Comments on: Buy Seed NOW for your Fall Garden! http://doorgarden.com/06/seed-for-fall-garden Helping You Get the Most Out of Your Garden Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:14:07 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: len http://doorgarden.com/06/seed-for-fall-garden#comment-1183 len Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:53:53 +0000 http://doorgarden.com/?p=1051#comment-1183 g'day david, we plant our winter crops in the very late summer (february) to give them a chance to kick on, that because the painfully slow to develop caulies need around 140 days, we don't grow the mini's they just don't feed enough as like most gardeners we find fresh from the garden caulies irristable. we plant into our early autumn (april/may and 1/2 way into june) any later and they just take too long to get going as the ground has cooled too much and the days are too short on sun. so the late planters are still going into spring when the bugs return, so downside is then fighting the bugs so we get a feed. due to unseasonal but not unheard of autumn/winter rains the bugs have persisted some, anyway. we've had one good frost expect a few more in july and into august maybe can persist into the first 1/2 of september in colder winters. so how do your caulies do? do they need to 140 days or thereabouts? imagine you would have to have open gardens finished by snow time in those areas? len g’day david,

we plant our winter crops in the very late summer (february) to give them a chance to kick on, that because the painfully slow to develop caulies need around 140 days, we don’t grow the mini’s they just don’t feed enough as like most gardeners we find fresh from the garden caulies irristable. we plant into our early autumn (april/may and 1/2 way into june) any later and they just take too long to get going as the ground has cooled too much and the days are too short on sun.

so the late planters are still going into spring when the bugs return, so downside is then fighting the bugs so we get a feed. due to unseasonal but not unheard of autumn/winter rains the bugs have persisted some, anyway. we’ve had one good frost expect a few more in july and into august maybe can persist into the first 1/2 of september in colder winters.

so how do your caulies do? do they need to 140 days or thereabouts? imagine you would have to have open gardens finished by snow time in those areas?

len

]]> By: David LaFerney http://doorgarden.com/06/seed-for-fall-garden#comment-1111 David LaFerney Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:53:48 +0000 http://doorgarden.com/?p=1051#comment-1111 That is exactly what I'm suggesting - You want to continue to sow a little bit of lettuce and spinach every 2-3 weeks from the time when it stops being warm at night until the days become consistently cold. . The last sowing that you make might not be ready to eat until early spring, but you can pick salad greens from either your garden, or cold frame in all but the hot summer months. Probably then too if you jump through a bunch of hoops to keep it shaded just right, watered, and prevent the bugs from getting it. Once the weather cools off you get 6-8 months of bug free gardening and plenty of rain. That is exactly what I’m suggesting – You want to continue to sow a little bit of lettuce and spinach every 2-3 weeks from the time when it stops being warm at night until the days become consistently cold.
.
The last sowing that you make might not be ready to eat until early spring, but you can pick salad greens from either your garden, or cold frame in all but the hot summer months. Probably then too if you jump through a bunch of hoops to keep it shaded just right, watered, and prevent the bugs from getting it. Once the weather cools off you get 6-8 months of bug free gardening and plenty of rain.

]]> By: Heidi http://doorgarden.com/06/seed-for-fall-garden#comment-1108 Heidi Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:31:53 +0000 http://doorgarden.com/?p=1051#comment-1108 So to make sure I understand the timeline you're suggesting: Start lettuce inside 80-90 days before the first frost date. Then, at 60-50 days before transplant them outside AND sow some from seed in a second lettuce plot? I would LOVE to be able to pull off what you describe. I would get a massive kick out of pulling lettuce out from under three feet of snow. So to make sure I understand the timeline you’re suggesting:

Start lettuce inside 80-90 days before the first frost date. Then, at 60-50 days before transplant them outside AND sow some from seed in a second lettuce plot?

I would LOVE to be able to pull off what you describe. I would get a massive kick out of pulling lettuce out from under three feet of snow.

]]> By: David LaFerney http://doorgarden.com/06/seed-for-fall-garden#comment-1096 David LaFerney Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:54:09 +0000 http://doorgarden.com/?p=1051#comment-1096 Absolutely. All you have to do is count back from your first freeze date to determine when you need to start your seeds. . The cabbage family plants that I'm planning to plant like to mature in cool weather but don't tolerate heavy frost or freeze. So I am planning to start them about 80 - 90 days before our first frost date - about Halloween. Your first frost will probably be 2-3 weeks sooner so you need to start your seeds around the middle of July. . Lettuce and spinach is virtually freeze proof but stops growing once the weather gets really cold. I'll start some lettuce to set out along with the cabbage so that I can get it rolling in asap, but then I will also direct sow lettuce and spinach about a month later. If you get those freeze proof salad patches established you'll be able to pick fresh salads all winter long if you cover them with a <a href="http://doorgarden.com/01/cheap-cold-frame-from-recycled-materials" rel="nofollow"> Cold Frame </a> or <a href="http://doorgarden.com/03/plastic-tunnel-cold-frame-row-cover" rel="nofollow"> Poly Tunnel </a>. . Once you start this you'll never want to buy iceberg lettuce again. Absolutely. All you have to do is count back from your first freeze date to determine when you need to start your seeds.
.
The cabbage family plants that I’m planning to plant like to mature in cool weather but don’t tolerate heavy frost or freeze. So I am planning to start them about 80 – 90 days before our first frost date – about Halloween. Your first frost will probably be 2-3 weeks sooner so you need to start your seeds around the middle of July.
.
Lettuce and spinach is virtually freeze proof but stops growing once the weather gets really cold. I’ll start some lettuce to set out along with the cabbage so that I can get it rolling in asap, but then I will also direct sow lettuce and spinach about a month later. If you get those freeze proof salad patches established you’ll be able to pick fresh salads all winter long if you cover them with a Cold Frame or Poly Tunnel .
.
Once you start this you’ll never want to buy iceberg lettuce again.

]]> By: Heidi http://doorgarden.com/06/seed-for-fall-garden#comment-1095 Heidi Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:40:13 +0000 http://doorgarden.com/?p=1051#comment-1095 Can this kind of late garden be pulled off in zone 5? Can this kind of late garden be pulled off in zone 5?

]]>