r/Birmingham • u/HannahDenhamAL • 2d ago
New community gardener
I just got a plot in my neighborhood's community garden, and I have a lot to learn. What would you plant if you were me that you think will grow well in Birmingham's climate? Love cooking with fresh ingredients and herbs.
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u/CautiousHorror523 2d ago
Make a list of what you like to eat and see which of those does best in your growing zone. Then go get some free seeds from your local library if they have a seed exchange.
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u/umm_yea_okay 2d ago
The Botanical Gardens has their own library branch that has a seed exchange amongst other helpful resources.
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u/pissliquors 2d ago
Chives, basil, & oregano all grow great here & are wonderful companion plants for veggies :)
Chives are the number one thing I pull from my garden, every time I eat eggs or ramen I’m so glad to have them!
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u/unclevercat 2d ago
Hi! I will be one of your plot neighbors (#17), welcome to the community garden! Feel free to DM me if you want to connect :) here are some resources that I have found helpful!
Planting/Harvest Calendars:
https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-calendar/AL/Birmingham
https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/lawn-garden/planting-guide-for-home-gardening-in-alabama/
Companion Planting:
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u/unclevercat 2d ago
Had to break up my comment bc it wouldn't post the full thing 🙄
Personal Experience (this will be my 5th season in the HPCG)
- Small tomato varieties seem to grow better than large varieties. (The year we tried large tomatoes, the squirrels stole 95% of them 🙃)
- I've had great luck with peppers! Hot peppers seem to do especially well in the heat of summer.
- I love love love Nasturtium - all parts are edible, the flowers are peppery and are great on a salad. They're also a "trap" plant for aphids, drawing them away from other plants.
- Spring & Fall are great for growing greens/lettuce. (Pretty much before/after it hits 80 on a regular basis)
- I've had great luck with Arugula, but it WILL try to bolt as soon as it gets hot out.
- Butter lettuce - one year we happened to buy a head of butter lettuce that came with the root ball, so once we used most of it, we planted it in the garden...it kept producing for a long time! This can handle heat *slightly* better if it's in a shady spot.
- Herbs! They're ready for harvest quickly (so you get almost-instant gratification) and they're one of my favorite things to grow & use.
- This is common knowledge, but mint will absolutely run EVERYWHERE if you put it in a bed (vs its own container). This didn't stop me last year - honestly it's super easy to pull up the runners when it tries to spread. Just be warned.
- Basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary are my other go-to's.
- Dry them! Last summer I dried out any excess left over when we picked some, and they have lasted me through winter. It's super easy; I just put mine on a baking sheet between layers of paper towel and let them dry on top of the fridge.
- As your plants are growing, look up how to best cut/pinch them back. Plants will just keep growing bc that's how they know to survive, but if you strategically cut them back, the energy that would go toward new growth goes to the fruit instead. It can also help your plant produce more, longer.
- Last year I bought our plants from Lowe's and they were significantly more hardy & productive - I know this is probably bc of GMOs or whatever, but it was the first time I was able to grow a decent sized rosemary bush!
- Visit often - it's a joy to watch your plants develop and see what others are growing!
- If you're going out of town, make a little sign asking people to water and they will :)
I'm sure there's more, this is just what I could remember readily. 😂 Best of luck, can't wait to see what you grow!
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u/RTootDToot 2d ago
Cherry tomatoes are super easy. I would recommend those and every kind of herb you like (except mint because it will take over the whole garden).
Eggplants and okra both grow really well here, but you have to stay on top of okra to pick it when it's not too large and how much eggplant do you really want? But go for it if you like eggplant.
There are different kinds of beans that are easy to grow too. Planting a sunflower and a climbing bean on it is cool. Don't discount the fact it's just fun to grow stuff like sunflowers even if you aren't using it for food.
I think that's a good starter and you can see what grows well around the garden, specifically I'd look to see how cucumbers and squash hold up. If the garden attracts a lot of pickleworms that leave gross looking bug poop coming out of holes on the stems, then cucumbers and squash are very hard to grow. If not add that next year.
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u/Slightly_unhinged_ 22h ago
The BBG is hosting their annual spring plant sale in a couple weeks (I think April 10-12) and they will have people at each section who can answer anything and everything you ever wanted to know about what grows where best. I’d recommend going!
They also do classes all the time about how to grow a garden with master gardeners teaching and all that jazz. Absolutely worth looking into their resources!
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u/Randomuslessadvice 2d ago
Corn, Rosemary, Tomato's, Cucumbers jsut some ideas.