cheryl h Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 We currently live in Sunset zone 6, but dh is considering a transfer to a town in a zone 1A. Gardening is my favorite hobby and it's what I have a degree in(Hort.). When I think about the challenges of gardening, what I can and can't do/grow in a zone 1A, it's really depressing. I don't so much care about the ornamental aspect of it as there are still plenty of options (just different than here), but the veggie/fruit crops are what I am sad about the most.:crying: I am sure we would have to build a greenhouse, but it almost seems cost prohibitive to heat in that climate. Can any of you direct me to your favorite blogs of people in these areas or give encouragement on this matter. I know there are gardeners having a great time doing what they do in this zone, I just need to hear that it isn't as depressing as it sounds. And for what it's worth, I don't mind a challenge...I just want to know it's not hopeless. What advise do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 1A, that's impressive. I bet you can grow a lot but not for long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheryl h Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 bumping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 He said he couldn't put them outside until mid July, but they grew like crazy in the endless daylight and would reach the roof of the house. When frost came he took the plants inside and hung them upside down in his garage--he said he got tomatoes through October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'm not familiar with the zones, but we live in NY (outside of Albany) That's probably zone 5, maybe zone 4 - much milder than what the OP is talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheryl h Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Pretty much everything has to be started inside and many years, will have to be covered repeatly at night. We've had summers that the longest we've gone between HARD freezes was 6 days. The upside: no bugs in the broccoli! Contact the Master Gardeners in the area you are looking at. You'll find them at the Extension Office under county gov't. eta: we're zone 2-3. I hadn't thought about the night time temps and having to cover up, but I bet it would be a key part of success. Thanks for the reminder. I did already go to the extension website for that county, and there isn't a Master Gardeners club for that area. In fact there isn't much info at all at the extension website, which is why I came here. I was first thinking about a large inexpensive hoop house that has plastic sheeting for sides/roof so that it would be large enough to plant directly in the ground IN it. Unfortunately, this area is also known for having quite a bit of wind. So the plastic sheeting may not last. Hmmm. There must be a book or blog that specializes in gardening in this zone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheryl h Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 You may have to go to Sunset.com. I got mine from my Sunset Western Garden Book, but it is mostly for the western U.S. They have supposedly made a zone map for the eastern states as well, but I have not seen it, hence the suggestion of the website. There are several different sources for zone maps, but some of them are based on different information. USDA map is based on average low temps, American Horticultural Society zone map is based on average number of days above 86 degrees, and so on. I am told by one of my former hort profs that Sunset is actually a compilation of all those things, therefore, mort useful to the common gardener. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zones I garden in 4b and wish I were warmer. I can't imagine how limiting 1a must be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I read an article in organic gardening magazine about gardening in Alaska. The person they profiled grew a lot of different things. They choose plants with the shortest germination to fruit length and they used a lot of low tunnels. If you do two tunnels you can raise the temperature inside by something like 20 to 30 degrees. Think of it as a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIE! Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I don't know if you're heading to Alaska, but DH is looking into Alaska jobs - and I've been wondering the same thing. Here are a few websites that might be helpful. http://www.ptialaska.net/~pbabcock/patch/ http://georgesonbg.org/ http://www.uaf.edu/ces/gardening/greenhouses/ http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/ (the gardening section) From what I've read it's not as bad as I thought it would be. You can still grow most things (just no nut trees and limited fruit trees), you just have to learn new rules. The long summer days do wonders for the plants. I even saw someone post that they had a banana tree in their house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Try GardenWeb. They have a Far Northern Gardening forum and Canadian ones. I'm sure you could find someone similar to this profile. (You can also search people based on their zone.) The Canadian forum is a good one and the people are really friendly (even if most of them are probably 2s or 3s). I think most of the Alaskans hang out on the Far North Gardening forum. Be aware that US zones and Canadian zones are different, so you have to translate when talking to people who might be in the same zone but in a different country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I wonder if you would find the books written by Eliot Coleman helpful. He wrote The Four Season Harvest, which gives a lot of great information about extending the harvest beyond the normal growing season. But then he also wrote The Winter Harvest Handbook and talks extensively about greenhouse/hothouse growing and how to be successful at it. It was a pure day of joy for me when I realized our 25 mile move south was moving me out of zone 4B and into zone 5A. Not much of a difference, but a difference nonetheless. I hope you're able to figure out gardening in Zone 1A! Maybe you'll have great success and be able to write a book about it to help gardeners in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I wonder if you could try hot beds with cold frames or poly tunnels over them. The same kind of thing the Victorians used to grow warm climate fruit here in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labellavita Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 as a child living in Anchorage I remembered seeing cabbages grown in the Matanuska Valley that were so huge the fluffy outer leaves would come up to the neck of a woman, I've heard of onions the size of basketballs due to all the sunshine. Yes, you will miss growing some of the plants you used to grow but you could have fun with some new ones. Right? Hope so? :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 We live in a zone 2 around here. I've never owned a greenhouse, but I have raised beds and I cover them early to warm the soil and cover them at night (with plastic covers), until the end of June. Right now my potatoes are almost ready to bloom and I'm considering putting a second crop in (although they'll need help to finish I'm sure), and my beans and peas are starting to bud. Everything else is looking good too, but I was a little late getting them in. It takes getting used to I'm sure if you are coming from a nicer climate, but it is possible to garden in colder climates. You can't really go by the maps to know what you can grow. I know the zone maps put us at a 2, but we have little pockets all over the place that are definitely not a 2! They are much nicer. There's a little 'banana belt' just a little ways from me that is growing things I can only dream of. Talk to local gardeners and greenhouse owners. They'll know the area better and they'll get you going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Check out the 1A experts at the Tanana Valley Master Gardeners site http://www.interiormastergardeners.org/ They also have a link to what used to be the University Experimental Farm at UAF (it's got a better name now...) There are tons of things you can grow using cold frames and green houses and starting plants indoors in the spring. Plants grow like crazy with the long days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Eliot Coleman's books about four-season gardening should help. He gardens in darkest Maine, LOL. Good luck. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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