Since I'm in New Zealand, I know nothing about your zone, but I'm currently in the middle of winter and trying to figure out what I can grow next year. I did ok until mid May and then I ran out of vegetables. Well I have swiss chard, celery, broccoli, lettuce and various other salad greens, but just not enough to get by without buying vegetables. My garden area was too small and I didn't have much space to plant in the autumn because everything was smothered with my excessively rampant tomatoes. I'll have broad/ fava beans in the spring, but they aren't flowering yet. I've planted onions, which I expect to harvest around midsummer, and I've planted various other brassicas and have no idea whether they really should be planted in midwinter or not, but I like experimenting. If you are in a fairly warm climate, then things like spinach, lettuce and other leafy green vegetables may do better in the winter than the heat of summer, because they won't bolt and go to seed. I've been going to a farmer's market and seeing what they are selling. Various brassicas (especially cabbage), leeks, pumpkin (harvested earlier, but they keep), various salad greens, some root vegetables etc. If you succeed in keeping yourself going for a while, but then run out, go and see what you can find at a market selling seasonal local produce, that should give you an idea of what will do well and what you feel like eating.

Are there pictures of this so I can see what you crazy people are doing? We don't have a picture gallery for this forum, and Gardenweb asks that we avoid linking to other sites in the FAQ that might go dormant later. However, search for "pictures" or "pics" in our forum, and see if any of the discussion threads have pictures included! We usually have at least a few.When should I plant...? Can I grow ...? What is this pest / disease / plant? These questions are best directed towards the regional forums or those about that type of plant. The FAQs in those other groups will often have the answers to these questions for you, and if not, gardeners in similar situations are in a better spot to help you out on issues not specific to raised beds and intensive planting. Try the Vegetable Gardening forum, the Organic Gardening forum, the various regional forums, the Pests forum, or your county extension service. You can find the list of all the GW forums here.How do I learn more?A web search for any of the following phrases should help you tremendously. Put quotes around the phrases for best results: "square foot gardening" "Mel Bartholemew" "intensive gardening" or "French intensive"Mel Bartholemew's Square Foot Gardening book and website are highly recommended for a good, basic introduction to one intensive gardening method. There are others, of course, and you will find them as you search and learn more. If we haven't answered your questions here, post and we'll do our best to make something up! Permission gained from Mel Bartholemew to share his ideas and material when his name, website, or book is mentioned, June 2003. FAQ compiled and formatted primarily by fuzzy and Ray_Scheel.

I have those tow beautiful 15 months old Cranberry vines that have grown from seeds, growing in a 4X6X9 inch container. The only place I have available for them right now which is outdoors, is on the outside of my window. Last winter, there were only tow vertical short uprights which I attached to the soil with a stick to help them stand the winter storms. Back to this year - by end of July, a lot of new upright growth was observed and by now I have about 100 of them, which as I realize should carry the precious flower buds for next summer. The risk of hard frost or extremely low temps for Cranberries is not an issue around here, but we get storms with heavy rain, hale and strong winds (sometimes up to about 100Km/h by that window ) during winter. How hardy are those uprights going to get? should I apply some physical support? or should they be hardy enough to face the weather described above? As I mentioned before, that is the only location available for them where they can get thier required chilling hours and I really don't want to loose my buds. I'm the only one in my area growing Cranberries so I don't really have anyone to ask for advice, Any of you who has experience with growing Cranberries in a container, please, share your knowledge. thanks!

What zone are you in? If you're keeping it in a pot you should probably keep it in an unheated garage, basement or crawl space. The pot will freeze and thaw much faster than the ground, peonies can't take the constant change. That's true in my zone 4 garden anyway, if you're in a much warmer area you can probably leave it outside with minimal protection.