What Should I Grow Contest - Win Shares in Steembasicincome
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I am looking for new plants to grow in my garden this year. I thought I would let the steemit community help me decide. I've also been interested in getting some shares in steembasicincome so I'm combining them. Let know what your favorite variety of plant is and you might win a share in @steembasicincome.
Shares in SBI will give you free upvotes for life. You can learn more about steembasicincome here.
Rewards
I will be giving out 5 shares in steembasicincome. If this post rewards more than 1 SBD, I will give out an additional share for every whole SBD.
For example, if the author reward is 2.5 SBD, I will add 2 bonus shares, for a total of 7.
How to enter
Upvote this post
Resteem is not required but would be appreciated. It will give this post more exposure and might increase the number of shares given out.
Make a comment telling me about one of your favorite plants and strain. Explain what makes this plant special and why you chose it. You can also make a post and provide a link in the comments. If you make your own post, please include the plant type in the comment.
Rules
You can make as many entries as you want but I will limit each person to 2 shares.
Entries must be able to grow in my climate. I'm in Washington state, zone 7.
Your entry won't count if someone suggested it before you or if I have it already. I will let you know so you can try again.
I am mostly interested in plants that produce food but will consider plants with other uses. Bonus points for plants with multiple uses.
When this post pays out, I will pick my favorite answers and give a share for each. If I can't decide, I'll use a random number generator.
I look forward reading your suggestions. Let me know if you have any questions.
i would grow cannabis
Haha, hopefully that will be legal here soon.
Chamomile grows in zones 3 - 9. It makes a great tasting tea that has medicinal properties which can come in handy. It is used as an anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, anti-infective, menstrual cramps, stomach cramps, indigestion, flatulence, diarrhea, fever, colds, congestion, headaches, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, stress, nervousness, and poor digestion, ulcers, infections, rashes, and burns. For babies, it is helpful with symptoms of colic and teething pain. I use half black tea and half chamomile daily. I drink about a gallon a day and almost always use this mixture. It help me deal with long term pain without resorting to pain medicines which are addictive. German Chamomile is usually considered the best variety to use.
Great suggestion. Those are some incredible medicinal properties. I'll have to grow some and try making tea.
Love it. I use it when im wanting to relax a stressful day off...
I think you should grow Okra!!! It definetly will grow in Washington climate and it is a wonderful food. My favorite way to eat it is pickled!! It is hard to find not a lot of people grow it so it is a good idea to grow your own. There is a huge list of medicinal benefits that come from this plant, that plus the delicious flavors when fried up makes Okra one of my favorite plants!!
I don't think I have every eaten okra. It's not a very common food around here. I'll look into growing okra.
Purslane, Amaranth and Goosefoot. Theyre wild plants that are very very nutritious and need no looking after
Purslane is a good idea. I have eaten wild purslane before but have never grown any. I haven't tried the others but I think I have goosefoot growing wild on our property.
The great thing about them is that they pretty well grow themselves with little help from us
I wanted to suggest cucamelons, but I see someone already mentioned that...
I'm pretty passionate about out-of-the-ordinary fruits and vegetables, and last season I tried growing a whole bunch of them.
Next to cucamelons, I had two that have been a real success:
This big, beautiful plant is closely related to the sunflower. At the end of the season, it produces very tiny yellow flowers. The edible roots are delicious and taste like apple, so you can eat them like one.
More info about Yacon
Click to enlarge
The edible tubers of this plant are incredibly crispy and enjoyable to eat. The plant is winterhardy,so you can harvest all winter long. I planted 2 tubers in April and they multiplied so that I must have harvested like 300 of them.
The plant is very invasive (every tuber left in the ground will become a new plant in spring) so best kept in containers 😉
More info about Crosne
Click to enlarge
Those both look like really interesting plants. I like growing unusual plants. There are some foods you'll never get to try unless you grow your own.
I think I will get some yacon. It seems similar to sunchokes but with a sweeter flavor. If it's as easy to grow as sunchokes, it will be a great addition.
It is easy to grow. I’m gonna need to look up what sunchockes are, but since Yacon is also related to the Jerusalem artichoke, I assume you could be right 😉
Found it. Sunchockes are Jerusalem artichokes - lol.
I must admit I haven’t tasted those yet. i planted them for the first time this year. All I can say is that the yacon root is really delicious, tasting like apple
That reminds me, I may have some yacon roots left, stored in the basement... yummie! Gonna check that in the morning... 😋
Yeah, sunchoke is just another name for jerusalem artichokes. I really like them. They are low maintenance, prolific and delicious. They are sort of like a potato with a hint of sunflower seed.
One of my favorite vegetables is Sunshine kabocha squash. Johnny's Select Seeds has it as does Fedco Seeds. To me it has the best flavor of all the squashes. I am in Zone 4a so it should grow for you.
I grow a lot of squash but haven't tried this variety. I'll have to check this one out.
I'd say celery and arugula which are very nutritious and healing. I would also grow fennel. There are so many recipes you can make with the tops.
I have some arugula already. I would like to grow celery but hear it can be difficult to grow. Do you have any experience growing celery? Is it really as hard as people say?
We've always had celery in our vegetable garden in Italy. They are dark green and have pungent flavor nothing like the yellow faux celery at the store. It's not hard to grow but doesn't rain often in our area so it's important to water them often. I'll inquire with my dad who is an expert farmer for some tips and I'll get back to you!
Sweet potatoes. For sure. Pretty darn easy to grow and not a lot of maintenance. You just have to keep the vine growing on something so that it doesn't try to send down new shoots. You can do just about anything with a sweet potato that you would do with a regular potato.
I hadn't thought about sweet potatoes. They might be a challenge in our short warm weather growing season but I want to give them a try.
We're in a 6b zone here in Detroit and they managed pretty well, but I know they benefit from warmer conditions. I read somewhere to cover the soil with clear plastic to help keep the soil warm. We didn't do it, but might be worth a shot.
Cheers.
I'm going to try out growing some plants in a low tunnel this year. That would probably be a great place to put sweet potatoes. It should give them a little extra warmth early in the season.
I've grown globe artichokes out here in Zone 4a for 20 years. The important part is that the seedlings get about 3 consecutive weeks of 50F weather, but don't get frozen at night. That will induce buds. Some years I get 20 off the 4 - 6 plants, some years just 3 - 4.
This plant is liver supporting, which is why I grow it.
I like artichokes but have not tried growing them. I think they are supposed to grow well in my area. Thanks for the suggestion.
I would grow garlic, everywhere in between plants in order to keep the ground beetles and bugs away. It is also a great root to have around at all times. Second I would grow Turnips. Third, cilantro. Check out my posts on these plants.
@derekfreeman, You beat me to garlic. Had to go with my second fav!
I have a bunch of garlic planted already. I'll try planting some in with my other plants.
I grew some turnips last year but didn't really like the taste of them. Is there a type of turnip you like? With that many benefits, I might have to give them another try.
I will definitely be growing some cilantro this year. I love the flavor of cilantro but did not know about all the health benefits.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Well i use the golden globe and the regular purple, but love the golden globe. The greens are awesome fried up with butter or olive oil, garlic and mushrooms! Crazy how good they are for you. Have a great garden, I already have a lot popping but we got a cold snap tonight (o)(o)