It is a cold, snowy 16 degrees F here today. As you can see from the picture above, my little unheated cold frame is not in a protected area. Behind it is the towers of the city water company. Last fall I planted some Wakefield Cabbage in there as well as some lettuce, spinach and radish seed. The lettuce and spinach seed did not germinate for some reason, but the radish seed germinated and grew just fine. Today, January 1, 2010, I was able to harvest fresh radish from inside the cold frame.
I did not use frost cover inside of the cold frame like I should have, nor did we get the bottoms and ends secured. If we had done both of those things, I am sure the harvest would have been better. Some of the smaller radish were frozen and soft, so I put those in the compost pile. The cabbages have faired pretty well, although I suspect they will bolt come spring.
I closed the cold frame up too early last year which meant the inside was much warmer than what cool crops like it. I was in a hurry and not really thinking about venting it on warm days.
After harvesting the radishes and pulling any tiny weeds that were trying to sprout, I used my handy circle hoe to work the top of the ground. The soil was quite dry and easy to work.
The next thing I did was water the raised beds. I did not drench the soil, I just gave it a gentle watering with a watering can. The top half inch or so of the soil is damp. That should be damp enough to allow the seeds to begin to germinate. In another couple of days, I will go back out and give the soil another sprinkling of water.
There are two beds inside of this particular cold frame. One is half filled with cabbage and the other half of that bed is where the radish were. I left that area unplanted for now. It will be the next area I plant, but for today, I chose to use the bed where nothing had been growing. I chose seeds from Renee’s Garden. Today I planted Romeo Round Baby Carrots and Asian Baby Leaf Gourmet Mesclun Salad. Both of these should do fine. I do not expect the seeds will germinate immediately, but we shall see.
We are in Indiana, zone 5/6. So as you can see, with a little protection is is possible to have a year-round garden, even in a cold climate. Want know more? Than check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year-Round Gardening by Sheri Ann Richerson and Delilah Smittle.
Filed under Tropical and Exotic Plants, Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Jan 1st, 2010. 2 Comments. 
It’s official – Amazon is taking pre-orders on The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year Round Gardening. Order your copy today so they are not sold out by the time the book is released in February 2010.
This book is so cool because it tells you, no matter what hardiness zone you are in, how to garden year round. It doesn’t matter if you have a heated or unheated greenhouse, garden indoors, use frost covers or cold frames, you can defy nature and grow many varieties of fresh produce year round.
Here in Indiana we have been successful with a variety of produce – lettuce, peas, radish, turnip, carrots, to name a few. In 2008, using season extending ideas like you will find in this book, I planted tomato plants on April 1.
Don’t miss your chance to own this fantastic book. Even seasoned gardeners are sure to learn something – and don’t let the name fool you, The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year Round Gardening should be on every gardeners’ bookshelf!
Filed under Tropical and Exotic Plants, Year-Round Gardening by on Jan 1st, 2010. Comment.
During the cold, snowy season, I like to share with my readers photos of some of my favorite plants from the previous season. I think it gives everyone a chance to escape from the dreary cold outside their window and helps all of us plan our garden for the upcoming here. So hang on tight to your chair and let’s see what the stars of 2009 were!
Tulips say spring to me in a way no other plant does. I really enjoy seeing them come up and bloom. I wish they were a bit more prolific here like daffodils, but hey, at least a few seem to come back year after year.
I love the dark colored flowers of Akeiba. Some years it blooms, other years it doesn’t. This year one vine bloomed and the second one did not. You need to vines for cross-pollination to get fruit. So far I have not had any fruit set on my vines, but I am sure it is just a matter of time.
The common name for Akeiba is chocolate vine. It is said the vine emits a chocolate scent when in bloom. The flowers do have a slight chocolate scent, however it is not a wafting scent. Of course, as stated above, both vines have not been in bloom nor has either vine ever been in full bloom, so I will keep waiting and hoping. A wafting chocolate scent would be fantastic!
Ah, what would an exotic garden be without exotic plants? Best of all, this one is perfectly hardy here in Indiana. Dracunculus vulgaris is the scientific name of this beauty. The first several years I had it, only the leaves came up, then in the summer of 2009 this beautiful flower formed.
