Calling Southern Ontario gardeners!!....

[islesgirl]

Hi rawbies! I have a bit more room in my garden for some exra greens or plants. My focus is on stuff for my green smoothies and for salads. I have already planted spinach, kale, parsley, red swiss chard, romaine. What others would you suggest I grow? My garden gets full sun - virtually no shade. And I'd like to know what grows easily in this area (I am west of Hamilton) and I have room for about 8 more plants. Any suggestions? Thanks:)

Sue.

[spicyfull]

I wouldn't rule out Collards.......You can use them in Smoothies and for Wraps. You just pick the Leaves off as you need them. If you need some shade sometimes, just make some with objects like Cardboard, wood, a Body etc. In Joy the Dirt under your Nails:).

[michigan roman]

dandelion - very nutricious , excellent salad or smoothie addition

arugula / roquette - nice salad add for spicy taste

new zeland spinach - different then regular spinach , perrenial and stays all growing season . just cut down with lawn mower when bed gets to tasting bitter and a new wave of leaves comes in . but its a slow sprouter / developer if your looking for something faster . i find this to be a great low maintenance perrenial plant bed that should be featured in all gardens of greens eaters , the low maintenance / perrenialness of it along with nutrition and decent taste makes it so

* ide opt for dandelion

[islesgirl]

spicyfull & michigan roman - Just wanted to be sure to thank you for your help yesterday. I was just so busy yesterday - didn't have a chance to get back to you. I bought collards and beets and can't find the New Zealand spinach but will be sure to get it next spring or order it from a seed company. I also bought another kind of spinach and my husband kindly built a small box to make a "raised" portable garden for the spinach so we could plant it out of the full sun which apparently isn't good for this kind as it "bolts". All this is new to me. So much to learn. I remember that my spinach didn't do well in the full sun last year. Then again, maybe I didn't pick off the leaves soon enough. I'm trying again.

I'm not crazy about collards, but they do grow well and are easy to clean and I put them in smoothies. I guess I will just have to make a super tasty filling for them to use them as wraps so as to offset their not-so-nice flavor.

Thanks again:)

Sue.

[adiebabe]

I'm actually in Hamilton.... My favorite thing to plant are those little cherry tomatoes and for me (mind you, your soil will have something to do with it), they've always grown like crazy!!! I don't remember which ones exactly though, sorry. I just cheat and buy whatever seedlings I want from Terra (so it depends on what they have) :D

I bought a fantastic organic fertilizer from Lee Valley in Burlington, it's a liquid made in New Zealand. It makes everything here grow like crazy! Love it!

[islesgirl]

adiebabe -this is all great to know. Thank you very much, fellow Ontarion. My husband just planted 2 types of tomatoes and he told me that one of the plants is actually the little cherry ones. Yippee for him! I'll keep the fertilizer in mind and maybe I'll get the New Zealand spinach that michigan roman mentioned from the same place.:)

Sue

[Raw Angel Mom]

What about minth, they are so good for the smothie and fresh herbs for any nice raw food dish.

Did you make room for tomatoe/cucumber/zukini?

[spicyfull]

What about minth, they are so good for the smothie and fresh herbs for any nice raw food dish.

Did you make room for tomatoe/cucumber/zukini?

Did you mean Mint? If not, what is Minth? I've never heard of it before.