dh has lived here for 18 years but...

[SparklyUnicorn]

He still cannot come to terms with the fact that he cannot start with the garden now.

 

Seriously.  He is like I need to turn the soil.  I said um...there are piles of snow and ice.  He's like but usually at this time there isn't.  I said there is EVERY SINGLE TIME.  Because we live in upstate NY honey...not Germany.  Are you sure?  Yes...I'm sure.  After 43 years of this weather I know you can't start gardening in March OR April.  If you are lucky..maybe May.

 

He's so funny... :laugh:

[Acorn]

We have snow too, but spinach, radish and turnip seeds are getting planted this weekend. If I can manage it, will start the inside seeds too, for transplanting at end of May.

[Bluegoat]

I think it might be biological.  I have snow on the ground too, from the storms that blew through this past week.  But before that I could see some bulbs coming up, and there are chickadees all over singing, and the ducks at the pond are chasing their wives very aggressively.

 

I just want to get digging.  I am comforting myself by drawing garden plans.

[SparklyUnicorn]

We have snow too, but spinach, radish and turnip seeds are getting planted this weekend. If I can manage it, will start the inside seeds too, for transplanting at end of May.

 

Ok what?!  Where do you live?  (Or what growing zone are you in?)

 

If this is even possible then this idea might make him happy.

[MEmama]

Lol

 

Planting out here officially starts Memorial Day for everything but the hardiest plants. Very often it's still too cold then, though.

 

When I lived in Ohio I would get antsy and plant tomatoes every.single.April. And every.single.April it would snow right after.

 

Your poor DH. Short growing seasons are tough on gardeners. :(

[Bluegoat]

Oh, yeah, if you can actually get it in the ground, planting cold weather stuff can work at this point.  It will start to grow as soon as the ground is warm enough and they prefer it cool.  The danger can be seeds might rot if it doesn't warm fast enough.

 

If you have a few cold frames though those kinds of seeds will grow now.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh, yeah, if you can actually get it in the ground, planting cold weather stuff can work at this point.  It will start to grow as soon as the ground is warm enough and they prefer it cool.  The danger can be seeds might rot if it doesn't warm fast enough.

 

If you have a few cold frames though those kinds of seeds will grow now.

 

What are cold frames?

 

The ground is still likely frozen. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Ok I googled.  He doesn't have a cold frame, but he does have some portable green house type things.  Three of them.  So he might start a few plants inside. 

 

 

[Bluegoat]

What are cold frames?

 

The ground is still likely frozen. 

 

They are like very low glass houses.  You can buy fairly cheap plastic ones too, or make them with old windows.  Or even just make a wall with straw bales and law old windows on top.

 

Here is a plastic version.

 

Often people start things them early, and then open the lid once the weather warms up.  Or use them to start seedlings early, especially things like broccoli, because they are stronger if you start them in cooler air than people have in the house.

 

A hot frme is the same but has a way to warm the earth besides the sun - usually a heated cord, now, but in the old days they used rotting manure.

[Carrie12345]

He still cannot come to terms with the fact that he cannot start with the garden now.

 

Seriously.  He is like I need to turn the soil.  I said um...there are piles of snow and ice.  He's like but usually at this time there isn't.  I said there is EVERY SINGLE TIME.  Because we live in upstate NY honey...not Germany.  Are you sure?  Yes...I'm sure.  After 43 years of this weather I know you can't start gardening in March OR April.  If you are lucky..maybe May.

 

He's so funny... :laugh:

 

You know, all my local friends and I keep posting on FB about how insane and unusual this March weather is.  Even though I know I'm not the only one that keeps getting "on this day" reminders of Marches past!

[SparklyUnicorn]

You know, all my local friends and I keep posting on FB about how insane and unusual this March weather is.  Even though I know I'm not the only one that keeps getting "on this day" reminders of Marches past!

 

I don't think our March has been unusual at all.  We've gotten snow, but pretty much every year we get snow in March.  We really don't get hints of spring until April and even in April we sometimes get snow.  We aren't even safe (garden wise) in May.  There have been times he's planted in May and he had to replant some stuff.

[MEmama]

I don't think our March has been unusual at all. We've gotten snow, but pretty much every year we get snow in March. We really don't get hints of spring until April and even in April we sometimes get snow. We aren't even safe (garden wise) in May. There have been times he's planted in May and he had to replant some stuff.

March is when we get our biggest snows--we call them spring snows.

 

February here was weirdly warm, but it's normal for us to buried under in March. We have 2-3 feet on the ground thanks to last two storms.

[Bluegoat]

We always get March weather too - I think people are just so done with it by now and are impatient.    

 

This winter was actually pretty tame here, I've shovelled as much in March as I did the rest of the winter.

 

I am convinced we will have an early Spring.  The birds are singing early, tulips are early, our local groundhog said early, and the Jamaican food guy said it's early.

[SparklyUnicorn]

March is when we get our biggest snows--we call them spring snows.

 

February here was weirdly warm, but it's normal for us to buried under in March. We have 2-3 feet on the ground thanks to last two storms.

 

Yes, February was definitely weirder than weird. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I thought this was going to go a different way, like "After 18 years, he still opens three drawers before he finds the silverware in the kitchen" and I was going to be like, "Yup, my DH too"

 

But gardening is funny, too.  :-D

[SparklyUnicorn]

I thought this was going to go a different way, like "After 18 years, he still opens three drawers before he finds the silverware in the kitchen" and I was going to be like, "Yup, my DH too"

 

But gardening is funny, too.  :-D

 

HAHA...well I do have similar stories.... :laugh:

[SparklyUnicorn]

His mother sends us calendars.  We have one from German Aldi and March has pics of gardening...gardening suggestions....hurrah gardening.  It's just a tease to him.  LOL

[JFSinIL]

I am just trying to stop hubby from starting those little seed pots inside too early - he can't safely transplant thing until late May, and by then they seedlings will be tall and spindly. He needs to wait!

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I am just trying to stop hubby from starting those little seed pots inside too early - he can't safely transplant thing until late May, and by then they seedlings will be tall and spindly. He needs to wait!

 

Yes...same thing has happened to my DH. 

[Acorn]

We have snow too, but spinach, radish and turnip seeds are getting planted this weekend. If I can manage it, will start the inside seeds too, for transplanting at end of May.

[SparklyUnicorn]

We have snow too, but spinach, radish and turnip seeds are getting planted this weekend. If I can manage it, will start the inside seeds too, for transplanting at end of May.

 

Oh.  I thought you were saying that somehow you'd get them into the ground.  ; )

[Bluegoat]

I am just trying to stop hubby from starting those little seed pots inside too early - he can't safely transplant thing until late May, and by then they seedlings will be tall and spindly. He needs to wait!

 

This happens tome too, even though I have a good south window.  I find it help a bit if I am very careful about potting up.

 

But in the last few years I've stopped stating most seeds.  I can get a much wider selection now at the farmers market, and they've been started in a proper greenhouse.  I only buy the number I need and don't end up with extra seeds, and they survive better than the ones I start myself.

 

These days I only get seeds to direct plant, or to start indoors weird flowers I can't buy any other way.

[mellifera33]

He might want to look at the winter sowing pages on FB. They use milk cartons as miniature greenhouses, plant seeds all winter, and the seeds germinate as the temps get warm. I've started it this year with good results so far, but I'm in a warmer zone. There are plenty of people on the fb pages with good results in zones 3, 4, 5 tho. :)

[happi duck]

I wonder if container gardening would be able to be started sooner?

[SparklyUnicorn]

I wonder if container gardening would be able to be started sooner?

 

Well the problem with that is we don't have too many spots in the house where we get enough sunshine (and where stuff can be kept away from the cats).  Nothing grows indoors during winter.  I haven't been able to really keep anything but a cactus alive.

 

He sometimes starts containers indoors, but it's a hit or miss if it works out.

[happi duck]

Well the problem with that is we don't have too many spots in the house where we get enough sunshine (and where stuff can be kept away from the cats). Nothing grows indoors during winter. I haven't been able to really keep anything but a cactus alive.

