FARM Is it possible to harvest something each month of the year? Help me fill the blanks

changed

changed

Preferred pronouns: dude/bro
I live in Georgia. I am trying to think of fruits, vegetables, and nuts that could be harvested in each of the months of the year (without greenhouse or cold frame). Obviously, the winter months are going to be tough. Below are just some of the things I have harvested in the respective months.

January
February
March
April
May: blueberries, potatoes, grain
June: blueberries, potatoes, blackberries, plum
July: blueberries, raspberries, grape tomato, okra, alugbati (asian spinach), sweet potato leaves
August: carrots, raspberries, okra, millet, field corn, tomato
September: raspberries, okra, onion, rice
October: peanuts, sweet potato, cataloupe
November: peanuts, tomato, sweet potato, okra, squash, taro root
December:
 
changed

changed

Preferred pronouns: dude/bro
I was able to find the following list for Georgia from pickyourown.org
If you go to that website, you should be able to find your state and dates of harvest for crops. The early date is for southern Georgia, that later date is for northern Georgia.



Apples

July 25-November 21

Onions - Dry

May 1-June 25


Asparagus

March 15-June 20

Onions - Green

Jan. 1-June 1


Beans - Lima

May 15-October 20

Onions - Vidalia®

April 20-June 10


Beans: Pole & Snap

May 10-Nov. 5

Peaches

May 8-August 25


Blackberries - Atlanta area

June 1-July 30

Peanuts

August 15-November 1

Blackberries - southern GA May 15-June 15
Pears

August 1-November 1

Blueberries - Atlanta area June 15-August 15
Peas - English

Jan. 15-April 1

Blueberries - southern GA June 1-Aug. 5
Peas - Field

May 15-October 1

Cabbage May 15-September 25
Pecans

September 1-Dec. 15

Cantaloupes June 1-August 20
Pepper - Sweet

June 1-September 1

Christmas Trees November-December
Plums

July 1-August 25

Collards October 1-June 20
Potatoes - Irish

May 15-September 15

Corn - Sweet May 15-July 1
Potatoes - Sweet

July 15-November 20

Cucumbers May 1-July 20
Pumpkins

September 15-November 15

Eggplant June 15-October 20
Squash

May 20-October 1

Grapes - Bunch June 20-October 1
Strawberries - Atlanta area & N. Ga.

April 5 -June 10

Lettuce March 15-May 20 Strawberries - southern GA March 1- May 10

Muscadines

July 1-November 1

Tomatoes

May 25-October 15


Nectarines

May 8-August 25

Turnips - Bunched

Jan. 1-April 15


Okra

May 20-October 1

Turnips - Greens

October 1-March 15


(DATES MAY VARY DUE TO WEATHER AND/OR LOCATION)

Watermelons

June 25-September 1
 
changed

changed

Preferred pronouns: dude/bro
If I apply info from the website in the previous post, this is what I could potentially harvest and when:

January
February: turnips
March: turnips
April: asparagus
May: blueberries, potatoes, grain, strawberry
June: blueberries, potatoes, blackberries, plum, strawberry
July: blueberries, raspberries, grape tomato, okra, alugbati (asian spinach), sweet potato leaves, green beans, grape, kale
August: carrots, raspberries, okra, millet, field corn, tomato
September: raspberries, okra, onion, rice
October: peanuts, sweet potato, cataloupe, apples, pecan
November: peanuts, tomato, sweet potato, okra, squash, taro root, apples, pecan
December: pecan
 
Sammy55

Sammy55

Veteran Member
I'm in Minnesota and I know we in the northern states can extend the harvest season of root crops (like carrots) by covering them with straw and then digging them out when we want some. I don't know how far into winter someone could do this before the ground would begin freezing.

And I suppose that there might be some freeze-dried berries of some sort on trees in the middle of winter if the birds didn't get them all.

