones for steady overall harvest, but that's another skill hurdle to clear.
I agree, and I actually find indeterminates to be easier to keep alive because they can recover from damage more easily. Last spring a deer came by and lopped off the tops of several of my tomato plants, but since they were indeterminates, they simply formed a new main stem and kept growing. Similarly, if they suffer damage from disease or weather, they're more likely to grow back than a plant with a restricted growth cycle.
For tomato preservation, the most efficient method I found was to slice and oven dry them. I've tried other methods, but they simply took up too much space and energy.
Jeff, if comes down to knowing the difference (and that there is a difference). When I was growing up mom canned tomatoes off what didn't seem like many plants. My 1st year gardening I grow the same and despair because there aren't enough ready at the same time to DO anything, lol.
You can freeze tomatoes….most don’t know this. 😉
In my short season, I don't have that choice, at least until I can get a greenhouse set up.
@@jjc2323 True, but they took up way too much room in our freezer, which uses a lot of electricity. I ended up having to take the tomatoes out and pickle them.
Good reminder. I decided to simplify to what I do well and actually use for food and medicine. So often I get side tracked by " shiny things" that end up being flops or things that end up in the compost.
I'm doing the same thing like 2 types of slicing tomatoes, 1-2 cherry tomatoes and 1 paste variety; zucchini but not squash because I personally think zucchini is more versatile, fewer varieties of lettuce and beans, etc. There's not much point doing jalapeno peppers because I am the only one that eats them so I might try poblano instead
I loved Luke's encouragement to stick to what you're good at and only experiment 10% or so. I try to balance what I can reasonably expect to grow with what I am excited to try each year. Last year was my first success with carrots! I keep trying new things, but keep "old faithful" in heavy rotation. And only grow what we want to eat!!!
One thing I do is to plant varieties of beans and peas that contrast the plant. So much easier to see them.
Would you please share a few variety of beans? I prefer pole beans because of limited space. Thank you. Julie 🌷
@@juliecarns - I'm a huge fan of the Chinese noodle bean. It's a really nice purple. Easy to see. I can grow 2 crops during the growing season in NC. Enough for the full year
@@christines2787 Thank you! We miss the beans till they are huge and not edible; excellent idea to use contrasting colors.
Yellow beans!
@@kari-gs4eq and purple peas!
We moved to new place and I planted several of everything. I had to see what would grow in our new sand soil n what wouldn't. Almost everything grew. I had issues w animals more then anything. But I found chili powder around plants helped a lot w that. ! After each rain I liberally threw chili powder out all over the garden n it worked !
I'll give ya a tip.
When an onion in the kitchen starts to sprout, put the entire onion in the soil with your other plants and just let it grow all season with everything else.
Nothing seems to like the smell so it helps keep a lot of stuff away. As a bonus you will have onion seeds you can harvest by the end of the season.
I saw a video about putting flowers in a garden to make it look pretty.
I have since started mixing. My staple is tomatoes. Between the plants, we put in onions and lettuce. We also line the front with marigolds, the anti-rabbit, and the anti-deer plant!
I just ordered a bunch of seed packs. Ready for the year. Turning my home into a homestead.
Jealous! 😉
Excellent video, Luke. I'm a beginner and have had lots of failures. My first year I'm writing off as a practice period. Seed damping off, animals, bugs, geckos, over watering, nematodes, etc. Installed a grow light over the weekend but hey, its October! Even in NE Florida we have to wait for spring so no seedlings until then. Well, maybe some herbs just for giggles. I did get some UC-157 asparagus to germinate so will be putting them into the ground asap. Thanks for addressing the needs of us newbies to keep us growing!
My hardest veg to grow yr 1 was chayote, also known as pear squash. Watch SEVERAL videos & ALL 8 never sprouted. I think it was the timing!
Happy to say I tried again last week & this morning, (1-20-23), I have roots! Excited
For a bush bean I love Dragon's Tongue it has a nice nutty flavor. I just generally have poor luck with bush beans vs. pole beans but we use metal bean towers and twine as support. In our climate we really don't get beans until the fall.
Surprised you'd recommend determinate tomatoes. I find that at least in my climate, if the determinates decide to start flowering during an especially hot or dry part of the growing season you get virtually nothing from them. We had a season or two of almost complete failure with determinate tomatoes when we first started. While the indeterminates give you many chances to get your tomatoes to flower and set properly. Yes they keep getting bigger but they can recover from newbie gardener oopsies much better. Just buy a cage. ;)
Squash are great IF you don't have neighbors also growing squash. They are really tough as far as insect pressure if you live in a warmer area (anywhere south of Michigan :) ). If no one is growing squash nearby then you will have a few years of grace period but eventually you'll get squash bugs and squash vine borers starting to build up. You'll end up forced to pick or spray. I'm going to try floating row covers this year.
Totally agree with you on peppers, though the seeds can be a little touchy to start. I have yet to have good luck with Broccoli, but it is in my greenhouse right now ... Totally agree on most herbs, they're pretty easy.
Awesome. One big thing to mention, MARIGOLDS!! They are a gardener's saving grace when it comes to pests! Plus they are easy and pretty. Grow short ones for young and short plants around, and tall ones for the more mature and taller plants around. In my several years of gardening, I have had zero pests (aside from wire worms in the potatoes).
Hello, first video for me after subscribing to your channel! I wish I would have found you last year…I learned what indeterminate tomatoes where the hard way 😂 I think I had 7 or 8 planted in the same raised garden bed. It was a JUNGLE! This will be my 3rd year gardening, and I do still consider myself to be somewhat of a newbie. I’m self taught, and gardening was my at home project the first year COVID came out. What a hobby to pick. I’m in love with it. My second year (after a lot of success with peppers the first year) I went NUTS buying anything just like you said and everything that sounded fun 😅 of course I had a few failures, but that’s all in the fun of learning, right? Haha thank you for the informative video(s) I will be exploring more. This was a great video to start off with as an intro to your channel. Luckily, I’m finally on track with what you are saying is feasible. Also, it’s nice to find a UA-camr that’s close to me (IN). Thank you!!
You are right. That is how you learn. Keep it up and enjoy your garden.
Took me a couple of years to get the hang of Indeterminates. The key is to learn about suckering and growing vertically, to control the jungle. My favorite cherry, Super Sweet 100, will feed a family of 4 all summer long! There are indeterminate slicers that will do the same, such as a Black Krim. One plant of each is plenty--just learn about your pruning (simple, once you get used to it). Welcome to the gardening world! 👩🌾
@@lauriedavis4045 My first year of gardening I bought a couple of Black Krim tomatoes. They were planted in a wooden window box type planter, stayed small, produced very few fruit. Zone 6a, can’t remember whether the summer was wet or dry, but I do have trouble watering correctly. I use a water meter, but I don’t know at that number tomatoes and peppers should be kept. I tried to water when the pointer was below half, but maybe it should have been kept at a high number. I still have no clue. I got only 3 tomatoes and I wouldn’t call them “black.” 😅
You were mentioned tonight (Jan 17) as a seed supplier by Doug from Off Grid with Doug & Stacy. I was sitting there going "Yeah! I buy from them too"! Thought this might make you smile. 😁
Yes! Like to grow bush beans. I grew them when my son was 3-4 years old. So much excitement when we saw them sprouting. In my recent gardening I "relearned" that good soil makes a big difference.
And they are easy to save, for next years garden.
I have been learning more and more about no-till gardening and it's related topic of soil health which relates to fertility, these past several years, and am so excited for my current and next gardens ! - I have kept on having to move, for various reasons and hope to get our own property this spring - . Anyways, I love MIGardener for so many things, but am very convinced of the truths and benefits of feeding the soil, not the plants/going even more natural than where Luke is at yet ( I see him growing that direction, no pun intended ;) ! ). Anyways, in case u or anyone is interested in more on that, by some other wonderful, wonderful gentleman, mostly long-time gardeners, go check out Charles Dowding, Huw Richards, Jim Kovaleski, and lastly, Singing Frog's Farm for scientific coverage of supposed issues with compost such as "too much nitrogen", & their beneficial hedgerows ( see interview on that topic w them, by Curtis Stone/The Urban Farmer) - all here on YT. I DON'T mean any offense to Luke, his teachings are amazing (!!) and also don't think he'll mind me sharing this info here !
