Spring and Fall gardening with odd weather

[sunflower13]

I don't have my own garden space (had to rent last year) so that probably adds to my frustration with spring and fall gardening because I can't take things inside or cover my items but I am curious how people with my weird weather actually do it. Spring is a little more doable than fall for my area but I can't seem to get it completely. My location info is next to my username. My problem in spring is that it is just too cold. If I want a spring crop, I have to plant in March to have it done in time but it is too cold. So I plant in April which is a roller coaster of weather usually. It has been cold until around the third week of June than it gets too hot. There is no in between period. So most things bolt at this point. I use plants with shorter growing periods and I am mildly successful with lettuce, carrots and radishes but not much else. In fall, to plant in time before the hard freeze, I have to plant in Aug but it hits 100s up until the third week of September than drops almost 40 degrees. Last year, almost all my broccoli bolted and those that didn't nearly froze and stopped growing until the hard freeze. Summer I have mastered lol but I am just curious how others get around weird weather for cold-weather plants. TIA

[digitS']

You are doomed, Sunflower . . !

Just kidding ! So, I'll just argue with you. . . . A lot of years, it is cold right up until the 4th of July! Don't let September 2013 trick you into thinking that there's lots of warmth in that month. Okay, maybe things are changing but I've had frost in my garden in August!

Got that out of the way . Here are some of the things I do. Doesn't it seem a shame that here we are with 2,000 acre farms around us and we garden "off-site?" Yes, I do that too.

I do have a city-sized lot and have some protected growing here at home (& over the fence in the neighbor's backyard ). Last fall I moved several dozen bok choy plants & sowed seed for more Asian greens into a bed in my greenhouse. The greenhouse has a furnace but I have no intention of turning it on until March. The transplanted bok choy was harvested before that sub-zero weather in early December. The seedlings were covered with a 2nd sheet of plastic film. This is my first winter for having vegetables like this and I am beginning to think that there will be no problem with harvesting the remaining Asian greens in February !

Sunflower, I don't get in too much of a hurry to get things out in the open garden in the spring but I've got quite a bit going on in the greenhouse and tunnels here at home. I'm not sure if I'd be a very happy gardener without so much protected growing thru the spring. It gives me a chance to kind of instantly fill the garden when the weather warms. If it ever actually warms . . . Of course, the first things in the garden are things like onion sets and spinach seed in April. If I get in too much of a hurry, things like pea seed will rot in the ground before sprouting.

Something like lettuce will go out as transplants right into summer. It just seems best for me to start the plants here at home and look after them a little better during the 1st few weeks of their life. I will even do that when they spend nearly all of those weeks outdoors. Something like romaine and summer crisp varieties take the heat & dryness a little better as we move into summer but, of course, they won't last thru the entire season. I can have more starts from home as things begin to cool (usually ) in late August.

While it is still cookin', I am out about the 21st of July sowing more seed for snow peas. They will begin to produce in late September. I've picked pea pods that have had ice on them in October. This isn't much of a crop compared to what I was picking off the vines that were sown in April but it is something. Also in July, I'm sowing bean seed. We have so many green beans late that I don't plant much early. The beans do fine in the heat but the snow peas get a start okay.

In August I'm harvesting new potatoes and replanting that potato bed to Asian greens for the fall and . . . see above ^, the greenhouse bed. By late August, I have run out of time but it is a very productive harvest time with all the warm-season vegetables.

It has begun to feel like I'm involved in gardening in all months except early winter. Since the greenhouse furnace is not on, I think that a low tunnel under a higher tunnel might work as well as what I have. The Asian greens will all have to go in February because I will need to get the benches back in there during March, turn the furnace on (reluctantly), and move the plant starts in there from here in the south window. Gloomy winter day here today but I have migrated as close to the sun as I can get here in the house. Soon, I will be sharing this window with a flat of soil sown to onions. Then, the peppers and such will begin to show up. I'd better finalize my seed orders!

Steve

[sunflower13]

Hi Steve! It is nice to have a "neighbor" on the gardening forum . You are right about the weather. I was focusing on the weirdo weather pattern we've had since I think 2009 but I have seen frost in August too. Most Memorial days have been so cold . June is pretty much a wash some years for warm weather plants as far as growth .
Thanks for your detailed response! Right now I live in a apartment and my deck faces the wrong direction so no container gardening. Last year, I had to drive 10 minutes away to get to my garden. This year, I will have to drive further if I want to have a plot. I am debating if it is worth it. I need to move lol! What really annoys me, is all these empty lots I drive by that could be used for gardens! There is one right next to my apartment. I am tempted to plant there but there is no water . Yes it is a shame we have to garden off site darn it! My apartment has a huge lawn. It doesn't get used much and they spend money on fertilizer and lawn maintenance. I want them to give it to us to use but the owner won't budge. He won't even add a swing set because he says he will possibly be sued.
Hey, have you successfully grown watermelons in our area and if so what variety? I couldn't get my small variety to grow in time but did great with pie pumpkins. Ok, so I am going to have to do transplants to do spring and fall gardens. Thanks for the cold weather types. I have an "indoor" mini greenhouse in my dining room with one light. It does ok. I am upgrading it some. So do you just pay for the furnace at your neighbors? I need to get a neighbor like that lol . I was thinking wouldn't it be nice if someone with lots of property and little time would let a few of us use their property, pay for water and grow on their property but then that's a community garden isn't it lol? I wondered if anyone here started their lettuce indoors/greenhouse. I will have to cover them for our area. I need to order some seeds too ! Thanks for the tips!

