Re: Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter

**camprn** 7/24/2014, 6:53 am

For folks in zone 5a
http://awaytogarden.com/what-to-plant-now-for-a-fall-vegetable-garden/

herblover 7/24/2014, 10:51 am

Continuing to succession plant; I can usually keep even tender plants going til late Oct- early Nov depending on the weather. No winter gardening for me though; I don't have a good spot and as much as I love doing it, after the long days of gardening and putting up that being in earnest now til then, I look forward to the break! Wink

**camprn** 7/24/2014, 11:12 am

herblover wrote:Continuing to succession plant; I can usually keep even tender plants going til late Oct- early Nov depending on the weather. No winter gardening for me though; I don't have a good spot and as much as I love doing it, after the long days of gardening and putting up that being in earnest now til then, I look forward to the break!

+1

GWN 7/24/2014, 11:37 am

HEY JIMMIE C...... what a COOL picture Very Happy

I have started to plant my fall garden, and my BIGGEST CHANGE is that I am NOT going away for the month of September GOODNESS SAKES BIG MISTAKE.

Parsnips and broccoli.

Whilst in Oregon I purchased some seed from a www.boondockersfarm.com for a frost resistant tomato called Kent Whetleys frost resistant tomato.
Has anyone else ever tried frost resistant tomatoes?

**sanderson** 9/24/2014, 2:31 pm

How many of you have started your projects? Embarassed

**camprn** 9/24/2014, 6:05 pm

sanderson wrote:How many of you have started your projects?

don't blush, you're busy making compost. What a Face

CapeCoddess 9/24/2014, 7:14 pm

sanderson wrote:How many of you have started your projects?

What projects?

**jimmy cee** 9/24/2014, 7:48 pm

I've given up my garden for the rest of this year.
Just to much else to do and I was wasting so much time just thinking about what I wanted to do, how I wanted to do it, etc.
Hopefully things will settle down by next spring, I am still keeping the compost pile going though, that's one thing that I am able to squeeze in some time..

**Kelejan** 9/25/2014, 12:37 am

I still have a number of things to do before I shut done for the winter snow and ice.
Clear the beds, plant garlic and daffodils, make a plastic covering for the winter bed that has carrots etc in it, finish preparing the ground so that it is ready for when my woodchip order comes in hopefully before it snows. We now have a week of rain showers but I am hoping to be able to do a couple of hours a day.
Maybe we will have an Indian summer?
Although I am loving my gardening venture, I enjoy a few months off in the winter and that really makes me long for spring and ready to go again. Not sure how I could cope with all-year gardening.
I will still have my worms for company. Very Happy

Marc Iverson 9/25/2014, 1:16 am

I still have to transplant some kale and, later, some swiss chard after it grows a bit more. Some of the kale seedlings appear to have drowned overnight, so I may even try to sprout some more seedlings. And also I have purple sprouting broccoli seedlings to transplant.

I have three gardens to clean up. Sooner or later the beans, tomatoes, malabar spinach, basil, and peppers will have to come out. The kale and chard are waiting for their spots where those summer crops are still planted.

I'm almost always on aphid duty lately, and there's always more horse poop to lug about.

CapeCoddess 9/25/2014, 5:19 pm

OK, just found a winter project here:

http://greatist.com/health/best-plants-to-grow-indoors

I'm thinking carrots, chives, leafy greens, tomatoes, garlic greens and ginger.
Very Happy

Marc, when is your first frost date?

CC

**sanderson** 9/25/2014, 9:47 pm

CC, Do you have an enclosed porch or sun room?

**sanderson** 9/25/2014, 10:04 pm

sanderson wrote:1. Potatoes in buckets in the green house. All the potted peppers and tomatoes also in the green house. (4 x 4 foot print, but I'm going to raise the gable roof so I can stand up in the middle. Also, fashion a PVC and plastic door for easier entry.
2. Put Christmas lights and a PVC / plastic frame over the new 2 x 8 TT so I can try to keep growing carrots and greens - kale, chard, bok choy, maybe try lettuce?
3. Trellised Snow peas, again.
4. Put some ground boxes to bed for the winter.
5. Try cabbage, if Audrey will tell me when to plant it to over-winter.
5. Save the fall leaves, again.

This was my list and so far, I'm behind. Well, not on #5 because the leaves haven't turned, yet.

Today, I've been redesigning the PVC frames for the beds and making new ones for the new boxes. Having the 1" PVC tubes/holders secured inside the corners of all the boxes is making it so easy to install/remove frames, and install/remove tulle or plastic. One of the smartest things I have done regarding the boxes! Very Happy

All of the boxes (except one) are 2 feet wide so any upright, cross brace or gable I grab will work in any box. bounce

The ridge poles will be cut for 2', 3' or 4' boxes, so easy to tell apart.

The weather turned chilly tonight. Must speed things up.

Marc Iverson 9/25/2014, 10:30 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:
Marc, when is your first frost date?

CC

Depending on who you ask and where you look, anywhere from October 15 to 26.

audrey.jeanne.roberts 9/25/2014, 11:20 pm

1. First thing is this year I'm taking plants out ahead of the first frost. I had a massive mess on my hands when it hit last year and tons of green tomatoes, much more than I could ever use. So I'm removing the plants that have no chance of producing between now and mid-November (our earliest frost date)

2. A massive Berkeley method compost pile that will be ready by the end of October.

3. Starting more seedlings this week. Our summer went so long that a bunch of my lettuce went bitter that was supposed to be my fall crop so I'll replant.

