and why?

tomatoes, red onions, iceburg lettuce, sweet potatoes, and eggplant

i could make a nice salad with the tomatoes, onions, and lettuce

as for the eggplant and sweet potatoes, they are hearty and versitile

cherry tomatoes - cuz they are my fave and I grow them every year
basil - to go w/ said tomatoes and in cooking
chives - to go on anything!
parsley - same as above
strawberries! - for the kids to go pick and eat.

bell peppers, heirloom tomatoes(or possibly heirloom plum tomatoes, it depends on what I used them for), onion or garlic, basil and eggplant for summer

you could probably get spinach and lettuces in the spring and fall as well, and maybe a potato , onion or carrot crop in late fall as long as you get it in before it freezes.

I forgot to add why :) I love to plant things that go together. There are a lot of wonderful summer meals that can come out of that garden :D

basil- cause you can add it to almost any savory dish!

swiss chard- same as above, plus I still have my plants growing strong in January (sprouted seeds last March).

garlic- you can never have too much!

tomatoes- long growing season, source of vitamin C, and they are so versatile!

onions.....mmmmmm

How about five CATEGORIES? :D
herbs (cilantro, basil, chives, dill, rosemary, mint, maybe tarragon)
tomatoes (grape, cherry, heirloom littles, heirlooms slicers, beefsteak)
berries (black, rasp, straw, blue)
cukes
peppers (bell, purple, jalapenos)

five real plants?
tomatoes
peppers
cilantro
basil
argh - ummm - toss up - flat leaf kale is SOOO delish and I can't get it in the store, but I DO get it at my CSA. So, if I were YOU, I'd grow it - if I were ME - I'd go with berries.

I should add that the reason I plant is two-fold - either based on cost or availability.

It should ideally be something I either cannot get locally (or cannot get organic locally) AND something that I spend a FORTUNE on at the stores. (ie. organic herbs cost so much for a tiny clamshell and I could eat cilantro like lettuce - and berries we go through vats of every spring/summer, too)

I wouldn't grow things I can get readily/cheaply - for me that includes garlic, onions, eggplant, lettuce, carrots, or sweet taters. :) I have access to organic ones at my regular store and we just eat too much of it to have a whole garden full with a low crop yield :)

I have limited space for edibles. I've tried to do too much in the past and have to cut back to actually being able to grow what I plant. I'm thinking I can count garlic as an ornamental.

But, I think I'm going to have to go with basil (because, really, $2.99 for 5 small pieces is insane when one uses as much fresh basil as I would chose to use).

Carrots because Lauren wants to grow them.

Paste tomatoes because I want to can a lot this summer

mixed salad greens

and beans (because that's almost an ornamental and I can put it in the ornamental bed).

Tomatoes
Leeks
Basil
Potatoes
Onions
Reason: They're my staple foods!

Non-edible...
Honeysuckle
Jasmine
Sweetpea
Roses
Aloe Vera
The first four because I just adore the scents they give off, particulary at night, and Aloe for it's healing properties (lots of cats = lots of scratches!)

Oh PLANTS, plants?

hydrangeas
all hydrangeas

(the best part of living in the midwest)

Parsley - Emma and I eat it by the handful.
Cherry tomatoes - The kids love to eat these while they play outside.
Watermelon - just fun!
Green beans - easy and yummy

Hmm.. those are my top 4. Not sure what would be #5.

garlic & onion - they go well with most things

lettuce & spinach - I eat salad almost daily

tomatoes - they are versatile & go in so many dishes

That is HARD! I *think* I wold choose:

Strawberries (at our house we have a ton of plants so the kids can go out daily & eat a bunch. the baby misses it so much & whenever we go back she runs right to the garden & eats anything she can get her hands on LOL)

basil - we eat a LOT of pesto in our family! LOL

lettuces - lettuce can be had cheap, but its so nice to get it fresh as you want it,especially heirloom varieties.

pumpkin - we love to eat it, its fun for the kids - and the neighbors love to watch them grow as well.

zuchinni - I find them so satisfying to grow!

Here in Southern CA *almost* anything can be had fairly cheap,esp at the farmer's market - fairly year round even, so my choices would just be the basics we at a LOT of. Thank goodness I dont have to choose!

I have limited space for edibles. I've tried to do too much in the past and have to cut back to actually being able to grow what I plant. I'm thinking I can count garlic as an ornamental.

But, I think I'm going to have to go with basil (because, really, $2.99 for 5 small pieces is insane when one uses as much fresh basil as I would chose to use).

Carrots because Lauren wants to grow them.

Paste tomatoes because I want to can a lot this summer

mixed salad greens

and beans (because that's almost an ornamental and I can put it in the ornamental bed).


Ha! There aren't many plants that I dont find ornamental! LOL
I think vegetable gardens are GORGEOUS & my heart skips a beat when I'm driving past a home & find FOOD plants in the front yard! LOL
I hope I'm not the only one, because at our house our front yard was apple, citrus ,pear & cherry trees, strawberry plants for borders, a basil edging by the street & various other plants (butternut squashes, pumpkins, tomatoes,cukes & such) at different times. We had normal things like tons of roses,too - but I mix them all together! LOL
One house we had tom thumb lettuce bordering the lavender, foxgloves & roses.... cabbages are often used by others as ornamentals... we like to mix it all in! :)

Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions, Garlic, Cilantro


= Hot Sauce


:)