Hey Luke, I have ordered several orders of your seeds for the first time this year. On the web site, could someone please put more information in the description box for tomatoes (beefsteak, Rutgers, ect.)and some other plants? It would be more helpful to all gardeners. There isn't anything telling you how many ounces, pounds, or about the size they will grow. I know you all are doing the best you can filling orders and I thank you for all your hard work.
I have growing experience and this will be the third year of my yard garden. But I still found the video helpful and full of information. This year I decided to concentrate on growing what I know I can grow and to downsize. I also decided to grow most of my food in my greenhouse. I live in San Francisco and the weather here is kind of screwy,lol.
6:15 that’s good advice, but I also wouldn’t write of indeterminate tomatoes for beginners.
They’re very rewarding and a good learning tool to get into more finicky plants
My first cropI grew was an indeterminate cherry tomato and it wasn’t perfect but I learned a lot from it.
Hey I live in Michigan! Heard about you through another UA-camr. I will be making a trip to the store and I’m so very excited! God bless you! We’re gonna need our garden to survive the food shortage
it's not just about your room but your time at the end of the season to process it all for the winter.
I went all in on Sweetie tomatoes (indeterminate) last year, my first time vegetable gardening. Although I had a great harvest, they were hard to manage as the vines got 7 feet high before I had to top prune them. And they still grew up!
Thanks Luke. I wish I had this info years ago, however, I managed to get through the early years of gardening with your help. 🧑🏼🌾❌⭕️♥️
I got my seeds 😊. Thanks for a low price $12 for all ( no shipping). Very happy here in Kentucky. Love your show!
True grow my zone n follow ppl that do it well😎I don’t really know what I’m doing but UA-cam university 👩🏽🌾taught me all I know.
I have been gardening for three years now, and its surprising that I still find things in your videos that teach me. What I mean is that you have info both for the beginner and the novice/intermediate gardener. What a good channel, thank you.
As a beginning gardener.... I needed this!
Must admit to failing miserably growingcucumbers, squash, peppers, and broccoli.
Am willing to try again, though.
Love how. You touch base on beginning even as a seasoned gardener it’s great to dial down at times.
Luke, one of your best videos. Not everyone is an accomplished gardener. We need leadership, thank you
Year three here, I thing my biggest step this year is planting in different places. The large garden has micro-zones, some getting extreme evening heat, etc. I'm shuffling the placement of vegies in hopes that the Oklahoma weather kills fewer things this round. I am excited to have a fair number of MI Gardner seeds this time.
I’m doing that in containers due to tree roots. At least the plants get evening shade (Tx) I am trying to start some of these MI seeds in between cold fronts row cover) as I’ve never been able to get spring plants going early enough.
You are awesome Migardener. You deserve all the success you have!
Just started into my garden journal . Thank you Mrs MIGardener.
I just love how you explain everything. It's so much help.
I got my seed in today, thank you.
Last year was my first year gardening, and I had the most success with radishes. I grew several rotations of them and they were way more flavorful than ones you can buy at the store.
My order has arrived! looking forward to a productive year..
I just ordered some seeds from your store based on this video. Thanks so much. I don't have yard space so I grow in containers out back on the deck. My best success has been with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. For some reason I've not been able to get more than a few beefsteak tomatoes each year, so I'm gonna try growing a determinate variety this year.
Just got my seeds in today!! I was so excited to order from you and can’t wait to grow them!
I harvested my parsley this past fall, leaving the root system in the container, in my garage in WI. The parsley decided to keep growing despite it being below freezing outside. I thought it lost it when my husband left the garage door open for 30 min when we had sub zero temps before Christmas, but most of the new growth bounced back and is still thriving and growing in my garage. I haven't even watered it in months and despite being near a window it gets very little sun. They sure are a hardy little plant.
I ordered seeds last week from yall, can't wait to get them in and start my seeds!!
I listened to you about determinate tomatoes. Not as a new gardening, but as a gardener who lives in the desert with summer temps well over 95 degrees for more than a month or two in the summer, every summer. Determinate will let me grow an early crop, the rest, then start new in August for a second crop. Less frustration. more harvest.
Or, grow indeterminates for more than one season or even years. If they over winter, they have a major head start in the spring.
I also want to let you know, that even though they're not tomatoes, I have two pepper plants still producing that I planted in Spring 2020. I leave them in the ground all year long. (9b)
Thanks for being the best motivation and informational gardening channel. Honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.
