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Welcome 2016!  January Plans and Schemes Toplef10Welcome 2016!  January Plans and Schemes 1zd3ho10

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.

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Welcome 2016! January Plans and Schemes

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Post  Scorpio Rising 1/1/2016, 10:38 am

Well, Happy New Year, SFGers! It has been a very interesting year for me. First time to do the All New SFG, back from the 80s version. Honestly, I think it was almost more useful to see what didn't work?! And what I put too much in of, and what got shaded out...the practical end of things.

Cold and clear here. Still no snow. Not that I am complaining, it is just kinda strange!

Plans and schemes? Me: Starting seeds indoors for the first time since the 90s!

What about you guys? Want to hear from EVERYONE from EVERYWHERE!!!! cheers
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Post  trolleydriver 1/1/2016, 12:02 pm

SR .. We are in a similar boat. Last year was my first year with the All New SFG (actually first year with any type of SFG). And I will be starting seeds indoors for the first time in many, many years. I've got some microgreens growing under my new DIY grow light. This morning I set it up on a timer to give 14 hours of light per day.  

All the best to everyone from snowy Ottawa, Canada. In a few weeks, assuming we get enough really cold nights, the city will be opening the largest skating rink in the world on the Rideau Canal. Hope you can come and visit sometime.

https://www.ottawatourism.ca/ottawa-insider/rideau-canal-skateway/
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Post  sanderson 1/1/2016, 2:49 pm

This will be my 4th summer (March will be 3 year anniversary for SFG) so there aren't many new things, just a few tweaks. More HD sun shade, maybe one more new table top (2 x 6), new layer of wood chips in the flower beds and around the veggie beds, oh, and more canning.

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Post  CitizenKate 1/1/2016, 8:03 pm

Funny you should ask, I was thinking about you guys this week...

trolleydriver, I sure wish I could come visit Ottawa when the canal opens for ice skating, what a beautiful scene that must be.

2016 will be my second full season with SFG.  This winter, I'm building irrigation grids for my 4 (out of 5) square foot beds that don't yet have one, and anti-frost/critter/bug/shade cages for the 3 beds that still don't have those.  And building a new and improved grow-light stand for my seedlings.

I actually managed to get everything taken down, cleaned up, put up, and winterized before it got too cold, so - for once! - everything will be ready to go in the spring.

Still deciding on what to grow this year - just got a few more seed catalogs in the mail today.
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Post  littlesapphire 1/1/2016, 8:13 pm

So glad you're going to start your own seeds, Scorpio and Trolley!  It's such a satisfying little hobby, and so satisfying knowing those great big tomato plants started as little seeds in your house on a chilly winter day.

As for me, I'm always trying some new adventure.  This year, I'm trying out my cool new mini greenhouse/raised bed to grow peppers because it's too cold here to grow them out in the open.

Welcome 2016!  January Plans and Schemes Prod003100_alt2_lg

I think it would be great to grow greens after the season is over (or before it starts!), but we'll see how ambitious I get.

I'm also going to try growing more plants in 5 gallon buckets, like potatoes and maybe winter squash.  I'm going to try growing zucchini vertically by training it up a tomato cage. 

Oh, and I'm trying a new variety of raspberry called Double Gold.  Cornell university developed it pretty recently, and it's supposed to be a golden everbearer variety (which means it fruits on first year canes) that's very disease resistant and cold hardy.  The raspberries I have currently are a summer bearer kind (as in, it fruits on two year old canes), and the last two harsh winters have killed the canes down to the ground so I haven't gotten any harvests in a long time.  So with an everbearer, even if the cold kills the canes to the ground, I'll still get a harvest because canes fruit the same year they grow, and they also fruit on them the following year too, so you get two harvests a year!

I'm going to try using an organic granular fertilizer (Epsoma brand) in my garden this year too.  I don't think I have enough animal manure in my homemade compost to actually feed my plants.  Soil tests always tell me my mix is really low on nitrogen.  I may also add a little boron and magnesium to my garden in the form of a small amount of borax and Epsom salt.  I can't grow beets to save my life, and I've read that it might be because my mix is missing those two nutrients.  We'll see!
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Post  Scorpio Rising 1/1/2016, 11:40 pm

I am really excited to start my 2nd SFG year. I want to get my timing down better...late start, no idea of the fall planting starting so early. Really need to pay attention to the seed packets!!!!

I too want to do more containers, and started with garlic.

And improve my composting efforts. My pile is undersized. Sounds kinda sad...lol

Peppers would be nice...also am thinking a cold frame might be the end of the season thing for me....I have a south facing wall with nothing going on. Will see how my new-found construction thing goes.

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Post  AtlantaMarie 1/2/2016, 10:58 am

Still haven't been able to get out to finish cleaning beds... Woke up to 30 degrees this morning & Mike's got plans for me.

But we did get the freezer cleaned out! Yea!!

Since DH gave me stuff to put together a tunnel house, that's the main thing. He's also planning out my greenhouse & some TT's.

I'm thinking strawberries.... but I know some of you have said that it's tough in TT's because it gets cold all the way around... What about putting some of that pink slab insulation under & around the MM? Think that might give it enough warmth in the winter if I make a tunnel for it as well? And put it on the south or east side of the house?
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Post  CitizenKate 1/2/2016, 11:12 am

Scorpio Rising wrote:I want to get my timing down better...late start, no idea of the fall planting starting so early.
I know, same here... I put my lettuce and cabbage out in March, then heard other gardeners in my area already had theirs out in April.  Those leafy greens are amazingly resilient to the cold, considering how delicate they seem.
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Post  CitizenKate 1/2/2016, 11:16 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:I'm thinking strawberries....  but I know some of you have said that it's tough in TT's because it gets cold all the way around...  What about putting some of that pink slab insulation under & around the MM?  Think that might give it enough warmth in the winter if I make a tunnel for it as well?  And put it on the south or east side of the house?
How cold does it get where you are?
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Post  AtlantaMarie 1/2/2016, 11:46 am

Usually not too bad - sometimes around 0, but not too often. But certainly in the 20's or even teens.
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Post  CitizenKate 1/2/2016, 12:37 pm

I think a combination of the insulation underneath your TT and placing it next to a south-facing wall of the house would be more than sufficient in your climate.
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Post  littlesapphire 1/2/2016, 4:13 pm

Marie, I know you'll probably grow different varieties than I do, but my strawberries are ridiculously hardy.  They survived being frozen solid in -20 degree weather the lasts two winters (which is pretty cold for my area), and produced a bumper crop last year.  I think the real problem with having them in a TT would be winter dry out.  If the winds whip them too much, it sucks away the moisture in the plants and the soil, and can kill them from dehydration.  I bet a really good mulch will help, and probably putting them in a spot that will get some precipitation once in a while.
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Post  Kelejan 1/2/2016, 5:13 pm

My two beds of 4x4 are under about eight inches of leaves, probably flattened down by now and under a three-inch blanket of snow, but number one bed survived very last winter and I have no doubt my number two bed will as well.

Looking forward to peeking under the leaves when spring approaches to see the little green leave poking through.
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Post  Scorpio Rising 1/2/2016, 5:21 pm

CitizenKate wrote:
Scorpio Rising wrote:I want to get my timing down better...late start, no idea of the fall planting starting so early.
I know, same here... I put my lettuce and cabbage out in March, then heard other gardeners in my area already had theirs out in April.  Those leafy greens are amazingly resilient to the cold, considering how delicate they seem.

See, I need to get out there as soon as possible and stick some seeds in. Spinach, radish, turnip, kale & lettuce would be a good start, I think. Beets and carrots not too far behind I believe?
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Post  CitizenKate 1/2/2016, 8:38 pm

SR, here's a link that got posted on one of the SFG groups on Facebook to an article about what plants can be sown in winter.  All my beds are frozen now, so I wasn't able to act on it this year, but it's good info to know when you're winterizing your beds.

http://getbusygardening.com/seeds-to-winter-sow/
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Post  Scorpio Rising 1/2/2016, 9:53 pm

Thanks, Kate!

I just got a late start last year, didn't have my boxes filled and moved into place until May, so missed the early spring window. Then it RAINED. RAINED. RAINED. And I became aware of the fact that my compost pile was underwater....whoops!

Yes, it would be fun to stick some of the cold hardy plants in and see what is there...if anything...waiting for me in the Spring, eh? I mean, I have never eaten kohlrabi, but if it grows all winter...honestly, I just don't think anything can grow here over the winter. Survive, maybe. That must be the key. The thing just has to survive, and when it gets a little warmish, it revives!

study
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Post  trolleydriver 1/2/2016, 10:17 pm

There you all go again planting new ideas into my head which is already swimming with new things to try. Now I have to spend time researching and perhaps trying winter sowing. It's just not fair. I only have 24 hours each day and there are just too many things to do.
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Post  Kelejan 1/2/2016, 11:06 pm

trolleydriver wrote:There you all go again planting new ideas into my head which is already swimming with new things to try. Now I have to spend time researching and perhaps trying winter sowing. It's just not fair. I only have 24 hours each day and there are just too many things to do.
Just for you, TD, I will slow down the rotation of the world by a couple of hours a day giving you a twenty-six hour day.

But  wait, that means that the seasons will be shortened by about 8%?

Now I know what they mean by double-entry bookkeeping. Stuff has to balance.
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Post  Scorpio Rising 1/3/2016, 1:21 am

funny post smoke and mirrors; accounting! Lol
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Post  AtlantaMarie 1/3/2016, 8:30 am

Thanks Littlesapphire & CitizenKate! I'll keep those ideas in mind...!!!

CitizenKate - looked at that link. Very clever...!
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Post  Scorpio Rising 1/4/2016, 8:09 pm

OK I have done my initial seed order for the upcoming season...hope I know how to use that drill/driver I got, because I am gonna need some more SFG!

Thoughts, I haven't done seed starting indoors since the 19 year old across from me eating lefto-over ribs & kraut was a newborn.  It was not so great.  Did it in my basement, and the light was bad, too far away, and the plants were leggy and about 1/3 of them "made it".  Eh.

So, I have this theory, some things in our zonish need to be started indoors, and some do not.  Since I got a late start last summer, May 8th first plant out of seeds, the seeds did great!  My tomato transplants did well. Not the peppers.  That and the basil did not do well..

sorry so long....

PLAN:  Direct Sow:  radish, lettuces, kale, spinach, potatoes, squash, carrots, swiss chard, pole beans, peas, turnips

Start under lights:  Tomatoes, peppers, melons, sunflowers,  basil?  I didn't use much last year...what am I missing?

What do I do with the ground cherry seeds? Start indoors like tomatoes?



Last edited by Scorpio Rising on 1/4/2016, 8:27 pm; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : had to feed kid emergently)
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Post  CitizenKate 1/4/2016, 10:36 pm

Last year I pre-sprouted my lettuce seeds in water and got them growing indoors under a grow-light, and that went very well.  I only planted the ones that sprouted in the paper towels, and about 98% of them survived past seedlings.  They were already going pretty good by the time I put them outside in one of the boxes.

If you're thinking of starting some seed indoors, you can't beat a grow-light stand.  I wouldn't buy one from the garden supply places, they are ridiculously expensive.  There are all kinds of plans all over the internet to build them very easily and inexpensively with pvc.
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Post  trolleydriver 1/4/2016, 11:09 pm

CitizenKate wrote:If you're thinking of starting some seed indoors, you can't beat a grow-light stand.  I wouldn't buy one from the garden supply places, they are ridiculously expensive.  There are all kinds of plans all over the internet to build them very easily and inexpensively with pvc.

Like this simple grow light stand I built recently out of plastic pipe ...
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Post  CitizenKate 1/5/2016, 1:05 am

Yes, like yours.  Or like this one...

Welcome 2016!  January Plans and Schemes Seedli10

I later added more levels to this one for more plants.
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Post  sanderson 1/5/2016, 2:20 am

This is my general rule.

If it is a root crop, I direct sow. Carrots, potatoes, parsnips, radish, garlic, onions. I also direct sow beans and peas when the MM is warm enough.

I start everything else by seed indoors.

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