Winter indoor garden

**wildWoman** · 02-03-2008, 07:42 PM

Excellent that there's a homestead board now!!! Hey here's a tip for those out in the boonies, where and when fresh veggies are hard to come by in the winter. Transplant your tomatoes, Swiss Chard, chives etc into containers and move them into your cabin. If kept by a large south-facing window they'll keep on growing, how much depends on the amount of light. Veggies like chard, spinach and lettuce that do better with short daylight are probably the best plants. But plucking a ripe tomato off the vine in January is a nice thing, too!
Anybody here also doing this?

**hillbilly1987** · 02-03-2008, 07:44 PM

hi well i havnt yet but i will give it a try thanks for the info

**Rick** · 02-03-2008, 08:14 PM

No I haven't but in truth I have been thinking about it. We put a sun room on a couple of years ago and I was eyeballing some space last week trying to figure out what items that belonged to my wife I could move out. All of my stuff is critical to the overall balance and pleasing aesthetics of the room.

Store bought tomatoes are just crappy even in the summer and don't hold a candle to my garden ones. I hadn't considered lettuce or swiss chard but was thinking about some radishes and herbs.

I'll discuss this with my wife right after she asks where her stuff went.

**wareagle69** · 02-03-2008, 08:18 PM

first year on the homestead= first year of growing a garden.
i was reading today that i should start my plants now in the hose then transplant in the spring

**nell67** · 02-03-2008, 08:23 PM

yep,tomatoes,lettuce,broccoli,cauliflower,peppers, cabbage,anything that you would transplant,needs to be started now,some people around here even start cucumber plants in March,and transplant those too,but I think they grow fast enough anyway to worry about starting them early to transplant.

**Rick** · 02-03-2008, 08:27 PM

WE - You can sew leaf lettuce, spinach and radish seed on the ground just about any time you want. I sew them on Valentine's Day even if there is snow on the ground. The seeds won't freeze and they will germinate as soon as the ground is warm enough. All three are hearty, early plants that are best before warm weather. I've never messed with sewing indoors. The only other seeds I sew are green beans. For the rest, I plant starter plants that I purchase.

If you want to start them indoors, now would be the time to plant seeds. Check your zone so you know when you can move them outside. Generally after the last frost if it's a big garden. Smaller gardens can be planted earlier and then protect the plants when frost is forecast.

A four foot fence can be erected in your garden to use as a trellis. Climbing plants like green beans or peas do very well on a trellis. Of course you can use long poles as well. Someone mentioned in another thread the value of the "three sisters" corn, beans and squash.

I use a bagging lawnmower and my clippings go into my garden as well as leaves. Not only do they serve as a great barrier against weeds, they supply a lot of nitrogen and other nutrients for your garden. You might also think about a compost pile. It's an easy way to fertilize your garden, doesn't smell if you stay with green and brown yard wastes, conserves water in the garden and prevents the soil from becoming compacted.

**Rick** · 02-04-2008, 09:26 AM

Here is a good article on growing plants inside in the winter. While it's geared for house plants, the advice can be used on indoor garden plants just as easily.

http://www.alive.com/52a1a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=135

I added some additional information to my post above.

**trax** · 02-04-2008, 01:59 PM

I probably learned more about gardening in ten minutes or whatever it took to read these posts than.....well, it's good folks, thanks to all.

**Sourdough** · 02-04-2008, 02:31 PM

WildWomen, and anybody else, How do you keep Moose out of the garden??? Some here use Irish Spring soap. My garden is a 1/4 mile from the cabin, and gets raided by Bears (Black and Brown) and Moose.

**trax** · 02-04-2008, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by hopeak

WildWomen, and anybody else, How do you keep Moose out of the garden??? Some here use Irish Spring soap. My garden is a 1/4 mile from the cabin, and gets raided by Bears (Black and Brown) and Moose.

moose in garden=meat in freezer

**nell67** · 02-04-2008, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by trax

moose in garden=meat in freezer

Yes,exactly!!

**Sourdough** · 02-04-2008, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by nell67

Yes,exactly!!

"Man does not live by Moose alone", I need some greens. They even eat the potato plants.
And the Bears love the Barley and Oat seeds, they lick them off the ground.

**wareagle69** · 02-05-2008, 08:34 PM

how do i keep mosse out of the garden? well usually he's in the barn or out back in his pond he's not big on garden greens loves blueberries though can't keep his snout out of my basket keep telling him to pick his own but i think he thinks it;s too much work so he just slobbers over mine

**wildWoman** · 02-08-2008, 02:22 PM

We invested in electric fencing around the garden, compost and duckhouse area. Didn't have any moose or bear problems but we love having wild critters around the property and figured the best way to keep up friendly relations is to securely keep them out of trouble spots. It's not a huge expense, about $150 or more for a fence zapper that works on grizzlies, and does a lot to enable us to live with wild animals in a good way. I'd highly recommend it. Also for people less remote, it'll keep dogs from snacking on chickens or whatever else you have. The fence is powered with a car battery and very small solar panel.

**wareagle69** · 02-18-2008, 02:43 PM

ok just planted seeds in peat moss containers 8 each tomatoes carrots spinach, and lettuce. set each container in a flat with a couple of inches of water in the bottom. the tomatoes i put three seeds in eack cup the carrots a few two for the spinach and a few for the lettuce.

question though i understand where tomato seeds come from but what about the carrots lettuce and spinach

**nell67** · 02-18-2008, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by wareagle69

ok just planted seeds in peat moss containers 8 each tomatoes carrots spinach, and lettuce. set each container in a flat with a couple of inches of water in the bottom. the tomatoes i put three seeds in eack cup the carrots a few two for the spinach and a few for the lettuce.

question though i understand where tomato seeds come from but what about the carrots lettuce and spinach

The plants will "go to seed" if they are not harvested,which means they will flower out,then grow seed pods on them.

**Rick** · 02-18-2008, 02:50 PM

All will bolt or produce seeds if you allow the plant to grow long enough. Spinach and lettuce will send up one tall shoot that will grow a head of seeds. Here is a picture of spinach that has bolted. Leaf lettuce looks very much the same.

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Here is what the carrot looks like when they flower and go to seed.

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**wareagle69** · 02-18-2008, 02:55 PM

so then do you leave the bolt alone and dry the seeds out for next year?

**Rick** · 02-18-2008, 03:01 PM

WE - I keep my seed packets in the fridge and they are generally good for +/- three years. I don't save the seeds from the plants. That let's me turn all my plants into food.

One packet of leaf lettuce, for example, will last me about 3 years. By then I've generally used all the seed. (that's a LOT of leaf lettuce seed). I generally sow a row about two feet wide and 4-5 feet long. That will produce a LOT of leaf lettuce and doesn't take much seed. Far more than my wife and I will eat and I wind up giving it away. Same for spinach, radish, etc.

If you want to collect the seeds from the plant then you would either collect the seeds as they loosen or collect the seed head and let it dry (depending on the plant).