24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

My (limited) experience is that I winter sow brassica seeds in January. They will sprout when mother nature nudges them to. Last year I planted in raised beds 3 weeks prior to average last frost. They (cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower) all did well. I sowed seeds for the fall crop ~ the 7th of July. I had nice fall crops of cauliflower and broccoli, but the cabbage didn't have enough time to form. I may sow seeds this year 1.5 - 3 weeks earlier for cabbage and probably 1 week sooner for the other 2.
For you, you will want to know your average last freeze (spring) and average first freeze (fall) and sow & plant accordingly.
Also see link below to winter sowing.
regards,
tom
Here is a link that might be useful: wintersowing FAQ

The planting dates are really confusing and hard to believe. As others have said, cabbage and broccoli can be double-cropped in 6B, with spring crops seeded indoors in late Feb, and fall crops seeded in early July. Cauliflower seeds need to be started in early July, too.
I have never gotten decent B sprouts or cauliflower from spring plantings. I now start B sprout seeds the first week of June; the plants bear in November.


jennieboyer, I generally watch the cauliflower florets at the base of the head and look for separation. I try to catch it when they just start to separate. This is not always easy to see, especially for the self blanching cauliflowers...Below is a Candied Charm head that is noticeably separated.

Here is a Candied Charm head that is just starting to separate.

Here is a Romanesco Veronica head that is showing first hints of separation. Its a bit hard to see - look close at the bottom florets. I picked it because we are supposed to reach 20 degrees in the AM and I did not want to take a chance on an essentially ready-to-pick head This is my first year growing the Romanesco Veronica and I'm not sure of it's hardiness. I have several smaller heads and will soon know of their hardiness.

. But as noted above by farmerdill it's really a matter of preference.



I wasn't trying to overwinter eggplants, but I had one that was growing nicely in a 2-gallon grow bag and had unripe fruit on it. After the eggplants ripened and were harvested, I cut off the foliage and neglected the plant on a windowsill with a plant light running on a timer for another plant. The eggplant promptly put up new shoots, and I started watering it once in a while. Now in early January, it is looking full and vigorous. I am curious enough to keep watering it and see where this leads.

We had a somewhat unpredicted "hard freeze" last week -- temps of 28F, and I didn't have a chance to protect my peppers (jalapenos) and eggplants (ichiban). which I was thinking about keeping over the winter. Both were doing fine in temps of 30-40F. The peppers did well in the freeze -- no damage at all, but the eggplants were half-killed. In fact, the peppers were more exposed, and the eggplants were on the south side of the house. I ended up pulling the latter. Comes as a bit of a surprise that the eggplants seem to be a lot less frost tolerant than the peppers. I would have thought they'd both be about the same in that regard, but that they're not is consistent with what I'm reading here.

1. Only plant ONE cherry tomato plant, and give it 4x4' to itself.
2. Keep it simple, stupid
3. Plant more cabbages and don't bother with Brussels sprouts
4. Get soakers or drip lines installed first thing, and mulch heavily to keep the watering labor under control.
5. Don't plant so many summer crops; leave room for fall crops
6. Be prepared with mulch or row covers in case of freak early winter weather like we had in November.


I got a kick out of the phrase "efficient/economical"... there is no such thing when you are discussing wildlife. I have been gardening & managing wildlife for 50+ years.
You always use an 8' Sta-Tuff net wire fence & 10' T-posts (preferably galvanized, although painted ones will easily last 15-20 years). The cross-section of a T-post is just like it's name & the will rarely, if ever, be affected by high winds, especially if you engineer it & brace the corners properly. The corners/braces (& the supports every 100') are 4" 'thick-walled' pipe concreted in 6' deep, & the net-wire is designed to 'close up around any 'penetrating object'. In essence, the fence was engineered to stop a charging 3000 lb. bull. Don't forget to install a strand of gaucho wire top & bottom.
Mine have stood the test of both time & sustained hurricane-force winds, deer, feral hogs, as well as cattle. For cost purposes, mine ran about $10/ft. Good luck with your project!

I read some posts that seemed to mirror my experience with cheap netting tearing with any little branch, caught shoe buckle, or errant weed whacker. However, deer in our area are too lazy to jump 7', especially into a small enclosed space. So, I just need a deterrent, as much for people as deer! I have read about rolls of a type of netting that is supposed to be stronger than the other stuff. There are three levels or options, but I think one of the two lesser would suffice. Has anyone used both, or either of Heavy Duty Tenax C-flex, 80 (Ironically, their "heavy duty" is their light fencing) and Extra Strength Tenax C-flex P, 110 g (the P stands for "professional" I was told. The 80 g and 110 g are pounds of force they can withstand per square foot....but what does that really mean? Any thoughts out there on these "stronger" nets, any experience with them? Supposedly they are stronger than other "discount" netting I have used with frustrating results in the past (more like bird netting than deer netting!!). Thanks


There are a few new varieties with decent resistance to both early and late blight, most from Randy Gardner's breeding program at NC state. Last year I grew Plum Regal as my paste tomato and it was pretty awesome. Mountain Magic (cherry) is unstoppable, too. Haven't tried the slicers, Sophie's Choice and Iron Lady.

i did NOT read all the posts.. but i wont let that stop me.. lol ...
i would NEVER... throw away one year old seed ...
not to mention.. they germinate very fast ... so plant them in spring ... and if in 2 weeks ... they dont pop ... go buy another pack ...
or better yet ... come late in winter.. germinate one or two.. and FIND out ...
the only caveat.. is if you mail order seed .. rather than purchase locally ... then i suppose you need to plan ahead... but you could still germ one or two right now ... just for fun.. to see if right now.. they are still good ... then eat the sprout ... what the heck .. knowledge is power... we are all guessing right now ....
if anyone else said such.. along the sames lines.. they are genius.. lol ... great minds think alike ...
ken






If it is the bag stuffed, it is likely not hot and should have been consulted before you bought it. I think it would be fine to use. If it was coming straight out of a coop, then a couple of weeks would not be long enough.
Thanks tishtosh. Yeah, I wouldn't think the bagged stuff would be too hot. The reason why I asked was sometimes there's a "little" bit of warmth to those bagged manures.
Kevin