Without a greenhouse or cold frame, that leaves growing plants inside the house. I take some of my herbs inside over winter, and I'm sure someone could grow a pot of lettuce.

Plus, sprouting seeds for eating would give a fresh food that is high in nutrients.

Otherwise, up here I think we'll have to rely on dried, canned, and fermented foods if/when the power goes out.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Kale can be harvested in the winter months. In Georgia, you should be able to grow spinach and green onions in March and April. And what Sammy said about overwintering carrots and parsnips under mulch.

What is your USDA planting zone? Do you get frost at all? How about daylength? You down south don't have the loooong dark days we get up north in winter. Here it's dark at 4:30 in the afternoon and daylight about 8:00am. Only about 8 hours of good light.
 
changed

changed

Preferred pronouns: dude/bro
WalknTrot said:
Kale can be harvested in the winter months. In Georgia, you should be able to grow spinach and green onions in March and April. And what Sammy said about overwintering carrots and parsnips under mulch.

What is your USDA planting zone? Do you get frost at all? How about daylength? You down south don't have the loooong dark days we get up north in winter. Here it's dark at 4:30 in the afternoon and daylight about 8:00am. Only about 8 hours of good light.
Click to expand...

I believe I am in zone 8. We do get frosts in winter down here. They start in November and end in April. I have had terrible luck trying to grow spinach. The one time I did get it to sprout, it immediately bolted.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
You have to plant spinach when it's cool. Here, I can usually get it going about the end of April, and it fizzles by the end of June.
 
CGTech

CGTech

Has No Life - Lives on TB
See if you can locate a book called "Crocket's Victory Garden", he had the whole book organized by the time of the year.

http://www.amazon.com/Crocketts-Vic...498&sr=1-1&keywords=crockett's+victory+garden

61H2ZvlxwRL._SX371_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 
Raggedyman

Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
hitch hiking on Sammys post -
we're in zone 6b - regularly keep and use cabbage into the deep winter (late feb and into march) by burring it upside down in a trench -

in order to do this successfully your cabbage needs to be DRY when you do it . . .

DIG (as opposed to PULL) your cabbage up by the root - keeping the root as long as possible (that's the handle you'll use to find and re-harvest your cabbage later). trench 12 - 15" deep, turn cabbage upside down leaving all the outer leaves on it (once again these need to be DRY) with root sticking straight up. cover with dirt and pull up a hill like (you were hilling up your potatoes) cover with a sheet of 6 mil BLACK plastic and weight the edges down. if you think you're going to need it (for added insulation) add a bale of hay or leaves over the hill before you cover it with plastic. your cabbage will be sweet and pure white when you need it.

we've kept cabbage in the root cellar too but to be quite honest it's BETTER on the table kept this way
 
hunybee

hunybee

Veteran Member
just remember that when storing these veggies in the ground until use, (and i never heard of the cabbage like that. interesting....) that you will have competition from the rodents and rabbits. we did it with the carrots, and they all got eaten.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
I don't see much in the way of leafy greens on any of these lists, and leafy greens are essential for good health. Try planting spinach in the fall, rather than the spring. Also try swiss chard, arugula, green onions, and other greens. Look at seed catalogs from northern states (try Fedco, from Maine) for leafy greens that survive even northern winters with little or no protection. Broccoli can be fall-planted, and so can a lot of other greens, even some lettuces.

Kathleen
 
B

blueberry

Inactive
I agree with planting Jerusalem artichokes. Also, you might want to try collards. I plant winter greens every fall. Even if it gets cold enough to kill the lettuce and spinach, the collards always manage to survive the whole winter.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Freeholder said:
I don't see much in the way of leafy greens on any of these lists, and leafy greens are essential for good health. Try planting spinach in the fall, rather than the spring. Also try swiss chard, arugula, green onions, and other greens. Look at seed catalogs from northern states (try Fedco, from Maine) for leafy greens that survive even northern winters with little or no protection. Broccoli can be fall-planted, and so can a lot of other greens, even some lettuces.

