New To Gardening

Hi Everyone,

I am very new to gardening and know next to nothing. I have been researching so much I have a headache. I live in the Chicago area and am wondering what should I be planting now and how. Do I start seedlings indoors or plant them directly in the ground.

I have the following:

Basil
Parsley
Cucumbers
Carrots
Green Beans
Eggplant
Broccoli
Oregano
Spinach
Watermelon

Also, all of my seeds are organic so I would like to replant from them after harvesting. Am I able to do that and if so how? I cannot seem to find any information on seed replanting from a harvest. For instance, broccoli. I think the heads of the broccoli contain the seeds, but how would I prepare these as plantable seeds for the next season? Would I dry them out? Sorry if this sounds stupid, I just don't know. Thanks for any help!

http://www.thevegetablegarden.info/resources/planting-schedules/zones-5-6-planting-schedule

Hi maddy. I came across this link just last week since I too am researching and planning my fall garden here in Lombard.

Right now, I think it's just too hot to start any seeds in the ground. I recently started mini-pumpkins indoors that are doing very well and will probably plant them out sometime next week after this heat wave passes. Of the four pumpkin seeds I planted directly in the ground last month, only one came up, so I'll be starting them indoors from now on.

According to the chart, it's too late for a few of the things you want to grow-cucumbers, eggplants and watermelons, but not too late for bush beans, carrots, broccoli and spinach. I'm not sure about the herbs because I usually just buy nice-sized transplants from Walmart or HD.

In my fall garden, I am planning the following:

brussels sprouts
bush beans
carrots
radishes
lettuce
mini pumpkins
spinach, possibly
onions, possibly

Carrots and green beans should be sewn directly in the ground at the recommended planting time. You can get a headstart on the broccoli and spinach by starting them indoors, then transplanting them out at the recommended time.

As far as saving the seeds goes, I've never done it, but I'm sure there are TONS of people on here who can give you guidance regarding that.

maddy1 - If your seeds are hybrids, they will not come "true" - which means: if you plant the seeds, what comes up next year will be nothing like the plants you had this year.

To save seeds, you need to purchase Open Pollinated or Heirloom seeds. Even with these, they might not come true the following year if bees cross pollinate the flowers.

Here's a link to a place that sells heirloom seeds:

http://rareseeds.com/

I've been growing vegetables for 59 years and have always purchased fresh seed each year. By doing so, I know what I'm getting and it keeps heirloom seed producing companies in business.

For the past couple of years, I've been experimenting with saving seeds from open pollinated Charentais melons. Every melon tastes different - it's great fun!

Maddy & Weasel I don't think you'll have enough time for the watermelon, pumpkin, eggplant and brocolli to successfully come to fruit and ripen but all the rest should do well. You can put off planting until next month too, especially since you're in extremelly high heat right now. It would probably cook your seedlings even if they sprouted.

Thank you everyone for the great information! Weasel71 I will be watching what you do very closely as we are practically neighbors.

Hypothetically, if there were no seeds available and I needed to live off of what I currently have, how would I do that? All my seeds are organic, not sure about hybrids. So I would not be able to take seeds from the green beans, dry them out and use them next year? The carrots are stumping me because I don't know where on the plant the seeds come from.

I so appreciate all the help.

maddy1 - in your "hypothetical" scenerio, you could save seeds from the produce you grow and plant it again the following year. Those seeds would produce edible crops. You could then save the seed from the ones you like the most. After a few seasons, you would have plants that would grow and do well in your garden.

As to carrots: They are a biennial. You would need to leave some carrots in the ground over winter. The following year they would grow and produce flowers. You would gather seeds from the seed heads and start the circle over again.

This photo of a carrot flower was taken July 7th 2009.

Hope this helps :)

Okay, you Chicago gardeners. I just ran across a neat website by following a Facebook page of my old college roommate. She is one of the gardening experts at Chalet Nursery in one of the suburbs.

Anyway, check out this website called "The Yarden" -- urban homestead gardening in Chicago. Very cool and maybe a good source of inspiration for you.
http://theyarden.com/

Lise (no longer living in that area, but graduated from Downers Grove South a million years ago).

Maddy, "
Hypothetically, if there were no seeds available and I needed to live off of what I currently have, how would I do that? All my seeds are organic, not sure about hybrids."

It's not a matter of seeds being "organic" or not when it comes to seed saving. And yes, you can save seeds from everything you grow but your best bet for getting the same crop each year would be to use seeds from open-pollinated (OP) seeds, not hybrids. In your example you can certainly save seeds from beans; if you let me know which variety you have I can tell you whether or not it is a hybrid or OP type. And by the way, beans are the absolutely easiest to save seeds from so go for it!

As for the broccoli, those may go to seed for you in your area but they are susceptible to crossing with other plants that are in the same family, for example, another type of broccoli or cabbage or Brussels sprouts.

As for when to plant what in your area I can't help you since my area is so different. Perhaps
the link Lise posted above will be of benefit though.

Holler back so we can get your garden up and growing!
And Welcome to DG!

Shoe

Thanks Lise! That is a great site! I've added it to my favorites.

Saving seeds from beans: Let the bean pod mature on the vine,(it will turn brown & die) Nows the time to pick it. Let it dry somemore on a plate on the back porch. After 2 weeks or longer, open the pod, & there you are. A plate full of bean seeds. Some veggies will produce flowers for seed making. Some of these are Brocolli, carrots, onions, radish,greens,etc. Some veggies have a seed inside the fruit, like,tomatoe,watermelon,green pepper,etc. You have to know your vegetable. Lettace will produce flowers. You let the veggies grow until they produce flowers. Let the flowers turn brown, & the seeds will turn black. Then pull the plant & shake the seeds down inside a paperbag. There, youi will have millions of seeds. Save these seeds so that they can fully dry out, & plant the following year. Okra seed is also inside the okra pod. Let the okra stay on the plant untill it turns brown & hard. Pick it & let the pod dry somemore. The seeds are inside the Pod. I hope this helps someone.

Maggie - Here is another zone 5 planting schedule. I find it less confusing on what to plant when if planting and harvest times are laid out in a bar graph and calendar format. See page 3. http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/hort2/mf315.pdf

Basil is a warm weather crop. The slightist bit of cool weather and it quite growing. A frost and it's dead. If you start these put them in a pot so that you can move them indoors when the weather gets cold.
Parsley is biennial and can be planted in the fall.
Carrots - Planting season is still going on.
Oregano is a perennial. I've not started it from seed but used plants. You might be able to get a start from someone as this spreads in the garden.
Spinach - This is a winter perinnial in Kansas (zone 5). We start planting cruciferae or mustard family crops again in July and August depending on what it is.

Wow everyone! Thanks so much! I am really eager to get started. Was hoping to start planting this weekend, but its still so hot out not sure what would be best. Might try planting green beans from seeds today.

Thanks for all the great links as well, this is all so overwhelming and I am trying to digest it all. Sorry for the late reply, I didn't realize I had so many posts, thought I had hit the notification button, maybe its going to my spam folder.

I feel much better knowing that I can indeed get seeds from the crops I plant. I had no idea carrots produced flowers! Thanks for the picture :)

I am finding this forum a God send, thanks again to each and everyone of you for your help.

Oh forgot, Horseshoe, the greenbeans I have are from Burpee - Organic Garden Bean Tendergreen, bush Snap Arbusto Boton, Frijol de Jardin Berde Claro. I don't know what that means, just put down everything that was on the package.

maddy, feel free to save seeds from those beans. Let them fill out the pods well, then dry them, or as someone above said let some dry on the vine. (Pull them in before frost so they stay dry.)

And don't let it be overwhelming, it comes to you at some point over night! Just have fun (and eat well!)

Shoe

Invest in a soaker hose and timer if you can. With the heat, I run the soaker hose for the seeds a couple of times a day for 5 or 10 minutes to get the seeds to germinate. Later I'll change the timer to water a less often but longer duration. We run four raised beds on the timer so we are running it a 1/2 an hour once a day during this heat. As we get more rain or the weather cools I start dropping the length time and number of times the soaker hose is watering in a week. During lots of rain we don't use it at all.

Hi Maddy. I can not be of much help to you about what to plant, when to plant, etc., as we live worlds apart, you in Chicago, and me in Florida. But I think I can give you some advice that will help. Contact your local county extension office. (Your state cooperative extension website is http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/index.html , and hopefully that will provide some information, as well as help you locate contact information for your local office.) I have found extension to be very valuable in providing information about gardening. Happy planting!

So an update. I planted my green beans, carrots and spinach from seed about a week ago. The green beans are coming up nicely! The carrots and spinach, not so much.... I also planted broccoli that I had started inside. They were about a week old when I put them outside as evenings are now about 60 degrees. Transplanted them on Thursday and they look to be doing ok. I have a couple of spinach seeds in the fridge in a wet napkin that I am going to plant outside in about a week or so. I also have some white onion sets but not sure if I should try those in the spring or not. Any additional input is welcomed!

Thanks paradacrades for the link, it was most helpful.

Maddy1,
Check out the Dixondale Farms Onion Website for information on growing your onion sets. I believe they like growing in the cool (but not freezing!!!) weather...

