When do you put your garden in?

[Hulk]

SmartAlex… Okay so I have a little farm stand down at the end of my driveway. It’s this thing I have been doing since I was a small child. Grandpa used to throw pumpkins and hubbards in the corn patch, and he let us kids sell the produce and keep the money. So since old habits are hard to break, I set up my stand every year. I am not a good sales person as I just set it up as a help yourself. That and when I don’t have the time to price the stuff I just put out a sign that says pay what ever you want.

So customers sometimes catch me when I am stocking the stand or they pull in to the farm and beep till I come round to chat a bit. That is when I put something they have never seen before in their hand and send them home.  For example years back, I could not sell a tomato if it wasn't red to save my life.  So sent a few free ones home and then the game changed big time.  One customer took a tomato went home, ate it and came right back, pounded on my door to tell me that it was the best tomato she had ever had in her life.  After that we had a hard time keeping the colored varieties in stock.

Or I sent a candy roaster home with a lady.  she said she didn't realize that there were other kind of winter squash besides butternuts.  She came back and cleaned out all the candy roasters in the wagon a few days later.  I also have a guy that goes crazy for red kuris.  He was a dyed in the wool acorn man, till he tried a kuri.  So really it is just about opening the eyes of people to the possibilities.  And yes just as the zukes you speak of, some varieties for whatever reason don't thrive in your backyard climate for whatever reason. Here I am a winter squash growing queen, and I can't grow a buttercup for love nor money.

Now on the subject matter of dwarf or determinate or indeterminate varieties, we have got out work cut out for us there.  You don't plant sunflowers by your mail box that grow 6 ft high, (sigh)  you grow the ones that only get 12 inches high. Palm face.

[Hulk]

TCAArabs… so I am going to say it again, I just got to see Cally some day. There now that is out of the way… I remember the index card files at the library!!! I was in library club as a teen. It is the only extra school activity I had any interest in at all. The idea of using one of those cabinets for seed saving is absolutely brilliant. I store my seed in those plastic carts with drawers. It is not ideal but it works. And they are not in order but they are together species wise. Every year I dig out my seeds its a matter of hey I didn’t know I had this. And wow how old is this here,…I wonder if it is still viable. I try to stay away from my favorite nursery because I just love the guy that owns it and he is always trying to sell me things like a greenhouse, or a tractor, or something. I get into enough trouble on my own with out his help. geesh.

[Willesdon]

I have 4 snowdrops already out in my garden. How nice is that?

[TheJenners]

I wish some of you had your locations… “north” means nothing, I’m “north” and we haven’t had a freeze yet and might not, the way this year is going. Ditto “south,” because some parts of the south are freezing.

I have four raised beds completed and blueberries and honeyberries planted. Four more beds are going to be built probably next month, and I want to get veggies in but I’m stressing. Seeds or starts? I don’t have room at the mo’ for a place to start seeds out of the weather, unless my garage counts and I don’t think it gets warm enough in there. I have a potato plant inside in my dining room as an experiment, but possibly started with too much dirt and am almost out of room for hilling. But maybe potatoes at the end of Jan if it ever blooms, which it doesn’t look like it will, so I have no idea.

I want to plant potatoes, tomatoes, zucs, spinach (maybe), and some sort of pea like sugar snap. Maybe a melon or hard gourd like acorn squash too. Not sure they will do well here. Online is not as helpful as I would have liked.

[Hulk]

@Willesdon

I have 4 snowdrops already out in my garden. How nice is that?

That is super nice considering we wont see anything to march at the very earliest. I am very interested in gardens south of us and how early they decide to start to bloom.

[Hulk]

@TheJenners

I wish some of you had your locations… “north” means nothing, I’m “north” and we haven’t had a freeze yet and might not, the way this year is going. Ditto “south,” because some parts of the south are freezing.

I have four raised beds completed and blueberries and honeyberries planted. Four more beds are going to be built probably next month, and I want to get veggies in but I’m stressing. Seeds or starts? I don’t have room at the mo’ for a place to start seeds out of the weather, unless my garage counts and I don’t think it gets warm enough in there. I have a potato plant inside in my dining room as an experiment, but possibly started with too much dirt and am almost out of room for hilling. But maybe potatoes at the end of Jan if it ever blooms, which it doesn’t look like it will, so I have no idea.

I want to plant potatoes, tomatoes, zucs, spinach (maybe), and some sort of pea like sugar snap. Maybe a melon or hard gourd like acorn squash too. Not sure they will do well here. Online is not as helpful as I would have liked.

I know the weather sure is wild. We have had a mild winter so far. Now I hope printing that doesn’t jinx us. I am south of WNY but in PA. I think if you are in the mountains it affects your snow and frosts as well. And there are areas that just do better at certain things. For example here it is very very hard to get a peach tree to do well. Go an hour south and bam peach tress doing just fine. Grapes here are meh, go 2 hours west and bam all over the place like weeds.

I cant advise you on seeds or starts, but I can say I do all my own starting and love it. My best advice there is to go vertical. I got a 6 shelf metal on wheels unit. Loved it so much got a second. I live in an old farm house so I use the sunporch to start my seeds. It isn’t warm but it doesn’t freeze. And it has lots of light. Zuchs and acorns should do well for you as they seem easy to grow. You can look to see if you can get a bush type acorn, as opposed to a vine type if space is an issue. I have grown both and they are both great. Melons here are tough but for you, they could be great. You never know till you try.

[TheJenners]

I’ve heard starts on porches do “fine” but… My porch is regularly blasted with wind and will knock over a shelf unit. I think maybe the garage would be ok, with a grow light, because that’s not suspicious :lol: :lol: :lol: I’ve heard growing from seed is better in a lot of ways, plus I can plant in those fiber pots and just plop the whole dealio in the ground.

I think a trained monkey can grow zucs around here, most people express regret in planting because they have them coming out of their ears… I want to have those and tomatoes in one box, and acorns with the potatoes in another, maybe. I read that you shouldn’t plant potatoes with tomatoes.

[Hulk]

The Jenners… The garage with a grow light would be fine. Suspicious?:lol: Hey you never know. DH has accepted the fact I am buying this rototiller for the back of the tractor. So he brings home this PA State info on registering to grow hemp. Thinks it is worth looking into. How funny is that. I am open to a new crop but not without some serious study.

You can look up companion planting to see who gets along and who doesn’t. Some crops do better if planted with a friend than if on their own. I grow my tomatoes on a fence line. This works better for me than using a tomato cage. Last year I put my zukes on the opposite side of the fence. They did great but the tomatoes got ahead of me climbed over the fence and spilled onto the top of the zukes. It ended up being a real jungle by the end of the year. I never really planted potatoes seriously so I am no help there. I sometimes throw them in for kicks. They always grew fine but I an in no means an expert.

[SmartAlex]

@Hulk , I think I would love setting up a farm stand, but I don’t know if I would love maintaining it! Sort of like when I had regular customers for chicken eggs. I never had eggs because the customers came first! But I love clipping pictures of other people’s farmstands! I have a great location. Maybe in my old age.

As for your greenhouse man who is always trying to sell you a tractor or a greenhouse… my husband would fall prey to that. I’ve finally agreed to give up my really nice cold frame (that is starting to come apart) and allow my husband to put in a greenhouse instead. It’s part of our landscape project plans for this coming year. My husband could care less about growing vegetables. He loves to landscape and plant trees but he has gladly given over all of the green care to me. He just can’t stop fiddling with the infrastructure. He has put in a rainwater system, built my raised beds, the garden shed etc. Then he gets to nag me about my maintenance schedule. That’s his contribution. And he helps in the fall because he loves to tear things out and get ready for winter

As for zucchini. The trick is to only plant two seeds and pick them small. If any are poor quality, remove them and toss immediately. It’s the only way to prevent zucchini world domination! I always start in pots, 2 seeds per pot. The first year I planted my Dunja variety, I transplanted two pots (=4 seeds) and got this jungle pictured below. I also used to keep spares in gallon pots in another area in case I had a SVB or mildew catastrophe. I would pull up the earlier plants in August and plant the spares for late summer. But I’ve stopped doing that too because by the time the Dunja plant plays out in September I’m good and done with squash.

I start all of my own tomato seeds, most peppers and eggplants. I have two table top grow lights and heat mats. I usually set them up on a side table in the dining room, but the basement also works because the lights give off plenty of heat. As soon as weather permits they go out to the cold frame, first with a shade cloth over them so they don’t cook. The cold frame can get up over 120* on a sunny day. They can go straight from the cold frame to the garden without further hardening off. Lettuce, squash, cucumbers and occasionally zinnias get started in the cold frame in April, then moved out when the tomatoes and peppers come out of the house. I have a little hoop house type frame to hold either a frost cover or shade cloth as required and the squash and cucumbers grow well under that like a mini-greenhouse.

[NancyM]

The “Stokes” seed catalog arrived in the mail yesterday. Sigh. I don’t know if I will order from the catalog this year or not, I have on occasion before, but the shipping is a killer when I don’t need that much stuff. But it is good reading.

Hey, for those thinking of growing spinach, get the New Zealand stuff! You only have to buy it once. It self seeds in future years, and you just dig up the seedlings from all over the garden, and replant them in a line to make a row. And yes, the seeds survive overwintering HERE, and it does get cold here sometimes. These plants get big and indeterminant, with massive leaves. They are the BEST spinach. The plants go all summer, until they freeze out in the fall.

[TheJenners]

Great tips for zucs and spinach!

So what is a cold frame and how is it different from a green house? Any tips for something to raise the temp in my garage even 10 degrees? No clue the temp now, but it’s insulated and if I had to guess… 50s on cloudy winter days? I should pick up a cheapo outdoor thermometer.

[Hulk]

SmartAlex… well my farm stand is really nothing. as in so far no building. I just pull up a table or wagon or trailer or even my brothers old 1950s truck. Still people love it. I have a dear old friend that is always saying to me…imagine if you just applied yourself. So after all these years of pondering that quote we have thought as a family of applying ourselves and move it into a building. Guess I am starting to grow up.(dang it)

I guess the greenhouse man has the same view of me, hence the always trying to sell me such stuff. DH dosen't care what I do or what I buy, so that is not an issue. But getting me to pay attention, focus and be serious, well that there is the kicker.  DH is usually down for whatever projects or farm schemes DD and I cook up so no telling where we will end up.

I start tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. It is just a thing i have been doing since I was a kid, so I just keep doing it. I will say the best advantage of that is the variety you can get VS the green store. They usually only have red tomatoes and green peppers. Sorry I want more. Even with my summer squash I usually grow white zukes, black zukes, round zukes, ribbed zukes, yellow zukes, yellow crook neck, white, yellow, and green tint scallops, and lemon squash. We like to use certain kinds for certain recipes.

Gosh all this talk has me chomping at the bit for spring!!!

[Hulk]

NancyM … Shipping is a killer, and I am still working on my seed orders trying to revise and tighten up, so I get it. Thanks for the spinach tip. DH loves the stuff eats it all the time, and thinks we should grow copious amounts of the stuff. I never really grew a lot but this year he says its going to happen. A patch that reseeds would be really nifty indeed.

[Hulk]

The Jenners… Your garage sounds about like my sunporch temp wise. Mine might be a titch cooler. I think you will be fine. As long as the plants don’t freeze. do get a cheapo thermometer just to be sure. And move it around. One are may be warmer than another. Let us know how you make out. Now you got me curious.

[2DogsFarm]

@Hulk

Sometimes I companion plant sunflowers with a pumpkin patch. So you get to see the sunflowers all the while the sneaky pumpkins are quietly waiting to do their thing in the fall. It’s bliss I tell yah, pure bliss. If you haven’t tried it you should. Mostly because your medium you are brewing will have the nitrogen needed for such heavy planting load. And the birds will thank you as well.

I get Volunteer sunflowers everywhere. I feed BOSS and besides the compost pile, sometimes birds plant for me so I end up with huge sunflowers in unexpected places.
Fine with me,& the birds also de-seed them so I rarely get a 2nd crop.

Have you ever done the 3 Sisters planting?
Sweet corn, beans & squash.
The beans climb up the cornstalks & the squash take over the bottom layer.
I planted a supersweet corn, green & yellow stringbeans & spaghetti & butternut squash.
All varieties produced prolific crops & I was picking beans & squash into the middle of Fall.
Only problem was I planted on a berm & climbing up & down did me in.
I set some boards into the slope as steps, but they did not hold up.
I may repeat this year & put in something more permanent as stairs.

Did someone on here mention Winter-sowing?
I did that one year too and had success with beets & kohlrabi. I forget what did not do so well…
I used empty supplement tubs - the square ones with attached lid - cut windows in the lids & covered the openings, from the inside with some midweight clear plastic I had around. Still have some of the tubs left, sitting in the garage.
A-mazing to watch the seedlings survive the Winter with next-to-no care from me.

[SmartAlex]

@Hulk

SmartAlex… well my farm stand is really nothing. as in so far no building. I just pull up a table or wagon or trailer or even my brothers old 1950s truck

but that’s the best kind!

[Hulk]

2 Dogs… Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, and I mean that.! For knowing about the three sisters. We were just discussing this year we wanted to do a bed with that for the customers to see. Kind of like a example garden. We wanted to do an Indian Corn, a Hopi pale grey, and Cherokee trail of tears beans. Seriously you are blowing my mind because we wondered if seeing something like that would be of interest. What do you think? Is it a go? Now your just completely winding me up, and I have a tendency to be hyper. My family is going to enjoy my company tonight.:lol:

As for volunteer sunflowers. Well years back and I don't know why, for some reason we had quite a few volunteer sun flowers in the pumpkin patch. Perhaps a mouse stored them out there and they were spread around when we tilled in the spring.? Every one remarked how cool it looked so I have done it now and then just for kicks.

As for winter sowing. I have not done it. I would however love to hear about that should some one that has and their adventures in that.

[Hulk]

Smart Alex… That’s pretty much what it looks like right down to the hand painted signs. For whatever reason I love to paint signs.:love-struck::lol:. Yup and I dig out old crates out of the barn to use as well. Now as far as the old oak barrel, that DH cut in two and put out front of the house for planters. It was pretty shot so it was a last ditch effort to still use it, so I didn’t have to part with it.

[Palm_Beach]

When the kids were home, we used to start seeds in a south facing slider in February, and move them outside after last freeze. Since the rabbits are way smarter than us, we’d buy those plants and put them outside in large pots in late winter/early spring. Now it’s just the two of us, and we are so busy we’ve let the produce and garden kind of go to waste the last two years. I’m not sure what we will do this year.

[Obsidian_Fire]

@TheJenners - potatoes are pretty easy. I am in Oregon, Willamette Valley, south of Portland. I have been known to start mine outdoors as early as March. In fact one year I didn’t get them all harvested and the following year I didn’t have to plant any new ones! :lol:

Anyways, all I do is dig a trench (I don’t get carried away) put my seed potatoes in there, cover them back up. Once they sprout, I give them a few inches growth then I cover them again leaving only a little green showing (don’t bury them). I use straw from that point on, as it is easier to push away for harvesting. I have also used well-composted “dirt” (buy in bulk from a landscape supply center).
The one downside to straw is that slugs love it. So plan on sprinkling slug bait around.

Does that help?

As for the rest of it…holy cow…yesterday was nearly 60* I was outside in a T-SHIRT! For crying out loud, it’s JANUARY.
But we still have February, March, and even April to get thru…

I am ordering my seeds shortly to get some varieties started that I can’t count on finding anywhere. I have a mini-greenhouse I can put in the house but I think this year I am just going to set up a plastic table, put my heat mats on it and hook up my grow light, and do it that way. Just have to figure out how to keep the cats out of it!! :winkgrin: