Organic Seed Varieties for Short Season Container Gardening?

[ScarletBegonias]

this year, due to varying factors, i've decided to do mostly container gardening and 2 large raised beds. i need suggestions for short-season, very compact vegetable varieties that are good producers.

i've looked through catalogs (baker creek, high mowing, seeds of change, biodynamic seeds etc.,.) and have found very few varieties that fit the bill. i will be ordering what's available, but i was hoping for some suggestions from the seasoned gardeners on mdc!

i need to grow:

tomatoes
melons
green beans
tomatillos
summer squash
eggplant
peppers (hot & sweet)

any other compact veggie ideas would be great too. thanks mamas!

[lmonter]

How short of a season are we talking?

I'd say take a gander at some other folks like Nichol's, Territorial, or one of my fav's, Irish Eyes Garden City Seeds. They're up in the northwest though, but I think a lot of the things they have would do okay in the north east as well.

[ScarletBegonias]

i am zone 6, but i live in the forest in the mountains where it snows. i would say i have a 80-90 day season at most. i'm looking for varieties that are no longer than about 70 days.

thanks for the catalog suggestions! i will check out irish eyes, as i'm in the north west. i have nichols and territorial and have found a few things in each catalog i'm going to try.

[Chamomile Girl]

I think that Stupice is a short-season tomato. I've had good luck with it in a cooler climate (but not really a short season).

If I remember correctly the key with tomatoes is to look for the Russian types.

[ScarletBegonias]

thanks Chamomile Girl, i'll look for some russian varieties!

[xekomaya]

This is my first year with an 80-85 day season. I have made a couple picks that I will post when I get home from vacation, but still looking for more.

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by ScarletBegonias

i am zone 6, but i live in the forest in the mountains where it snows. i would say i have a 80-90 day season at most. i'm looking for varieties that are no longer than about 70 days.

thanks for the catalog suggestions! i will check out irish eyes, as i'm in the north west. i have nichols and territorial and have found a few things in each catalog i'm going to try.

Well now I'm curious where you are - I'm just a two hour drive from the Canadian border, I say I'm a chilly zone 5.

You may also want to look into hedging your bets a little with hoop tunnels or make-shift greenhouses (this year I'm hoping to attempt one using cattle panels and 5mil plastic) or solar cones or whatever floats your boat. There's lots of season-extending goodies and ideas out there. Just need to get creative with how to do things.

Last year I had good luck with my Kootenai tomatoes (if that gives you an idea of where I am), Gold Nugget did well and was among the first to ripen, Alaska Fancy is hubby's favorite taste-wise and I've gotten decent crops from them before the frosts, and there was another one I didn't label that did well. Whoops.

I've gotten a few Purple Cherokee, and I still grow Purple Russian (I like the spicy flavor), despite the fact that the first batch of ripe ones tends to crack because of rain. I tried Irish Eyes' Glacier and Polar Baby last year... jury's still out on those for me.

[ScarletBegonias]

we're in the sierra nevada mountains, deep in the forest. there are mostly evergreens, with some cedars and a fair amount of oaks. we still get frosts in early june and they start again in sept. i think one of the biggest problems is that the ground is just saturated with anti-growth hormones from the stupid pines. if we weren't renting i would raze every pine and only leave the cedars and oaks. i HATE pines!!!!!!

i think what i'm going to do is a modification of john jeavons' techniques. i'm going to do a huge fenced, raised bed garden, with straw bales hedging the perimeter to keep warmth, and then put up clear/white greenhouse plastic on all sides to keep in the warmth too. then when it starts to get chilly, i think i'll cover the whole top of the garden with more plastic to make greenhouse of sorts.

thank you very much for the varietal suggestions! the kootenai is now on my list as well as the nugget, and i found a couple varieties of tomatoes from the baker creek that look really promising: sub-artic plenty; isis candy cherry; mountain princess; black prince. we love tomatoes, and i try and grow as many as possible. our family can never have too many tomatoes!

[lmonter]

Well with the acidic bounty of the pine trees, you may be able to throw a few blueberry bushes straight in the ground and have them do okay if they get some sun...

Another tomato variety I've heard of but haven't tried is Latah. I went to college in that county. Sounds just like my Kootenai, but from a different county. I think I've also heard of IdaGold or something. Although that might be a potato, not a tomato, I forget. It's all blending together.