Lars - Chillies reproduce on the same plant each year for you by replanting? Here they are annuals only. Nice.

Annie- I used to live in zone 5 and miss it we had tomato weeds one year from tomatoes we missed the previous year.

Teresa- Do you plant your celery from seed or replant a stalk? I never thought to try celery.

zone 4

I tilled up my garden yesterday - and will try to till again and start planting tomorrow. Peas, radishes and other cold tolerant plants. I didn't start much this year - onions and leeks. Leeks and corn salad wintered over.

Dreaming of a high tunnel...

It was gorgeous yesterday - today is wet, cold and windy. Brrr..

Right on the edge of 6b/7a. I do a lot of herbs, tomatoes (mostly heirloom), several hot peppers, a few citrus trees (they winter in my Florida room), and once in a while I get nutty and do eggplant or zucchini. I did broccoli one year, decided it was too much effort for the yield.

We have a late spring this year, I have my tomatoes and chilies but have not put them out yet. I will probably hit the herb farm this week.
Alexa

agmss15- same here nice yesterday NASTY today supposed to go down to -12 C tonight. I was going to start planting today I guess not.

Alexa- Sounds like everyone is getting a late start this year. So why is Zucchini -- Nutty? I know what you mean about broccoli I tried it once too.

I get my celery plants from one of my favorite vendors at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. I get Chinese celery and an American version called Conquistador.

I live in zone 6 and have garlic and potatoes in the ground with tomato and pepper plants ready when it dries off enough. We will plant beans then as well. I have a few herb plants but most herbs are perrenial for me. Haven't decided about cucumbers for this year. Thinking of making bread and butter pickles for the first time. We don't plant zucchini; one plant will feed the neighborhood and we don't use THAT much of it. I planted one eggplant, the skinny kind last year and it just kept on bearing until frost got it. Won't plant it again. We have raised beds and for the most part only plant what we expect to use the most of. Other veggies, such as okra, we can get at the farmers markets. We mostly eat it fried and I try not to fry too many things.

I use more tomatoes than anything and make a good bit of Annie's salsa and other sauces and freeze what I don't use in canning. Also can green beans.and usually have 2 crops of them since we have a long growing season.

jude

BTW I tried bale gardening for the first time last year with good results. I grew potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes and beets in the bales. The bales broke down amazingly over the summer. I used my banking hay and will try more this year. I treated them with nitrogen per instructions although not as much as instructed. I am not sure quite how they would extend the season. Are you going to put a low tunnel over them?

The bales extend the growing season because of the heat of the bale. You can start stuff earlier and cover them on cool nights. The heat the bale gives off creates a little greenhouse if covered.

A few years ago I got my tomato plants early April as it seemed winter was over. Mid-May we got a cold snap of low 30's and freezing rain. My tomato plants were in large planters. I cut open and stapled together 55 gallon black lawn bags - 2 bags thick. I pulled all the pots together, placed the plastic tarp over them and stapled it into one large black tent. It remained around 30 degrees for 5 days - although it was sunny. When I took the tarp off I expected frost bitten plants. Instead I had tomato plants that had grown 6 inches and were loaded with blossoms. That was the last thing I expected.

We are getting more snow tomorrow. I may have to go the bale route this year for everything!

Extended season due to they have no snow and the rest of the yard has a foot. I was hoping to get some stuff in before I go away on Wednesday but it dropped to -5 C and supposed to get to -12 tonight. I left my bales out over the winter so prolly won't get too much heat out of them. But I won't have to wait for them to cook first.

CLB, some plants that are annuals live for longer than a year here, such as chilies, and some of them live to be two or three years old and keep producing chilies. Indeterminate tomatoes will live for several years if planted in the ground, and they will produce tomatoes throughout the winter, although generally only cherry tomatoes or other small varieties.

Lars

Tomatoes are tender perennials. Same thing for sweet potatoes and green peppers. Possibly some other peppers are also perennials - don't remember from my master gardening training since I'm mostly an ornamental gardener?

Along the immediate Connecticut shoreline there is a very narrow band of Zone 7(a). It's barely visible on the USDA Zone Map. Over the past nine years, I've recorded temperatures that would technically be Zone 7(b) four years but, and it's a large "but"...our spring sea breezes are cold and they shorten our growing season a good month on other Zone 7 areas farther south. We are also not as hot in the summer as other Zone 7 areas. We live on a very tiny peninsula that moderates our climate considerably. When you hear on the news that New England received a large snow storm - we likely got rain. Not that it does not snow here, it does, but not nearly as much as a mile west. The zonal changes closely follow the I-95 corridor through Connecticut. That's one reason we live here - can still be in New England but not freeze our a$$ off. (grin) We are about 10 degrees colder in the spring though than the interior.

Will not be growing any edibles this season due to flooding from Sandy.

/tricia

LOL! Zucchini is "nutty" because I am the only one in the house that likes it and I always seem to end up with a monster yield. My neighbors run in their houses and lock the doors when they see me coming with a bag.

Actually, in a "normal" house where more than 1 person likes zucchini it is completely normal.

Alexa

Jude - I'm not sure I would like that much eggplant either not really a fan. But I do like giving things away.

Lars- that is fantastic seriously I have zone envy now.

Alexa- I'm the only one who likes it but hubby will eat it just like the super cheap pumpkin I got I sneak it into things. He's got to get his veggies somehow. The thing is I really don't get the yield here that I got in zone 6. So I plant more than one.

Tricia- Tender perennials? Does that mean you bring them inside during the winter? Sorry to hear about Sandy she truly was a nasty beast.

Teresa - your email is blocked so I can't respond. I started the thread here as it is gardening not cooking. Northern Alberta, North of Grande Prairie, I think we get 80 frost free days. Last year snow fell June 3rd and returned Oct 6th to stay. Normally it melts then we get our final snowfall but this year not so much. The snow pile in our front yard is 4 ft deep going down to 2 feet at its lowest point. The good point is that we get daylight until almost midnight at its longest point. Then sunrise is super early too. I hardly ever get to see the northern lights I am in bed far too early.

Here's a good explanation of "tender perennial" from a Portland, Oregon nursery. Basically, they are perennial (not annuals that can not live more than a year) but temperature sensitive so are often grown as annuals. I have overwintered a tomato plant buried in the compost pile - in New Hampshire (Zone 6). Here, I overwinter my begonias in the compost pile.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Tender Perennials

I will have to watch for tender perennials and see if I can get them to produce inside during the winter but I suppose light would play into that as well. My friend has peppers I might just try those inside this year.

We squeak in at a 6a. I haven't done any veggie gardening since we left Calgary back in 06 and I miss it. I used to follow the method on Dick Raymond in his book the Joy of Gardening and highly recommend the book though it is geared to larger vegetable gardens and using a tiller . If you don't have one you can still adapt for smaller plots. I was always amazed at the volume of carrots you can grow in such a small space if that's all you have.. Toss out the idea of spacing them in neat little rows and just sow the seeds like you were planting grass seeds.. As they begin to grow you take your rake and run it thru to begin thinning them, and as they continue to grow you have a near endless supply of fresh baby carrots. As you pick those that leaves room for others to grow larger. You'll never run out of carrots LOL You can even sow radishes in amongst them which as you pick in a few weeks time thins out the carrot lawn.

PK- not growing in zone 6 ???? no chinooks to kill your crops there. I suppose the challenge is gone LOL

We were on an acreage outside of Calgary so I was able to have a very large veggie garden. Now we're in town and the landscaping is all flower and shrub type gardens. There is some rhubarb growing, not a fan, so I give it to the neighbors and I grow a few herbs in containers on the deck sort of thing but that's pretty much it..

pkguy, I don't know how you can grow anything in Calgary.

I was there one time in the winter. I did not know that you needed to plug in the engine when you park your car. I was unable to start my car. The engine was frozen.

One my way back on the plane, I happened to sit next to Al Duerr, his wife Kit, their daugther and son.

dcarch

USDA says zone 5b but I'm not sure I'm buying it. We're at 3000 ft. and looking at snow plops the size of fifty-cent pieces coming down right now. The last of the snow left my garden a couple of days ago. We won't get a tiller through there for at least a couple of weeks. I don't plant beans or set anything tender out before June 1 and our first freeze will be anywhere from Labor Day to the middle of October (usually mid-Sept.)

CL, I do well with most cole crops and root crops, as long as the season isn't too long (if the seed pkt. says 60 days, it's 80-90 at my house). DH grows enough potatoes for six families (Idaho boy, hehe). Onions do ok and garlic does really well. Greens, but spinach tends to bolt too soon, so I grow kale, chard and an assortment of odd greens. I can't get pole beans, but bush beans do well, and I've found a couple of shell/dry beans and early winter squashes that will mature here. Summer squash..most years we're inundated. We grow our tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in big hoop houses. A couple of years ago we put in short season fruit trees, and several kinds of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. The day-neutral strawberries did incredibly well last year, hopefully the rest will catch up.

Pkguy...we grow everything in wide rows, with trickle tape down the center. After all these years...it never occured to me to do the first thinning of carrots with a rake, lol.

Peter, I always plant radishes with my carrots, they come up quickly and carrots come up slowly, so I put a radish seed every 8 or 10 inches to mark the row until the carrots germinate. I never thought of thinning with a rake either, but I do plant mine in rows because I have that garden that's an acre or so.

Katie, that's about what I figure for a growing season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I never plant before the end of May, or I'll just be planting again and there is always a frost by mid-September it seems. And spinach always bolts for me too. I've also had difficulty with bok choi.

My plans for tomorrow include pruning the concord grape vines. Has anyone ever tried to grow horseradish in a container, I can't figure out where the heck to plant it where it'll be safe from animals, farm equipment, 4 wheelers, future construction, etc......

I think next year we're going to be putting out some bee hives. Gotta feed the poor hungry black bears, you know. (grin)

Annie

The wide row broadcast seed spreading is so simple because there's really little need to even bend over except to pick them. Just grab a handful of seed and scatter them evenly over the whole area. lightly tamp them in with the back of a shovel and lightly cover again with a bit of soil. I used to buy the seeds in bulk at a country store, a few bucks for something like 1/4 pound of carrot seeds, more than needed really.

Katie- I wonder if the zone takes elevation into consideration? We have an interactive map for zones that you can zoom in and check a specific area like one town I lived in on one side of the river it was zone 6 but on the other zone 3 because of elevation. We get frost here Aug long weekend most years.

dcarch- you think Calgary is bad try 8 hours north. (Whine)

Annie- you must have a large space to be able to put in beehives we would be in so much trouble. (I just went back and re read an acre garden NICE!!)

for those with big gardens that mass sowing idea is awesome.

This post was edited by CLBlakey on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 10:14

The zone maps in the US take into account only the lowest temperature, based on 30 year periods, that could be expected to occur 7 out of 10 years. That, of course, means a 70% chance. The zones move in 10 degree increments. The official zone map, at the current time, does not consider high temperature although that is pending. So, in my cooler Zone 7, I have a better chance of successfully growing lilacs, sugar maples, and white birch but less success with camellias. They also do not take into account micro-climates. At best, zones are guidelines. Other considerations not taken into account are urban deserts and elevation although those conditions are usually reflected in the 30 year average temperatures on which the zones are based.

/tricia

CLBlakey, I bought the farm that I grew up on a couple of years ago, after Dad's death. So now I have 60 acres, a couple of apple trees and peach trees, some pasture, a big garden, chickens, pigs, 5 cows, two horses. Unfortunately, I don't live there yet, as my husband has a house and I have a house. We married 5 years ago, and his house is for sale, mine will be soon and we plan to move out to the farm.

I want to plant some more fruit trees, some horseradish, more rhubarb, berries and grapes, fix the root cellar. Elery wants to build a wood burning outdoor bread/pizza oven, LOL, so that'll keep us both busy. The bees will be Elery's, though, as I'm allergic to bee stings.

Annie

Annie sounds like a dream come true for me I have always wanted land. Love the pizza oven plan I have seen some really cool out door oven and cooking space ideas.

Used to be 6b, now 7a, edging towards 7b

Global warming.

CL, yes, on the interactive map most of my area is 6a. We're beyond the roads on the map, but can identify our little cold spot.

Tricia, I have different microclimates between my house and my garden (maybe 40 ft. of elevation difference). And this time of the year its a whole different season two miles down the road. Mud's drying up fast, though, but this is what I woke up to this morning. The white spot in the middle is my garden...argh.

Annie, want baby horseradishes? We have them sprouting up all over.

edited to say: I walked down to the garden this evening and my Russian garlics are breaking through. There is hope!

This post was edited by katiec on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 23:32

CLBlakey, in a perfect world I could make a living farming. I've never wanted to be anywhere except there. Unfortunately it's taken time, money, family squabbles, the loss of my father and more work than I want to think about to make it happen. Sigh.

Katie, my garlic is just popping up too, maybe half an inch tall. The bunnies in the yard like the elephant garlic, but not the regular stuff. They're gonna have some bad bunny breath, LOL, or maybe they're just pre-seasoned.

I just bought 6 pieces of horseradish root, I've killed horseradish 3 times now. I first had them planted near a butternut tree. Who knew they gave off juglone like black walnuts do, and that nothing would grow? Well, I learned the hard way. Then I planted next to the corn crib but they didn't like that, I guess. And, of course, one batch got rototilled by my nephew, who was just "trying to help".

So just call me the horseradish killer, although I've been assured that it's invasive and cannot be destroyed. Um.....yeah. I've just got to figure out where to plant it where it'll be safe from livestock, tillers, tractors and me!

Annie

Annie - Hoping all the bad stuff is behind you now. Family struggles can be so heartbreaking especially at a time of loss. Maybe once the houses sell you will be able to make a fresh start...........new beginning at the old farm.

Momj47- it feels like we got global colding this year LOL an extra month of snow on either end.

Whoop Whoop!! I saw grass in my back yard!! We may get spring after all. Front yard not so much but there is hope!!

I am elated! Bob, my DH, is COPD-emphysema, oxygen 24/7, but he set out our tomato (9) and pepper plants (3)and planted our beans today with little help from me. I fell, going up the stairs in January, cracked a rib and it's giving me a heck of a time. So slow healing. We'll be getting more pepper plants....They didn't have jalapenos where we bought our plants, only mild ones. Who wants mild jalapenos?-)

Annie I planted my garlic when you suggested, at the depth you suggested and it has been up forever and looks like it's done about all it's going to do. Interesting isn't it?

OH yeah, our little red potatoes are coming up gradually, but not the Yukon Golds, yet.

All in all it was a good day, but I've already taken my Tylenol hoping to get a good night's sleep.

jude

Jude, be sure to cut the scapes, if you get them, so the growth will go to the bulbs and not the tops.

Check the bulbs, if they start to split, they'll get no bigger and you might as well pull them up and use them. Otherwise, leave them in the ground until most of the leaves are dead.

I hope your ribs heal up pretty darned soon, it's frustrating to see all the things you want to do and not be able to do them. (sigh) I'm sending all my strong thoughts...

Annie

Annie, last year was the first time I've ever grown garlic and it was planted in a smallish, maybe 2 ft.in diameter container. After seeing all the posts about the scapes I have to say I was disappointed I didn't have any. This year I planted in the garden and still no scapes. I figure it's the variety of garlic (from the grocery store). Right?

Yes, it will depend on the variety. Hard necked garlic varieties will produce scapes, which should be removed to allow the plant to produce larger bulbs.

Soft necked garlic varieties have been bred to avoid flower production and produce larger bulbs, so most won't produce the flower stem and bulbil, or scape.

I tried planting grocery store garlic and wasn't as successful as I was when I broke down and bought some seed garlic. That's when I found out about different varieties and which grow better in specific regions. Now I save the garlic cloves for planting from those bulbs and don't have any problems growing nice sized garlic bulbs. Before I'd get a small bulb, maybe two or three cloves.

I think the stuff we get at the grocery stores here just was not suited to grow in Michigan, but that's just my theory.

Annie

Finally got out there today and dug in the garden. Peas and broccoli will go in this week. I'll also be planting lettuce this week. Up and blooming are daffodils and hyacinths. Up but not even thinking about blooming yet are the daylilies and irises. Mowed down by critters over the winter were most of my Asiatic lilies :(

Also up are chives and Egyptian walking onions. I think the walking onions are going to take over the world! I was stunned to see that kale and celery survived the winter!!! I might be picking those this weekend for eating!!!

Not bad considering we had snow a week ago!

Boo, we had hail this morning, then it got to be 80 today. Back down to a high of 52 by Monday, LOL.

My garlic is about 4 inches tall but the crocus haven't blossomed yet, no daffodils either.

Annie

Annie, I cringe every time I hear about the weather in the midwest. We usually get your weather about 3 days later, but this year we've missed the brunt of it. It's so disheartening to know your daffodils and crocuses aren't even up!

Annie, I cringe every time I hear about the weather in the midwest. We usually get your weather about 3 days later, but this year we've missed the brunt of it. It's so disheartening to know your daffodils and crocuses aren't even up!

Well, they're up now, we've been high 70s and 80s for 4 days now, go figure!

I came home from Elery's to find daffodils with buds in the front yard but the crocus never has blossomed.

Annie

Well, they're up now, we've been high 70s and 80s for 4 days now, go figure!

I came home from Elery's to find daffodils with buds in the front yard but the crocus never has blossomed.

Annie

Coming in late to this thread. In Portland we are zone 9 I think. Lowest temp during winter is usually around 20-25F, though I suppose we've had record lows in the teens in recent decades and the lowest ever was -3F in the '50s.

I grow tomatoes, basil, lettuce, spinach, and various herbs. Most of the herbs overwinter. We have a bunch of strawberry plants in the front planter, some blueberry bushes just starting to give fruit. In the past I've grown beans, sunflowers, bok choi, onions, and I forget what else.

Unfortunately my house is positioned poorly for growing. The southern side is the driveway. The western side is the backyard which is small and thickly furnished. The northern side is covered in trees, and the eastern side is quite shaded too. So my veggies get tucked between ornamentals or squeezed into a small planter.

I have an ambition to get a beehive someday, but it might have to live on the shaded northern side of the house and I gather they want morning sun for the warmth.

John I grew peppers on the east side of my house when I lived in zone 6 they went crazy. I think they liked the shade.

So depressing......................it is supposed to go to 3 degrees tonight for my US friends that is 37F I hope my tomatoes make it. It is 6C (42F) right now and they are looking a little sad.

My goodness! Where do you live? Even Alaska was in the 90s although that was a couple weeks ago. :)

We're getting a break from the heat this weekend but the humidity has been just awful the past month with dew points more like Houston (72-77 degrees) and temp a good 5-10 degrees above average resulting in 90-100% humidity levels. Monday, we start another heat wave although still humid it's supposed to be a tad better than now.

Right now, the dew point is 72 and the temp is 74. I need a snorkel!

/tricia

I would love to snorkel with you LOL we are in NWestern Alberta our normal max temp for the summer is 86 but the average July temperature is 15.9 °C (60.6 °F). This is why we go south for summer vacations LOL

Here's a picture of the pineapple plant I have next to my pergola. It is beginning to make little flowers. I also have lots of other bromeliads blooming in the pergola - this seems to be their favorite time of year, but I have to keep them away from full sun. The pineapple is in partial shade, but I've seen pineapple plantations in full sun in Mexico. I'm growing this plant more for looks than for the pineapple, although it will be interesting to see what that will be like as well.

Lars

I don't think I could even grow one of those indoors not enough light. Don't for get to post a pic when your baby grows up.

I'm in Central FL, east coast, a block from the beach. The growing zone is 9a or 9b, depending what map I use. The garden contains a lot of tropicals--bromeliads, ferns, live oaks, aroids, etc. Daylilies grow in raised boxes because the soil isn't rich enough for them. I've tried vegetables, but most are not salt tolerant and we get a lot of salt in the air and in the well water used to irrigate the garden. Thankfully the local farmers market is excellent!

I'm in Zone 6. I grow different kinds of tomatoes, lettuce, arugula, "Little Fingers" eggplants, okra, kale, jalapenos and some Thai peppers, lots of colors of bell peppers, and this year also I'm trying asparagus (that's a perennial that will take a couple of years), leeks, and one big fat artichoke. There is also some kind of root vegetable that the gardener put in that I don't know what it is! And of course there is Elijah the giant horseradish, which I usually only dig up at Passover, but the leaves are DELICIOUS, especially with beans and sausages. In other years I've had green beans. I tried but had no luck with squash, turnips, and corn. I also have herbs: parsley, basil, dill, sage, peppermint, chives, garlic chives, thyme, and probably a couple of others I'm forgetting right now! I like to grow those in pots and try to get them to struggle through the winter indoors. Two or three always do, but it's unpredictable which (except for the loyal chives).