Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil? (For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers).

I'm thinking the southern United States somewhere, but I don't know.

Thanks!
Connie

I'll toss in Hawaii. The rich broken down volcanic soil sustains a
multitude of plant life pretty much all year round. Of course the plantings
are tropical and sub-tropical in nature. And there are definitely seasonal
fruits. But as long growing seasons go, Hawaii is tough to beat.

The problem, of course, is that the larger markets are like 2,400 miles
away. And land/water is not as plentiful as here on the Mainland.

"Boxwood" wrote in message
ups.com...
Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil? (For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers).

I'm thinking the southern United States somewhere, but I don't know.

Thanks!
Connie

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 09:11:12 GMT, "Lawrence Akutagawa"
wrote:

I'll toss in Hawaii. The rich broken down volcanic soil sustains a
multitude of plant life pretty much all year round. Of course the plantings
are tropical and sub-tropical in nature. And there are definitely seasonal
fruits. But as long growing seasons go, Hawaii is tough to beat.

The problem, of course, is that the larger markets are like 2,400 miles
away. And land/water is not as plentiful as here on the Mainland.

what commercial crops are grown there now? Seems I heard they did
away with sugar and pineapple, that was the big things when I lived
there.

A google of hawaiian pineapple brought up a dozen companies that grow
and sell pineapple in the Hawaiian Islands.

Charles wrote:
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 09:11:12 GMT, "Lawrence Akutagawa"
wrote:


I'll toss in Hawaii. The rich broken down volcanic soil sustains a
multitude of plant life pretty much all year round. Of course the plantings
are tropical and sub-tropical in nature. And there are definitely seasonal
fruits. But as long growing seasons go, Hawaii is tough to beat.

The problem, of course, is that the larger markets are like 2,400 miles
away. And land/water is not as plentiful as here on the Mainland.


what commercial crops are grown there now? Seems I heard they did
away with sugar and pineapple, that was the big things when I lived
there.

--
J. Kolenovsky, 2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
ô¿ô - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - environmental resource
ô¿ô - http://www.peakoil.org and http://www.endofsuburbia.com -
start becoming attuned to the "new lifestyle" ahead of you
ô¿ô - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

In regard to sugar, Hawaii's sugar industry under stress - Hawaiian
sugar cane acreage and production decreases to 26% of U.S. cane
production, down from 38% in 1975 - U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Foreign
Agricultural Service report

Charles wrote:
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 09:11:12 GMT, "Lawrence Akutagawa"
wrote:


I'll toss in Hawaii. The rich broken down volcanic soil sustains a
multitude of plant life pretty much all year round. Of course the plantings
are tropical and sub-tropical in nature. And there are definitely seasonal
fruits. But as long growing seasons go, Hawaii is tough to beat.

The problem, of course, is that the larger markets are like 2,400 miles
away. And land/water is not as plentiful as here on the Mainland.


what commercial crops are grown there now? Seems I heard they did
away with sugar and pineapple, that was the big things when I lived
there.

--
J. Kolenovsky, 2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
ô¿ô - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - environmental resource
ô¿ô - http://www.peakoil.org and http://www.endofsuburbia.com -
start becoming attuned to the "new lifestyle" ahead of you
ô¿ô - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

Hard to believe, but we visited Alaska and they were growing some of the
biggest vegetables there I have ever seen.

Boxwood wrote:
Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil? (For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers).

I'm thinking the southern United States somewhere, but I don't know.

Thanks!
Connie

"Boxwood" wrote in message
ups.com...
Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced
gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil?
(For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers).

I've traveled all over the US except Hawaii and the place I've
consistency seen truck farming year around is western Oregon.

Tom J

"Boxwood" wrote:

Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil? (For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers).

I'm thinking the southern United States somewhere, but I don't know.

Actually, contrary to conventional wisdom, it is the Matanuska Valley in
Alaska near Palmer. The reason being that they have a short summer, but
the sun shines 24-hours a day during this short summer. They pride
themselves in the huge vegetable and flowers they can grow, some of the
largest in the world.

The University of Alaska has a campus there and the University of Alaska
has an agricultural and forestry experiment station there. The valley is
renowned for the annual Alaska State Fair, where local farmers produce
award winning vegetables. Best known are the incredibly large vegetables
grown in the almost constant summer sunlight, including 75 pound
cabbages, ten pound onions and 125 pound pumpkins.

Check out:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../MNGANDJFVM1.D
TL

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

On 6 Jan 2006 10:06:08 -0800, "Boxwood" wrote:

Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil? (For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers).

I'm thinking the southern United States somewhere, but I don't know.

Thanks!
Connie

Some interesting replies.

"Overall" is a flexible concept, methinks.

The question could be asked WHICH "vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers".

For example, here in So. Calif coastal I grow things all year,
but different things, depending if it's our "winter" with its shorter
days, or our summer, with its longer days and somewhat more heat.
This year -- global warming?? -- it has been in the 70's and 80's
in January!

We can't grow crops that require winter chill, like apples [1] and
blueberries [2]. So the same might apply to Hawaii, which probably
has the most lush, tropical growing climate. They can grow some
things that Alaska [3] can't, but not crops that require winter
chill.

As to soil, depends on whether it's naturally good or has to be
modified. Soil in So. Calif is "naturally" adobe, but can be, and
in my case has been, modified to yield great crops. The people I
bought the house from had diligently modified the soil, so all I had
to do was carry on.

[1] Amazingly, I have friends that live 10 miles inland where it
can get hot, but they have an apple tree that yields the most
delicious, huge apples. Go figure.

[2] Didn't they develop a strain of blueberries that *can* be
grown in a mild Mediterranean climate such as So. Calif coastal,
where there is no frost or winter chill? (Though there can be frost
in the inland valleys, I hear.)

[3] Alaska's very short growing season is balanced by 24-hour
sunshine. I remember my first visit to Anchorage, where I was
blown away by the huge flower baskets suspending from the
utility poles.

Persephone

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 11:02:15 -0800, Persephone wrote:

On 6 Jan 2006 10:06:08 -0800, "Boxwood" wrote:

Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil? (For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers).

I'm thinking the southern United States somewhere, but I don't know.

Thanks!
Connie

Some interesting replies.

"Overall" is a flexible concept, methinks.

The question could be asked WHICH "vegetables, fruit trees and
flowers".

For example, here in So. Calif coastal I grow things all year,
but different things, depending if it's our "winter" with its shorter
days, or our summer, with its longer days and somewhat more heat.
This year -- global warming?? -- it has been in the 70's and 80's
in January!

We can't grow crops that require winter chill, like apples [1] and
blueberries [2]. So the same might apply to Hawaii, which probably
has the most lush, tropical growing climate. They can grow some
things that Alaska [3] can't, but not crops that require winter
chill.

As to soil, depends on whether it's naturally good or has to be
modified. Soil in So. Calif is "naturally" adobe, but can be, and
in my case has been, modified to yield great crops. The people I
bought the house from had diligently modified the soil, so all I had
to do was carry on.

[1] Amazingly, I have friends that live 10 miles inland where it
can get hot, but they have an apple tree that yields the most
delicious, huge apples. Go figure.

[2] Didn't they develop a strain of blueberries that *can* be
grown in a mild Mediterranean climate such as So. Calif coastal,
where there is no frost or winter chill? (Though there can be frost
in the inland valleys, I hear.)

[3] Alaska's very short growing season is balanced by 24-hour
sunshine. I remember my first visit to Anchorage, where I was
blown away by the huge flower baskets suspending from the
utility poles.

Persephone


want apples? try "Dorset Golden." I've seen them grown to excelent
characteristics, mine aren't that good, but I don't care for them
properly. A very tasty, no-chill fruit.

"Stephen Henning" wrote in message
news
"Boxwood" wrote:

Out of curiousity, among those who are the more experienced
gardeners,
where, would you say, in the United States, will you find the place
that as, overall, the longest growing season and the best soil?
(For
what we used to call "truck" gardening - vegetables, fruit trees
and
flowers).

I'm thinking the southern United States somewhere, but I don't
know.

Actually, contrary to conventional wisdom, it is the Matanuska
Valley in
Alaska near Palmer.

Look at the title of the thread "best, LONGEST growing season in US.
Palmer wouldn't come close to qualifying, besides, the developers are
buying up the best farm land and covering it with buildings. The
actual *sun* shining hours are nearer 20 hours a day in summer,
although it never gets dark. Most of the crop there is now irish
potatoes.

Tom J