Kathleen
Click to expand...

Fall greens and cole-crop planting would probably work in GA, but we lose hours of daylight so fast farther north that nothing does well here if planted after Aug.1st.
 
ainitfunny

ainitfunny

Saved, to glorify God.
Nobody mentioned FIGS.
I remember a wonderful fig tree in the yard of the house I rented in 1974? in Ozark, Alabama.
Those fresh, ripe figs right off the tree were a pure delight that I have never since (or before then) tasted.
Can't remember when they came ripe.
Haven't seen PERSIMMONS mentioned either, I think they come ripe in late fall/winter after the first frost.
 
G

Garryowen

Deceased
Mulch carrots and turnips planted in early Fall. Two-three feet of dry leaves will keep the ground from freezing for a long time. They get sweeter through the winter. Swiss chard keeps pretty well. I never tried covering it, but it is pretty freeze-resistant.
 
B

big kumara

meh
Where's the greens? Collards, mustard, kale, turnip greens, beets/beet greens, lettuces, radishes... Grow the cool weather stuff during the cool months.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
WalknTrot said:
Fall greens and cole-crop planting would probably work in GA, but we lose hours of daylight so fast farther north that nothing does well here if planted after Aug.1st.
Click to expand...

In the far north, fall-planted stuff will stop growing, but if it's at the right stage of growth, it will survive in good enough condition to be harvested and eaten. Any degree of protection that can be given will help, of course, but for some things, protection isn't really all that necessary. The Fedco catalog, among others, has descriptions of many of these cold-hardy vegetables.

Greens, while necessary for good health, don't provide much in the way of calories. Root cellars, canning, drying are all good ways to store calorie crops for the 'starving time' of late winter.

Kathleen
 
Wise Owl

Wise Owl

Deceased
Been so cool up here this summer that I am going to plant more swiss chard and spinach along side my current crop which we have been eating all summer. I have a stir fry in front of me with chard, spinach and chicken. YUM.......add rice and you have a nice meal. Plus swiss chard is loaded with nutrients. I have raised beds that I can put plastic over and around on the 2x4's that are in the corners and the slats across the top for a roof effect. Pretty easy mini greenhouses that I use every year to start and finish out the season as it's so short up here in Maine. Without them, I would not be able to grow some things we like.
 
M

MamaTiger

Contributing Member
June through November you can harvest peas and beans in south Ga...in the fall you start turnip green, collards, rutabegas and mustard greens. They produce through Feb if you pick them regularly.
 
naturallysweet

naturallysweet

Has No Life - Lives on TB
ainitfunny said:
Nobody mentioned FIGS.
I remember a wonderful fig tree in the yard of the house I rented in 1974? in Ozark, Alabama.
Those fresh, ripe figs right off the tree were a pure delight that I have never since (or before then) tasted.
Can't remember when they came ripe.
Haven't seen PERSIMMONS mentioned either, I think they come ripe in late fall/winter after the first frost.
Click to expand...

Since I picked some today, I have to say summer-fall.
 
ainitfunny

ainitfunny

Saved, to glorify God.
How about ITALIAN PRUNE PLUMS? I prefer them over the jucier "eating plums" and they dry up into regular prunes so quickly and easily!!
The initial residents of the inner city planted those trees in their yards and though the old folks are gone now, there are still thousands of these prune plum trees still in the back yards of the now RENTAL HOUSES IN THE INNER CITIES AND THE RENTERS DON't want or eat them!
I gathered bushels of them FREE (along with pears) in inner Tacoma WA some years back when we were struggling to live after both of us were laid off at once!
 
Raggedyman

Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
blueberry said:
I agree with planting Jerusalem artichokes. Also, you might want to try collards. I plant winter greens every fall. Even if it gets cold enough to kill the lettuce and spinach, the collards always manage to survive the whole winter.
Click to expand...

yes indeed - and collards will tend to get sweeter with a light touch of frost
 
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