Hey Zone 5 Gardeners! What's goin' on now?

[GoddessKristie]

We just moved into our first home this week and I am SOOOO anxious to put out a garden. I'm trying to gather materials for some cold frames, but since it is still getting into the 90s here in IN I was wondering what other zone 5ers thought about just now putting out some veggies.
What do you have going on in your gardens right now?
PS I adore seeing pictures!


Oops, maybe I should have put this in the right forum...

[uncle Will in In.]

We live in the middle of zone 5. In an average year it will freeze hard before the end of Oct. The best thing to do right now is get your garden plot ready to plant in the spring.

[canfossi]

Yes I am in zone 5 also, my garden is winding down and I plan on pulling things out in a week or two. There is not much warmth left here for growing. Chris

[MaineFarmMom]

Spinach will germinate down to 38°. It's cold and frost hardy. Tatsoi and other Asian greens will also do well. You probably won't get mature plants but there's time for baby greens before the days become too short.

Don't pay attention to zone unless you're planning to grow in winter. Zones won't tell you your frost dates, how warm your days will be or when the sun is too low in the sky to keep plants growing.

[FalconDance]

We're in MO, and I swear, it' sone of the wonkiest states for weather and gardening there is ! Last week we had a couple days in the mid to upper 60s. Friday is expected to be 90*. Betcha we have a light frost in a week or so.

My garden was put in very late due to excess rains. We got all planted after it had dried sufficiently, rains held off until the seeds had all germinated and everything looked great, then rained for six days solid and on the seventh, it dawned bright and hit over 90* FAST, in effect boiling all the tender young plants. Lost all the beans and much of the rest. BUT the tomatoes have now decided they like this strange weather and are putting on new blossums........

That's our Zone 5.

[MelissaW]

The earliest frost we've had in the 14 years I've been zone 5 gardening is Sept. 30. Usually, though, we can string it along until the third or fouth week of October here. Right now I still have tomatoes, eggplant, chili and green peppers, beets, and potatoes. The lettuces, green beans,and squash are done. I'll still be able to get a row of spinish and chard with a poly row cover. I've got a chicken in the garden at the moment, gleaning all of the bugs, weed seeds, and windfall veggies for me. You could definately do some greens with a cold frame! Enjoy your new home and garden. How exciting!

[ET1 SS]

In zone 5 here.

Our first frost was 17Sep07, took out our veggies.

I just finished making and filled 16 raised beds for apple trees, to plant them next spring.

I have just planted four raised beds with four varieties of garlic.

[Sara in IN]

Kristie,

Go look at
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/climate/toolbox.asp
and look at the freeze/frost probability and growing season maps. With these tools you can get a better idea of what to expect in your part of Indiana in an "average"(yea, right) year.

In general, mulching with leaves and other general soil prep is a good job to do now. You might get some hardy greens, (spinach, claytonia, tatsoi,) going in a 4 'wide high tunnel ( 2' rebar, 10' 3/4"PVC pipe ribs every 2', and clip on 4 mil plastic sheet -10'x up to 18'long) This is also a good time to plant garlic, regular or elephant.

Sara in IN on the banks of the Wabash

[Terri]

I read an article that was written about 150 years ago. The gent was a market gardener in NY, and every fall he planted cabages and lettuces.

He would ocver them with straw before a big freeze, and they would survive the winter and head up first thing in the spring.

I tried it with grass clippings and I failed, but I am going to try again with coarser mulch.

[diane]

Zone 5 can be very unpredictable and the weather can be very warm or very cold. For me this is a time of winding down and getting ready for spring by putting the garden beds to sleep. Getting garden rubble off prevents undesirable little critters and diseases from overwintering. I like to have a couple of places where the sun hits in early spring all worked up and covered with mulch so I can put some greens in very early.

[Russ_NEPA]

We've got tomatos, peppers, lettuce, spinach, and all the brassicas still going strong. Cukes and summer squash are done. Winter salad greens are growing nicely in the hoop house.

As to the weather, it's still in the high 70's daytime and no fall weather in site. but I wouldn't be starting a garden from scratch this late. Maybe just a small patch of leaf lettuce. Prepare your garden for next spring. That way you can get a nice early start.

[ajaxlucy]

For October it's amazing, but we're still picking eggplant, okra, basil, and peppers, along with chard and a few tomatoes. The green beans, which did so poorly over the hot, dry summer, are coming in very strong now. Late season mustard greens, lettuce and kale are growing, as well as radishes and a few kohlrabi, beets, and peas.

I'm getting ready to plant 2 varieties of hardneck garlic for harvest next summer. If you like garlic, I'm told you can plant it very late, so long as it gets a few days in the ground before everything freezes.

[fantasymaker]

Originally Posted by Terri

I read an article that was written about 150 years ago. The gent was a market gardener in NY, and every fall he planted cabages and lettuces.

Where did ya read that? I just love that sorta old writing.

[canadiangirl]

Originally Posted by Terri

I read an article that was written about 150 years ago. The gent was a market gardener in NY, and every fall he planted cabages and lettuces.

He would ocver them with straw before a big freeze, and they would survive the winter and head up first thing in the spring.

I tried it with grass clippings and I failed, but I am going to try again with coarser mulch.

I have done this with spinach. Its growing early and I get a good feed before the heat hits. I am going to give it a try with broccolli. Thanks!

[NickieL]

spinich and lettuce are great right now, still have some tomatoes and the bell pepers are doing better this month then they have all summer! Garlic needs to go in. I've been so busy I havent gotten around to it yet---shame on me!

[dcross]

http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z...042/buckwheat/

Sprayed the buckwheat to kill the quackgrass and Canada thistles, going to add compost and plant garlic next weekend. Feasting on all sorts of stuff, have kraut foaming away.

[GoddessKristie]

Is anyone working cold frames or cloches this fall/winter?