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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:

> 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.


Ah.  That makes a world of difference.  When I think of forcing, I think
of making something bloom totally out of season.  This is more like
stretching the season, like what I can do with my raised beds(the warmth
of the material composting acts in the same way as the French style
manure bottom hot bed).
I thought you meant asparagus in September and Cantaloupe in December
kind of forcing.


> 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.

RightO.  That's what I was thinking, that you would have to have heated
and cooled spaces, especially heated, and that requires energy input
which would be expensive-something only the rich could afford.  Like you
said, what a life..


 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!

That 'fashionable' mentality never quite sets well with me. I'm sure I'm
not alone-you probably are just as disgusted by it, too.  I think it
is comparable to modern thinking and to feudal life in the Middle ages,
where for every king who desires a feast in his castle, there are
hundreds or thousands of peasants outside who work their asses off to
make it so and never get the credit.  I guess I have a lot more
admiration for the blue collar gardener that kept that pineapple lit
than for the estate owner.

Changing the subject a bit...
Speaking of bromeliads like pineapples, I was recently educated to the
fact that many bromeliads and succulents can survive far outside of
their natural range-that they are quite cold tolerant.  The key to their
survival is winter moisture and drainage.  Our public TV has a show
called Gardening in Georgia(fancy title,huh?) and they visit people
around the state.  On a recent show, they visited a guy in an Atlanta
suburb who grew an amazing variety of agave plants in his garden/yard.
It was quite interesting.  The plants are hardy down to at least single
digits, but they must not get too wet. I suppose the way this ties in to
the Victorian forcing thread is that we have to consider all the growing
parameters and not just give importance to the temperature based USDA
zones.  Humidity, moisture, soil, night temperatures, seasonal extremes,
all are important.  If, as gardeners, we can correctly determine what is
 most important, we can stretch not only the growing season, but perhaps
a growing zone as well.  Melons and pineapples in England?  Sounds like
what they did, too.

Bev, who has grown a pineapple in Georgia.


--
"Never expect magic from no where"  Baringo (Kenyan) working motto
EarthNSky Farm, NW Georgia, USA