Re: Is this list still alive?

On Wednesday 14 November 2001 11:19, Joanne Collis wrote:
> Hi, Nesa et al,
> On Vancouver Island it is torrential rains.........I was hoping to start a
> cold frame facing south against my house but have not ventured out to do it
> yet.   I was thinking lettuce, mesclan, and  mustard greens.........what
> else do you think would grow and how long will they take to become edible?
> This will be a first!!
> Jo-Anne
>

You may or may not get much growth a this point, It depends on how cold it 
stays.  If days are anything like they've been around here, 50 or more, You 
might get something starting even now. I plant Pintree Garden's Lettuce Mix, 
and it  can be up and edible in a few weeks if its warm enough.  I put mine 
in in the first week of September and have been picking since Mid October.  

If I were you I'd head to the lumber yard.  Can't hurt any to throw in some 
seed and see what happens and next spring you'll get an early start either 
way!  If things fail completely, in the spring you might have some 
germination of whatever you threw in there.  If its early stuff like lettuce, 
you'll have a real treat.  (Does anyone know if lettuce seed can survive 
freezing?)


 You can expect a cold frame to have internal temperature 10 to 30 degrees 
above daytime temperatures when the Sun is shining on it. A cold frame is 
good for just a few degrees below freezing at night.   I suppose it depends 
greatly on how cold it was during that day and whether the sun was out.  

Up against the house might be even better than my situation. Mine 
are in the garden 1/4 mile from the house.  Deep snow in winter limits access 
and this is only my first winter with crops actually in these puppies.

Your house itself may provide some heat.  How cold does it get on Vancouver 
Island?

Does anyone have experience with cold frames against the house or otherwise 
in sub-zero weather>


As for the continuing story of the lettuce in the cold frame:

A couple of years ago we had fresh lettuce and Kohlrabi for dinner a week 
before Christmas, and that was without a cold frame in Massachusetts at 
latitude 45 degrees.  This year the weather's been different, warm but not 
quite so warm as it was that year. and I expect any day old Jack will be 
putting a quick end to this year's lettuce even with the cold frame.  Ya 
never know though.  

Tonight's (Nov 15)overnight low here will be  50?F  The forcast for Fri Nov 
16 is a bit ominous:  partly Cloudy High 63?F Overnight Low 23?F !

Ouch, 23 degrees!  Time to pick some for a salad I guess..  Will the 
remaining lettuce survive?  Stay Tuned, the saga continues!
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index