 

He sometimes starts containers indoors, but it's a hit or miss if it works out.

I meant outdoor container gardening. We use big pots, barrels etc. because nothing I put in the ground ever seems to work.

 

I wonder if a winter crop could grow outdoors in a container while it's still cold? I've never tried that. Containers are fairly easy to cover during a frost warning.

 

Just musing!

[SparklyUnicorn]

I meant outdoor container gardening. We use big pots, barrels etc. because nothing I put in the ground ever seems to work.

 

I wonder if a winter crop could grow outdoors in a container while it's still cold? I've never tried that. Containers are fairly easy to cover during a frost warning.

 

Just musing!

 

What is a winter crop though?  Does anything grow when it's freezing?

 

I don't know of anything.  Some stuff I know can kinda survive once grown, but to actually grow and thrive?  MM...I don't think so.

 

And then when you have all the melting that goes on, everything is very wet and stuff rots.  That is often what is the bigger problem when DH plants too early.  Seeds rotting before they get going.

[Carol in Cal.]

I read a novel set in Iowa in which one of the earth mother types would throw spinach seeds onto the snow near her back door, and would have early spinach growing there after a bit.  I try this every year at the cabin, but it hasn't worked yet.  If the birds are getting it, it's expensive for bird seed.  I wonder what is going on.

 

On another note, there is a fantastic book about someone achieving vegetable self-sufficiency in upstate New York that you would probably enjoy.  It's called "This Organic Life".

[Kanin]

My DH says things like, "Where is that (random thing we threw out 7 years ago)?"

 

 

[Arcadia]

We moved from near the equator 12 years ago and still getting used to the different planting season here.

 

I try this every year at the cabin, but it hasn't worked yet. If the birds are getting it, it's expensive for bird seed. I wonder what is going on.

When we stayed in Sunnyvale, just off El Camino Real, it was the squirrels that ransacked my patio garden. It’s poppies and fields of yellow wildflowers where I am :)

[J-rap]

It's surprising what kids still forget at that age!  :D  Our ds was 21 and still swore his birthday was two days earlier!  

[hornblower]

What zone are you? 

Kale will often grow under a cloche or cold frame, even in the snow.  Plant it in the fall. 

Another thing to plant in fall is certain varieties of peas so they start coming up super early. 

Garlic will also overwinter in some zones if it gets nice roots before the snow & frost.  Some of the crops needs straw mulching over the winter but the bonus is super early crops. 

I also agree with starting seeds indoors and then gradually hardening off and putting on coldframes early... 

http://eastcoastliving.ca/2011/11/gardening-winter11/

 

[eternalsummer]

I have to say that every year I am newly entertained by your DH's gardening woes (or your woes related to his gardening). 

[dsmith]

Dh bought a heavy duty plastic shelf from Home Depot and attached grow lights to it. He wrapped it in a heavy plastic to keep heat in (our basement is a little chilly) and is happily starting a bunch of seeds. This will keep him occupied until he can work outside. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I have to say that every year I am newly entertained by your DH's gardening woes (or your woes related to his gardening). 

 

Oh yeah I hate gardening.  LOL

[JessReplanted]

😂

 

We’ve been in TX for 5 years and I still find myself occasionally wondering what month it is because the weather is so confusing.

I get it!

[KungFuPanda]

He sounds like a man who would be very happy with a greenhouse.

[Carol in Cal.]

Actually, there are German dishes that require the kale to have undergone a frost to taste right.  Kale is pretty hardy, and frost makes it a little sweeter.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Part of the difficulty is most of the gardening is not in our yard.  He has to drive there.  The plots aren't that big. 

[rdj2027]

Please, give him a break, us Germans need order.  If the calendar says March, it is time for turning the garden.  I guess you don't know the song "Im Maerzen der Bauer die Roesslein anspannt...) :coolgleamA:

[SparklyUnicorn]

Please, give him a break, us Germans need order.  If the calendar says March, it is time for turning the garden.  I guess you don't know the song "Im Maerzen der Bauer die Roesslein anspannt...) :coolgleamA:

 

:laugh: