Re: Third Year SFG in Canada

**AtlantaMarie** 1/28/2017, 7:01 am

Hi P14shooter! (insert waving emoticon here....) Glad to see you!

**trolleydriver** 1/29/2017, 10:11 pm

My Baker Creek order is now in the hands of the USPS. It arrived in Chicago and is inching its way toward the Canadian border. Very Happy

**sanderson** 1/31/2017, 5:04 am

TD, The seeds will have sprouted by the time you get them! Wink

P14shooter, Hi there happy hi

**trolleydriver** 1/31/2017, 1:30 pm

sanderson wrote:TD, The seeds will have sprouted by the time you get them!

Good one sanderson! And there is still no sign of my seeds from Baker Creek nor from Veseys Seeds.

Mrs TD and I were in our local Canadian Tire department store today and my eyes lit up when I saw the following display of seeds.
Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 IMG_20170131_114811_zpsggylolbg

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 IMG_20170131_114811_zpsggylolbg

I couldn't resist. I bought a packet of Okra and a packet of Purple Coneflower (for Mrs TD). I've never grown Okra and last year I could not find seeds on the local stores.
Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 IMG_20170131_131754_zpscvz7ogzq

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 IMG_20170131_131754_zpscvz7ogzq

**trolleydriver** 1/31/2017, 6:06 pm

Here are some of the containers I have gathered for Winter Sowing. This evening is garbage set out night for city pickup in the morning ... I wonder how it would go over with Mrs TD if I went "dumpster diving" in the neighborhood to find more containers?

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170131_175052_zpsswkauj1k

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170131_175052_zpsswkauj1k

**trolleydriver** 1/31/2017, 11:43 pm

My Baker Creek seeds have arrived at Canada Customs. Smile

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 Captur14

**sanderson** 2/1/2017, 1:12 am

Mrs. TD must be a saint! Dumpster diving. Razz

You have quite a collection going.

**trolleydriver** 2/1/2017, 12:23 pm

I made a simple planning template. I have 4 ANSFG beds and 2 old style SFG beds ... all 4x4s. I also have a 2x4 table Top. So it made sense to set up a 4x4 template. I labelled the columns and rows so that individual squares can be cross-referenced if necessary in other notes (e.g., Bed 1 Square B3 would be 1B3). The template was made in PowerPoint.

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 SFG%20Plan%20-%20Template_zpsbdbw8wso

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 SFG%20Plan%20-%20Template_zpsbdbw8wso

**trolleydriver** 2/2/2017, 2:33 pm

Happy dance day ...

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 Thhappyfeet

My order from Baker Creek arrived. Seven of the packets in the photo are for my daughter. Even so, it looks like I will need a major expansion of my garden this year.
Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170202_135245_zpsg1xmjpsl

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170202_135245_zpsg1xmjpsl

**sanderson** 2/3/2017, 1:39 pm

Nice template plan and really nice seed order. I love Canada crookneck. The neck is all meat and easy to prepare.

**trolleydriver** 2/4/2017, 1:54 pm

Getting myself geared up to try some Winter Sowing. I'll need to use my snow blower to make a path to the location in the backyard where I will place the containers.

Based on what I have read on a website, for my zone some of the things I can winter sow in February are Basil, Broccoli, Kale, Onions, Spinach, Swiss Chard and Thyme. I'll throw some Leeks in there as well.

I also need to get some leeks and onions started indoors but based on my last frost date I can afford to wait another week or two.

countrynaturals 2/4/2017, 3:17 pm

trolleydriver wrote:Getting myself geared up to try some Winter Sowing. I'll need to use my snow blower to make a path to the location in the backyard where I will place the containers.

Based on what I have read on a website, for my zone some of the things I can winter sow in February are Basil, Broccoli, Kale, Onions, Spinach, Swiss Chard and Thyme. I'll throw some Leeks in there as well.

I also need to get some leeks and onions started indoors but based on my last frost date I can afford to wait another week or two.

Basil? Kewl! I'll add that to my list for next week when the sun finally comes out. Cool

**Scorpio Rising** 2/4/2017, 4:14 pm

TD, I had great success with King of the North peppers last year! They were delicious and productive! I could have sent you some patty pans, I have both white and green scallops. I love them!

Looks like a good plan, I too need at least a 3x9...sick of the deep reach into the 4x4. But all good!

flower

OK, basil? REALLY??!!!!??? bounce

**trolleydriver** 2/4/2017, 4:30 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote:... Looks like a good plan, I too need at least a 3x9...sick of the deep reach into the 4x4.
...

Yes, I find the 4x4 a bit of a stretch at times. I'm thinking of going 3 or maybe 2 feet across in the future, assuming I build more SFG beds.

**Scorpio Rising** 2/4/2017, 4:36 pm

trolleydriver wrote:
Scorpio Rising wrote:... Looks like a good plan, I too need at least a 3x9...sick of the deep reach into the 4x4.
...

Yes, I find the 4x4 a bit of a stretch at times. I'm thinking of going 3 or maybe 2 feet across in the future, assuming I build more SFG beds.

My old repurposed window boxes are my ideal dimensions believe it or not! Almost got tossed! They are 18" x either 6, 8, or 10 feet in length, and 12" deep. They are still holding together! Yay! But yeah, I am planning a 3x for this year.

**trolleydriver** 2/4/2017, 4:57 pm

Concerning Basil for Winter Sowing. I don't think that is going to work even though the website owner had it on the list. Seems to me that Basil is very sensitive to cool temperatures. I think I'll start my Basil indoors.

**trolleydriver** 2/4/2017, 6:38 pm

I made up five containers for Winter Sowing. They contain Broccoli (Sun King), Onion (White Sweet Spanish), Swiss Chard (Fordhook Giant), Kohlrabi (Early White Vienna), and Purple Coneflower. I find it somewhat time consuming to prepare the conatainers ... making drainage holes in the bottom, cutting in half, adding potting mix, watering, sowing seeds, taping the two halves together, labeling.

Here they are ready to go outside.
Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170204_164111_zps5iw9ppge

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170204_164111_zps5iw9ppge

Shivering in the snow.
Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170204_164709_zps4xgwq4hj

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 20170204_164727_zpsydl0fzrz

**trolleydriver** 2/7/2017, 12:32 pm

I just received part of my order from Veseys Seeds in Prince Edward island.

I got

Tomato - Sweet Million (for my daughter)
Alyssum - Clear Crystal Mix (for Mrs TD)
Dusty Miller - Silverdust (for Mrs TD)
Zinnia Collection - Profusion Cherry, Pompom, Benary's Giant and Sunburst Mix (for Mrs TD and for me ... I'll put some in the SFG)

On backorder are

Melon - Cucamelon
Echinacea - Pow Wow wild Berry

On another subject ... onions. My onion seeds are a year old. I know they do not last long so maybe I should purchase some fresh seeds.

CapeCoddess 2/7/2017, 12:53 pm

It'll be fun to see how the winter sowing does, TD. A lot of us have talked about it over the years but I don't remember anyone actually doing it or showing photos of it to completion.

I wouldn't worry about your year old onions. Molly from the NE threads planted really old ones, like 4 yrs, a couple yrs ago and had good luck. Sure opened MY eyes.
What a Face

Found it! It's from NE March 2015:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t19081p25-new-england-march-2015#216583

"CC, my "youngest" seeds say "packaged for 2013", which would be two growing seasons ago, now. (North Holland Blood Red & Jaune Paille Des Vertus)

My "oldest" seeds were packaged for 2009 (Utah Sweet Spanish).

Then the rest are for 2012, of which one was the first to germinate (Southport White Globe) and one was the last (Brunswick). The other variety from that year is somewhere towards the latter/midddle (Red Cipollini) That being said, Brunswick had just as poor a germination rate when they were "fresh" two seasons ago as they do this time around. I remember having to sow them twice that year.

My conclusion: the seed marketing gurus are just trying to scare us into buying new seeds. Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 950477

Third Year SFG in Canada - Page 2 950477

"

**trolleydriver** 2/7/2017, 1:38 pm

Thanks CC.

I'll be doing more Winter Sowing soon ... gotta wait for the ice storm to pass through tonight.

Good advice concerning the old onion seeds. They are worth a try both indoors and winter sowing. If the seeds don't work I'll just buy onion sets in the Spring. I planted some multiplier onions from sets last year.

**sanderson** 2/9/2017, 2:24 pm

TD, Keep us posted.

**trolleydriver** 2/13/2017, 11:19 pm

The Winter Sowing containers I placed outside a few days ago are now totally buried in snow. I'll be putting more out this week.

**trolleydriver** 2/14/2017, 4:45 pm

OK so this is getting downright crazy. My seed buying addiction got the better of me today. We were in the dollar store and they had seed packets at 3 for $1. I bought Parsnip (Hollow Crown Improved), Spinach (Long Standing Bloomsdale), Sunflower (Autumn Beauty), Marigold (Cracker Jack), Stocks (Night Scented Matthiola), Flower Garden (Old Fashioned Mixed Annual). The packages are marked 99c each but they rang up on the cash register as 3 for $1. The seeds come from a well known Canadian supplier ... McKenizie in Brandon, Manitoba. I don't think you get as many seeds as in their regular packets but that's alright.

BeetlesPerSqFt 2/14/2017, 5:09 pm

trolleydriver wrote:OK so this is getting downright crazy. My seed buying addiction got the better of me today. We were in the dollar store and they had seed packets at 3 for $1. I bought Parsnip (Hollow Crown Improved), Spinach (Long Standing Bloomsdale), Sunflower (Autumn Beauty), Marigold (Cracker Jack), Stocks (Night Scented Matthiola), Flower Garden (Old Fashioned Mixed Annual). The packages are marked 99c each but they rang up on the cash register as 3 for $1. The seeds come from a well known Canadian supplier ... McKenizie in Brandon, Manitoba. I don't think you get as many seeds as in their regular packets but that's alright.

I wouldn't have done a good job controlling myself under those circumstances!

**trolleydriver** 2/15/2017, 4:22 pm

Just received my backorder of seeds from Veseys Seeds in Prince Edward Island. They are Cucamelon and Echinacea (PowWow Wild Berry).

Oh my oh my ... so many different seeds! I don't have anywhere near growing space.

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