Advantage of planting seeds?

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

Planting seeds is the funest experience!!!!!!

the opportunities are endless!!!

The biggest advantage to starting from seeds is that they get used to your rutines, therefore they give you better fruit or vegetables. they also get used to your climate.

There are many advantages of starting from seed...You'll just have to find those advantages!

 

[digitS']

70 deg! That's toasty for heating! Central air kept at 65 up here. Thermometer says my downstairs room is 63...

Old people, ya' know . . .

For the last 15 years or so, I've had a small greenhouse to work with. It was mostly a step up in space. Those cooler temperatures are what I'm shooting for in there as well, Silkiechicken. Overnight about 60F and 64F daytime but it can climb in the sunshine. With those coastal clouds blowing in from 400 miles away, our Spring days are often gray and dreary.

There is an 8' fluorescent fixture to lower over part of the bench. I find it rather remarkable that I didn't have something like that when all the growing was in the utility room and still got along fine. Once again, plant the seeds earlier and let the temperatures match the available light (or is it "unavailable" light .

The biggest advantage to starting from seeds is that they get used to your rutines, therefore they give you better fruit or vegetables. they also get used to your climate.

Chicken_Boy is talking about seed-saving or maybe just the plants out-of-the-commercial-greenhouse experience. I'm not sure what to think about the idea of saving seed over the seasons and the plants coming around to match the garden's conditions. Many, many, many people subscribe to this idea, however.

Steve

 

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

are you sayingg that cause you never tried it?

 

[sunnychooks]

We never got Sunnychooks back to explain what she was interested in growing . . .

Hi, I'm back! The holidays got the better of my time for the last couple of weeks and I own a seasonal business that will close for 2 months on Monday, so it's been really busy here!

I would like to grow veggies. I have chickens for eggs and goats for dairy products so I would like to branch out into other areas of foods that I can produce from my home.

I'm looking for some really easy varieties of zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, butternut squash and some cantaloupes to start with. I don't know if I'll get to all of them the first year, but for now that's my "wish list". After reading some of these posts, it sounds somewhat complicated but it will probably be easier after the first year or two (when I actually see that everything I plant hasn't died ).

So, as far as starting seeds indoors, is there somewhere I can check to see when the expected frost dates end or do I just try to gauge the weather? I'm in zone 6b, but many of the seed catalogs I've ordered put me somewhere else. Is it safe to follow the recommendations in the catalogs? Thanks!

 

[digitS']

Hi Sunnychooks, try this for starters.

I can never remember where to go in the NOAA webpages to find frost dates. Note Victory Seed Co. has an average as of 1988.

What with global warming . . . who knows? NOAA had a few pages on climate change I was looking at the other day. For some reason, they chose to include a weather map of the US from 1934, during the Dust Bowl. The implication (I guess was that we may be in a similar time. One curious thing about that map was how New England had cooler weather while it was hotter for all of the rest of the nation . . . ? NJ isn't New England but, who knows? (guess I already said that

I'm kinda at a polar opposite location from the "Garden State" but I'll think easy, easy, easy for a few minutes and tell you what has been easy for me . . . oh, this forum is so aptly named! :tools

Steve

 

[Mothergoat]

Hi Sunny! :coolsun

I really like the University Extension Master Gardener's program. Here is a link to their website in Trenton, it will tell you more about this national program. I know from personal experience that these volunteers will welcome your questions about gardening in your area. (At least, the Oregon Master Gardeners are friendly and helpful! :bee)

Gardening is only as complicated and difficult as you make it. Get good information from local gardeners, from the master gardeners and pick the advice that seems to fit your yard and lifestyle the best. Happy gardening.
Linda

Master Gardeners of Mercer County
http://www.mgofmc.org/

New Jersey Master Gardeners: Info on the program
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/mastergardeners/

Who to call for help in your county:
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/mastergardeners/helplines.asp

The following New Jersey counties offer the Master Gardener program:

* Atlantic County
* Bergen County
* Burlington County
* Camden County
* Cape May County
* Cumberland County
* Essex County
* Gloucester County
* Hunterdon County
* Mercer County
* Middlesex County
* Monmouth County
* Morris County
* Ocean County
* Passaic County
* Somerset County
* Sussex County
* Union County

 

[patandchickens]

It won't help you this year but I'm a big advocate of starting a weather (if not garden in general) logbook. Get a max-min thermometer and every day write down the, well, max and min. I also note am't of precipitation and mahor garden milestones (bloom and end of bloom for 'reference' plants like crocus and cherry trees as well as for any newer plants whose timing I'm trying to learn).

After a couple years you'll have a better idea of your own garden's last frost date, which may differ considerably from published numbers. Like, because we are in a frost pocket in the landscape, our property's av'g last frost is around June 2, more than 10 days later than what tables or maps might suggest. Those 10 days make a LOT of difference!

BTW if you know a serious gardener nearby whose land is likely to work the same as yours, ask them about your REAL last frost date - they can likely tell you!

Good luck,

Pat

 

[digitS']

really easy varieties of zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, butternut squash and some cantaloupes to start with. I

:coolsun ,

zucchini: I'm not a huge fan of zucchini (hey, I'm learning to like it :/ but I've grown Aristocrat for many years. I would not pick up Black Beauty no matter how easy it is to find - mildew just beats the tar out of it. I grew Elite last year. Altho' it was somewhat resistance to mildew, the plants never reached much size and production didn't amount to much, either. Seemed kinda hard to believe with a zucchini.

eggplant: I decided last year that my favorite eggplants are green!! Dusky does just fine as a purple bell but Thai Long Green is really productive and nice - and I go for "nice" not bitter. Another fine one is Apple Green. It's round so makes for better batter(ed) slices, rolled in cracker crumbs and fried. yummmm

peppers: Park's Whopper & Peto Wonder are good, BIG bell peppers. But, if you want an easier sweet pepper to grow - an Italian sweet is probably more of a sure thing. Giant Marconi are wonderful fresh in salads or cooked altho' regular Marconi will likely be more productive. For a medium hot, Garden Salsa is really productive and it's pretty! Moving on towards the fireworks end of the spectrum, Super Chili will take you there and Thai Hot will take you past!!

tomatoes: Chicken_Boy cast a vote for Big Beef on the tomato thread and so did I! Just a real good dependable beefsteak. But hey, Early Girl is the popular tomato in the US and there's some real good reasons for that. Large Red Cherry couldn't be more productive and you can save the seeds since it is open pollinated.

butternut squash: The Early Butternut was real dependable back when I grew them.

cantaloupe: For a long, long time I thought my garden didn't have a long enuf season to grow cantaloupe. Then I found Park's Honey Girl!! Honey Girl is a charentais melon but that's in the cantaloupe family. After growing Honey Girls for 3 years I also discovered Fastbreak - a real good, early cantaloupe, uh, I guess it is a muskmelon . . . I can never keep them straight. What is it, a cantaloupe is a muskmelon but not all muskmelons are cantaloupes? I think that's it .

Steve :tools