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["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

> Funny you mention energy, because that is what forcing seems to require.
>    How did they account for less sunlight in the strawberries if they
> grew them in the winter?  Also, if asparagus normally sprout in the
> Spring, and you want to force them to sprout in, say, Septmember, how do
> you simulate winter?   Beds in the Springhouse?
>
> Bev

I think things can only be forced in certain seasons. They weren't actually 
changing the seasons, they were just moving them up a little. The 
strawberries were put in a hot frame (hot manure in the bottom) in February, 
and produced fruit in early spring. I think they said that the greenhouse 
strawberries were something like 6 weeks early, and the ones in the hotframe 
were 3 weeks earlier than the outdoor plants...that could stretch the 
strawberry season to several months long. Now, with the everbearing plants 
you can keep them producing year-round in the right conditions.

It looked like the asparagus, rhubarb, chicory, etc. was kept outside also 
to get the 'chill hours' and put in the forcing pit (with heating pipes 
running through) in late winter. It was also kept dark so the plants were 
blanched (apparently Victorians liked their veggies pale)...these plants 
don't need sun; just the heat made them grow. In the show, they couldn't 
afford to fix and operate the massive boilers that heated all the 
greenhouses, so they had to rely on natural sun heating of the greenhouses. 
I suppose with heated houses, they could grow just about anything any time 
of the year. They said that it was fashionable for the estate owner to have 
pineapples at Christmas time...that must have been a headache for the 
gardener in a cold, grey climate!

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga Co. PA