Heads up from my first year of adaptive gardening project in north of Copenhagen, Denmark.
I did start with the casual Adaptive gardening seed starter pack : watermelons, melons, cucumbers, corn, pumpkins, beans and peas. All the good things.
Some learnings I got along the way:
I sowed way too many seeds compared to my own resources for taking care of them and also to make sure to save some for next year
It was a hassle to not have easy access to the garden (I don’t live where plants grow) so I had to select for certain level of negligence
I started to sow a bit late in the season, which made my seedlings more prompt to slug attacks when they were high in number and strength
It helped to plant my small plants in three different areas of the garden,with different sun exposition, natural access to water and surroundings. My cucurbits only survived in one of the patches.
It was a fun and enriching experience and I am dancing around the fire now I start collecting seeds. I can’t wait for next year
What I will do different next year:
I will gather more varieties of seeds with hope for better chances for life to thrive
I will dedicate more time earlier in the season to sow
What will remain the same will be going with the flow with what grows, grows to seed or not.
Now I am waiting for my remaining maximas, peas, beans, cucumbers and corn to produce fruits and will take it from there.
I called this patch Patch a mama because I have dad humor:
congratulations for this first successful year !
we will have enough seeds to provide you in October
I am not a specialist of the climate of Denmark but to not wait one year, should be able to grow things even in winters : patch a papa Santa
Merci ! On est en zone 8a au nord de Copenhague.
Oui, si tu as des graines en rab qui a priori aiment notre climat, je suis curieuse d’en entendre +. C’est quoi comme espèces ?
surprising, you speak French! c’est génial cela facilitera nos discutions de colocation en Octobre.
here in zone 7, we eat all the winters of Purple Stemmed Rockette landrace, lamb’s lettuce, Ciboule (Allium fistulosum) from Japan White Nebuko, leeks, Japanese mustard, .beet, parsnip, chicory salad, pak choi cabage…
there are also the Japanese radish type Daikon…this year I launch a grex
Most can be sown between late August and mid-October to get through the winters.
Of course, if it does not freeze too hard (max - 5°C) and almost never snow
End of season here in my first year of landracing:
I have harvested as many seeds as possible. Corns are fine enough, cucumbers a bit weak but let’s see if they carry life.
I feel blessed to have gathered some seeds in Antibes
Reading old notes, I realize I have started to sow beginning of June, which is definitely too late. I’m seeing now the consequences on the fruits that pretty much have all in common that the seeds are not fully mature. Plants could definitely have used 2 weeks or a month extra to grow.
Reflexions for next year:
My preference would be to direct sow seeds when frost is over (mid May ) but then it seems I would face again a shorter season.
How do people do usually? Would you grow in greenhouse your precious seeds and directly in the soil those that are less important? Do I simply need to accept that I would have to transplant greenhouse grown small seedlings to earth when frost is over?
What you mean a shorter season? You have to postpone for some reason? Over here in Southern Finland (and also north from here) it’s common to direct sow squash and outdoor cucumbers early june, even mid to late june. Most of the growth in any case comes in july-august because june can be quite cool at times with, if not frosts, atleast quite close to it. If there aren’t other conditions that would delay growth, should get ripe seeds in 3 months. Also corn could make it in that timeframe. Corn you can also take little risk with light frosts. They should regrow from the centre, if I remember correctly, down to closer to -3 (on the plants).
If you used transplants, you have to account for that you don’t get them as fast from sowing to mature as if you direct sow, on average. My experience is that no matter the species you get average 1/3 transplant period as advantage. So 3 week transplant period would give a 1 week advantage making it equal to 3,5 months with direct sowing instead of 4 from transplant. Can be more like 1/2 transplant period if the period is short in good conditions, but could loose all and then some if period is long and transplant shock is high. Seen it many times on neighboring plots that transplant loose to my direct sown because there is cold/hot period after transplanting. So you might get closer to 3 months with direct sowing if there is enough moisture to start with and temperatures aren’t too bad. I did have with my survivor plot that squash and corn took 2-3 weeks more in extreme drought conditions, but in those conditions direct sowing is probably even better. Can’t imagine transplants would have done very good without constant watering. Direct sowing also has the advantage that you can go when the weather is ready (even little before than you could transplant) and in case it’s a little later start you don’t have big transplants to worry about. Slugs are not a problem here so I can’t say how it would go with those. Those are fairly fast to grow big from emergence that maybe it could work with just mass selection.
I would say basicly that’s it. Unless i have enough seeds of something, then they get tested for coldhardines . You can seed in trays full of shallow earth or in balcony trays, then they can grow a bit bigger rootsystem.
Do you cook the cucumbers in a stir fry?
My experience is that plants (especially cucurbits) grow better if direct seeded. Transplants don’t grow as vigorously as direct seeded, and the lack of vigor extends through the entire growing season.
Like everything, it depends.
I have had some success with cucurbits by transplanting them into the garden a few days after germinating in the greenhouse.
I can’t direct sow tomatoes, because a solanum flea beetle devours them immediately after germination, but if I transplant out six week old seeds, the plants can out-grow the beetles.