My g
Great Episode!
I'm so glad you posted this video. I have been trying to grow spinach for a long time with no success. I was going to try again but I think I won't because it's Summer here in Melbourne, Aus. Thanks Luke
going into year 3 of my gardening adventure and I try to only add in new varieties of things i know how to grow so far and only add in a couple new types of plants to me. I did cheat a little and get way too many new types of flowers this year but hopefully It wont slow me down! Growing in zone 3b is tough enough without adding even more variables to my garden :)
Luke I love your videos! Thank you! I would love to see more info on how to water my seed starts! Thank you again!
I’ve been watching your show for 4-5 years and have learned a LOT from you. I live in Northern Canada, zone 3. The growing season is short, May 24th to first frost that can appear anywhere from the end of Sept , Oct. This short season also affects Compost making. It freezes solid for 6 mths. I use the ‘No Dig’ approach to growing my veg and fruit. Any advice from you will be welcomed
Wow. Do u/have u watched any of Richard Perkins'/Ridgedale permaculture's content ? They are also in a very short growing season, in Sweden ( he's British, speaks English). From the "no-dig" I'm guessing you already follow Charles Dowding or have read his books... ? I love his channel too. I love Luke here so much for so many things, esp. the teachings on the individual vegetables, I get a lot of very helpful tips that way, which I didn't know. But the others are great for the overall, no-till gardening approach ( and some other stuff) which I LOVE and am having great success with. Also doing no-dig/no-till ( I know they're not technically the same thing, but these people are teaching the same things TO do) & are great to learn from or just follow for the joy of it, are : James Prigioni, Jim Kovaleski and Huw Richards .
I think as I get lore experienced in growing I like winter squash and perennials!
Peppers have a long grow time, but they are tanks. A few years ago we had a big storm that wrecked a lot of plants. One of my pepper plants had its main stalk and even the support rod completely break. There was a small bit of flesh holding it on barely. I thought that pepper would just die, but the wound healed up, and the pepper plant started growing sideways.
Nice way to break it down for some of the newbie’s. Thanks for sharing all your hard work and knowledge Luke. Big fan. Hopefully I can make it to the new seed shop and greenhouse this year.
Ha! I’m a beginner gardener and everything you just mentioned except carrots is what I will be growing this year! I got very picky with what I wanted to grow because I wanted to be as successful as possible as a narrowing it down just seemed Ike the best approach.
Always great videos. Appreciate your content.
Perfect!
I am growing an indoor garden under lights. Will all of these do well in that?
Swiss chard pretty darn hardy. I’d try that 1st indoors under light.
Last year, I didn't get any peppers at all. I'm trying again this year. They are started from seed and look great so far.
I have a tough time with leafy greens because it seems like the pests love them too.
This was great - and the timing was perfect for me. I have several friends who have recently become interested in gardening (some relieved your seeds from me for birthdays or Christmas 😉).
I told them about your page, and now I am sharing this video!!!
Your videos are getting me excited for spring, so I will be doing some winter sewing in February, lol.
Thank you for all you do!!!
I really appreciate you making and sharing these important and inspiring videos ♡ ty Luke 😊
This has been very informative. This is my second year gardening and this is the information I needed to plan for my spring garden. Can't wait to receive the seeds I ordered from your site. Happy gardening!!
Great info as always. When are you going to add more flower varieties such as hollyhocks. poppys, passion flowers etc? Thank you
Thanks Luke! Love all the information! Bought 2 of the grab bags this year, so excited to try what you sent...but wish there were more indeterminate tomatoes in the mix. Will try the indeterminate varieties you sent, but don't really have the room. Want to come visit your store in MI, live in OH!
We love Jade bush beans. Very prductive.
if you live somewhere with a lot of pests and/or fungal disease, i recommend growing flat leaf greens especially as a beginner. curly leaf greens tend to harbor pests and diseases a lot more in my experience.
Yes. Lots of problems with fungal disease last summer, as well as leaf rot. How do you treat fungus organically? I can’t use chemicals for anything.
Thanks Luke!
I wish I had known about determinate tomatoes in the first two years of gardening. Now, we're in year three and since I have had zero luck with indeterminates, I've got Rutgers and another determinate type to see how it goes!
Lots of information thanks
Such great info! Thank you for helping us succeed.
Great advice as always! Thank you for helping me grow a better garden.
all the Varietys you mention sound awesome Luke one of them Is the sprouting broccoli I look forward to growing that one
Great advice!! I just received my first seed order from you and I posted a seed haul video on my channel. Now I'm waiting for out of stock items for order #2!
This was awesome! I learned a lot, especially in the tomato section and the cucumber section. Thank you for making it simple!
Thanks much. ❤️ we've been most happy with blue lake bush
Thank you. ❤
Winter squash can provide you with food throughout the growing season if you prune and eat the leaves. There is also nothing wrong with harvesting a winter squash early and eating it like a summer squash. Conversely, you can leave a summer squash on the vine to mature and cure if you want to collect the seeds, at which point it stores much like a winter squash. The reason this works is because they're different breeds of the same species.
When it comes to peppers, I find that bell peppers are the hardest because you only get a few peppers per plant. You have to protect them for much longer to let them get big enough, and because herbivore pests are more likely to nibble on them since they're not spicy. The easiest peppers are the ones that produce a large number of small pods, as there's more room for error. The most productive pepper varieties in my experience are jalapeño, habanero, pimenta diomar, and Carolina reaper. I've had pimenta diomar plants produce hundreds of pods in just one season.
I had ended up with a Bell pepper variety " Lady Bell" this past year, which I'd never even heard of b4, and it WENT TO TOWN ! Wow ! LOTS of BIG peppers, and the ones I left ok long enough to, started turning colors - rare for me here in zone 4 WI ! ( not sure but guessing it was a hybrid too, so, maybe thus the high production ? I have usually been growing mostly OP). Mine were protected from deer etc. by a fence we had to put up anyways, as a nursing doe - turns out they'll eat EVERYthing but the marigolds, ALL my other flowers set out front 😂 - living here in our rental's yard, whom the landlord who also lives here ( a relative) likes to see and didn't want scared away ( no shooting over her head/at her feet... ). Anyways, I loved it. Plenty for stuffed peppers and chipping up w onions for the freezer, salsas ( I can't handle a lot of heat yet).
On squash : the very mature/harder skinned zucchinis keep really well, even the medium ones keep awhile in a cool place, up to several weeks but keep em checked over ! I do this to pick em b4 they're total monster-sized and to keep the plant producing more, and while not able to eat or deal w em all just yet. Some catalogs leave out a lot of very relevant info on things, so, I learned after the fact the not all winter squash store reliably all winter long ( WI winters...). That I'd accidentally been growing one of the best storage ones in the past, Butternut, but my favorite, Buttercup, doesn't keep for nearly as long ( only a few months on average). I've never eaten them immature on purpose, the under-ripe ones I tried, baked like usual, were NOT tasty, but I was looking for winter-squash flavor. Winter squash are generally among the easiest things to grow, so, I'd been surprised to not see them on this list, but I understand his reasoning. I did used to have increasingly horrible issues w cucumber beetles, 1st on cukes then on all squashes too, til I started putting a palmful of tobacco in the soil at planting time. Works great ! This idea was from the classic " Carrots love Tomatoes" book, and is supposed to be for squash bugs I think, which I also haven't had any more problems with, but it doesn't stop the vine borers. Mostly I do fine as the vines out down their addtl. roots.
Thai chile peppers put out tons. I also had major harvest with the only other peppers I planted last year - we had an extra-sunny summer - were bananas, Anchos and Pasilla bajios. I'd gotten what was left in late June, at a local store after moving.
Thanks
Thank you for these
Good info. When I first started gardening and still to this day, the completing part, is how much of what to grow for your family size and needs. I still spare with this when trying new things. It would be helpful if you could help in that info. I appreciate your advice always.
Thanks for the timely video. I had just put buy seeds to my things to do list.
Thanks for a great video! I'm in the research phase of starting an indoor veggie garden with my wife and this is some really great information.
I found tomatoes were really fun and easy. They do take some time to trim them back and getting the timing of transferring down can take a few seasons to get right.
Carrots from seed sown directly in the ground is also really easy.
Bush beans are incredibly fun and simple to grow.
Squash and turnips are really easy too.
I really don't like leafy greens only because I can't tell if I'm picking lettuce or a dandelion or some other yucky bitter weed that took root in my garden.
My chives last year did not grow at all, the end of the season they were the same size as when I planted them. I grow parsley for the swallowtail caterpillars.
I've become good at growing things, now I have the fun of keeping the pests, especially the rabbits and squirrels from eating everything without covering the entire thing in hardware cloth!
God bless!
It’s easier to grow perennial plants like lovage perennial parsley. With perennials you don’t have to worry about replanting them unless it gets to cold in your area like Okinawa spinach and Chaya is hard to grow in cold climates but grow very good in warm climates.
tomatoes are so easy. and they do better with a bit of abuse. when I take my plants to sell at our plant fair in may they are short (10 t0 15 cm) but fat stemmed. they are easier to transport and so gratefull for any love that they fruit a lot, which is why I have so many repeat customers. I have bought some tall,skinny plants (for trial and seeds) and they produced only a handfull.
As always, a wonderful video. Of all the places I go for seeds, I like yours the best. I wish you would get rutabaga seeds, though.
My one issue with determinate tomatoes is that I have chronic health issues and I can't process determinates fast enough. The trickle of indeterminates works better for me, even with the pruning and tying.
Actually I was surprised that you did not list radishes, potatoes, onions and peas. For me, these are even easier than some you listed. Perhaps these are so easy for me is that I am in zone 7, not in 2 or 3.
He sells seeds, rather than bulbs etc. He grows his onions from seed (omg the struggle) and doesn't sell seed potatoes.
I grow onion sets from local feed stores and farm markets and they do amazing. I grow potatoes pretty well, and I love them, but I have a bad wire worm problem. I wouldn't have recommended them for beginners either.
Not sure if it has to do where someone lives and their Climate but I found Cayenne peppers are the easiest to grow. Unlike other varieties they will just seed themselves but you do have to thin them out as I was getting cayenne shaped cluster sprouts all over my garden. They fruited the fastest and thrived during droughts too. Other peppers took some attention to thrive.
Great video
Great video as always 😊 Thank you for sharing and happy gardening 🌿🌱🥬🌶️🍅🐝☕☕☕
re: peppers - some bees may not recognize some peppers as a viable food source, so won't pollinate them. I always have to hand-pollinate my habaneros (central IL) - bees take care of everything in my garden except those.
I LOVE THAT STORE
I’m new to gardening. Last year what my first! Totally relate to 20% good and 80% sucky. I had great bush beans BUT I did stake them bc mine started to flop over! Can I just let ‘em flop? 🤷🏼♀️
I was wondering something about my container gardening. Our deck is a white nylon type that reflects a lot of sunlight and it gets pretty warm in the summertime. Was wondering if that could be the reason why I've had problems getting tomatoes and peppers to grow, that maybe they shut down from excessive heat. I give them plenty of water and use a potting soil recommended by a local nursery, but for some reason I don't get much fruit from them.
i LOVE MIgardener!
I have yet to succeed in growing broccoli. Maybe this year I'll get one to grow :)
I had bad luck with cucumbers... the plants flourished and went all over the place with tons of flowers, but I never got any cukes. Same with squash.
Peppers are pretty darn easy, I'll admit. They are drought/heat tolerant and I agree they are fire-and-forget.
Any of the mint family plants are hard to kill (mint, oregano, thyme, etc). Just ensure you plant them in containers. DON'T EVER PLANT MINT outside of a container.
pH could be your issue. Cucumbers are mostly a hand off crop, generally easy to grow. But if your pH is alkaline or acidic they just will not set fruits. Alkaline soils can also cause blossom end rot in cucumbers as well. A simple pH test will tell you. If it is acidic add lime to your soil. If it is alkaline add sulfur pellets. pH of 6.2 is your go-to range. If you can keep it there cukes should be really easy.( Hint as the grow season progresses you pH will climb some. Do not over correct. It is normal for pH to rise so 6.7 is ok. That is still within the vegetable range.)
@@joeyl.rowland4153 Thanks!
Zone 9 + 10 gardeners will not find tomatoes to be easy! You have to start super early with heat mats and lights indoors and get them in the ground by March but then be ready to protect from cold snaps. They need to be fruiting by May-early June and then will stop as soon as days are 90 and nights are 80 - that's IF you can keep all the gnarly bugs off them! A lot of the plants you mention are only fall-winter-early spring for us.
Great video 💚🌞