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Re: zones

At 11:00 AM 2/9/98 -0500, MARTHA E. WELLS wrote:
>I don't rely on zones much anymore.

Actually, the USDA zone system is nearly useless when it comes to growing
annual vegetables, which is what square foot gardening is usually used for.
The USDA system relies *only* on minimum winter temperature, by which time
most of us have already put the veggie garden to bed.  If you grow biennials
(e.g., carrots, parsley, garlic, parsnips, kale) or hardy annuals (e.g.,
lettuce, peas, spinach) through the winter, knowing your zone may help you
determine what you can grow through the winter or how much protection you
would need.

The USDA system is most useful for narrowing down which perennials you can
grow.  You would have to complete the narrowing process yourself by
considering summer heat, rainfall, soil, etc., which the USDA system doesn't
take into account.

The Book schedules plantings around frost dates, and does not mention USDA
zones.

@->-`-,----------------------------------------------+
|  Cousin Ricky      USDA zone 11, Virgin Islands    |
|  rcallwo@uvi.edu   formerly zone 6, Massachusetts  |
+----------------------------------------------------+

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