Planting December 2019 Planting Guide and Garden Chat

[packyderms_wife]

https://www.farmersalmanac.com/calendar/gardening/

1st - 2nd
Barren days. Fine for clearing, plowing, fertilizing, and killing plant pests
3rd - 4th
Extra good for cucumbers, peas, cantaloupes, and other vine crops. Plant peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes, and other aboveground crops in southern Florida, California, and Texas.
5th - 7th
A barren period.
8th - 9th
Fine for planting beans, peppers, cucumbers, melons, and other aboveground crops where climate is suitable.
10th - 11th
Seeds planted now tend to rot in ground.
12th - 13th
Start seedbeds and flower gardens. Good days for transplanting. Most favorable days for planting beets, onions, turnips, and other root crops where climate allows.
14th - 18th
A barren period. Favorable for killing plant pests, cultivating, or taking a short vacation.
19th - 20th
Plant flowers. Fine for sowing hay, fodder crops, and grains. Favorable days for planting root crops.
21st - 22nd
Start seedbeds. Good days for transplanting. Plant carrots, beets, onions, turnips, Irish potatoes, and other root crops in the South.
23rd - 24th
Do no planting.
25th - 27th
First day is when any root crops that can be planted now will do well. Last two days are when to plant sweet corn, beans, peppers, and other aboveground crops where climate is suitable.
28th - 29th
Barren days. Fine for clearing, plowing, fertilizing, and killing plant pests.
30th - 31st
Extra good for cucumbers, peas, cantaloupes, and other vine crops. Plant peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes, and other aboveground crops in southern Florida, California, and Texas.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Anyone get their first gardening catalogs for Spring yet? None here, yet. I see Aldi's has succulents for sale this week, I may pick up a couple. I have a boston fern that needs to be divided and replanted, ditto on my norfolk pine. Once OC gets my shelf put back up in the kitchen I plan to start some herbs for kitchen use, it'll probably be mostly basil at this point.

 

[Martinhouse]

No catalogs here, either and I usually have at least one by now.

Thinking about my next garden helps me get through the grim, chilly days of winter.

I bought ten pounds of red potatoes at the grocery store this morning, They were expensive, but they have lots of nicely sprouted eyes on them already.

 

[packyderms_wife]

No catalogs here, either and I usually have at least one by now.

Thinking about my next garden helps me get through the grim, chilly days of winter.

I bought ten pounds of red potatoes at the grocery store this morning, They were expensive, but they have lots of nicely sprouted eyes on them already.

I thought it was weird that we haven't received one yet, I wonder if they're going to online only sales now? When will you plant your potatoes?

 

[Martinhouse]

Since I'm in north central Arkansas, I think I can safely plant them in my greenhouse in early February. There will likely be at least a full month where I'll have to pay close attention to overnight low temps, as it's not a heated greenhouse, but it's easy to cover potato plants when they are still small.
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4:37 PM... Just occurred to me that I need to plant my garlic pretty soon. This also will be in my greenhouse.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Since I'm in north central Arkansas, I think I can safely plant them in my greenhouse in early February. There will likely be at least a full month where I'll have to pay close attention to overnight low temps, as it's not a heated greenhouse, but it's easy to cover potato plants when they are still small.
-----
4:37 PM... Just occurred to me that I need to plant my garlic pretty soon. This also will be in my greenhouse.

I've been following someone on YouTube they have those high tunnel covers and I've got to admit to a little bit of jealousy... they're picking spinach, kale, chard, and the like and have snow peas growing in there as well. Arms Family Homestead, they're in Oklahoma. They're using raised beds and wicking tubs for growing most of their food now. I'm going to try and get one set up late next summer with the two raised beds and see how it works out for me, it's too late to set one up here for this year.

 

[moldy]

THank you so much for continuing this line of threads.

 

[summerthyme]

Got at least 4 catalogs today... Parks, Southern Exposure, Johnny's... And I can't remember the last one. I haven't ordered from Baker Creek or Pine tree in several years... I'm probably off their list (especially with postage and printing costs! I'll bet they need every person who gets one of those pretty, full colored catalogs to average ten bucks an order just to break even on printing and mailing!

I do need to get a couple varieties of tomato seeds... my Bonnie Best and Pantano Romanesco bith got crossed and contaminated, after 8 years of keeping them pure. I'm clearly not fussy enough, but in general, replacements are readily available. If TSHTF, things would change fast... almost certainly including screen cages for individual plants, and likely only growing one variety of easily crossed plants per garden. With a certain "known pure" supply of each variety kept in reserve.

Summerthyme

 

[packyderms_wife]

Got at least 4 catalogs today... Parks, Southern Exposure, Johnny's... And I can't remember the last one. I haven't ordered from Baker Creek or Pine tree in several years... I'm probably off their list (especially with postage and printing costs! I'll bet they need every person who gets one of those pretty, full colored catalogs to average ten bucks an order just to break even on printing and mailing!

I do need to get a couple varieties of tomato seeds... my Bonnie Best and Pantano Romanesco bith got crossed and contaminated, after 8 years of keeping them pure. I'm clearly not fussy enough, but in general, replacements are readily available. If TSHTF, things would change fast... almost certainly including screen cages for individual plants, and likely only growing one variety of easily crossed plants per garden. With a certain "known pure" supply of each variety kept in reserve.

Summerthyme

Remind me to post photos from the test gardens at Iowa state university come June July. They have a very simple method of keeping various open pollinators from cross breeding. And it’s cheap, you’ll need pvc pipes and cheesecloth.