Any other zone 5b gardeners out there?

[Echelontheory101]

Hi all!

Curious if there are any other Zone 5b gardeners in here! I was gardening long before I was chickening haha I have 5 acres but I mostly do raised bed gardening probably around 300 sq ft total of bed space plus trellises containers and fence line planting space. Now that we're through the holidays I am absolutely getting impatient about seed starting haha. I spent all last night impulse shopping on burpees website lol I feel like a lot of the garden/homestead pages on social media are much warmer USDA zones with much longer growing seasons so a lot of the advice for seed starting, harvesting, timing etc seems to not match up with my growing season, so just wanted to chat with other gardeners that have similar conditions as me.
What do you like to grow what are you growing when do you usually start your seeds or do you just direct sow?

Below is my typical list
Lots of green beans sweet peas sugar snap peas honey nut squash pumpkins mini watermelons beets radish onion zucchini and summer squash sungold tomatoes cucumbers for pickles broccoli brussel sprouts asparagus cayenne peppers I have 2 container fig trees, 4 blueberry bushes 4 blackberry bushes four raspberry bushes 4 pots of strawberries and five grow bags of potatoes and 2 giant rhubarb crowns typically a year and then a BUNCH of herbs and flowers that I plant throughout the beds for pest control and pollinator attraction etc.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi!

Just a suggestion to post this here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-did-you-do-in-the-garden-today.670277/

I haven't been there much, but I'm going to jump in when I start my tomatoes indoors that I'm going to raise to harvest indoors. We have horrible blight here, so it's pointless to try to plant them outdoors.

Also, if you weren't already aware, we have a sister site you may be interested in. https://www.theeasygarden.com/

 

[Echelontheory101]

Hi!

Just a suggestion to post this here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-did-you-do-in-the-garden-today.670277/

I haven't been there much, but I'm going to jump in when I start my tomatoes indoors that I'm going to raise to harvest indoors. We have horrible blight here, so it's pointless to try to plant them outdoors.

Also, if you weren't already aware, we have a sister site you may be interested in. https://www.theeasygarden.com/

Oh I didnt know about that I'll have to go check it out!

 

[Snowbelt]

Hi all!

Curious if there are any other Zone 5b gardeners in here! I was gardening long before I was chickening haha I have 5 acres but I mostly do raised bed gardening probably around 300 sq ft total of bed space plus trellises containers and fence line planting space. Now that we're through the holidays I am absolutely getting impatient about seed starting haha. I spent all last night impulse shopping on burpees website lol I feel like a lot of the garden/homestead pages on social media are much warmer USDA zones with much longer growing seasons so a lot of the advice for seed starting, harvesting, timing etc seems to not match up with my growing season, so just wanted to chat with other gardeners that have similar conditions as me.
What do you like to grow what are you growing when do you usually start your seeds or do you just direct sow?

Below is my typical list
Lots of green beans sweet peas sugar snap peas honey nut squash pumpkins mini watermelons beets radish onion zucchini and summer squash sungold tomatoes cucumbers for pickles broccoli brussel sprouts asparagus cayenne peppers I have 2 container fig trees, 4 blueberry bushes 4 blackberry bushes four raspberry bushes 4 pots of strawberries and five grow bags of potatoes and 2 giant rhubarb crowns typically a year and then a BUNCH of herbs and flowers that I plant throughout the beds for pest control and pollinator attraction etc.

I'm in Zone 5b and have successfully grown just about everything on your list. The only thing you've listed I am still trying to get to thrive is the fig tree. I have two hardy Chicago figs, and they tend to die back in winter and sprout back from the roots in spring. This is their second winter, and I have yet to get a fig. I start many of my plants inside starting in March, and that has worked very well. Others like peas and beans I plant out directly when appropriate. I always experiment with new things just to see if they will grow. My biggest surprise success last year was Candy Roaster Squash. They grew to a length of 30 inches and are unbelievably sweet, even better than Honey Nut Squash. I was also very happy with Jenny Lind Melons and Minnesota Midget Melons and will grow them again this year.

 

[Echelontheory101]

I'm in Zone 5b and have successfully grown just about everything on your list. The only thing you've listed I am still trying to get to thrive is the fig tree. I have two hardy Chicago figs, and they tend to die back in winter and sprout back from the roots in spring. This is their second winter, and I have yet to get a fig. I start many of my plants inside starting in March, and that has worked very well. Others like peas and beans I plant out directly when appropriate. I always experiment with new things just to see if they will grow. My biggest surprise success last year was Candy Roaster Squash. They grew to a length of 30 inches and are unbelievably sweet, even better than Honey Nut Squash. I was also very happy with Jenny Lind Melons and Minnesota Midget Melons and will grow them again this year.

I also have the Chicago hardy figs I wrapped them in burlap and put them in the garage for the winter while they go dormant so that their roots don't freeze too bad before I put them back outside in the spring which has helped a little bit but I also don't get very huge figs I do get them but not very big ones.

And that's good to know March I've been doing direct sowing for years as soon as the soil gets above 40°, but I feel like I'm just getting into my best harvest come September as things start getting cold and would love to be able to move that timeline up a little bit so experimenting with starting indoors this year instead of direct sowing like I've done in years past.

Do you start all of your stuff at the same time and just know that the slower ones are still going to take a little bit longer like your peppers eggplant things like that or do you do peppers eggplant night shades brassica's etc first and then flowers herbs squashes Etc a few weeks later?

 

[Echelontheory101]

biggest surprise success last year was Candy Roaster Squash. They grew to a length of 30 inches and are unbelievably sweet, even better than Honey Nut Squash

Ive never heard of these! I will have to check them out! I went with honey nut squash because I live alone and last year I did butternut squash and spaghetti squash and because it doesn't freeze well after roasting I was wasting a lot of squash because it's only me I can't eat a 4 lb squash before it goes bad so I went with Honey Nut to get something slightly smaller

 

[Snowbelt]

Honey Nut is a good choice for small and tasty. The two melons I mentioned are small and will work well for one person.

 

[Echelontheory101]

Honey Nut is a good choice for small and tasty. The two melons I mentioned are small and will work well for one person.

Ill have to check those out too! Burpee hates to see me coming or more likely my bank hates to see burpee coming

 

[Echelontheory101]

Honey Nut is a good choice for small and tasty. The two melons I mentioned are small and will work well for one person.

Are your figs in the ground or containers?

 

[Snowbelt]

Are your figs in the ground or containers?

A little of both. They are in dedicated 3-foot diameter raised beds, so the roots extend into the ground, but the tree is containerized. I mulch them heavily in the fall with wood chips and cover that with leaves. They make it through just fine, but some of the previous year's growth dies back. I'm hoping they retain enough to give me a few figs next summer.