This dark beauty is Zantedeschia ‘Edge of Night,’ a fine introduction from Dan Heims at Terra Nova Nurseries. Dan comes up with the coolest – and I do mean coolest – plants. Don’t take my word for it though, visit his website and take a look at the unusual plants there that just beg for a place in your garden!
While it is true there are not as many photos here as usual, the summer of 2009 caught me inside writing several books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year-Round Gardening. So, that is it for the photos now. I hope you enjoy them and find some new plants for your garden in 2010!
Filed under Chocolate Colored Plants, Chocolate Scented Plants, Flower Gardening, Tropical and Exotic Plants by on Jan 1st, 2010. Comment.
Seed starting time is rolling around in the Midwest once again. If you are seeking early blooms this season, now is the time to start seeds of dianthus and snapdragon.
Also if you didn’t get your pansy and viola seeds started back in November, be sure to start those.
These cool weather plants will do fine, once germinated, in a cool greenhouse. As spring approaches and the weather warms, sometime in mid-March to early April, these young plants can be moved into a cold frame and then on into the garden.
Once they have been hardened off, they are sure to survive light frosts. Should a severe frost threaten your area, simply cover them with a make shift cold frame made out of an old milk carton or two liter plastic bottle. Be sure to vent the cold frame so the plants do not cook when the sun comes up the next day.
Filed under Flower Gardening, Seed Starting by on Jan 5th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Growing mushrooms from a mushroom kit is not hard, in fact, mushrooms are one of the easiest crops I have grown. Anyone, even a child, can grow their own mushrooms. Eat them fresh or preserve them by canning them, dehydrating them or freezing them – whatever you do with your home grown mushrooms it is sure to be a hit!
When your mushroom patch arrives you will notice it is covered in plastic. This is the incubation bag. The patch will look like a bunch of white popcorn that has been melted together with some brown patches on it. The brown patches are future mushrooms.
The first step in the process is to find a saucer large enough for your mushroom patch to sit in. Once you have done that, remove the mushroom patch from the incubation bag.
Put thesaucer in the humidty tent which is the plastic bag with holes in it that came in your kit. Sit the empty saucer with the humidity bag in a dark, cool spot.
Put the mushroom patch in the saucer and fill it with cool rainwater. Do not use chlorinated, filtered or distilled water!
Put some skewers, chop-sticks or knitting needles into the top of the mushroom patch. Pull the plastic humidity bag up over the mushroom patch and fold it down. Fasten the top of the bag with clothespins or paperclips.
Several times a day you will need to open the bag to mist the top of the mushroom patch and the sides of the bag. Use rainwater.
Within about two weeks you will have mushrooms. This process can be repeated several times by allowing the patch to dry out, then repeating the entire process. Some mushroom patches can then be incorporated into logs and established in your yard.
Filed under Tropical and Exotic Plants, Year-Round Gardening by on Jan 7th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Do you feel lost when it comes to making plans for your spring garden? If so, you are not alone. Many people simply do not know where to begin.
If this is a new garden, the first step is soil preparation. After all, you cannot grow a garden in grass or weeds. Make sure the area is tilled or hand dug, weed free and necessary amendments are added and worked into the ground. If possible, lay down big sheets of cardboard to help kill the weeds and grass the fall before you intend to plant.
The next part involves the seeds or plants. Do you want to grow flowers, herbs, vegetables or a combination? Think about what your family would use the most of. If you choose flowers, do you want ones that are fragrant, a specific color, ones that dry well or ones that attract butterflies? These are just a few of the possibilities. Once you have decided this, look at numerous garden catalogs and websites to determine what plants do the best in your area.
Consider the space you have to plant in once you know what you will plant. This will help you determine how many plants you can grow in a given area. If you are planting close for weed control, choose annuals. Perennials will need frequent dividing if they are planted too closely together to begin with. Intermixing annuals and perennials is fine. Some flowers such as marigold, nasturtium and zinnia do well in a vegetable garden. Experiment and remember gardens are ever changing.
Filed under Flower Gardening, Vegetable Gardening by on Jan 8th, 2010. Comment.
Here in the Mid-West seed starting is already underway for many of us. Here are some dates and ideas of what you seeds you can start in January.
