Friday, April 20, 2012

Wake up Garden (but not too fast)

I"m an avid weather watcher this time of year, hedging bets on when to sow carrot seeds - just before a rain - and when to transplant cabbage babies - if only the flea beetles would stay away. We are getting closer and closer to the Last Frost Date too so tender plants are making their daily migration in and out.

All this and much more activity has been keeping me away from my blog recently. I've been telling people that it feels like I"m running to catch up with myself. But I've taken a bunch of thematic photos so I have high hopes for this Monday.

In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying pondering the weather.

5 comments:

winter blue said...

I am also gardening in Ottawa and have a couple of questions:

1- do you have asparagus and if so, when does it start to sprout? I planted roots last year and they did really well, but haven't seen hide nor hair this year...

2- what do you use as the last frost date?

Thanks! Love the blog

Ottawa Gardener said...

I read somewhere that it depends on the soil temperature when asparagus wakes up and I think I remember a temperature around 50F (but don't quote me). Anyhow, that would mean that it would depend on the type of soil you have and its location. I have had some asparagus come up but it was cut back down again by heavy frosts. I have very light sandy soil here so it heats up fast.

I use sometime in the middle of May for last frost then feverishly watch the weather. Third week of May is traditional of course but I've had to cover plants until the start of June on occasion. Middle of May is my slightly risky, probably will be fine date. Depends on the tenderness of the plant of course too. If it is sweet potatoes or melons, I opt for the later dates then cucumbers and potatoes.

Hope that helps!

winter blue said...

Thanks - that does help. It's pretty loamy soil but shaded by our shed (it was the last bed that the soil was unfrozen in), so hopefully it's just taking its time waking up.

And thanks for the info re: dates. I usually use Victoria Day, but always wonder if I could have gotten away with earlier. I'm also pretty new to the area so wasn't sure if that was just old info - I know the zones are changing with the climate..

winter blue said...

Thanks - that does help. It's pretty loamy soil but shaded by our shed (it was the last bed that the soil was unfrozen in), so hopefully it's just taking its time waking up.

And thanks for the info re: dates. I usually use Victoria Day, but always wonder if I could have gotten away with earlier. I'm also pretty new to the area so wasn't sure if that was just old info - I know the zones are changing with the climate..

Anonymous said...

New to gardening... bought a house last year with a decent sized back yard... and have started growing a few things in peat pots indoors. I have 3 kids, and they eat like horses.. so every little bit helps.

My comment to you would be more of a question... I went wayyyy overboard on plants... and am probably in over my head, as I don't know enough about veggie gardening to really say I know what I'm doing... Do you know of any crop sharing programs in Ottawa, or something where I can trade some cukes, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes for other veggies?

I have 7 cucumber plants flowering (3 vine and 4 bush), 5 cherry tomato plants, 7 starfire tomato plants, and 6 plants each of blue peppers, habaneros, jalapenos, chili peppers and green peppers. I have 1 watermelon plant too, the others don't seem to have worked out.

I'd really like to grow other veg, like different greens for salad, carrots, but don't know much about it, and can't find much information specific to Ottawa conditions, and would be more than thrilled to be able to swap.

Maybe I started too early, but I'm unsure as to when to start hardening off the plants prior to transplant... I'm in the middle of building some raised beds in back half of my yard, but they likely won't be done until mid May anyway. Can you advise as to when I should perhaps start hardening off the overload of limited veg?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.