Planting Time in January?
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GardenNut
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jan-24-2005 at 8:53am
On a lark, I tested my soil temp this morning. 47 degrees! And since the weather is supposed to be warm all week, I started to wonder....
Is anyone thinking about planting their peas yet? Or lettuce and spinach? Or is there simply not enough sunlight yet to bother? The weeds seem to be happy enough....
Chris Sunset 4 USDA 8a
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jan-24-2005 at 10:16am
I am at 49F and the 30-90 day forecast has greater chance for warmer/drier than normal. With the warm rains, my temps were in the mid-50's all last week.
You might try the peas. Also control those weeds before they seed. I am going to take the tops off my Brussels sprouts to size them up before they decide it is time to bolt.
Gary
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jan-25-2005 at 5:51am
I am going to excerpt from Trav's Vegetable Garden Timetable:
(See his full article)
January
* Lettuce, spinach, and mustard can all be started indoors. Remember that mustard is photoperiodic, so don't set the timer on your lights for too long of a 'daylength'!
February
First Half
* If you are growing asparagus from seed, start it now. The seeds can take up to three weeks to germinate even if kept warm.
Second Half
* Sow some broccoli and cauliflower indoors about mid-month. If you use 2' pots, and keep them growing on the cool side, they'll be ready to go out under a cloche about April 1.
* Late in February is a good time to start artichokes. They can be overwintered with care, but Green Globe and Imperial Star are both easy to grow like annuals as well!
* Traditionally peas are sown on George Washington's birthday (2/22). However, in the Maritime Northwest it's important to pay attention to the winter weather. Some years my soil isn't dry enough for any planting until mid-April! Other years, particularly during El NiƱo events, peas can be planted as early as January.
Note that his reference to El Nino applies this year. I intend to start this week with the peas. I think I would wait though if I didn't have such sandy soil. Certainly a raised bed would also be a good idea to help the drainage if we get some more pineapple expresses.
Gary
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Jan-25-2005 at 9:29pm
Chris I thought maybe it was just me!!! So happy to see someone else has the same sickness LOL
~BakingBarb
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Mar-02-2005 at 10:11am
I checked those 5-week old pea seeds in my friend's sunny garden yesterday. 1-3' plants every on the same two inch spacing that I tried to sow. Seems that I got almost 100% germination. The varieties were Green Arrow, a shrunken seed main crop, and Alaska, a round seed early crop.
My skeptical friend and his brother both told me that the seeds would all rot. Now he wants me to plant the other side of the 30' frame. Once more Trav's advice works!
Gary
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton