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MarilynW
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| Posted: Feb 14 2007 at 1:22pm | IP Logged
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With all this snow and ice about - I am thinking green! Last year I left it very late to start seedlings. I am not sure when to start. Our growing this year is restricted to a wading pool per child and lots of containers on the deck. Any advice as to what is best to grow - and whether I should start the seedlings soon.
The deck containers are mine - I am thinking herbs, tomatoes, peppers. The kids will choose theirs - my dd wants flowers, the twins zucchini and carrots, the toddler not decided. Our front beds are nicely manicured but boring - holly and junipers. Last year we grew pumpkins and gourds and sunflowers in a side bed - but we sodded that over as it was so hard to maintain on a steep slope and with poor Virginia clay. The kids are thinking of doing a sunflower house in their large sandbox in the middle of the playset! (we want to get rid of it anyway - too many cats in the neighborhood!)
Any ideas would be appreciated.
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Marilyn
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stefoodie
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| Posted: Feb 14 2007 at 2:01pm | IP Logged
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have you tried wintersowing?
more info here
and you can post any virginia-specific questions -- the people are very friendly! i've been posting there (sporadically) and swapped seeds with posters for the past 2-3 years.
i'm starting perennials today, as soon as i get the kitchen cleaned up!
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stef
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J.Anne
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| Posted: Feb 14 2007 at 2:04pm | IP Logged
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This will be random... I'm just listing everything we've had success with growing from seed.
Cucumbers are very easy for children to grow. My kids love growing (and eating!) cherry tomatoes. Sunflowers are super easy from seed. Basil is easy and hearty from seed. Cosmos from seed are easy and beautiful. Morning Glories... if you have a place for them... Thyme is nice and sprouts easily. Ummm.... Strawberries would be fun in a wading pool, but I would buy plants there. I'm in Texas and we are starting most of our seeds about now. Wait on the basil until it's warmer (it sprouts quickly). I didn't think carrots were worth the space, but it was a fun lesson, I suppose. I'll post again if I come up with anything else.
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Jennifer
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Angel
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| Posted: Feb 15 2007 at 7:11am | IP Logged
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Last year I started tomatoes from seed, inside, and they did very well. In fact the tomato plants I grew from seed were healthier than the seedlings I bought at the store.
In order to start seeds inside, you need to know your last frost date. Ours up here in upstate NY is late -- toward the end of May. Tomatoes and peppers should be started 6-8 weeks before your last frost date, so I don't start mine until the last week of March/first week of April.
If you have deck containers, I would grow lettuce. Lettuce will germinate at pretty low temperatures; I planted mine outside at the beginning of April last year. In VA, you could plant lettuce in March. You can grow lettuce intensively, meaning with no space between plants practically, and it is SO much better than the lettuce you get from the grocery store. Most seed catalogs sell lettuce mixes.
If you use a trellis, you can grow pole beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash on your deck, in addition to tomatoes. Just make sure the containers you use are deep enough. (I ran into that problem last year.) You might also look for varieties of peas that bear heavily on vines you can support vertically; peas are another spring vegetable.
Stark Brothers sells fruit trees you can grow on your deck... I've seen blueberries you can grow in pots... and we're thinking of putting lingonberries and cranberries in our landscaping beds. (At a hotel we stayed at in Vermont, they landscaped with blueberries.  ).
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Kristen in TN
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| Posted: Feb 18 2007 at 8:54pm | IP Logged
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We lived in north western Virginia (outside of Front Royal) and did very little gardening due to the same reasons as you. I did successfully grow sugar snap peas and small carrots in a cold frame started in Septemeber for a few years. One year we left our pumpkins out to rot (we lived in the country!). The next year my husband took some grass from that area and moved it into the back yard as he was always trying to get grass to grow, (not easy with that soil and sloping!) Well, the next thing you know that summer we had a pumpkin patch. it must have been from the pumpkins from the previous fall because we never planted any seeds and never grew pumpkins any where on that property before.
One other suggestion. A friend of mine has several boys and loved gardening. She got each child a half-barrel and let them plant what ever they wanted in it. For some of the younger children she got grass see because it grows so fast and they see almost immediate results. But she said it kept those kids busy for hours.
God bless,
Kristen in TN
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SharonO
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| Posted: Feb 19 2007 at 7:13am | IP Logged
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I would like to order some seed catalogs for the children to look through. Do you all order from a catalog or pick up seeds from your local store? What catalog do you like the best.
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Sharon in MO
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stefoodie
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| Posted: Feb 19 2007 at 8:51am | IP Logged
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sharon, my kids love perusing over all the different catalogs, but our favorites for illustrations are:
renee's garden seeds
(sorry, no time to make links right now)
botanical interests
mr. fothergill's
and kidsgardening.com
- mr fothergill's at one point (don't know if they still have it) even had seed packets especially designed for kids, like jack and the giant beanstalk beans, etc.
i don't always buy from the seed catalogs though -- i place one big order with one company and trade the rest.
some of my fave catalogs are at garden.stefoodie.net on the sidebar.
if you gals have never tried wintersowing, i strongly suggest considering doing it this year. it's so painless, you don't have to worry about lighting or temperature, so no heat mats or grow lights. my very successful first year (2005) we sowed something like 130 different seeds, with about a 95% success rate.
the basic idea is to plant the seeds in Miracle Gro, in a container about 2" deep or more (i used every container in the house -- yogurt cups, foil pans, chinese take out containers, etc. -- the plastic ones i poked holes under with a heated metal skewer.) mist a bit, cover them with plastic (with a couple of small holes for air circulation) -- and leave them out; yes, in the snow, in the 0 degree temp, etc. works best for perennials, but annuals work also (i had awesome tomatoes and beans started with this method.) you mist every few days or so as needed. when the seeds are ready they sprout and grow, but not until they're ready, and they KNOW WHEN!!
the method is so simple and easy you don't have to worry about getting leggy plants, or damping off, or any of the other problems associated with traditional seed starting, and the plants are so much stronger because they're already used to being outside.
just my .02.
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stef
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Theresa
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| Posted: Feb 19 2007 at 9:20am | IP Logged
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I have never heard of this before Stef. Thank you for sharing your information. We are doing a gardening unit right now for Science so I will check into this a bit more.
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Theresa
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Garden/seedling help please
