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I have put in a medium-sized veggie garden in my back yard for the past two years - weed fabric, drip system, the works.

I had just about decided not to do a garden this year, and just kick back. I have slowly come around to the garden idea again, what with the way food prices are shooting up like a rocket. I love tomatoes, and like to eat them every day - yesterday Door Dash brought me a 10-ounce container of yummy grape tomatoes along with my grocery order - if I put my two hands together, there is just about enough tomatoes to fill my together-hands. I might get one, maybe two, salads out of this many tomatoes. Cost for these? A fast $5.00 for the 10-ounce container.

I'm not going to talk about the price here for fresh zuchinni, butternut squash and the like, besides just saying "ouch". These all grow well here - with the drip system already in, and the weed fabric taking care of the weeds - pretty much all I need to do is dig a small hole through the fabric, put a bit of manure in the hole and stir it around a bit, then pop in some seed (or maybe some plants, in the case of tomatoes).

The drip system (on an automatic timer) will take care of the watering part.

Easy-peasy.

The strawberry bed I put in last year over-wintered just fine without any help on my part, and I'm getting about a pound of strawberries a day at the moment, with more coming on. I like going out in the back yard when I want something to munch on.

. . . That is, so long as I have water. Without irrigation, any veggie plant is a goner when temps hit the 90's, not to mention 110.

I am hearing talk of water rationing here, don't know where that will go, but I'm thinking it might actually happen this time.

So any planting I do will just be for those items that take little effort on my part, and hope for the best.

Anne

Good luck! My mouth is watering thinking of all those strawberries.

mine too!!! love fresh strawberries
good luck with your garden is it possible to erect a shade thing over the garden not too shady but to block some of the heat of the sun.... maybe a moveable one so it gets some sun but not the intense one but that might be harder to do than I thought when I first thought of it
sheila

Maybe some straw for mulch to block the sun during the hottest days?

What are the laws in California for watering gardens during this most recent drought?? And how big is this garden?? Maybe some shade somehow? I was thinking of a rain barrel of some sort, but I guess it does not help to collect rain if there is no rain to collect.

And can I come and visit you when the tomatoes are ripe??

Anne, good luck with your garden. I have mentioned my balcony faces south and is like a cave. There is usually a breeze coming across the field from the water. Read to cover garden with plant shade clothe in the afternoon. Or make a poly tunnel with pvc pipe. Water is a real consideration. So as you said small is a good way to go.
.

Watering laws in California, vary by county, with guidelines from state. In our county drip irrigation is allowed, specimen trees can be watered, and lawns only 2 days per week.
I don't garden because I only eat occasional plants. I do try to keep my citrus going.
Velda

I used the tops of the green/spring onions. Put the white part with roots in water and they have grown about 4” of green tops. Think I can plant them in soil now and will have onions the rest of my life. Lol Just need it to get warmer. Tulip petals all over balcony floor. So sad

I had a friend in college who grew onions and a few other things in her kitchen window year round. When she wanted onions or the others she just snipped what she needed.

Even full timers could have a garden. Lol
https://youtu.be/z_6RTILQqsE

Tina and Velda, you could grow one potato

Shiri
Yeah I could grow potatoes, but even potatoes don't like our 112° summers and fail to bloom or make potatoes. Been there, done that. Amd not that fond of potatoes as they no longer taste good to me.
Velda

Velda, I was kidding about the potato. You and Tina were talking about the prices of potatoes. I finished a head of cauliflower last night and put the stem in water to grow another head. Lol Doubt it will grow roots and don’t know what I will do with it if it does. Will check on the winter sowing jugs today.

Shirl, I have grown green onions for many years with lots of success by planting the white ends with the roots. I did the same thing with the ends of celery. They didn't grow stalks of celery, but my favorite part of celery is the greens on the other ends and I had lots of them. That's something else you may want to try but I haven't found many people that enjoy the celery greens as much as I do.

Thanks Irmi, I will try the celery. My favorite lettuce is Romaine. I never buy prepared because of E. coli but even whole bunches are scary. My plan is buy a bunch at the store and if I don’t die I will try planting the stalk end to raise my own. Lol.

Hooray ! I have a Juliet tomato plant. There isn’t the demand for this plant as some large variety so most places do not stock many. My small nursery only had one tray of Juliet as compared to 50 of large variety tomatoes.

Also checked winter sowing jugs. Seeds have germinated but don’t look like they have grown since I last checked. Hope it is the cold unpredictable weather.

Shirlv wrote:Hooray ! I have a Juliet tomato plant. There isn’t the demand for this plant as some large variety so most places do not stock many. My small nursery only had one tray of Juliet as compared to 50 of large variety tomatoes.

Shirl, you probably know this, but thought I might mention it for those who might not be aware:

Tomato plants can be grown from cuttings. Take a snip, submerse the cut end in water (baby food jars work well for this), and in a few days the cut end will begin to send out roots (be sure to keep the water level up, though).

Once the roots begin to fill the water in the baby food jar, gently transplant into some premium potting soil.

I did this one year, in order to get a head start on the following years tomatoes: I took several cuttings before the first frost (enough for the following years tomato plants), babied these cuttings over winter, and as soon as it was safe to plant I transplanted them from the potting soil into the ground.

These cloned plants did very well.

This might be a way for you to propagate your Juliet plant year after year, especially if you like it - and on the odd chance your local nursery supply place stops carrying the variety.

Anne

Anne, I did not know you could take cuttings from tomato plants. I even searched Juliet seeds so next year I wouldn’t have to run around like a crazy woman. I like your suggestion much better and will do that. I do propagate basil and lavender and it is the same technique. Thanks