[Food] Production – Gardening, General pt 2

[PeakOiler]

Some of the garlic have sprouted up. I think I'll plant more today.

Meanwhile a few onion are growing, the broccoli plants are ok, and the carrot sprouts are thinning out. I think I will cover the carrots with some plastic sheet this evening since it is going to get down to about 29F tonight.

Believe it or not, one of the tomato plants is still alive so I cut it back, leaving a few new leaves, then covered it with a black plastic pot and sheet plastic. It would be interesting to see if it will survive the winter if special attention is given to it.

[DoubleD]

We are in a major winter storm event this weekend. Despite that, I went out and harvested carrots and parsnips from the garden. This is the time of year where the extra efforts required to plan and plant for a four season harvest are really rewarded. Here's a picture of the garden this morning. Getting more snow today so it is even more buried now.



This is me digging up some carrots from the over wintering patch. Had to sweep the snow off and then use a garden fork to dig down through the frozen top layer of soil - revealing the sweet carrot treasures below.



Also harvested some parsnips from another garden section. Here is today's winter harvest - destined for tonight's dinner prep.



I only harvest large amounts when I am canning or freezing items - more typical is a harvest like the above where I select only enough to feed us for that meal. Our preference is to eat fresh as opposed to preserved - so we work hard to four season harvest as much as possible - using preserved items to supplement.

[PeakOiler]

Thanks for the pictures, DD. I went and threw another log into the woodstove after seeing those wintry images. lol (I don't take cold weather very well and am happy being in the south.)

[RedStateGreen]

I have a bunch of tomato seedlings (from a set of seeds that sprouted when I went to save them) in my garage. It hasn't dropped below 45F in there so far and they seem to be really happy.

Cool. I've planted some tomatoes indoors as well.

btw, I'm only using sunlight through the windows for these overwintering plants. No artificial lighting, no curtains or shades over the windows in this room, and white walls help.

Same here. Last year I used some reflective sun shades and tin foil to increase the light, which helped quite a bit.

[PeakOiler]

Today I planted spinach. (It's about 65F before noon today with blue skies.)

I watered the indoor overwintering pepper plants and noticed some are blossoming. One of the banana pepper plants has some peppers.

The lettuce seed I planted didn't come up so I'll try again. The radish are sprouting. The broccoli are coming along.

In 2008, I harvested 73 citrus fruits, mainly lemons, but limes, grapefruit, and satsuma as well. Five lemons are ready to be picked, but I'll leave them alone for another few weeks and see how much bigger they get.

The five pineapple plants are doing fine.

[frankthetank]

Took out some frozen tomato i had from the garden...

Why do they taste so different then canned tomatoes from the store? Is it variety (these were a Roma type that i had grown) or something else (maybe the canning process)? I want mine to taste like canned tomatoes i get at the store (its the same thing with fresh...i made chili with fresh tomatoes this past fall and they just aren't as "good" (flavor) as the canned tomatoes... Not that it would stop me from eating them...just wondering.

Plan on starting my seeds soon. Plenty of winter left.

[RedStateGreen]

Took out some frozen tomato i had from the garden...

Why do they taste so different then canned tomatoes from the store? Is it variety (these were a Roma type that i had grown) or something else (maybe the canning process)? I want mine to taste like canned tomatoes i get at the store (its the same thing with fresh...i made chili with fresh tomatoes this past fall and they just aren't as "good" (flavor) as the canned tomatoes... Not that it would stop me from eating them...just wondering.

Do the canned tomatoes you like just have tomatoes in them, or is there other things (like salt or sugar) added?

The other thing is that the soil a tomato plant is grown in really affects tomato flavor. Your soil might need testing.

[frankthetank]

That could be... Canned ones i think are just salt, tomatoes, whatever preservatives they add. It could just be the amt of salt they are adding and maybe the heat? during processing.

[RedStateGreen]

That could be... Canned ones i think are just salt, tomatoes, whatever preservatives they add. It could just be the amt of salt they are adding and maybe the heat? during processing.

Salt will do it.

Different varieties of tomatoes taste different, too. If you're not canning the same variety it might be why it doesn't taste the same.

[PeakOiler]

I wish I had planted more broccoli. The dozen or so plants are nearly a foot tall. No crowns yet, but the plants look healthy.

<--makes note in electronic garden logbook to plant a lot more broccoli next year after the tomatoes are out of the way...

Some radish, onion, and garlic plants are getting bigger too.

About 0.75" of rain fell here Mon-Tues. That equates to about 900 gallons of rainwater collected off the house and the Two Sheds.

[roadrunner]

DD where did you buy the hoops you are using to keep the plastic(or is it some special kind) up? I'd like to get some for my garden. I've never given a 4 season harvest a thought but if you could do that there I think I could here in the upper north east. Can you give me a quick run down of when you plant for your 4 seasons? I am really impressed by the pictures!

[careinke]

It looks like DD is using a modified Square foot gardening system. The hoops are plastic electrical conduit. The vertical nets are made using aluminum conduit and a pipe bender. You can buy a net to tie on that supposedely have a lifetime guarantee. Unfortunately, for me, the nets start deteriorating at about the three year point. You can get it all at Home depot.

Here is a link to the Square Foot Gardening site. Square foot gardening

Cliff (Start a rEVOLution, grow a garden)

[DoubleD]

I use a hybrid mix of wide row, square foot, and bio intensive gardening methods - all overlaid by four season harvest techniques. I find none of the above by themselves is a good fit for me - but the best from each when combined produces a very efficient and productive food production garden. A good book that describes pretty much the same mixture of methods as I employ is:

"Mini Farming for Self Sufficiency" by Brett L. Markham

It's a good concise, well organized recap and has alot of useful summarized information in it. If you want to delve into any of the topics further though - you will have to read each of the original sources and tease it out for yourself.

To answer the question about the hoop supports - they are 10' sticks of electricians conduit - with the connector end sawed off. I designed the beds so that their supports are made form 18" metal pipes pounded into the ground every 4 feet so that the top of the pipe is flush with the top of the board edging. The pipes are then bolted to the boards near the walkway ground level - such that the bolt creates the floor upon which the PVC Hoop Supports then rest when inserted. If you check out my website (link in my siggy) and go to the 2008 garden photos - down towards the bottom of the pics are spring/summer time pictures and in several of them you can see the pipe supports I am talking about.

The one thing that must be understood about four season harvesting - is that you have to get nature on your side for that to work. By this I mean, you need to only try to overwinter cold hardy plants and the plants need to be MATURE going into the winter if you intend to eat on them through those months. Four season harvesting is about holding the plants in a healthy state of limbo - ready for harvest when you are - during the cold dark days of winter. The lack of sun strength and warmth means that the plants essentially stop growing altogether - so if they are not already mature and ready for harvest prior to that occuring - then you will not see a harvest until the following spring (at best).

Having said that - I do have a large crop of spinach I am overwinter that did not make it to maturity prior to the cold/dark days of winter. However, I continue to protect the bed because they will resume growing and really take off very early in the spring - providing fresh greens in mid February when nothing else is really producing.

My regular overwintering crops:

spinach (needs grow tunnel cover)
corn salad (no cover - shoots to maturity in early February)
Carrots
Parsnips
kale
swiss chard (needs protection of a cold frame or grow tunnel)
brussel sprouts

We are eating on all of these currently with the exception of the spinach - which is not quite ready yet - but soon.

[roadrunner]

Thank you both, careinke and DD. DD I will check out your link. Thank you for sharing so much with me. One fall a couple of years back I didn't get around to pulling all my carrots but I still wanted them and it had actually rained and then snowed on them so I was out digging up blocks of them. They were still good and I was surprised but it seems much easier if I don't have to pick up a block of them and smash it on the ground. LOL That's what it took to get them. I bet I looked funny doing it but hubby didn't say a word. I actually did better the next couple of years and they were all harvested and stored.

[PeakOiler]

Here's my dozen or so broccoli plants so far:



I could have grown about five times that much, but this was my first attempt with this veggie. Next year will be different...

[softhands]

This isn't so much related to gardening as just growing in general...


Ive collected some tree seeds from my area and have stored them in the freezer. I heard this is how you fake winter for them...

Could I start trying to grow them(I think its either pine/spruce seeds, came from a cone and then some cedar).

Will they just die seeing as they will be indoors until late april?

Has anyone tried this before?

Doesn't seem to be alot on google as far as the timing goes... Even if they grew to fast I could just keep them potted until its time to plant and the bigger they are the more likly they would survive right?

[Ludi]

I've had success starting tree seeds when growth begins outdoors - that is, when I see new leaves coming out on trees and shrubs. Putting your potted seeds outside will enable them to come up at the right time. Otherwise, you'll have to move the seedlings in and out every day to make sure they don't freeze at night and make sure they get enough sunlight. Most tree seedlings like partial to full sun, so the light inside most houses isn't enough for them.

I've had best success with native trees by keeping them in a pot for at least two years before planting out, potting up as needed. The baby trees have been 3 -4 feet tall at planting. They'll need to be irrigated regularly throughout their first year in the ground and possibly their second year if you have a drought.

Natives that I have planted too small and neglected just plain died.

Hope this is somewhat helpful.

[roadrunner]

PeakOiler, those are some nice looking broccoli plants. I put in around 40 last year and plan to do more this year. It is the plant that keeps giving. They sprouted all summer long into the fall and then I let them flower and the bees went wild for about 3 weeks. Which one did you plant? Blue Comet?

[PeakOiler]

PeakOiler, those are some nice looking broccoli plants. I put in around 40 last year and plan to do more this year. It is the plant that keeps giving. They sprouted all summer long into the fall and then I let them flower and the bees went wild for about 3 weeks. Which one did you plant? Blue Comet?

Thanks roadrunner.

The $1.07 package of broccoli seeds at bought at the local grocery says "Green Goliath", aka "Goliat verde."

Do you mean that one can harvest the broccoli crown and the plant will grow another? Is that right? That would be cool!

I guess I should read some more!

[Ludi]

Do you mean that one can harvest the broccoli crown and the plant will grow another? Is that right? That would be cool!

Yes! Some varieties produce more side shoots, so you get prolonged harvests.

Green Goliath is a main head type which also produces side shoots. Just be sure to cut the main head off close to the top of the stem (right under the head), keeping as many leaves on the plant as possible to feed the side shoots.


I have not had any success with broccoli myself (soil not fertile enough when I tried last), so I'm interested to see how you do with this variety.


http://growingtaste.com/vegetables/broccoli.shtml