As promised last fall, we at GreenRoofGrowers, want to share some of what we’ve learned about growing on our rooftops and will be including several posts throughout the growing season.
Last weekend, here in Chicago, we ordered our seeds to start our seedlings for transplanting this spring. Our goal is to get the broccoli, greens, lettuce going for an early spring planting. These cool weather crops can stand the cold weather but maybe not the freezing so we’ll have to watch our crazy Chicago weather (zone 5b). Next, we’ll start most of the summer crop – tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. – for a mid-May planting. We’re basically starting seeds 4-6 weeks before they go into our boxes. Bruce will follow up with a post about planting the seeds for seedling starts in the coming days.
We’re very excited about our seed shopping this year. We also have some seed left over from last year so we’re using them when we can. This year, we’ve mainly purchased seeds from Seed Savers Exchange and Victory Seeds but also from Reimer Seeds, Seeds from Italy, Fedco, and Wild Garden Seed.
We chose some basics and old reliables but also want to try a few newer varieties to see how they do. Here’s a snapshot:
-Amaranth
-Arugula
-Beans (several)
-Broccoli
-Cress
-Cucumber
-Eggplant
-Escarole
-Greens (Collard)
-Herbs (several)
-Kale (several)
-Lettuce (several)
-Melon
-Pea
-Pepper (sweet and hot)
-Sunchoke
-Swiss Chard
-Tomatoes (several)
-Zucchini
So, if you are planning on planting from seed this year (and live in Chicago or another zone 5 area), order them now. Although my transplanting dates will be around April 15 and May 15 this year, some of the other growers may try to start a bit earlier. We’ll keep you posted as to the progress.
