Re: Garden Plans

Hi Pat!

  I'm in southern Maryland, so my advice is what works for me.

1.  I don't believe there is a problem talking about specific companies and
brands- anyone else care to comment??

2.  Fluorescent are fine.  I have four double light fixtures in the basement
that work great.  Use new tubes for max lighting.  Mine are on chains so
that I can raise and lower at will.  Keep them within a couple inches of the
plants.  I had trouble germinating tomatoes last year- got a seed starting
mat for Xmas- can't wait to try it!

3.  I've grown lettuce in the basement.  My basement is heated.  It seems to
grow best in cool temps (my basement is too warm, I believe.)  I have had
great success with swiss chard.  Had a meal for two last week!

4.  Standard advice is to plant pea seeds on St Patrick's day.  I wait till
end of March so that the seeds don't rot in cool soil. (Can't hurt to try!).
Don't know about lettuce- plan on building a cold frame soon, so I WILL be
planting lettuce real early.  Biggest problem setting out tom's early in my
area is wind, chilly temps and too much rain.  I aim to set mine out May 15.

4a.  I have read cucumbers need 70 F soil to germinate.  In regards to
shriveling- make sure they get lots of water.  The Pollinator (Dave Green)
on this list can tell you all you need to know about proper pollination.

5.  Good plan for a cold frame in Eliot Coleman's book "Four-Season
Harvest".  This is what I plan on building!

Hope this helps.  I can't wait for spring!!


Beth ( MD, Zone 7)
----- Original Message -----
From: Patrick Callahan <pac1@tiac.net>
To: <veggie-list@eskimo.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 1999 12:29 PM
Subject: Garden Plans


> Apparently I need forgiveness too.  My reply on Y2k was very off-topic.
> and should
> have been directed only to julianne, with the appropriate smiley faces
> of course....
> :-)
>
>
> Anyway Pat's vegetable plans, problems and questions:
>
> I'm in New England.  Ground may be workable as early as March 1  or as
late
> as April 15.  What can I get away with?
>
> 1.  order seeds by 1/1/2000. Is it ok to name or talk about seed
> suppliers on this list?
>
> 2.  do I really need "grow lights" to start seeds indoors, or do
> ordinary flourescent bulbs work as well?  How about some kind of warming
> cables or trays.  Are those necessary?
>
> 3.  Plant lettuce in the basement by 1/1   I'm told this works and you can
> harvest all winter long.  Has anyone tried this?
>
> 4.  Start seeds for lettuce, broccoli, tomato, cucumber, and zuchinni
> indoors at the appropriate time using advice in seed catalogs.  Plan to
> transplant small but healthy plants about May 1, May 15 and May 30.  Is
> May 30 too late?  May 1 too early?
>
> 4a.  Start seeds for lettuce & peas outside as early as march 1  (is
> that crazy?)
>      Start seeds for cucumber outside as early as April 1
>      mark the ends of rows with radish seeds.
>      Replant early at two week intervals in case frost or cold got the
> early stuff.
>
> 5.  Build a cold frame in the garden.  Anyone got any ideas for doing
> this on
> the cheap?
>
>
>
> Crops:  Lettuce, Carrots, Peas, Beets Pole & Bush Beans, Kohlrabi,
> Broccoli, Cucumber, Zuchinni
>
> Lettuce:  Mass plantings of Mesclun Mix and Red Sails.  2 4x4 foot beds
> kept us in salads for most of last summer we finished picking the last
> of it on Thanksgiving weekend.
>
> Swiss Chard.  Last picking on Thanksgiving weekend.  we had some in a
> salad the day after Christmas.  What a year!
>
> Carrots didn't do too well.  Some got shaded by the tomatoes. and were
> kind of small even where they were'nt shaded.
>
> Cukes, wilted and died off midsummer before I got very many. The cukes I
> got were small and had a curly tip.   Anyone have any suggestions?  The
> cukes that did the best were planted later in the summer and next to the
> pole beans where they got some shade.  They still died back.
>
> Pumkin: a disaster.  The lumina set fruit and then failed.  I think the
> problem here might be the insects that colonized the leaves.  One plant
> climbed a fence while I was on vacation. so it lost its fruit too.
> there was some rot at the root as well.
> I don't use pesticides.
>
> Cherry Tomatoes did ok.  Goliath was a disappointment.
>
> Kohlrabi is just plain fun.  I had a couple of plants left over in 1998
> and they managed to winter over.  In the spring, the plants took off and
> branched multiple times with woody stalks ending with several perfectly
> good bulbs.  I had to stake the plants.
>
> The beets didn't grow much but what I did get tasted great.  They were
> small, no more than an inch in diameter after growing the whole season
> but very sweet.
>
> For Bush beans- Royal burgundy has worked really well for me.  Freshly
> picked, with their unusual deep purple color, they're wonderful for
> sharing with neighbors.
>
>

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