When to plant veggies

[CrealCritter]

Every since I can remember I've followed the old farmers almanac gardening guides for sowing and transplanting. I've had varying suscess with spring / fall veggies by following their guides. I now live in zone 6B which is kind of a weird zone since it's in-between zone 6 and 7 but in all reality it think I live in more like zone 7. Anyways I'm going to try this schedule for the next few years and see what happens. Comparing the two guides I noticed there is a good two to three weeks difference in seed starting.

Here is the USDA hardiness zone map

Looks like i'll be busy come February instead of March now.
I'm
https://www.ufseeds.com/learning/planting-schedules/illinois-vegetable-planting-calendar/

The old farmers almanac summer veggies seem to be pretty much spot on though.

 

[Mini Horses]

Hey -- did you have ANYTHING else to do in Feb??

I say go for it! Have read articles that say plant the seed into pots in Fall, put outside, they will sprout in Spring "when it's time" . Sorta like self seeding.

I'm looking at starting my own and having an actual garden (!!) this year. Can't believe I have 4.5 months to go to plant outside! I'm not wanting to wait that long.

 

[CrealCritter]

Hey -- did you have ANYTHING else to do in Feb??

I say go for it! Have read articles that say plant the seed into pots in Fall, put outside, they will sprout in Spring "when it's time" . Sorta like self seeding.

I'm looking at starting my own and having an actual garden (!!) this year. Can't believe I have 4.5 months to go to plant outside! I'm not wanting to wait that long.

I would really like to get my spring/fall garden completely sowed and transplants set by the end of February this coming year. Just need a dry spell in between now and the beginning of February where I can get my tiller in there to break up the soil.

This year I waited completely to long to sow spring veggie seeds. Our spring lasted a whole 10 days, it was so wet and cold before that. By the time I could work the soil, got my seeds sowed and sprouted most everything bolted in the heat that followed. So I just left it go to weeds and spent my time in my summer garden which did ok this year. I still have a row of kale that I planted this spring and that we have eaten a little off of but everything else bolted or burnt up this summer.

 

[sumi]

The weather has been crazy this year. Long winter, short spring, hot summer I'm not going to bother with winter crops this year. I have way too much else to do and the daylight is little over winter here.

 

[Mini Horses]

Yeah weather was crazy everywhere, it seems. Like all "farmers" there is always NEXT year, always hopeful it will be better.

I would absolutely LOVE to have a nice productive garden this coming year. Compared to 2018 it won't take much! One tomato plant will be better!! Yep, dismal between weather & time from work, even.

So, I've bought up some nice starting pots -- on sale, almost free -- added to the others, to try again. Mixing nice soil, some chicken & goat manure, wasted hay, etc. for starting medium. I don't often quit... Plan to reduce work hours a good amount for the summer.

My last frost is first wk April, so with care...maybe some row covers, I can get cool weather stuff going outside in early/mid March. Peas & such can go in ground late Feb.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

In your zone, you could be growing outside year round with row covers and cold frames. According to Elliot Coleman, every layer of protection provided increases the micro climate in the planting bed by 1.5 gardening zones. For instance, in my unheated green house, (zone 4B) the "zone" in the green house would be Zone 6. (4.5 + 1.5) Add an extra layer of plastic which does not touch the plants (low tunnel) and I increase the "zone" to 7.5. Of course, this requires management, opening and closing to manage heat spikes, and covering the beds with blankets during cold nights/cold snaps. If I manage things properly, I can eat salads until Thanksgiving, and start eating fresh greens again in early March. Without a cold frame, my garden completely shuts down as early as mid September, and my neighbors don't even start planting until Memorial day.

Just FYI, on a sunny day this week with temps 18 - 24 outside, green house temp spiked at 70*. However, night time temps in there still dropped to 0*. I'm not doing anything other than monitoring right now, since there are no viable plants with enough size to make it worth while. About a dozen lettuce plants under double layer, and those 4 pathetic sugar snaps. As soon as the soil thaws, I'll plant. Sure is nice to duck in there in the middle of the day for some sunshine and heat!!!

Coleman says that if you don't loose some seeds to weather, you're not pushing the season enough. Seed is cheap, compared to the extra few weeks of harvest you could have if you push the envelope.

Of course, a lot of this depends on your risk tolerance and your available time/energy to spend challenging the weather patterns.

Without a greenhouse, extra time can be added to both ends of the season with something as simple as a hay bale cold frame. Very little maintenance. I've left my cold frame with young greens in November, totally ignored it during the big freeze up, and knocked snow and ice off it to harvest full size spinach and lettuce in March.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I feel like such a slacker...

 

[Lazy Gardener]

You're not a slacker. I've had a few seasons where I've actually gotten my winter greens started early enough that I've been able to harvest through most of the winter. To do so successfully, I need to start those seedlings in late July or even as late as early August. And I'm usually too busy with the harvest to do so. But, if those seedlings are planted in late summer, they will then put on good size before growth stops, and they can be harvested through most of the winter. Then, there are the greens that just don't quit, no matter how cold: Claytonia, Mache, Tatsoi, Kale. Parsley.

This fall, I did not get anything started in time. Was able to salvage a few volunteer lettuce, and 4 scraggly looking sugar snap seedlings from garden. So... no winter salads for me. But, all hope is not lost. I am playing with hydroponics. I'm told 6 weeks from seed to salad, no maintenance using Kratky method.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I would love to get to that point, we're zone 4b/5a, not sure which. Either way, would be great to have fresh greens year round! I'm a newbie gardener. What's your hydroponic setup like?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I'm just starting to play around with it. There are as many different methods as there are ways to make chicken soup. do a google search for DIY hydroponics, Kratky method, and you'll find more than enough material to get you started and dreaming of fresh winter greens. I'm playing with pool noodles, hydroton, 32 to 64 oz. sized jars, and have a few totes that I plan to use. If I have success with those, I plan to set up a 10 gal. fish tank with gold fish, and dabble with aquaponics. I have an assortment of lights, will mostly be using day spectrum shop lights. Also have some VHO florescent from my aquarium days.

You can get as simple as a plastic coffee can or glass jar wrapped in newspaper sitting on a window sill. You can get fair results using Miracle Grow but will get better results using fertilizer that is specifically formulated for hydroponics.

I really don't have any experience, or data to report, since I just started playing with it this week. So far, I have 2 jars with kale, and 1 lemon balm. Have some lettuce and Swiss chard seedlings ready to go, as soon as I prep a container for them.

Also growing oat sprouts for the chicken flock.