4. Cleaning up my greenhouse plants. Deciding what I'm going to pull and what I want to plant for winter harvesting. The important thing is I have all of my salsa ingredients growing in there, LOL!

5. We have to set up some shelving in the greenhouse, I used straw bales last winter but I've used most of them up for mulch.

6. I've planted 2 Snow Fairy tomatoes in the greenhouse. They are supposed to handle cold down to 28 degrees if frost doesn't touch their leaves, so they should thrive in it. I also planted a Mexican Zucchini, we'll see if I can keep it producing into late fall at least. I also have massive Spaghetti squash in there, not sure it will be warm enough so we'll see!

My gardens are just one giant experiment, LOL!

Marc Iverson 9/26/2014, 1:31 am

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:1. First thing is this year I'm taking plants out ahead of the first frost. I had a massive mess on my hands when it hit last year and tons of green tomatoes, much more than I could ever use.

Must be wonderful to have so many! Hard to picture there being more than a person could use, as they cook down so much, and some could just ripen slowly on the countertops. Then again, I can eat tomatoes in prodigious quantity.

6. I've planted 2 Snow Fairy tomatoes in the greenhouse. They are supposed to handle cold down to 28 degrees if frost doesn't touch their leaves, so they should thrive in it.

"Thrive" is an interesting word there. If they overwinter successfully and you get extra-early tomatoes in the spring, that would be fantastic. But I'm more curious about how long they'll produce for you in the upcoming couple/few months.

My gardens are just one giant experiment, LOL!

I like those much better when I'm the one doing the experimenting on the garden rather than when the garden gets its own agenda and ideas and I just have to scramble to keep up.

audrey.jeanne.roberts 9/26/2014, 1:00 pm

Marc;
I had tomatoes all winter long last year and they weren't any special varieties. I think I finally ran out of fresh tomatoes in April, just as the new crop was getting started.

My cherry tomatoes had been planted in the late summer, early fall and began to produce right away. I had enough for salads every day or two. It was really nice!

Those were under my second cover with my little heater when it got the coldest. The snow fairy toms should be able to be in the rest of my uncovered space and only be covered during the coldest temps. We usually only get down to mid-20s, last year we got to 22 degrees.

Marc Iverson 9/26/2014, 2:02 pm

All winter? Really nice. Tomatoes all winter is a reason for a greenhouse all by itself.

How cold did it get in your greenhouse when the tomatoes were still producing?

audrey.jeanne.roberts 9/26/2014, 4:29 pm

Marc Iverson wrote:All winter? Really nice. Tomatoes all winter is a reason for a greenhouse all by itself.

How cold did it get in your greenhouse when the tomatoes were still producing?

22 degrees - but they were covered under my survival blankets with a small thermostatically controlled heater set on its lowest setting so it would have been maybe 45-50 degrees? The heater doesn't tell you what its thermostat is set at, but it only comes on 1-2 minutes every couple of hours with the survival blanket greenhouse inside a greenhouse effect.

**sanderson** 9/27/2014, 1:14 am

Almost finished making the new frames for covers.
Last year: (someone called them handicap rails)
Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Frames10

Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Frames10

New design, for winter cabbage:
Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Frames11

2' x 8' long box, for winter greens:
Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Frames12

The squash boxes are being put to bed, no need for height:
Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Frames13

**AtlantaMarie** 9/27/2014, 7:52 am

Those look great, Sanderson! Need to do that myself...

CapeCoddess 9/27/2014, 9:06 am

sanderson wrote:CC, Do you have an enclosed porch or sun room?

Nice frames! Well done!
Yes, I have a southwest facing box bay window for winter gardening and then seed starting. It has a tiled floor for warmth and I can cover the opening with plastic when/if needed.
Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Procsimple?imageID=0plsDJxnMe6iLdKlRxMJZabshH4GA31zKAypxjYXCvqkqc2pCr2aDde2FlA.FlrL0X8CXp5O0I-Gaoon1bvitoB&rotation=0&cropll=0.0,0.0&cropur=1.0,1.0&effect=Auto&DATA=v4bG2D3AgoHnfBpP9sKxF7a5CPyo4dHffexvgpwPE3-2.C7yBIiRIIT2mV7Aq6F

Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Procsimple?imageID=0plsDJxnMe6iLdKlRxMJZabshH4GA31zKAypxjYXCvqkqc2pCr2aDde2FlA.FlrL0X8CXp5O0I-Gaoon1bvitoB&rotation=0&cropll=0.0,0.0&cropur=1.0,1.0&effect=Auto&DATA=v4bG2D3AgoHnfBpP9sKxF7a5CPyo4dHffexvgpwPE3-2.C7yBIiRIIT2mV7Aq6F

CC

**jimmy cee** 9/27/2014, 9:40 am

Sanderson, I like your frame work so much I am going to change mine to copy yours...great job
Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Row_co13

Marc Iverson 9/27/2014, 1:17 pm

Looks very nice, sanderson!

**sanderson** 9/27/2014, 1:41 pm

Thank you, everyone. I should have mentioned that I will run twine from one gable point to the other so the ridge poles don't come out when it's windy. Like I did with the green house last winter, only with the green house the twine ran in all directions. I don't glue anything.:
. Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Hot_ho10

Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Hot_ho10

Covered, they should look something like this:
Looking ahead towards Fall/Winter - Page 2 Hot_ho11

When the bed frames and covers are finished (today?) I will remodel the green house just a bit so I can have a door on one gable end and it will be a tad higher for easier entrance.

Sponsored content


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.