Here are the veggies I'd like to sow...help?

16 years ago

Hi again. :)

Here are the veggies that I'd like to grow. I may not get to them all this year, I'm having a baby in June so I need to try to be realistic, but I'd like any honest tips you have for how you've grown them yourselves and whether I need to get another book about setting up lights in my basement.:) It would be REALLY helpful if you could tell me if any of them could be w/s and if they can when I should do so in my zone. :)

corn (though we live surrounded by fields that are alternately planted to corn and soybeans. This year is soybeans so I don't have to worry about cross pollination, but if I save seeds for next year I guess I'll have to figure out what I can plant without worrying about that)

beans (already heard in my other post that these should be direct-sowed)

squash

tomatoes

pumpkins

onions

leeks

carrots

cabbage

asparagus (I know this is a more labor intensive crop, but any tips you have would be appreciated)

peas

sweet potatoes

potatoes

carrots

spinach

belgian endive

witloof chicory

I'd also like to plant a mini child's garden with these veggies:

fingerling potatoes

spoon tomatoes

mini corn (haven't chosen a variety)

tom thumb lettuce

partima carrots

baby pearl onions

baby boo pumpkins

Thanks for any help!

Alina

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Comments (7)

kqcrna
16 years ago
Alina,

I'm not a veggie grower so I can't offer any help, but someone will help you out soon. I wanted to offer congratulations and wish you happiness in you mom adventure. Garening is wonderful, but motherhood is something special.

Karen
dirtbert
16 years ago
Here's what I would recommend (or what I usually do). Since I have time in my zone to direct sow these you should no problem...
I'd direct sow the beans, squash, peas, potatoes, carrots, spinach, fingerling potatoes, corn, lettuce, onions, leeks and pumpkins. Many of these can probably be winter sowed but it would probably be less work to drop the seeds into the garden than to transplant a bunch of seedlings. That is, if you are looking for less work. If you are looking for an earlier crop, then wsing would be better.

The tomatoes I'd start a little early, I know in my short growing season they would not have enough time to grow and produce much fruit if I direct sowed them.

The asparagus you could direct sow as well. Keep in mind that these will take a few years to start producing for you (they are perennials) so plant them in a area of the garden that you don't intend to use for veggies again. Once established they will produce for years and years. Eventually needing to be thinned out so they can keep producing.

I'm not sure about the chicory or endive and the one year I tried sweet potato plants they didn't have enough time to produce for me, my growing season was too short.

I hope that helps :)
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lblack61
16 years ago
Most of my toms are outside as of tonight:
Marmande
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Carrots WS great as well. I did them for the first time last year and got a bumper crop. Still pulling them from the ground (whenever I can dig a path through the snow).

Leafy Greens- Spinach, Chard, Kale, Lettuces, etc. all WS great. They are usually the first thing to sprout, while it's still chilly outside. I have harvested as early as May on lettuces in the past from WSing. Last year, once I harvested the third time, I direct sowed more lettuce.
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Squashes WS well, sproutwise, but I'm not sure if a Zone 5 growing season is long enough for them. I'm starting my zucchinis indoors, along with sweet peppers and eggplant.
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Linda
tansy_moon
16 years ago
Whatever you do, mulch like crazy when you layout the beds in April and May. I say this because once you have that new baby you will not have much time for weeding!

Also, try to lay down a soaker hose because that saves a lot of time watering.
lblack61
16 years ago
Alina,
"still"...I meant "stick with whichever"!

And after sleeping on it, I just recalled that people grow edible sweet corn all over for sale around here, and they probably direct sow it. So I don't see why it wouldn't WS.

On the Asparagus, either way (WS, Direct Sow, Indoor Sow) you're going to have to wait for three years at least for a harvest. Although I've never tried it (would have to designate a patch of lawn that's visible so my husband wouldn't mow over it), I would think it would WS fine. If it didn't sprout unti late in the season, it wouldn't matter, because you'd have to wait for a few years to get anything from the plants anyway.

Linda
shasta_2008
16 years ago
Lblack61 (Linda)
I'm also in zone 5 and this is my first year, I WS tomatoes already, when will I see sprouts?
Carol
reads_n_writes
Original Author
16 years ago
Karen, thanks so much for the congrats on the baby! This will be my second, actually. I have a 17 month old (as of today) son as well. Tomorrow I get to (hopefully) find out the sex of this baby! I can't wait!

Dirtbert, thank you SO much, that really helps a lot. It's nice to know that so many things can be WS but it's also nice to know which plants I can direct sow and still end up with veggies. :)

Linda, thanks so much for the list of veggies that you've had success WSing! I'm going to look into all of the tomato varieties you've listed for sure. :) And thanks for the follow up about the asparagus. I probably should create the permanent bed before I worry about WSing those, though, now that I think about it. Oh, and are the carrots you're still harvesting in a cold frame?

Tansy, I definitely plan to do both of those things you suggested! Thanks so much for the tip. We got a bunch of straw bales after Halloween last year that I plan to use for mulch and I also had a tree trimming service dump loads of wood chips to use cover the straw for pathways between the beds (since I don't think they've aged enough for mulch. The soaker hose thing I'm still trying to work out. I had two soaker hoses rip last year when I was trying to shift them around while planting. They seem to be fairly fragile! Do you have a recommended brand that seems to hold up any better?

Here are the veggies I'd like to sow...help?

Comments (7)

kqcrna

dirtbert

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Here are the veggies I'd like to sow...help?

Comments (7)

kqcrna

dirtbert

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tansy_moon

lblack61

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