January 1 – direct sow carrot seed in cold frames
January 4 – pansy, dianthus, snapdragon in flats
January 6 – direct sow peas in cold frames – weather permitting – pea seed will rot if it gets too wet and cold
January 10 – statice in flats
January 11 – parsley, cabbage, celery and onion in flats
January 15 – direct sow carrots and spinach in cold frames
January 18 – begonia and geraniums in flats
January 25 – well established seedlings that were started in flats can be moved into cold frames, weather permitting – remember to do this gradually so seedlings are not shocked unless you have a heated cold frame
Janaury 29 – direct sow carrots in cold frame
The multiple dates for sowing various seeds such as carrots are there for people who succession sow or who did not get the seed sown on the first date.
Filed under Seed Starting by on Jan 12th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Cotton is a fun crop to grow and if started indoors can be grown in the northern states. If you start your cotton plants indoors, use peat pots so the cotton is easier to transplant. Cotton does transplant well as long as the roots are not disturbed. Cotton can be grown in large containers which will allow you to plant it earlier and bring it indoors or put it in a greenhouse come fall.
Cotton can be spun into thread that can be used for sewing or weaving. It can also be used as batting for pillows, quilts or pet beds.
Cotton will begin to set bolls – or seed heads – in the fall. These seed heads should be left alone until they begin to split open. The fibers will be fully developed when they split. At that point you can remove the bolls and harvest the cotton. The seeds and other vegetable matter will need to be removed from the cotton. Be sure to save the seed to plant the following season. Add the vegetable matter to the compost pile.
To spin it into thread or yarn you can work directly from then boll. There is no need to card it unless you prefer working from carded cotton. To use as batting you would need to clean it, also known as ginning, then find a way to create a batting from it.
White cotton has longer staples than colored cotton because colored cotton has not had much breeding work done with it. In some states it is illegal to grow colored cotton. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange offers a variety of colored cotton seeds.
Filed under Fiber Plants by on Jan 17th, 2010. 2 Comments.
Many perennials and cool season vegetables can be started from seed sown in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, then be transplanted in the open garden once weather permits. An advantage to this is you will get a head start on the planting season and have flowering plants earlier than if you were to start them outside, the exception being if you use the winter sowing method.
It is nice to walk into a greenhouse, even if it is unheated in the middle of winter on a sunny day. The temperatures are sure to be warm enough that you may not need a jacket or coat. You can sit in the greenhouse and prepare the flats, seed them and water them in comfort.
If the greenhouse is a bit chilly for you, using a small ceramic heater should warm it up enough to be comfortable while you are working in it. Rain barrels or other food safe plastic containers can be filled with water and depending on where you live, how warm your greenhouse stays, etc. they may only develop a small sheet of ice on the top of the container which can easily be broken up. If ice is a real problem, look into an animal water trough heater which could be used to keep the water from freezing.
Unheated greenhouses can be a source of real pleasure during the winter months. Don’t forget to add in a few cool weather vegetable crops such as lettuce or kale for your family to eat during the winter.
Filed under In The Greenhouse by on Jan 19th, 2010. Comment.
February is almost here and gardeners who wish to get a head start on early spring vegetables will want to get out into the garden.
Cold frames and tunnel houses are a must for protecting early spring vegetables and half-hardy annual flowers in cold climates.
Here is what can be done in the early spring garden in February.
February 1 – tap maple trees.
February 5 – start tomatillo seed indoors in flats.
February 9 – start seeds of marigolds, salvia, strawflower and calendula indoors in flats.
February 15 – pre-sprout potatoes indoors and start seeds of artichokes indoors in flats.
February 16 – plant tomatoes, peppers and eggplants indoors in flats.
February 18 – plant ageratum, lobelia, salad burnett and love-in-a-mist indoors in flats.
February 23 – Plant sprouted potatoes under cover in the garden. Onions and cabbages that have been hardened off can be planted under cover as well. If these young plants have not been hardened off, start doing so now.
February 24 – start seeds of larkspur and geranium indoors in flats.
February 25 – plant stocks in the heated greenhouse for June blooms.
February 26 – Indiana gardeners are a mere 12 weeks away from the last spring frost date. Read your seed packets to see what other seeds need started now and remember seeds of cool season crops such as lettuce, peas, kale and spinach can be direct sown under cover directly in the garden.
Filed under Seed Starting by on Jan 29th, 2010. 175 Comments.
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