Low Light requiring food plants

[labelwench]

:thumbs_up good stuff is worth a comment. has la nina fouled you up as it has me at the 45th parallel the last 2 or 3 years? when will you plant the carrots this year? last year was the first time i had any success with them and they took all season. :( alas i rent and can't do raised beds and i have little inclination to invest too heavily in ammending the soil.

out of curiosity, what species of willow(s) have you got there in the wooly north?

 

Thank you for your kind remarks. A fellow gardener? Great! I hear you about the raised bed problem. Have you considered just investing in a few large containers? As long as they are 12 inches deep, you will be able to grow carrots and radish and lettuce will even do fine in an 8 inch deep container. Here is a picture of my radishes last year on April 19th (planted April 1st) growing on my east window sill in the house. Those were in a ridiculously small 5 W x 16 L x 6 D container but they managed just fine despite the close quarters, literally pushing themselves out of the ground in search of room. Variety - Raxe. They can get as large as 3 inches across without getting woody. Amazing radishes, crisp, juicy and not too spicy.

 

 

 

I have tomatoes on my plants started February 1st this year, once again just growing in 10 inch wide pots. Carrots and greens are my main focus and I start them outdoors the week of May 15th through May 23rd. I experimented one year and planted on May 8th, May 15th and May 23rd and they all came up within a day or two of each other on May 29-31st, lol.

 

I just posted on another forum 'How To' grow the easiest and biggest carrots so perhaps you will forgive my 'cut and paste' of my own work.

 

My 'crafts' are horsemanship and organic gardening and I have pretty much perfected the means by which to grow a bountiful crop of carrots in a very small space. My master gardener friend was amazed when I shared the simple technique and we have been busy sharing same with anyone who'll listen.

 

Basically comes down to: A well prepared and moistened seed bed. With the edge of a board, press in your seed trenches about one inch deep and 8 to 12 inches apart depending on the variety of carrot you are growing. With glass of wine to hand, take the time to individually seed your carrots with tweezers (pelleted seed helps but is not essential) 1 inch apart. Sprinkle a light covering of Perlite ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlite ) over the seed to fill about 1/3 the depth of your trench. This light material retains soil moisture and does not crust like soil, allowing germination in excess of 92% of your seed. It also marks your rows nicely so that you can lightly mist them each day until the seed germinates.

 

Cover your rows with a row cover made of spun polyester, available through gardening centers, seed suppliers etc. This row cover stays on throughout the growing season to retain moisture and protect from pests. It is light and easy to pull back for care and it pushes up as the plants grow, no impediment to them at all. It also adds a few degrees of protection against late and early frosts.

 

Once your carrots begin to form roots, start pulling and using the little ones in salads and soups to start. Pull every other carrot to start to increase the spacing between them as they need room to grow. Young carrot greens can be used so nothing goes to waste when they are still small. No 'thinning' required, as one is 'harvesting' right from the start by investing that bit of time to individually seed.

 

My record production is 20 lbs of carrots from a space just 21 inches by 32 inches.

 

There you have it. Carrots 101.

 

 

According to the folks who study these matters, we have 43 species of Willow that can be found in the Yukon.

 

https://docs.google....I_ZymcZcAfDLUsQ

[Turtle]

Thank you for your kind remarks. A fellow gardener? Great!

 

you're welcome. :) yes mam; fellow gardener here.

 

I hear you about the raised bed problem. Have you considered just investing in a few large containers? As long as they are 12 inches deep, you will be able to grow carrots and radish and lettuce will even do fine in an 8 inch deep container. Here is a picture of my radishes last year on April 19th (planted April 1st) growing on my east window sill in the house. Those were in a ridiculously small 5 W x 16 L x 6 D container but they managed just fine despite the close quarters, literally pushing themselves out of the ground in search of room. Variety - Raxe. They can get as large as 3 inches across without getting woody. Amazing radishes, crisp, juicy and not too spicy.

 

 

i can barely afford the rent, let alone large containers. :( that, and a house fire and several forced moves has me an avowed minimalist whose goal is to own no more than i can fit in my car. i admit to perhaps being a bit above that, but not by much and what wouldn't fit i would not think twice about leaving.

 

as to the radishes, i have great success with them. i haven't paid much attention to variety, but i've made a mental note of Raxe.

 

 

I have tomatoes on my plants started February 1st this year, once again just growing in 10 inch wide pots. Carrots and greens are my main focus and I start them outdoors the week of May 15th through May 23rd. I experimented one year and planted on May 8th, May 15th and May 23rd and they all came up within a day or two of each other on May 29-31st, lol.

 

tomatoes i do well with too and may be starting mine indoors soon. going with romas and cherry this year and forgetting the beefsteaks. the year before last, even the master gardeners had bad tomato crops due to the long, cool, & wet la nina spring. last year was a little better, and this year, well, we'll just have to wait and see as we gardeners are wont to do.

 

I just posted on another forum 'How To' grow the easiest and biggest carrots so perhaps you will forgive my 'cut and paste' of my own work.

 

much appreciated.

 

According to the folks who study these matters, we have 43 species of Willow that can be found in the Yukon.

 

https://docs.google....I_ZymcZcAfDLUsQ

 

also, much appreciated as i study these matters.

 

i have in past years started threads on veggie gardening, though they have drawn few posts other than my own. perhaps other than posting progress pics there's not much to add to an occasional tip. still, if you care to have a go at starting a new thread i'd be more than happy to join in.

 

ps my beds are prepped but i'm holding off on planting as we still have a wet cool la nina spring here. i do have a healthy crop of garlic from last falls planting though. not even the late march snow has staunched them.

Edited April 28, 2012 by Turtle

[labelwench]

A long, late and cool spring this year decided me to grow most of my tomatoes indoors this year and I had three Early Cascade Tomato plants in their support cages taking advantage of a 3x3' southwest facing window in my office multi-purpose room upstairs. These plants were started in those pop-up peat pellets on February 1st under florescent light (one natural daylight, the other a kitchen and bath to get full spectrum) transplanted into 4x4" containers one month later and placed on an east side window to become accustomed to natural light then into their final 12" pot in early April and staked at which time they were moved upstairs for greater light exposure as they neared flowering stage.

 

The tomatoes were ready for harvest beginning on June 7th and continued to produce through mid-July. I have two Tumblers, which are a cherry type tomato and another Early Cascade still producing in my attached greenhouse and after two years of growing Patio Hybrid, I can only express disappointment and conclude that northern living conditions do not agree with that variety even though it is expressly promoted as a container variety. My tomatoes are just about at the final harvest stage and I may start a couple of Tiny Tim tomatoes and grow them under florescent lights just for the fun of it as they are a user friendly variety that has withstood the test of time.

 

Here is a picture of my 'houseplants' when they were just reaching peak production.

 

https://lh5.googleus...6%252C-2012.jpg

 

For some reason, the 'insert image' icon is not opening the pop up box and I seem unable to log into this forum on Internet Explorer, presently using Firefox which is my default anyway. Also, both times when I have navigated to this site today, Norton has advised that we are under attack. This is not my usual experience. Just thought I would pass that on. :unsure: