I've gotten into gardening recently and I have a lot of herbs and small plants on my balcony. I have a cabin about a 30 minute drive away with a decent amount of land. I was thinking about building some raised beds there and growing some vegetables. The only real issue is that I live in Sweden's Zone VI. Snow usually comes in late November/early December, and it usually melts in April/May. Bearing that in mind, am I too late to start growing vegetables this year? Should I wait until next year and get a head start on it then? It feels a bit depressing to wait, but at the same time, spending money and time pointlessly would feel bad too.
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1There are a lot of vegetables like lettuce that will crop in 60 days. You have time for some of these. – kevinskio Jun 13 '14 at 23:44
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How often are you at your cabin? You should be there at least every other day. Living there would be best. Especially at the beginning with baby plants. I am assuming you have deer, squirrels, rodents, rabbits, birds? You need to let the animals know you are around and probably think about protecting your garden with an enclosed wire fence, putting it well down into the earth around the perimeter and across the top. Take a dog with you, borrow one from a friend. Sounds like the perfect vacation! – stormy Jun 14 '14 at 18:50
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Knowing your first and last frost dates is the important thing here. Odds are, you could have grown most things if you got the right varieties (not just the right species). There are 60-day melons, even; 40-some day tomatoes, etc. Cucumbers and zucchini are early. If your summers are cold, get cold-tolerant varieties. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Mar 16 '16 at 21:22
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Some things you might consider in the future include these: Minnesota Midget melon, Prescott Fond Blanc melon, Blacktail Mountain watermelon, Sub-arctic Plenty tomato, Gold Nugget tomato, Legend tomato, Glacier tomato, Santiam tomato, Siberian tomato, Sophie's Choice tomato, Early Girl F1 tomato, Lime Green Salad tomato, Aunt Molly's ground cherry, Planet F1 pepper, Grandpa's Home pepper, Golden Glory F1 squash, Little Leaf cucumber, Monika cucumber, etc. Some of those are parthenocarpic, which is good if you have a colder area. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Mar 16 '16 at 21:39
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Many of the brassica group will work. Late cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts can be direct seeded in early summer for a fall crop. I sometimes use bush beans, because they mature so fast. Root crops like beets, carrots, and turnips can be started now for fall use/storage. Even earlivee sweet corn will crop in 55 days.
There are so many of these, you shouldn't have any trouble growing several good crops before winter. Just be sure the seeds are kept constantly moist, and use some kind of shade on the cool season seedlings during hot weather.
J. Musser
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I don't think it's too late if you buy the plants at a garden center. With the sun out for so long during the summer, plants grow extraordinarily fast (compared to my hometown in California, for instance). Most garden centers now sell larger vegetables, so it won't take long to catch up with people that's grown them from seed. If you plant at a sunny location and add compost, you should be good.
The only risk is drying out, but that goes for planting anything during the summer. Good luck!
Crumbs
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Unless you want to grow brassicas or a bit of lettuce, yes it is too late - things like tomatoes won't have time to ripen properly. You'd probably be better off concentrating on preparing the beds - planning and getting the land ready for planting can be time consuming, but you do have enough time to do that before winter sets in. Bear in mind, if you use any manures, root crops do not like manured ground, so consider which vegetables you're likely to want to grow and prepare the ground accordingly.
I only just realised you asked this question in June, not July... which rather renders my response irrelevant, sorry!
Bamboo
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