Winter Gardening
 

Hi all,

I know this is a good 6 months out of whack, but I'm in the southern
hemisphere (Santiago, Chile).

I have just moved into a ground floor flat with a small amount of
usuable garden space that I would like to use over the winter (ie
summer). Its North facing (south facing) so it will get a good 10
hours of Sun per day.. when ther is sun... and I am planning to raise
the beds.. probably only be a few inches, but enough to ensure that
water from the winter rains will drain away.

My bed sizes are restrictive. One is 12'x1' against the wall. The
other is 3'x2'. I'm not looking for self-subsistancy... I just find
food more interesting than flowers. Herbs and preservable crops would
be fantastic. I don't think I could eats lettuce as quickly as I could
produce it. ;)

Oh.. and something that a brown thumb like me can't kill.

Rain kicks in around May and continues until August. Temperatures will
vary from below freezing at night to maybe 15C (60F) on a hot winter
day. There are some statistics at
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/clim...e/wsantiag.htm
but I don't know where in the US is comparable.

Of course, if its futile to grow outside for another six months, I can
always have pots indoors. Recomendations for indoor crops also
appreciated.

Any experience appreciated.

Thanks.

Matt

Winter Gardening
 

On 10 Mar 2003 15:46:41 -0800, (Schmuck)
wrote:

I know this is a good 6 months out of whack, but I'm in the southern
hemisphere (Santiago, Chile).

I have just moved into a ground floor flat with a small amount of
usuable garden space that I would like to use over the winter (ie
summer). Its North facing (south facing) so it will get a good 10
hours of Sun per day.. when ther is sun... and I am planning to raise
the beds.. probably only be a few inches, but enough to ensure that
water from the winter rains will drain away.

My bed sizes are restrictive. One is 12'x1' against the wall. The
other is 3'x2'. I'm not looking for self-subsistancy... I just find
food more interesting than flowers. Herbs and preservable crops would
be fantastic. I don't think I could eats lettuce as quickly as I could
produce it. ;)

Oh.. and something that a brown thumb like me can't kill.

Rain kicks in around May and continues until August. Temperatures will
vary from below freezing at night to maybe 15C (60F) on a hot winter
day. There are some statistics at
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/clim...e/wsantiag.htm
but I don't know where in the US is comparable.

Reviewed the temperature chart site, and discarded a long msg. Way too
cool at night to nurture any summer veg I'm familiar with. What are
the normal local crops there? Your domestic situation may provide a
few more degrees of warmth than the advertised "average," but it
appears way too cool for tomatoes, peppers, etc. -- the nomal summer
veg here. Parsley, endlessly useful, might be possible. Beans?
Lettuce, peas, and many opther 'greens' are cool-weather crops,
'though the greens take up a fair amount of space.

I'm really interested in knowing what *are* the common crops there.