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21 Comments
We're getting started early for 2023 in Zone 6A. Great info. Thank you.
I love your channel. thank you
You mentioned starting from seed, as in a packet of seeds, rather than an onion seedling or onion set. I'm in 6B, Northern latitude meaning long day onions. If I put the seed in when the dandelions are coming up will I have enough days in my growing season to harvest an onion? What I've been doing is putting purchased seedlings in, or starting from seed indoors in January so they'll be big enough to transplant when it gets warm enough. If I can just stick the seed in the ground when the dandelions come up and still harvest before it gets cold, I'm a happy camper! So much less work for the same result. I'm looking forward to trying that.
Thanks for answering my question. Soft neck is best for warm climate.
Thanks for answering all the questions in detail and thanks for taking time to do so.
That was a great answer to the person in Oregon 6B with an 85-day growing season. I'm guessing the 85 days referred to are the days warm enough to grow tomatoes and peppers – provided you started them indoors or by winter sowing so you have transplants ready to go in at the beginning of the 85 days. For me in 6B outside Boston that 75 to 85 day warm season plant period starts with transplanting May 15-30. All my tomatoes and peppers are harvesting well in that time. Indeed, the determinate tomatoes don't even need that much time. My growing season really starts as soon as the soil can be worked in March or April. If we get caught with a late freeze I can just resow the seeds. Seeds are cheap. I'm typically eating baby kale in April. Many seeds can go in the ground in April including peas, which I can either direct sow or transplant a little later. I start sweet potatoes indoors to grow healthy slips and transplant the slips as soon as the soil is reliably warm enough, with plenty of time to harvest a great crop. Potatoes are another thing that do well in 6B and I can sprout and plant plant early, mid early, or late season. All of them have time to grow to harvest. I've searched "season extending crops" on Google and on YouTube and got a lot of good information as well.
I'm worried about my garlic, lol, everyone on YouTube is panicking because their garlic started growing because of the warmer than normal fall and mine didn't. Last season was my first garlic growing adventure (4 lbs) and this year I planted my own saved cloves (6 lbs)… I'm tempted to dig one or two up, any thoughts on this ?
Even if I never hear anything knew I still enjoy listening to whats being said!
Excellent podcast, really enjoyed it, Greg! Especially the info on starting a new garden which I will be doing this spring, as I just moved from Toronto to NS!! 🙂 I've watched your channel for a few years now, and have learned a lot, but now I will be able to relate even more…LOL…
For the boulevard question, I would suggest not planting food, but rather a flower cutting garden. Not only because of dog/drunk student peeing on the veg, but also car exhaust covering the veg…anyway, just my two cents…
Thanks Greg! I thought the audio was fine. We call that little patch of grass (between the sidewalk and street) the "hell strip" since it's so hot and dry compared with the rest of the yard. I haven't tried veggies there before, but wildflowers seem to do well. To be honest, I can't get past the "dog pee" thing, so I grow my veggies elsewhere.
My favorite thing about central Oregon is the ability to grow a huge fall crop and harvest it most of the winter. Our coldest night so far in Eugene this season was 24F (-4C), so my all of my brassicas are looking wonderful, and even my regular lettuce (romain in particular) looks good. None of it is growing right now, but it's still out there where I can harvest it when I want it. I expect a bumper crop of early spring broccoli since my broccoli plants are about 2/3 grown and still look healthy (assuming we don't get a deep freeze).
I didn't grow root crops this year, as I'm constrained to just a few large pots at the moment and focused on greens, but if I had grown carrots, I'd still be harvesting a few each week. And if I had an in-ground crop, I would use your simple row covers to help everything thrive even better. To me, central Oregon is all about the mild winters – vastly different from my previous northern Colorado house.
Thank you for more on the the dandelion method for planting.
One year I didn't get the garlic planted (by Oct 31 here in Zone4b/5ish) in fall, so spring planted. I pre-sprouted the cloves upright on wet towel in a shallow container in dark cool basement for 3 weeks in April and set out in bed as soon as top 4" of soil was soft. Worked great!
Season here too short to dry beans on the vine. I harvest late as I can then string pods on twine and dry upstairs in house. I blanch and freeze the immature beans to use as shell beans. Alot of work for a 7lb harvest, but they are good beans
I like fragrant groundcover for the boulevard. Fruits will attract skunks and raccoons and other small vermin. Roots will retain the highest concentration of street pollution. Lavender, oregano, thyme, parsley, etc, require no hand maintenance in the poop-zone, and will perfume the air when trampled. Oregano is particularly great for bees.
Your answers are always so thoughtful and thorough. And you giggle a lot 🙂
The squirrel really did its job."I really will get to your question honest
I am new to Nova Scotia lived in Ontario and gardened there this climate is very different. So I will definitely be signing up for your paid content
Thanks for the mention! It’s been a funny winter so far here in Nova Scotia
Regarding beans, if you want to grow beans to maturity, you need sun. Green beans will usually grow ok even in partial shade.
Regarding the boulevard strip, I never grow food there, but we have planted landscape plants such as hosta.
I'm a closet singer but the acoustics are terrible in there.
Greg, you have convinced me to pay for the sub stack thing. You are committed and your writing is good. Thank you again! Jeff
Every municipality has or may have by-laws about what you can and cannot grow on the boulevard, so you might want to check that one out before planting.