Timing

Would the readers of DG please comment on how soon they
start their garden plants - tomatoes, peppers etc. inside.

Reading the forums I am getting the impression that
some gardeners start their's in January - while I always
waited until March. I haven't a lot of success keeping them in good shape too long inside.

Is there something I don't know about this? - probably.

Opinons please on what factors go into this decision - or is it just a preference.

roxroe - i plant my seedlings outside on june first. i start the tomatos, eggplant and pepper seeds indoors about 10 weeks before which would be about march 15. i used to start them in the middle of feb and put them out on may 15, but i found that between may 15 and june 1st the weather in upstate new york was to chancy. also, i found they got too big if i started them indoors in feb since i did not have too much room in the basement. hope this helps.

Personnally, I try to start all plants about 2 months before my target transplant date. Since I can transplant tomatoes on April 15, I will start them on February 15 or theabouts. Egplants and peppers don't tranplsnt til May 1 but they grow slower so I'll use the same date f0r early plants. I will also start seeds for later crops of eggplant and pepper in april and for late tomatoes in June.

Do any of you plant okra?
....... Is it beneficial to start them indoors?

"Inquiring minds want to know"....LOL

It may be beneficial for you to start Okra and transplant. Also consider a short season variety like Blondie. Okra loves hot weather. Here I just direct seed because we have heat galore from April to October. Okra is not picky except for heat so it tranplants easily in plugs. Bare root transplanting is not reccomended.

I agree. I've done it both ways (usually in plug flats or 6-pack cell packs when I want to be the first at the mkt with okra!).

The only difference I've noticed is that altho the air temp may be warm when I set it out the ground temp is still cool. Laying plastic on your row/bed helps to preheat the soil. (Either that or tilling/cultivating it will warm the ground.)

Scooter, if you start a flat of 36 that will give you a good crop for ya!

Thanks Farmerdill I will do that.

Shoe, I'm the only one here that likes it. Maybe I should plant less or do they freeze easy? The seeds I got are.....

North and South (B 56960) - Breeder and vendor: Burpee. Characteristics: early yielding hybrid which tolerates cool temperatures, pods are dark green with little fiber, fresh market and home garden production. 1995.

I guess it depends on how much you wanna eat, Scooter. I like it raw, pickled, in soups, gumbos (definitely!), sometimes battered and fried, and I even just cook it (w/out batter) in a bit of olive oil/garlic/black pepper...yumpin' yiminy!!! Yummy!

And yes, it freezes extremely well. No blanching necessary. Simple rinse the pods, let the water drain off a bit (or shake it off) then "dust" it lightly in a bag of flour. Then pull the okra out of the flour w/a slotted spoon (so the excess flower isn't too much), bag up in freezer bags and put in the freezer! The flour keeps the pods from sticking together when they are frozen...this means that when you want some you can pull out a desired amount without having to thaw out the whole bag.
Go for it!

KEWL !
TY!
Taa-Taa!
Arf-a-darch-ie !
TNX!
Buh-Bye!
TTFN!
§

(Mercy me...I wish she'd cheer up a bit!)

;>)

wow

rox...that's spelt "wow-eeee!" ;>)

By the way...I'm not too far south of you...I'll try to remember to let you know when I start my seeds. That may help you somewhat.

where is Hillsborough - in the hills?

We have a few hills here! And also the hightest "last mountain before you hit the coast"! (Which really ain't high but you can go up there and it overlooks the whole town.)

I'm in the upper Central region of NC, above and to the west of Durham.

YOU must be in the mountains or upper VA, right?

When cooking okra I alway wipe the seed pods with a paper towel. This will remove the small spines on the pod and reduce the "slime" that non-okra lovers like to talk about. NC is one of my favorite vacation areas!

Howard

yes winchester is in the top of the triangle that is virginia.