This summer I kind of fell behind (Not planting tomatoes in protected area ahead of time etc.) I want to learn from my mistake and get ahead of fall/ winter gardening. I was hoping some of you would have some advice on that.
Thanks ahead of time!
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rainbowgardener
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- Location: TN/GA 7b
Can't answer that question without knowing where you are. I did a search through your posts and found that you are in North Carolina, most people wouldn't take the trouble. It helps if you change your profile, so that your general location and especially cold hardiness zone shows under your screen name as mine does. I looked and NC covers from zone 5b to 8b, which is a very big range, from cold snowy winters to hardly any winter ...
In terms of fall winter garden planning the main thing to know is your average last frost date. If you don't know it, you can find it here: https://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/#b
Usually only people in places like TX have to plant tomatoes in protected areas. They are full sun plants ....
In terms of fall winter garden planning the main thing to know is your average last frost date. If you don't know it, you can find it here: https://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/#b
Usually only people in places like TX have to plant tomatoes in protected areas. They are full sun plants ....
Rainbow gardener, I'm glad you mentioned that about my location. I honestly assumed it was up there like everybody else's. And that's a good link, thanks for sharing. My 7b zone has an estimated frost risk after october 16th, but where I'm located I usually have a week or three room for error. And about the tomatoes in a protected area, I meant preparing transplants indoors or in a greenhouse.
And Jal, I haven't dabbled with that. I always assumed the price of a garden store plant was the same as a pack of seeds. But I have no experience in it.
And I wasn't really clear about my post. I know now that planting peas, kale, other leafy greens will prosper in the fall but are there other plants you can recomend that I can go ahead and plant now that will do well in the fall and hopefully keep trucking into the first few frosts?
And Jal, I haven't dabbled with that. I always assumed the price of a garden store plant was the same as a pack of seeds. But I have no experience in it.
And I wasn't really clear about my post. I know now that planting peas, kale, other leafy greens will prosper in the fall but are there other plants you can recomend that I can go ahead and plant now that will do well in the fall and hopefully keep trucking into the first few frosts?
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rainbowgardener
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Like me, you have a long growing season. Right now you can still plant beans, carrots, corn, cucumber.
Then in August - September you can start planting cool weather stuff: beets and chard, garlic, potatoes, broccoli, with lettuce and spinach in September.
I like to do a late planting of broccoli and spinach in mid October to over winter. They are extremely cold hardy. I used to plant them that way when I was in zone 6a and they would survive snow and ice and whatever. They will go dormant for awhile but start growing again in late winter. It gives them a big head start over the spring planted stuff.
Then in August - September you can start planting cool weather stuff: beets and chard, garlic, potatoes, broccoli, with lettuce and spinach in September.
I like to do a late planting of broccoli and spinach in mid October to over winter. They are extremely cold hardy. I used to plant them that way when I was in zone 6a and they would survive snow and ice and whatever. They will go dormant for awhile but start growing again in late winter. It gives them a big head start over the spring planted stuff.
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rainbowgardener
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jal_ut
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Here we get last part of May, June, July, and August, but by first week of September we will get frozen out. Somewhere around 120 days frost free. +/- Then you get those freak summer storms that leave with cold behind them. One year we got froze on the 5th of July after being 90 degrees for the parade on the 4th. So we just plant and hope. Some years we make it, some years we don't. We play the game and accept the risks.
Rainbowgardener, thanks for the recomendations. That's some good additions to what I already know. I'm definitely gonna get the ball rolling on some carrots and potatoes cause I thought I missed out on them. And I have a some cucumber vines that seem to keep climbing what I thought was a humourously overkill large trellis but I'm happily wrong as the plants are really taking over. Do they keep on keeping on like indeterminate tomatoes or would I need to start some new ones to keep harvesting? And what is your idea of a little protection?
And Jal, that's very interesting. I never put much thought into the climate over there but my (ignorant) idea has been it's a desert and I always thought hot. And 5,000 elevation is crazy to me. The highest elevation east of the Mississippi is here and it's only slightly higher than that at 6,684.
And Jal, that's very interesting. I never put much thought into the climate over there but my (ignorant) idea has been it's a desert and I always thought hot. And 5,000 elevation is crazy to me. The highest elevation east of the Mississippi is here and it's only slightly higher than that at 6,684.