Teach me about Gardening Zones

[897tgigvib]

Digit, your GOOPP gardening really can be multitasking!

SeedCorn!!! I think you really are onto something!!! I so want to see one of those maps!

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a function button on google maps for various hardiness zones? I saw one one time, can't recall the site...my ie bookmark list is so huge!

 

[catjac1975]

You will learn a lot by trial and error. If something does not do well for you, don't give up. Try different varieties and different planting times. Keep track of your first first dates, but it will change every year.

 

[MontyJ]

And just as important as all of the above...keep a journal! If something grows well for you, you can look back and see what you did so you can repeat it. If something goes wrong, you may be able to figure out what happened.

 

[ducks4you]

I'm also in zone 5b. Our last average frost is April 15th. THAT means that it could be as early as April 1st, or as late as April 30th, so plan accordingly and have covers ready for any frost tender plants that you have in the garden. Farmer's Almanac used to have a moon gardening calendar specific for the year for your location. It was a chart that included the average dates, too. You can direct sow lettuce, radishes, carrots and cabbage (and cabbage relatives) as early as March 1st. They really need the wet spring to do well, so plan to throw at least a few seeds in the first weekend in March, which begins on a Friday, this year. Otherwise you'll be watering them like crazy just to keep them going, should you wait too late to plant them. I've done THAT, too.
ANY warm weather crops, like tomatoes and peppers need to be started inside early and transplanted to give you any signifigant fruit before August. My MIL used to plant her garden with store bought, warm weather seedlings on Mother's Day weekend.
Definitely try spinach this spring. The winter of 2011-2012 was SO mild that the spinach seeds I put in a bed in the fall came up in March. We ate on that bed for 2 1/2 months, and it was a real treat. I tried the same thing this last Fall, and I believe a few of them survived.
Onions are tricky and time consuming. The seeds that sprout this year will need 2 seasons to mature, and that it why most people buy the sets. I leave some in the ground every fall and many will create a 2nd bulb, like a bulb-type flower does, and I can harvest both.
Average first frost date is October 15th. Lately, my gardens have been producing well past this date, but we'll have to see what happens this year.