Early

So, is the idea is to get an early start on spring gardens by starting seeds indoors, then transplanting when appropriate when soil is workable in the SFG?

Some folks do this. I do, but some things I just buy at the local mom and pop nursery. Last year I got my eggplant plants from them. Those plants were so much healthier than the ones I started.
Another thing I consider is this... I know that I am not going to be planting 50 broccoli plants, so I am opting to just get them already started locally. same with the eggplants this year. But I am starting my tomatoes because there are certain varieties that I want that I cannot get at the local green house.

sorry, I hit new topic instead of reply on my previous thread.

Thanks for the info...I think I'll try a few early items (peas, lettuce, spinach) and just be prepared for some wacky weather. I'm not set up to protect early plants right now so maybe I can start that project this weekend.

landarch, Gardeners start their seeds inside for a few different reasons:

1) The idea in many cases is just that the season is too short for worthwhile production if you grow them from sowing seeds directly outdoors when the soil gets warm enough, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and so on.

2) For cool-weather crops you start the seeds indoors early to get your transplants out and growing before the heat arrives and kills them. Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, etc don't like the heat of summer and in many cases will stop growing.

3) And sometimes just to try to get an earlier crop than is normal.

Another good reason is to have transplants ready to fill harvested squares. You can really boost your harvests that way.

I'll be starting my plants indoors because my outside season is only 12 weeks... We can still get snow the first week in June and get it again by the first week in September... No time for me to sow stuff outside...

Aran

Wow, Aran! That's some intense gardening situation. Good luck!

For me, I start seeds indoors because I like knowing that I'm self reliant and I can grow my own vegetables if I want to. There are SO many varieties that aren't available from the nurseries, too. Also, around here, the nurseries don't open until AFTER you're supposed to plant your broccoli or cabbage outside, and don't usually have actual vegetables available for another month.

In many areas, you can't get transplants for fall gardens either. I realize it is not a matter of starting early, but starting your own seeds indoors may determine if you can even have a fall garden.

is the season in Northern New York (St Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton Counties) and similar latitudes in VT, NH & ME, and probably MN west as well.

Anyway, that may be why my mother made mustard pickles in a 30 gal pot. It was the only way we got tomatoes back in the day.

tomperrin wrote:is the season in Northern New York (St Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton Counties) and similar latitudes in VT, NH & ME, and probably MN west as well.

Anyway, that may be why my mother made mustard pickles in a 30 gal pot. It was the only way we got tomatoes back in the day.

Ooh!? Mustard Pickles... is there a recipe around for those?

My mother kept everything in her head, and so her mustard pickle recipe died with her. She grew up on a fruit farm in Ulster County, NY, but her parents had roots in Quaker and Mennonite families from NY & PA. So here are a few recipes that look similar to what I remember as a child 50-60 years ago. I do remember that Mom's mustard sauce was thick, not watery, and that she used whole allspice.

A word of caution: these are old recipes. I believe that the modern practice might be NOT to dilute the vinegar solution. But I don't have a source for that.

The first two are from the Pennsylvania State Grange Cookbook, 1972.





This one is from the Mennonite Community Cookbook, by Mary Emma Showalter, 1950.







Last year I never had a sufficient number of green tomatoes to try out any of these recipes, as we were picking ripe tomatoes well into October. What few green ones I had ended up in the compost pile.

If anybody uses these recipes in whole or in part, I hope you will let us know how they came out.

T.