Here is my list so far:

Beefsteak tomatoes
Yellow bell peppers
Green/Red bell peppers
Banana peppers
Habanero peppers (never have done too well for some reason, I'll see if I can change that this year)
Basil
Oregano

To add to the list:

Cilantro
Pole beans (one of my favorites, directly in the ground)
Onions (directly in the ground)
Carrots (directly in the ground)

My maybe's:

Spaghetti Squash
Zucchini
Sweet corn

My problem - my garden is too small and I end up over crowding it Maybe I will forgo the corn this year. I only got one zuke last year. My spaghetti squash never took off, mostly because I couldn't find a place to put it and left it in the planter.

The onions and beans were really good last year, as were the tomatoes. Peppers were OK, they didn't seem to take off too well though. I'll have to keep up on watering them this year. Maybe I'll rig up a timer with a pump for irrigation so when I take off in June or so the plants don't dry up.

I made an indoor rack out of 2x3's that I use for my planters. For lights I use 4' long fluorescent shop lights (dual bulb units). I have an in-wall timer screwed to it that lets me set time intervals however I want - individual days, weekends, or all 7 days. The timer powers all the lights through a standard 6 or 8 outlet power strip. I usually have the time set for about 14 hours a day. The fluorescent lamps aren't as intense as natural light. This set up has been a work in progress over the past 4 years. I used another variation of the rack for a couple years and it just wasn't sturdy enough. So last year I built the 2x3 version and it is a lot more solid. It worked very well last year.

Once the seedlings emerge I'll turn on the lights, but until then I will just let them germinate.

 

My plan this year is to do some SERIOUS soil amendments to a VERY RESTRICTED AREA in my gardens.

EXACTLY the spots my plants roots are going to be - and no where else

My main strategy is to dig trenches or holes and add vermiculite, peat moss and compost. (most of the soil there already IS composted). about 1/3 of each, so that it's loose and terrific for root development

The rows in between I have no intention of improving, why would I?

 

Unless it would just be easier to do the whole area and not be so picky.

 

How big IS your garden? You mentioned dropping the corn this year due to running out of space.......And corn WOULD be the big space-killer........

Too bad about the habaneros.....Now they DO take a long time to ripen, but mine have always given way more than I can use or give away.........(BTW, they dehydrate wonderfully.......and are great in stir-frys, chilis, etc.......just pulverize them like you would dried cayennes....).

For me. S--tload of tomatoes (mainly better boys)......eggplant, summer squash, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, cayennes, habaneros, cukes...........

(I canned a LOT of sliced jalapenos last year....just ran out. they came out a LOT better than I expected.....and the folks that received some as gifts were clamoring for more..........)

 

Not very. Maybe 10'x15' or 15x20', in that range.

In the past for corn I've done a square patch of 4x rows of 4, or circles (what I did last year) with squash in the middle.

 

Yahoo ...potato plants pokin through.......didn't die like last year!

 

The weather in SE PA has been great for cool season crops thus far! Not sure what type of soil conditions the OP is dealing with but you might try adding some lime and manure to help things out. A little bit of Espoma Garden Tone fertilizer works well too!

 

Set out 6 tomato plants and 2 pepper plants. Last Sat frost nailed them all. Fortunately didn't do much to the potato plants.

 

That should be over now.

Happened to me too. I jumped the gun and planted 18 'maters about 3 weeks ago.....Then it got cold.......Then cold again........

Had to replace 15 of the 'maters last week.....But we're entirely on the warming upswing now. Supposed to be the 90s the next couple of days.

 

For tomatos I was told to use garden lime to fix the PH, and also because the plants can take up fertilizer better...

I also heap all the cuttings when I mow around all of them - to kill weeds, and compost down into the soil (it turns dark)

When I figured it up - I have 80 feet of tomato rows, about two or three foot wide.

I used a forty pound bag

Garden Lime (Pulverised limestone) does not burn plants - but don't mistake it for construction lime. THAT lime can actually disolve anything - it BURNS when you get it on you.

 

Sounds cool. What is your soil like? Habaneros/jalepenos grow really well here in FL however I'm a mile off the beach (actually on a small island) and I have a kind of sandy soil. It is quite acidic and I have a nagging suspicion the peppers prefer it. I honestly don't know though. I did double dig the soil with compost so that helped for sure, but I didn't use enough when I grew the habaneros.

I'm not growing them anymore cause each plant would have tons of peppers on it and they were just too darn hot. Maybe good on a burger or something but I had an excess.

I actually made a sort of time lapse picture journal of this years plants. I planted a dozen tomatoes (several different varieties) 2 cucumbers and 2 squash.

The tomatoes are looking good despite not getting full sun. The cucumbers are seriously doing really really well. They are really good and really aromatic when you cut them! The squash sort of died, which is sort of my fault. I'm quite disappointed about this but hey that's life.

I still have a jalapeno from last year. One winter night I didn't cover it when it froze. I thought the plant died because all the leaves fell of and the stem turned brown almost all the way to the base. I clipped off the dead parts just babied it and it lived! Now it pumps out the jalapenos and I'm really proud of it. I named it "Sherman."

Here's some pics:

This pic is about a week old. I started clipping the tops of the tomatoes cause they are taller than me and also because I don't want to rig a system to support 7' tall tomato plants.

However, the one on the far right is just underneath a tree branch. I'm gonna let it grow to it's hearts content!



I seriously need to upgrade this pic. After fertilizing these plants just took off. They are making more cucumbers than I can eat.

 

I have two small gardens going and I've got a couple type of maters, cukes, corn, radishes, carrots, green peppers and strawberries.

 

Here's some worthless advise on how to use the habs:

You can use them fairly quickly if you make batches of fresh salsa and throw (finely chop) a couple of them in the mix with the jalapenos and such.....

Also. The dehydrator is your friend. Put trays of them in a dehydrator for a couple of days......Store them in a clear glass canister. Not only will they keep forever, it looks attractive, and you can use them 1 or 2 at-a-time all year long for stuff like stir frys (just pulverize them before frying).

What you don't use (and I still have some left from last year), Hell.......Give away. You probably know some folks who'd use them.....

 

so far we have planted 128 red potato plants, 60 tomato plants, 100 pepper plants, tons of lettuce, and cabbage, and tons of peas.

 

I reckon if you do a lot of canning, your trips to the grocery store for veggies are few and far between.......