2016, 2017 Winter Gardens

Lise, don't go by my temps for your area. Lol For some reason my area is always coolder then even DT Liberty Hill. The lower part of my property will freeze when the upper part doesn't. SA is a lot more humid too.

Your seed choices look great!

Hi juhur7 , can you explain the technique you use with the plastic bottles for the beets . Do you sow the beets directly in the ground or you start your seedlings indoors ?I am also in zone 6 but I did not think that I can plant beets this early.

cytf , Yes their sown directly in the ground The bottles are to keep frost off seedlings , Also it keeps critters off for a moment , Birds like sprouts as do early worms , couple others .
I can't find last years photo's I harvested Choy and had a few good size beets in late February and March ,
If the light is correct and the weather , Either will grow at 20 degrees , But that is a four inch uncovered plant , Frost will kill a seedling sprout ,
Bok Choy , a few lettuce , Mustard , Kale , onion , cabbage , a few of any will grow at these temperatures that way ,
It was a little chill today with the wind but I added some ground up (as near liquid as possible ) potato peelings to my seed rows .

1 March 15 2016 the onions last year , one month from now
2 A bok choy the same time , I have earlier photo's if I can find them .
3 onion sprouts in a jug same time oops wrong photo

This message was edited Feb 12, 2017 7:36 PM

Thank you juhur7 will give it a try sometime.It seems like a great idea , as a type of winter sowing .

Mustard Onions Choy Radishes and Beets are best for winter sowing choices.
I may get a few minutes to check on mine later .
Reason is March weather in February here , Really warm final winter season ,
Lot of plants sprouting outside here .and of course a lot of them are not , as of yet ,
I will do pics of the Beets when they sprout Their slow to that here

cytf This might be a better explanation for small applications .. This thermometer with the sun hitting part of the back of it , This meaning , While today's high of 45 is , this is what it is to a plant setting in the sun out of the wind ,,
2 cold days forecast wed , thurs , then I will likely take the covers off because it is pretty warm in there under the bottles and as such the ground will be warmed after today and tomorrow ,

Wow, that's so interesting, juhur, I never thought it would be that much different.

sallyg ,, thank you , For small areas , a few flowers , it works nice some years ,
I found that out walking on hard frozen ground , next to that workable ground , under the bottle , the ground felt kind of cold to the hand but nothing like the ice frozen ground ,
One problem though , I did not cover my snapdragons in time ,, oh well
Turnips left over are growing now outside , Ate a few onions from the garden yesterday . After Thursday the temps all read 40's to 60's for a week or so , I will start some Mustard and such they grow easily and a few temperature falls won't bother them at all
Some fun with ideas ,

Yeah,
My ambient temp under the perforated plastic-covered hoops on a sunny day averages somewhere between 60-70°, while it may be 45-50° outside.

Gymgirl Best of all , That keeps the plants in good shape as to the freezing or Baking , winter to summers that keep happening
Would not have enough cold weather to start greens earlier without covers ,
Baking weather is for tomatoes and beans , up to broiling



This message was edited Feb 14, 2017 12:33 PM

im still here, just been lurking around, lol!

got my tomato, pepper, and basil seed started in flats yesterday (with the help of my assistant, lol) and now they are on heat mats.

Tomato plants are up growing nicely. Cole crops poking though yesterday. Amazing how fast things pop up in our germination chamber.

I'm just getting around to ordering the couple of new seeds I'd like to try. I mostly rely on saved seed. If I start indoor seeding in early March, I'll be ahead of last year.

Anyone tried Candy Roaster squash or Willow Leaf limas? I tried to order Candy Roaster several years ago and everyone was out. Shoe (remember Horseshoe) had beautiful tall vines of Willow Leaf but no seed when I visited with him. Shumway seed had what was needed for my less ambitious garden.

You can get that squash seed at Baker Creek Seeds,
http://www.rareseeds.com/candy-roaster-north-georgia-squash/

Willow Leaf is long season but reasonably productive. Here it bears a crop, rests awhile, bears again, rests, then bears a last crop in October-November. Taste is equivalent to Carolina/Sieva maybe a shade more productive.
There are several Candy Roasters. North Georgia Cr is a smaller version of the Pink Banana, Georgia CR is large version. I have grown the Pink Banana, very productive, good flavor, Today I have little use for a 40 lb squash. Unless you do I would suggest the North Georgia version at 15-20 lbs.

The beets starting sprouting I saw one today , Way to warm temperatures are a month ahead here , It is like nice days near the end of March have been , and More like April usually is ,
I will be back with pictures shortly .

Spring like winter end , Beet Sprout , about as exciting as sleeping , but it will do , Time to clean the juicer , anticipation

Yes, thank you C.G., Shumway had everything I needed for a bit less.

Dill, I read willow leaf is a sport of sieva. Do you know or agree? Does sieva have the same production habit (as in waves of beans)? I was looking for a small seeded pole lima. Are there other small seeded pole options to seiva or willow leaf that you would recommend?

I've got a pack of Baker's Creek Candy Roaster labeled small variety but I recall the Shumway is supposed to be even smaller. I'll check and trial both if space allows.

I don't know the history of either Carolina or Willow Leaf. Willow Leaf takes a couple of weeks longer to produce, but is more persistent over the long haul than Carolina under my growing conditions. Today I grow Mezcla for my main crop. Better flavor and yield.

Here in northern CA it is still winter. I have some seeds that I planted in fall and some lettuce, beets, and spinach starts. One of my granddaughters sowed some radishes and carrots, which we will probably see this spring. It has been much to cold and wet to do any outside gardening, but I have started some flower seeds on the back porch and a few in the house. Many more to go. After I sow the "8 to 12 wks" and "12 to 14 wks" flower seeds that require indoor starts, then I will do some more winter sowing as well as starting tomatoes. I might even try winter-sowing some tomatoes. Has anyone here tried it?

The last couple of years I sowed no seeds as I thought that we were moving to Oregon. Well, that did not quite work out, but possibly in the future.

So this year we have had more snow than we usually have, and way more rain. It has been too muddy in the few dry days that we had, though I am sure I could have direct-seeded some more beets and lettuce. I will go to my phone to send some pictures. I do have 10 - 4' X 4' "Square Foot Gardens" and last year I didn't even fill them. I will do better this year.

It is good to hear from all of you DG gardeners, I have missed you. I will report back later with some pictures, and then later with a seed-sowing report.

Here are a few... Winter dreams and 2 early crocus.

Sorry, double post!

This message was edited Feb 19, 2017 8:44 PM

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1072154/?hl=

I've winter-sowed tomatoes, and they were some of the strongest seedlings I've ever grown.

I used gallon milk cartons, cut around from handle to handle to make a hinged top. Poked holes in the top and the bottom, filled with potting mix, and sprinkled seeds. Sealed the opening around with some duct tape and sat them outside on top of the spa cover. They got consistent bright light and some dappled shade.

Don't spinkle too many in your vessel...

These are my first attempt at winter sowing, back in 2010. I had great success!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7470899
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7465452

Hope this helps!

Linda

This message was edited Feb 20, 2017 11:03 AM

Such great resources here.Thanks again Farmer DIll, for sharing your knowledge.

SNow, Evelyn, what is that? Mid atlantic has had a ridiculously mild winter and only once seen anything near a solid layer of snow, which melted fast. I thought about putting out spinach and radish seeds, but will have to water them, it's pretty dry out there.

Gymgirl, I just may try some tomato seeds outside. Glad you mentioned that. I have a warm side bed, they could easily sprout early there. I have Cherokee Purple seed, easy enough to do it and see what I have by the time I would buy starts.

Linda ~ Thank you. I will try to wintersow a few tomatoes. Actually, I get self-sown seedlings all the time, so why not?

Linda ~ Just remember, your winter is my spring. So mine won't be coming up until spring.

Here a few winter onions , I have been eating these for about 3 weeks I guess
Beets are not growing fast , lot of them growing and the peas are sprouting
This thread has about two weeks to go ? then it is spring

Juhur7,
What are your daytime & nighttime temps averaging, now? I didn't think my beets were going to ever take off after I reseeded the bed on November 26th. Our weather has been unseasonably warm, with the warmest February on record, avg. 66.8°.

Today, I have a bed FULL of beautiful beet greens to harvest! Same with the collards. I'm certainly gonna log that seeding date for next year, 'cause I see I can get two harvests before spring. If we hadn't had that freaky freeze two months ago, this would be my second harvest.

So, I gonna suggest you give 'em some more time. I'm right at 60 days. Also, the raised bed veggies have been under plastic-covered hoops the whole time. I did uncover the collards last weekend, cause it was a scorcher. They've perked up tremendously with the breeze, the rainstorm, and the (now) dipping temps. Harvesting this weekend.

Hugs!

Gymgirl Those are some pretty Collards , A beautiful green is always so , so nice ,

If I was to guess I would say a couple weeks average about 35 maybe 36 degrees
A few days ago temperature dropped from 72 degrees to 23 in about 15 hours , difficult to get averages when temperature are doing that , today 33 , 35 now 45 ? the high , Good Beet temperatures

Thanks, Juhur7,
I built two new raised beds last weekend, 4x8. Need to level them properly. Once that's done, I'll be sowing seeds for green beans, purple hulls, cukes & zukes.

I also have 7 flats of collard seedlings looking for a new home, LOL!!!! They're actually growing quite nicely under the patio cover, right along the edge where some sun peeps in. I might just get a bug, paint some planters, and line 'em up along my driveway, LOL, as edible landscaping!

Sounds like some work fun Gymgirl , Most of mine will not be planted this season I will be back at in no time though ,
Meanwhile , more Turnip greens to start ,
I have to mulch cover peas popping out of the ground ,. when their done I am deciding on Beans or Morning Glories , Stray there I know . That is also the reason for some calculation about to do out there ,
Mulch piles are useful though

This message was edited Mar 2, 2017 5:01 PM

Finally got the beds leveled, and threw my back out in the process...pain killers...

Ended up renting a tiller to get the job done. But. It's done...

The beds are layered with cardboard and half filled with topsoil and sand. Throwing in the compost and fertilizer tomorrow.

Will also set peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos, tomorrow.

GG ~ It sounds like my spring chores. We are still in winter and are expecting snow on Sunday,

Hey all. Got my garden in, screwed up my back, and am just now getting around again. So that's my last 6 weeks, I think. lol

Hubby bought me drip hoses and we have them in my raised beds now. It should be easier on my back, but man, I'm so confused as to how best to set up the timer. Daily? Twice a week? And for how long? I've been looking on various websites and have only found extremely complicated formulas that are beyond me. Anyone have an easy rule of thumb? Keep in mind, I'm in Texas (hot). Thanks for any advice.

I use timers for overhead misters in my greenhouse and augment water with timers for vegetable seedlings hardening off on my decks. I've spent years trying to figure out a plan. Since we travel back and forth between city house and country garden, almost weekly, it's a challenge. My best advice is to initially irrigate two to three times a week to saturation. Plants do well with wet/slightly dry cycling and I'm not certain there is a perfect continuous moisture level. Some people prefer to irrigate in the evening when there is less evaporation. Others like morning, before intense heat. How much and how often depends on the size and spacing of your system, the amount of supplemental rainfall, temperatures, size of plants at a given time, daily temperatures, etc.. It's always in flux. I wish I could go away and have a system that could be self-regulating

Thanks, MaypopLaurel, for your comments.

I guess there's no foolproof solution -- so many variables. I've got mostly tomato, squash and cukes. To start, I set it to every other day for 30 minutes (at 6:30 a.m.), but I may be better off with twice a week for an hour. I guess I'll just keep an eye on it. I think I read once that if you put your finger into the soil and it's dry down to the first knuckle, it's time to water -- or something like that. Anyway, thank you!

You'll get better water utilization watering late in the day. More soil absorption with less evaporation. I use soakers, when needed, in the garden in early evening but water late morning in the greenhouse to take advantage of evaporative cooling. Late day watering allows for outdoor plants to uptake moisture during a less stressful (heat-wise) time of day. Alternate to see which works best.

I got my Tomatoes in E Buckets yesterday and planted Beets , Bush beans. Yard beans ,Cow peas ,Cucumber and Squash and it's rainy very lightly today so they should germinate nicely for me . Hi LiseP I am in the same state you were in with my knee and back aching .lol but it's worth it . I think being a Senior gardening takes a toll on me and Hubby because he helped in the garden too.