Dates for starting seeds in Alaska

[lori]

Here is a little info taken from an Alaska Cooperative Extension hand out on gardening.

The rule of thumb for determining dates for starting seeds to grow transplants is to count back the required number of weeks from the average last killing frost. For example if June 1st is the last killing frost, count back six weeks to April 20 and start cabbage seeds on this date. The following table gives the number of weeks required to grow commom veg. transplants in AK.

10-12 weeks- celery

8 weeks-Tanana tomatoes(these are outdoor types that only do well in the interior I think),brussel sprouts

6 weeks eggplants*, peppers, other outdoor tomatoes

4-6 weeks- cabbage, cauliflower,broccoli, head lettuce,kale(if early crop desired)

3 weeks summer squash*, cucumbers*, pumpkins*


*these plants are difficult to transplant and care must be taken not to disturb the roots.

Veggies that may be seeded directly in the garden up to two weeks prior to the last killing frost with little danger of loss are:
beets, carrots, chard, lettuce, mustard, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radish, spinach, turnip, rutabeggas, kale, beans corn(under plastic) kohlrabi, green onions, parsley, zucchini

Hope this will be a good reference for anyone wondering

Lori

[Chuck]

Thank you for that list! I'm going to print it and keep it handy. I didn't realize that Kale could be planted so early. We grow lots of kale to dry for winter use. That will give us 2 extra weeks! HOORAY! Not enough room in the house to start it with all the cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

Do you know if collards can also be started before the last expected frost? We love that, too.

Thanks,

Jenny

[lori]

Chuck, I have looked through the handout that I got the other info from and there is no mention of starting collards before frost. But I would suspect that since it is a cold hardy plant anyways that it might be safe to say they would survive... I guess you can sacrifice a package of seeds and plant a row and if it doesnt come up like the other seeds planted then you know it wont work!
The only thing about collards listed is that they do well and freezing doesnt really hurt the plant too much...
Good luck!

Lori

[Jenny]

Thanks. We've found that, like kale, the plants do fine, and are actually sweeter after a frost.

Another question on kale and collarda. We've always planted one plant in its own space, and sort of pruned throughout the growing season, then harvest everything after a frost. We have some friends who say their overall harvest is much better when they broadcast the seeds, cut them off sort of like grass when they get maybe a foot high, usually by the end of June, then get another one or two cuttings later in the season. They have a VERY large family to feed, so I'm thinking of trying that this year. What do you think of that?

Thanks,

Jenny

[pipedreams]

That's pretty much the way we did it.........although more often than not we just picked a bunch for a meal....then picked more when needed...new growth was always coming up. There was no harvest this way......per se, unless things were starting to go to seed.

We always started all the greens around the same time...they are hardy and frosts don't seem to do much of anything to them.........a hard freeze might be different, I can't recall having one of them........but we did have 6" or so of snow once and that didn't kill em off! ;D

[lori]

Jenny, my experience with most greens is the same, plant them all around the same time, harvest as needed for family meals and they should just keep coming... not sure about the broadcast idea, always did rows... but if your friends tried it and it works, well the proofs in the pudding, I think thats how the old saying goes anyways...

Lori

[Jenny]

;D

OK. I'll let you know how my pudding turns out ;D

Jenny