How do people cope with growing veg throughout the season? Do people
generally fall back on their experience and just _know_ when to plant,
what to plant where etc. or does anyone have a fantastic
planning/notation method for getting it all down on paper?

Just curious - as a beginner and a sieve head I'm thiking I could do
with some careful planning on paper and lots of reading through veg
books and then a dedicated calendar or something to remind me when I
need to do things.

I've only got a couple of years experience under my belt - but they
were pretty successful, although fairly limited in variety and most
stuff was all ready at the same time. Next year... sorry THIS year I'd
rather avoid having to freeze 8 kilos of green beans in one go!
thanks in advance for any help.

--
Steve F

On 7 Jan 2005 09:55:07 -0800, "Fitz"
wrote:

most stuff was all ready at the same time. Next year... sorry THIS year I'd
rather avoid having to freeze 8 kilos of green beans in one go!
thanks in advance for any help.

Having learned that lesson, you're halfway there. With crops that
don't hold in good condition for very long - you've mostly sussed them
out, you do regular *small* successional sowings through the span of
the sowing period you're given on the packet. For remembering sowing
dates I have a box, usually the one Marshalls sent the seeds in and
make a dozen cardboard dividers - one for each month and 'file' the
packets by approximate sowing date. Sown some radishes, want some a
couple of weeks later? - put the packet back about halfway through
this month's seeds. All you need to remember is to look at your seed
box from time to time. Also - keep a diary, note what worked and what
didn't and when. But remember when you come to next year, use the
diary as a rough guide only because next year is not going to be the
same as this year or any other year.



=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

On 1/7/05 9:55 AM, in article
, "Fitz"
wrote:

How do people cope with growing veg throughout the season? Do people
generally fall back on their experience and just _know_ when to plant,
what to plant where etc. or does anyone have a fantastic
planning/notation method for getting it all down on paper?

Just curious - as a beginner and a sieve head I'm thiking I could do
with some careful planning on paper and lots of reading through veg
books and then a dedicated calendar or something to remind me when I
need to do things.

I've only got a couple of years experience under my belt - but they
were pretty successful, although fairly limited in variety and most
stuff was all ready at the same time. Next year... sorry THIS year I'd
rather avoid having to freeze 8 kilos of green beans in one go!
thanks in advance for any help.
I too have a similar problem. When I plant I traditionally want it all done
NOW! This of course means that everything will be ready at the same time. I
have had to force myself to plant half or a third of a row at a time,
planting every two weeks or so.
At the same time I like to grow lots and freeze the extra so that I can
enjoy the great taste all winter long.
In the case of your beans or when a vegetable is ready all at the same time
and the excess has to be frozen, I use a one litre + - size bag. As the
beans freeze I disturb the veggies in the bag so that they don't freeze in a
'clump'. The one litre size bag, in my case, will be enough for about two
meals.
Where do you live? I know of a local seed company that has planting time
info in their catalogue. It may not be applicable in your neck of the woods.
Gary

In article . com, Fitz
writes

I've only got a couple of years experience under my belt - but they
were pretty successful, although fairly limited in variety and most
stuff was all ready at the same time. Next year... sorry THIS year I'd
rather avoid having to freeze 8 kilos of green beans in one go!
thanks in advance for any help.

Well, IME everything has to be done in May ;-) Except broad beans which
are earlier.

In practice, I sort the packets into order of planting and put rubber
bands round the bundle for each month.

To get round the 8kg of beans problem, try successional planting - plant
half the packet, then plant the other half a week or two later.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Hi there! If you are using seeds they are normally started in the house 6
weeks before the 'frost date'. Our frost date here in norther Illinois is
May 15th however, there have been light frost in early June. We have a short
growing season. The 'envelope or card' the seeds come in should have all the
information that you need. I grow my tomatoes (I buy them from the nursery)
in the sunny south side next to my house which also has a concrete basement
and they thrive in the warm soil. Tomatoes will not start until the ground
is warm. Most everything I grow is bought from a nursery. Which mean that
is was grown in a field that used pestisides, and all the nasty stuff.
Unless you can find a organic site to buy from you are probably going to
either use seed (check with the manufacturer for a MSDS (Material Safety
Data Sheet now!) Seed are also full of pestisides)
I like my beans (scarlet runner that get pretty flowers) in a hanging basket
(make sure you give your plants a lot of water.) Cucumbers and tomatoes can
also grow in a baskets. No as many pests, like moles, field mice and
chipmonks! I would look up Burpee Seeds. They have the best seeds and cost
somewhat more but you won't be disapponted. Look in your favorite nursery
for help and also books. The books may be a bit expensive but you will use
them year to year. Should have one on perrenials shade/sun and bushes.
Anuals shade/sun. Find out what kind of dirt your yard has in different
planting areas. I hope this helps you.

"Fitz" wrote in message
ups.com...
How do people cope with growing veg throughout the season? Do people
generally fall back on their experience and just _know_ when to plant,
what to plant where etc. or does anyone have a fantastic
planning/notation method for getting it all down on paper?

Just curious - as a beginner and a sieve head I'm thiking I could do
with some careful planning on paper and lots of reading through veg
books and then a dedicated calendar or something to remind me when I
need to do things.

I've only got a couple of years experience under my belt - but they
were pretty successful, although fairly limited in variety and most
stuff was all ready at the same time. Next year... sorry THIS year I'd
rather avoid having to freeze 8 kilos of green beans in one go!
thanks in advance for any help.

--
Steve F

In article ,
Broadback wrote:
My father used to day "Any fool can grow vegetables, it takes experience
and skill to have fresh veg all year round and not lots of excesses."
As I have difficulty growing some veg I guess that puts me in my place.

And space :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

All - Thanks for the pointers.

I like the idea of grouping the seed packets into boxes or bunches.
Sounds simple but effective!

To answer one of the questions we're located in York. On the advice of
my folks I've been generally adding a couple of weeks onto recomended
sewing times, but mainly been going by the weather.

And as Kay said - we don't get a lot of chipmunk trouble in Yorkshire!
:-)

--
Steve F

In article .com, Fitz
writes
All - Thanks for the pointers.

I like the idea of grouping the seed packets into boxes or bunches.
Sounds simple but effective!

To answer one of the questions we're located in York. On the advice of
my folks I've been generally adding a couple of weeks onto recomended
sewing times, but mainly been going by the weather.

That's about right - you get nasty weather over that way ;-)

There isn't any real substitute for local knowledge, whether it's fellow
gardeners or whether its your own increasing experience.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article , Broadback
writes
My father used to day "Any fool can grow vegetables, it takes experience
and skill to have fresh veg all year round and not lots of excesses."
As I have difficulty growing some veg I guess that puts me in my place.

Two of several vegetables which can be cropped fresh all year round are
leaf beet( perpetual spinach) and curly kale. They are grown as annuals,
but plants from one year's spring sowing will crop on until the next
year's sowing are ready to be picked. We are never without them.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

In article , Gary
writes

In the case of your beans or when a vegetable is ready all at the same time
and the excess has to be frozen,


We tend to eat as we go with ours but I always thought that you had to
'blanch' vegetables before freezing? If not it would save an awful lot
of time if I could just bung them in the freezer. What was the point of
blanching them? Does it really matter?

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , Kay
writes
Chipmunks aren't a problem in the UK.




Ah but Chippendales wouldn't be a problem in the garden either
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , Janet Tweedy
writes

We tend to eat as we go with ours but I always thought that you had to
'blanch' vegetables before freezing? If not it would save an awful lot
of time if I could just bung them in the freezer. What was the point of
blanching them? Does it really matter?

We don't blanch any of our own produce. We pick the beans young then
deal with them immediately and they are delicious.

Commercial packers are obliged by law to blanch them, hardly surprising
when you know how they are grown.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.