At the beginning of august I will start my winter onions, which I have never done before. Any tips? Do I grow them under lights like in spring, or do I take them outside sooner?
I just put Gai Lan (chinese broccoli) in the ground, along with kale, spinach and collards.
I also just started seeds for brussels sprouts and cabbage (January King)
In addition I have a bunch of lettuce and greens suitable for winter gardening.
The Territorial Seed company Winter Catalog is great for getting ideas of what to put in your winter garden!
Winter gardening plans
"Four Season Harvest" is a good book to look at; Coleman has experience winter growing in some of the coolest areas of our country. I plan to do winter greens and lettuces, turnips, and continue harvesting carrots and leeks during winter.
Thanks Zeppy! I just ordered it up from the library.
I'll assume that this is a thread for starting a fall garden, is that ok? Or is there another thread going on this that I am not aware of?
My question is this: It is burning hot where my garden is, and of course we are having a bad drought.
I would like to start lettuces, beets and Chinese cabbage, but can I do that in the ground now or are the seeds going to cook? How long can I wait, my frost date is October 23, and I plan to protect the plants to extend the season. I started two yogurt cups with chinese cabbage and I have them outside in the shade.
I am in zone 7a.
Thanks.
Hi Clementine,
Happy to see you respond, and happy to meet a fellow gardener planning a fall or winter garden!
I am new to this - my first year winter gardening, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. Perhaps we can compare results as the season goes on!
For the lettuce you probably want to put them in a spot that offers some shade. The beets you can put right in the ground I am sure. I started my cabbage indoors, and have them in my garage under grow lights. Growing them in the shade outside may work for you. They (and the brussels sprouts) are thriving, and as soon as I get my walking onions harvested and the raised bed prepared for a new crop, I'll be transplanting those.
I also planted some chard and winter greens and lettuce in large containers, because my raised beds get so much sunlight, and they all prefer some shade.
Hi everyone,
I'm another fellow gardener who grows vegetables fall and winter. I have started my onions from seed in peat cups and rich potting soil. I give them morning sun, but shield them during the afternoon with Remay covers. I'll start lettuce, kale, collards, and Oriental vegetables around labor day weekend. These will give me many meals of stir-frys, and steamed vegetables during the cool fall months, and the kale will over winter through January. In late September, I'll start turnips from seed, and broadcast the seed over the entire garden area. Some I eat, Floopsy, Moppie, and Bushy Gail get some of the greens as well. Itmy rabbits healthy, and I get the "primo" rabbit dropping for the garden. I also grow Swiss Chard all winter too. It's hardy down to 25 degrees. So, I'm working on my fall/winter garden right now in the middle of a heat wave.
This message was edited Aug 4, 2007 5:00 PM
This message was edited Aug 4, 2007 5:01 PM
I plant the cool season crop seeds any chance I get these days. They sprout well in the blazing heat until noon, then are in shade.
Thank you all. So this makes me think that if I start around Labor day like you, Arias, I should be fine. I think you are in zone 7a like me.
tigpie, I can't believe what I just saw on your weather report: you are supposed to have 97F and 0% humidity!! How do you water? Where is Kernville exactly? And what veggies are you putting in now?
essentailplanet, good luck with your first winter vegetable garden. I'll experiment a little with putting seeds in containers in the shade, I'll start some more Chinese cabbage, and I'll try some lettuce.