Garden Vegetable’s Growing Information

[Curbie]

I’m looking for on-line information on garden vegetable’s growing information for a little home program I’m writing to help me keep track of a home garden. The on-line idea is important I don’t receive mail form the PO and I can spider the info if it’s on line.

Anyone know of any links?

Thanks,

Curbie

The following is the type info I’m after although it doesn’t have to be in one place:
Plant's name.
Plant’s minimum temperature.
Plant’s maximum temperature.
Plant's indoor (green-house) planting in weeks before first frost date.
Plant's transplanting indoor plants to outdoor before or after first frost date flag.
Plant's transplanting in weeks before or after first frost date.
Plant's seed planting depth.
Plant's average number of days it takes this type of seed to germinate.
Plant's outdoor planting before or after first frost date flag.
Plant's outdoor planting in weeks before or after first frost date.
Plant's number of days to maturity for a seed variety.
Plant's harvest before or after last frost date flag.
Plant's harvest in weeks before or after last frost date.
Plant's number of plants per traditional row.
Plant's distance apart in a traditional rows.
Plant's distance that should separate full grown plants grown in traditional rows.
Plant's density per unit for square foot gardening.
Plant's number of density units for square foot gardening.

[NCLee]

You've got a massive task in front of you for several reasons. First, unless you're extremely lucky, you won't find all the information, you're seeking in one place for each plant. Second, even if you choose a plant, such as carrots, each variety will have it's own set of specs. Early season, late season, dwarf, hybrid, heirloom, etc. (Naturally, some specs will universally apply, but it sounds like you're trying to be very specific with your data.)

Since you don't want to order catalogs, the best way that I know of to get started is to google seed catalogs. Then, pick one such as Burpee or Parks. Using carrots as the example, go through their catalog for much of the info you need for each variety of carrots they sell. Choosing one like Burpee will get your plant list started and give you many of the pieces of data that you need for your spreadsheet.
http://www.burpee.com/category/vegetables.do
http://www.burpee.com/contentarticle.do?itemID=776

Some of the data for square foot gardening, and such, will only be estimates. There are too many variables in soil conditions and microclimates to pin these numbers down with a very high degree of certainty.

For example, my neighbor who's only a 1/2 mile away has a longer growning season than I do. He's on a hill and I'm in a valley. I get hit with frost in the fall before he does.

Good luck with your project. Perhaps someone else has the mother-load of links that can help you.

Lee

[AlchemyAcres]

As NCLee said, each cultivar will have it's own specs. As an example, average days to maturity for eggplant is around 80-90 days, but some varieties mature in 60 days, some mature in 120.

Anyway, here are some general resources to get you started..............

Seed starting charts.....

http://gardenaddicts.googlepages.com/DansSeedChart.htm

http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/seed_starting_calendar.html

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seedstartingchart_lazy.php

Park's vegetable Tips and Planting Guide has Planting depth, spacing and general days to maturity info......

http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/GP/listpage/gh-home

Johnny's Growing Chart...

http://pdfmenot.com/view/http://www.johnnyseeds.com/pdf/GrowingCharts.pdf

Other Resources from Johnny's......

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/CustomerService/NewsEvents/Resources.aspx

Your extension service should also have lots of general information.


~Martin

[Anon001]

I agree with Lee. That is a big task.

I would first decide what types of vegetables and fruits you like. Then go to the various seed sites and look up the info as Lee suggested for each type..... Then you go to the Farmer's Almanac site and also look up info for planting dates and last average freeze and first early freeze.

If you're in Florida, your growing season is different than most any other state. You most likely have a long growing season.

I would just wait until after the last frost, if you have frosts, buy some seed and plant it. That is the easiest way to learn and like I wrote on another thread, all the seed packets have that information. Also, if you look up your zone, and the conditions for your zone, you will probably learn more than any other way. Your zone, with exceptions, will educate you as much as anything.

Also, keep in mind that there are things that you will learn about growing certain things that you won't find anywhere online as anything "official".

[Deberosa]

Try www.davesgarden.com (http://www.davesgarden.com) also

[Curbie]

Lee,

Thanks for the links.

I don’t have illusions about the precision of weather data, know I’m looking at past averages used to project future probabilities; after all, we are talking about averages, the future, probabilities, and the weather, all of which plays their parts in expanding the range and speed in which the “bulls-eye” is moving.

My interests are both short and long term, bio is a big part of my future plans both for food and fuel, for the short term I want to crank a small spread-sheet (much like the “YouGrowGirl” one Martin posted) to make sure the locations I’m considering a move to has the general climate to support the bio I’m interested in. In the long term, I’m just interested in food gardening, and from my limited experience as a kid with my mother’s garden “too much information (knowledge) is never enough”.

Martin,

*** Jack-Pot, exactly what I was looking for! ***

I just data-based the HTML lists to feed my spider to collect the paged data tonight, also queued the PDF pages for conversion, so I should be cross-checking the results in a few days. This is will help alleviate bio concerns when selecting a location to move to.

*** Thank you, great links! ***

Paul,

Sound advice as always, I am in Florida now but will move as soon as I can choose a location, this is yet another part of the narrowing process. There are certain things (about anything) that can’t be learned without “walking the path”, I don’t expect to eliminate the path, my goal is to make the path as short as is practical (Martin’s post).

I want to narrow my potential locations down to one maybe two (cost of moving) and then take someone’s advice (maybe yours?) and move there and rent.

Thanks,

Deberosa,

DavesGarden.com has a nice database also, cross-checking and filling gaps.

Thanks,

Curbie

[Anon001]

Curbie,

I forgot that you were planning to relocate.

As long as the last average freeze is May 1 or before and the first average freeze sometime in late September or later, you should be able to grow most any vegetable that you want or like, except for any that are "exotic" or specific to one area.

Good luck,
Paul

[AlchemyAcres]

Heck, here in far north central PA, our last average frost date is May 25th, first average frost date is September 25th.
There's no problem growing any common vegetables here, or even long season gourds, most years.

Average First and Last Frost Dates by State

http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/


~Martin

[Curbie]

Anybody ever read "Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia - With Special Herb Section", an eBook available all over the net that kicked up in one of my searches?

Seems like a serious work, although I'm guessing from the 70's or 80's, and I was wounding if any had any thoughts as to its accuracy or value?

It seems well categorized enough for starter data or a at least a supplement.

Thanks,

Curbie

[Curbie]

Ok,
I transferred the eBook "Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia - With Special Herb Section" to a text file. It has a couple a collating holes but seems like good information and is well organized into 15 sections per plant:

Name:
AKA:
Botanical:
Origin:
Varieties:
Description:
Growing:
Planting:
Fertilizing:
Special:
Pests:
Diseases:
Harvesting:
Storing:
Serving:

The list of 80 plants is at the end.

The text file is about 350K and 100K zipped if any wants it. I’m going to data base this, just too many types of data for a spread sheet. If some has MS-access and is interested, I could use another pair of eyes. Now to compile all the data from martin’s links, sort it out and merge it with this stuff.

Thanks,

Curbie

List of Plants:
Artichoke
Asparagus
Bean, Broad
Bean, Dry
Bean, Green or Snap
Bean, Lima
Bean, Mung
Beet
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cardoon
Carrot
Cauliflower
Celeriac
Celery
Chard
Chayote
Pea, Chick
Chicory
Cabbage, Chinese
Collards
Corn
Cress
Cucumber
Dandelion
Eggplant
Endive
Fennel
Horseradish
Jerusalem Srtichoke
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leek
Lettuce
Mushroom
Muskmelon
Mustard
Okra
Onion
Parsnip
Pea, Sweet
Pea, Blackeyed
Peanut
Pepper
Potato
Pumpkin
Radish
Rhubarb
Rutabagas
Salsify
Shallot
Sorrel
Soybean
Spinach
Squash, Summer
Squash, Winter
Potato, Sweet
Tomato
Turnip
Watermelons
Anise
Basil
Borage
Caraway
Chervil
Chives
Coriander
Dill
Fennel
Garlic
Marjoram
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary
Sage
Summer Savory
Sesame
Tarragon

[Curbie]

Ok,
I data-based the eBook "Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia - With Special Herb Section" to two main tables and added maintenance and search screens for both.

Screen shots:
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz177/Curbie_Pics/Plants.jpg

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz177/Curbie_Pics/Varieties.jpg

I've been creating an library of plant and seeding images to attach to each record in the plants table, but got side-track on some diesel engine research so I'll try and finish the image library tonight.

The varieties need few more data fields man & max growing temp and soil type and anything else someone can think of?

Now that I can easily bounce back and forth between plant and their various varieties, I should be able to cross-check and merge all of martin's data in here pretty quick and easy.

Curbie

[Curbie]

Well,

I finished the library of plant and seeding images and display screen tonight.
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz177/Curbie_Pics/Pics.jpg

I'll probably look into adding a few more fields to the Varieties table tonight (Yield) one more I thought of.

I'll try to finish adding fields tonight so I get get a fresh start on cross-checking and merging tomorrow.

Curbie