You might want to think about planting hardneck garlic as it will ride out the winter and be ready to harvest in July.

"So an update. I planted my green beans, carrots and spinach from seed about a week ago. The green beans are coming up nicely! The carrots and spinach, not so much."

Maddy, I'm not the least bit familiar with zone 5 planting/growing but I have a feeling your beans were sown too late. Your spinach and carrots will most likely be fine though. Beans need continual heat, especially for good top growth and during flowering. If you're already seeing temps in the 60's it'll be tricky getting the beans to produce but I sure would like to hear about your results.

If it were me I'd take your spinach seeds out of the fridge and sow them directly in the ground. They'll be fine.

Onions sets? Or onions plants? If sets they might do fine but you won't get a harvest until next spring unless you are growing them for a few green onions/table onions.

Ditto what Susan said, garlic would be a great crop to grow for you. Besides, I love garlic!

Shoe

edited to add this link, giving you a guide to timed planting with number of weeks to sow before setting out, when to sow, etc.
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/vegguide/step06.cfm



This message was edited Aug 17, 2011 12:54 AM

Shoe is right that you can just plant the spinach seeds straight into the ground without starting them in the fridge. Spinach is a winter perinnal in zone 5. We use a double cover to take it through the winter because of the cold weather we get in December and January. If you are interested in cold weather gardening/harvests then take a look at Eliot Colemen's The Winter Harvest Handbook.

A couple of other very easy to gro crops are Bok Choi, Chard, and Kale. Collards are another fall crop but can't tell you about it's difficulty.

Look at germination information to see if your carrots and spinach are taking too long. Sometimes that information can be found on the seed packet. Be sure to keep the soil damp for those seeds that have not germinated. If it is taking too long then plant another row next to the original.

Shoe - How do you use the garlic scapes from the hardneck garlic?

Mustard and collard greens are a piece 'o cake to grow. They do like the cool/cold weather, and will survive occasional dips down to the mid-30s with some protection. I have grown them for two seasons now, and they are a staple in my fall/winter garden. Be advised, they are total WATER hogs, and prefer to grow in soil that's kept moderately moist. They grow fast, too. I harvest by cutting the leaves when they are about 18-20" long (some like cutting them as "baby" leaves, but I cook mine overnight in a slow cooker, so I like the larger leaves). Once I harvest the outer leaves, I leave enough young leaves to continue the plants growth, and I can harvest another batch almost every 4-6 weeks!

I have found that the greens grow best around daily temps of 55°-45°. They LOVE that mid-40° range!

Collards are hardier than mustards, although the mustards can hold their own with protection. If temps are dipping below the mid-30°s for more than 1 night or a couple days in a row, I'll cover all the greens with hoops and some old sheets. If it's gonna be a hard, sustained freeze, I'll water down all the leaves and the soil first, then protect with sheets and lightweight blankets. They do just fine!

Linda

This is a batch of collards 4 weeks after the last cutting. See how fast they grow back?



This message was edited Sep 21, 2011 11:03 AM

Wow thanks everyone for the great info. I will look up the onion website. The package I have states white onion sets. Got 80 of them for $.27 on clearance at Wal Mart.

I will plant the spinach seeds I have in the fridge tomorrow, maybe they will come up. The green beans are looking great! They are growing so fast. The broccoli plants I transplanted are taking really well also. I had only started them about a week and a half before transplanting and wasn't sure if that was long enough but they seem to be growing and thriving quite nicely. I appreciate all the feedback its very helpful.

I hope you had some success, it's an amazing feeling, to eat the Fruit of your Garden.

I've always gardened because in the country you raise what you eat. The stuff you buy at a store is terrible and I feel sorry for those that have to get there veggies that. Gardening use to be a pain because you did that in the early mornings or late evenings either before crawling on a tractor or after you just got off of one. I did it to feed my family and hated it. Now it is a labor of love. I garden because I like to eat what I raise but now it is a hobby and a form of relaxation. Since I started doing raised beds, most of the labor I hated is gone and now it is fun. The first thing I do after my morning coffee is go look at my garden and the last thing I do before dark is pay it another visit. Of course my hoe is always with me and the hose is hooked up and on. What a treat to go out and pick fresh vine ripened tomatoes or fresh lettuce. Nothing is better than picking a mess of beans and having the wife cook them for lunch with a few pods of okra tossed in for flavor. If you've never pulled up a carrot and wiped the dirt off and ate it standing by the bed then you've never eaten a real carrot. One filled with flavor. When we go to the grocery it is for toliet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies. Never are the fresh edibles bought. Enough rambling. I'm a gardener for fun and food.