discussion Gardening/Growing Vegetables Thread

[Arinoth]

I was hoping to probe those knowledgeable with gardening about advice they may have to give with respect to growing a vegetable garden. This is due to my fiancee wanting to grow one as we are on the main floor in our current apartment building and have some grass outside our unit.

Our 'backyard' faces West/South-West so there should be enough sun to grow. Does have any experience growing in the winter-time/year round that ISN'T BC (since you guys don't get as cold as the rest of us).

I was contemplating something like the following two items to give me a better chance/odds of growing year round, to lower the chance of pests and to help protect the plants from being 'burned' by the sun.

http://www.costco.ca/Palram-3-ft.-x-3-ft.-Double-Cold-Frame.product.10364142.html
http://www.costco.ca/Palram-Plant-Inn-Elevated-Garden-Bed---Compact.product.100149223.html

Looking forward to hearing what people have to say, and perhaps this thread will spur other people to use their green thumbs.

 

[Nodscene]

I'm definitely not what you'd call knowledgeable but I'm pretty sure you may be able to get away with growing year round in Halifax using one of those mini greenhouses. Of course it relies on having a fair amount of sun during the cold days to keep the temperature up so nothing freezes. I have no clue about what your year round temperatures are and how much sun you get so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. You may be able to cheat a little as well by using a small heating lamp for lizards if you have power outside, maybe even just a heating rock will give off enough heat which will get trapped in the greenhouse to keep things at a good temperature. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of trial and error though. Good luck.

 

[MARSTG]

Why don't you grow them in house? On the window side, some spicing herbs, like dill for example. I have bought two gardening trays that you can hang on the balcony from canadian tire, good for in-house as well, but the bottom plug must be closed for water not to spill out. I a have an obsession with the cantaloupe (Cucumis melo) growing, and will try it this year. We have cats, otherwise I would do this indoor as well. This link might help. Cucumis melo var. dudaim ?Queen Anne?s Pocket Melon? | Log House Plants

 

[krazyups]

Either one of those should work fine for growing, although I can't say for sure if you'll be able to grow anything in the dead of winter. My parents built their own cold frame, and have are usually able to start plants a few weeks earlier. This is mainly because they use a standard 100W incandescent light bulb for heating throughout the night. They also have the cold frame sitting on the ground in a section of the garden, so they would have to contend with the frost if they wanted to plant even earlier.

Since it seems like yours will be raised, it may be worthwhile to look at some in-floor type heating in addition to a heat lamp, depending on how thick the soil will be.

My .02

 

[b1lk1]

You're not gonna get any plants to survive an east coast winter in that thing unless it is heated.

 

[Arinoth]

I may look into both options if I go with the raised option...Hell might even engineer up a control system, at least for the winter.

Glad power is free where I live now.

 

[Chyme]

I was hoping to probe those knowledgeable with gardening about advice they may have to give with respect to growing a vegetable garden. This is due to my fiancee wanting to grow one as we are on the main floor in our current apartment building and have some grass outside our unit.

Our 'backyard' faces West/South-West so there should be enough sun to grow. Does have any experience growing in the winter-time/year round that ISN'T BC (since you guys don't get as cold as the rest of us).

I was contemplating something like the following two items to give me a better chance/odds of growing year round, to lower the chance of pests and to help protect the plants from being 'burned' by the sun.

http://www.costco.ca/Palram-3-ft.-x-3-ft.-Double-Cold-Frame.product.10364142.html
http://www.costco.ca/Palram-Plant-Inn-Elevated-Garden-Bed---Compact.product.100149223.html

Looking forward to hearing what people have to say, and perhaps this thread will spur other people to use their green thumbs.

Might want to check to see if you can actually use that patch of grass for a garden. As far as growing year-round, good luck. It's going to take a fair bit of heat to keep those little cold frames warm in the dead of winter. I don't bother trying to grow over the winter, however, here in southern Ontario (1 hr NE of Toronto), I can keep root veggies like carrots and beets in the garden until the end of January. I cover them with about 20-30cm of leaf mulch and a poly tarp. Had to harvest them early this year as the insulating layer of snow was late coming and temps were real low.

 

[Pelt]

The cold frames are a good way to go for the small garden and those prices are pretty good; but if you want to save some cash using some row cover and a simple metal hoops will do a similar job for next to nothing. Another great technique to ensure you get the most out of the small garden is to start your plants indoors then transplant them into your garden after they have sprouted. To control weeds line your garden bed with plastic mulch then cut holes in the plastic in order for your plant to grow. Using the plastic will control weeds allowing you to use little to no pesticides. Also study up on companion planting, which basically means planting things together that mutually benefit each plant. I've used most of these techniques in the past and I can routinely grow well into November right here in good old Nova Scotia. One last tip, planning, planning and more planning. You need to know when and what to plant and when to harvest, so make sure you plan your garden rotation in advance, you don't want to plant strawberries in September and think you'll get a harvest in.

Season-Extending Techniques, Row Covers, Cold Frames, Greenhouses: Gardener's Supply

Here is a guide to growing in Nova Scotia. It is designed as a school curriculum but it has some great tips buried in there.

http://novascotia.ca/agri/documents/education/program_schoolgarden-guide.pdf

 

[draemn]

I can't see you being able to grow through the coldest 3-4 months of the year without having heating. There are some colder weather crops that do enjoy cooler temperatures, but not much will want to grow below 10 degrees. The items you are looking at will NOT keep temperatures up without having a heater installed inside of them.