[digitS']

. . . Hey, have you successfully grown watermelons in our area and if so what variety? . . . So do you just pay for the furnace at your neighbors? I need to get a neighbor like that lol . I was thinking wouldn't it be nice if someone with lots of property and little time would let a few of us use their property, pay for water and grow on their property but then that's a community garden isn't it lol? . . .

Watermelon, Sunflower? No . . . I tried growing Sugar Baby for 3 seasons. One time it was "okay." The neighbor just finished his 3 year trial. I think he had one fairly good year. Last year, he gave up all sorts of room to the Sugar Babies. "Little pink things" he called them. Disappointed, he didn't take even one out of his garden.

I have grown Passport Galia melons for about 10 years with never a failed year. Two years, I've had Goddess muskmelons. Both of these are U of New Hampshire releases. I bet UNH has others that would do well here. Some other melons have never ripened or died during our "Junuaries" .

Out in the "exurbs," there are lots of folks with 3 & 5 acre lots - and they don't know what to do with the land. Even folks with 1½ acre lots usually don't enjoy spending all of their Saturdays mowing each week. Some folks had big families and big family gardens. Now they are retired "empty nesters." In water districts, they have to pay for irrigation water whether.they.use.it.or.not. Some of these folks are just delighted to have someone come along and take some of the maintenance off their hands. If you want to do this Sunflower, don't promise anything other than that. Maybe "gift" them with some produce now and then. No mowing their lawn or trimming their hedge. Just keep your garden as neat and weed-free as you can and a nice "patch of dirt" to look at thru the winter.

The greenhouse with furnace is in my backyard. A shed-attached hoop house is thru the fence - literally. The fence section was taken down and is now the wall & door to the shed. All 3 of the folks where I garden have gardens of their own - I provide their tomato plants and such.

Steve

[sunflower13]

Watermelon, Sunflower? No . . . I tried growing Sugar Baby for 3 seasons. One time it was "okay." The neighbor just finished his 3 year trial. I think he had one fairly good year. Last year, he gave up all sorts of room to the Sugar Babies. "Little pink things" he called them. Disappointed, he didn't take even one out of his garden.

I have grown Passport Galia melons for about 10 years with never a failed year. Two years, I've had Goddess muskmelons. Both of these are U of New Hampshire releases. I bet UNH has others that would do well here. Some other melons have never ripened or died during our "Junuaries" .

Out in the "exurbs," there are lots of folks with 3 & 5 acre lots - and they don't know what to do with the land. Even folks with 1½ acre lots usually don't enjoy spending all of their Saturdays mowing each week. Some folks had big families and big family gardens. Now they are retired "empty nesters." In water districts, they have to pay for irrigation water whether.they.use.it.or.not. Some of these folks are just delighted to have someone come along and take some of the maintenance off their hands. If you want to do this Sunflower, don't promise anything other than that. Maybe "gift" them with some produce now and then. No mowing their lawn or trimming their hedge. Just keep your garden as neat and weed-free as you can and a nice "patch of dirt" to look at thru the winter.

The greenhouse with furnace is in my backyard. A shed-attached hoop house is thru the fence - literally. The fence section was taken down and is now the wall & door to the shed. All 3 of the folks where I garden have gardens of their own - I provide their tomato plants and such.

Steve

Ha ha ha Junuaries, now that is perfect! What a weird month. Yeah I had the same experience with the same exact variety of watermelons. Someone told me I would have to start it inside but I have read watermelons are picky and can't be in start container for more than a month so still seems like it might not work. You know this nice older lady that lived in my apartment complex told me how this area used to be and she said that in the valley near Idaho, there were these watermelon farms and they would float a few down river and eat them . Best watermelon she ever ate. Wonder how they dealt with the weather but it has changed. Well I will have to look into asking people if there is land they don't mind letting me borrow. I would have never thought of all of that. Thanks for all your help!

[sunflower13]

Hey Steve, How would you go about finding an empty nester? I am going to start trying to find someone. Thanks!

[imafan26]

Hey sunflower. Aren't there any community gardens you can apply for in your area. It isn't easy to get in, I know, I waited two years before I got a plot. But sometimes you are lucky. We got started as a co-gardener, and got our plot later. Some community gardens have elders who want a garden plot but need assistance so they get co-gardeners to share the space.

I also volunteer at a botanical garden and at the urban garden center and I take care of the herb garden. At the botanical garden, I can't plant anything I want. We used to propagate but mostly we weed now and occasionally plant groundcovers. At the urban garden, volunteers can adopt gardens. There are vegetable gardens but the volunteers there have had them for years so getting in there is pretty tough. But, they still will share what they grow when they harvest. The rules are that the person who takes care of the garden has to either offer or be asked if anyone wants anything from it. In the herb garden, people will ask for figs,(Brown Turkey), arugula, and herb trimmings to feed the worms. Seasonally, I will have ginger, turmeric, arrowroot, peppers, basil, roselle, and mizuna. I have perennial herbs like gynuura, mint, Mexican tarragon, Mexican Thyme, daylilies, pineapple sage, fennel, and rosemary
that sprigs or flowers can be picked from. I even have peanuts, but the soil there is not good for them so it is mostly to show what peanuts look like. Most people like to eat them but have never seen the plant.

Have you tried a heat mat to start your seeds indoors? Since your balcony is facing the wrong way you may have to grow things that can handle partial shade like mints, green onions, lettuce (if you can get at least 4 hours), cilantro, parsley, maybe kale. It probably would be hard to grow things like tomatoes, beans and peppers since they like more light.

[digitS']

Imafan has given you some ideas for organizations that may help.

I have been gardening on other people's property for a long time. One of them was Dad. Okay, that doesn't count but he is nearly 96 & had a fairly good sized garden, 30 years ago.

I 1st started doing this when I went down to the court house and found out who owned the vacant lot behind my home. Drug a hose across the alley and I was in business. Four years later, I moved.

Before the next season, I told a friend I had to find a new garden. She asked her bridge partner. He had a garden on the rental property he owned - 1 house with a detached garage on 4 city lots. That was over 15 years ago, I am still there!

Needing more ground, I told the guy at the market that maybe I could grow veggies for his store. He said here is my home address. I arrived in his lovely yard and said, "no, your wife will hate both of us if I start showing up at 5am!" He sent me off to his buddy's house.

The guy had a quarter of an acre right beside the river! His home was on a separate 1/2 acre. For 9 years, I could almost cast into the river from my garden! Then, the old folks put the property up for sale.

By that time I had talked to the guy across the road. I had a reference, you see! This was the gardener with all of his kids gone. I help him continue gardening. Last year, he had another quarter acre plowed. We are sharing it along with the old garden. They have about 7 acres for hay but no livestock.. He runs my & his sprinklers and I look after his garden when they go off to visit their kids.

My advice, Sunflower: tell everyone you know what you'd like to do. Everyone you have a chance to talk to. Even the people at the supermarket. Go out in the country and talk to the people at the hardware and feedstore.

Steve

[sunflower13]

Hey sunflower. Aren't there any community gardens you can apply for in your area. It isn't easy to get in, I know, I waited two years before I got a plot. But sometimes you are lucky. We got started as a co-gardener, and got our plot later. Some community gardens have elders who want a garden plot but need assistance so they get co-gardeners to share the space.

I also volunteer at a botanical garden and at the urban garden center and I take care of the herb garden. At the botanical garden, I can't plant anything I want. We used to propagate but mostly we weed now and occasionally plant groundcovers. At the urban garden, volunteers can adopt gardens. There are vegetable gardens but the volunteers there have had them for years so getting in there is pretty tough. But, they still will share what they grow when they harvest. The rules are that the person who takes care of the garden has to either offer or be asked if anyone wants anything from it. In the herb garden, people will ask for figs,(Brown Turkey), arugula, and herb trimmings to feed the worms. Seasonally, I will have ginger, turmeric, arrowroot, peppers, basil, roselle, and mizuna. I have perennial herbs like gynuura, mint, Mexican tarragon, Mexican Thyme, daylilies, pineapple sage, fennel, and rosemary
that sprigs or flowers can be picked from. I even have peanuts, but the soil there is not good for them so it is mostly to show what peanuts look like. Most people like to eat them but have never seen the plant.

I wish there were more community gardens in my area . I joined one last year but it will be kaput this year (long story lol). It was already kaput when I joined but allowed one more year. For my area there is now only one community garden and it is quite a distance from me. I looked at the map of community gardens and for this huge area of the city there is now only one whereas in other parts there are many, many gardens not sure why. I thought about starting my own but I would need insurance for liability and land. I might call some churches and ask around. Someone online said he was starting one on a church property to give mostly to the poor. I thought that was pretty cool. I will have to look at botanical gardens and I think I am going to do what you suggested, growing some shade stuff on my deck. By the way, I am jealous of you on Hawaii ! I am watching a show on it right now and it is so green and lush. Thank you for your help!

Imafan has given you some ideas for organizations that may help.

My advice, Sunflower: tell everyone you know what you'd like to do. Everyone you have a chance to talk to. Even the people at the supermarket. Go out in the country and talk to the people at the hardware and feedstore.
Steve

I will do this! It is amazing you figured out how to do this. I would never have thought to do that. Maybe I will look up who owns the enormous lot next door to me. Have a feeling it is the owner of my complex. Just a pile of weeds. Thank you for your help!