Hi Cottage Gardeners--
I just got an e-mail from John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden site http://www.kitchengardenseeds.com/ with a handy list of seed starting dates that I thought I would pass along to all our Cottage Gardeners...Here is an excerpt from the e-mail:
"From a practical perspective, the best tip we can give you is to think about your order in two parts. The first, most timely part, is to get clear about what varieties you need to start indoors now (or soon) for transplant into the garden later.
The second part is your list of varieties that can be direct sown into the garden once the ground can be worked in the spring after the threat of frost has passed.
Check out all of our horticultural tips at www.kitchengardenseeds.com (particularly Barbara Damrosch’s tips: The Do’s and Don’ts of Seed Starting).
GENERAL SEED STARTING TIMETABLE: Eight weeks prior to last frost date
Horticultural Zones 8 and 7: Start seeds indoors now.
Horticultural Zone 6: Start seeds indoors in late February.
Horticultural Zone 5: Start seeds indoors in early March.
Horticultural Zone 1-4: Start seeds indoors in mid to late March.
VEGETABLE/HERB SEED STARTING TIMETABLE
Six Weeks: Asparagus, Fennel, Onions, Rhubarb, Shallots, Tomatillos and Basil
Eight Weeks: Eggplant, Tomatoes, Chiles, Sweet Peppers, Chives, Sage and Thyme
Nine Weeks: Broccoli, Cabbage and Kohlrabi (transplant out four weeks before the last frost date)
Ten Weeks: Celery, Celeriac, Jicama and Lemongrass
Eleven Weeks: Leeks, Artichokes and Cauliflower (transplant out four weeks before the last frost date)
Twelve Weeks: Cardoons and Brussels Sprouts
Sixteen Weeks: Strawberries (for first year crop) and Rosemary.
FLOWER STARTING TIMETABLE:
Six Weeks: Cutting Ageratum, China Asters, Celosia, Cleome, Coleus, Nepeta Catmint, Forget-Me-Nots, Dahlia, Helichrysum, Globe Amaranth, Nicotiana, Platycodon, Scabiosa, Snapdragons and Thunbergia
Eight Weeks: Milkweed, Coreopsis, Gaillardia, Hibiscus, Hollyhock, Heuchera and Statice
Ten Weeks: Dianthus, Digitalis and Heliotrope
Twelve Weeks: Salvia and Viola"
I know I'm getting antsy about starting my indoor seeds and noticed for my zone it says end of February, which I thought was a bit agressive--oh, well...
Anyway, I did start many of my Wintersowing seeds and will do more this week.
If you need to find out your last frost date, here is a handy reference from the Victory Seed Company:
http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/
Have you started your cottage garden seeds? How is it going?
If you still need to buy your seeds, by the way, John Scheepers' Kitchen Garden seed catalog is great for it's creative text, wonderful line drawings and it also has lots of good information about exotic varieties. They especially feature a wide variety of lettuces and greens for wonderful salads and I like to edge my flower garden with some of these and also lots of parsleys and herbs...
Have fun. t.
