Back when I was a kid summer was when we all grew our vegetables. Now everyone is catching the four-season vegetable garden bug and learning to grow food all year round. If you want to give this a try, now is the time to get started.
This January Kale has been sweetened by the frost.
Information on four season vegetable gardening is readily available online and the County Extensions, colleges, independent garden centers and even non-profit farms that are working to teach the public how to grow their own vegetables year round. There are some really good books on the subject too. An expert in the field is Eliot Coleman, author of “Four Season’s Harvest” who has been growing organic vegetables on his farm since before it was cool.
Fall planted garlic will grow all winter in my garden.
So which vegetables will grow in the cold? Here is a list of those recommended for fall and winter harvesting.
Carrots
Beets
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts – sweetens after nipped by frost
Cabbage
Collards
Endive
Green onions
Kale – the easiest of all winter crops
Kohlrabi
Leeks – very cold hardy.
Lettuce
Mustard greens
Onions – only varieties meant to winter over in the ground
Peas
Radishes
Rutabaga – stores well in the soil
Spinach
Swiss chard
Turnips
If you need seed sources, Johnny’s Select Seeds and Territorial Seed Company both specialize in four season crops.
With some added protection you will be harvesting for months to come.
Where you live will determine sowing and transplanting dates and the level of protection your crops will need. Most folks use simple hoop houses or cold frames. For some great ideas search Google “Hoop House Images”. It doesn’t have to be a hoop house, it could be a tent frame like ours pictured above.
Here are a couple of videos of four season gardens so you can better see what I am talking about.
Growing beneath high tunnels
Yale four season greenhouse
If you grow a four season veggie garden, inspire us at Birds and Blooms. We love seeing what you are up to in the garden.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Love it and Love Eliot Coleman- my Gardening Hero.
I’ve tried winter gardening with some good results- until the snow flies and I can no longer even get to my front yard garden without a shovel.
Guess I’ll just need to build a winter garden outside the back door.
Thanks for the comment GJ. I hear you about the snow. IT can be challenging for sure. Snow loads on hoop houses is something people need to plan for too…and there have been some crazy snow amounts lately. It was a good reminder to get that info out. Thanks again,
Patty
Great list, Patty. I’m a big Elliot Coleman fan, too and am completely impressed that you can grow garlic all winter! Does your tent frame keep things warm enough all winter, or do you use it just as a season extender?
Hi Rhonda…The garlic does not need a tent here (zone 8) but our tomatoes needed it last fall due to a cold summer. Will hopefully be making it a full on greenhouse this year with greens to feast on all winter long. Planning for this is going to be key. Kale here needs no cover but more tender greens like mustards and others grow best with protection to keep the soil warmer.
I was amazed to learn how easy garlic is to grow, because it is something I use all the time but had never considered growing myself. But it does just fine even under snow.
It’s a lot like planting flower bulbs. Just plant the bulbs in the fall and pile mulch on top (I use the litter from the rabbit cage). We had several feet of snow and below zero temperatures this winter in Tulsa, but it didn’t seem to affect the garlic at all.
You’ll notice them sprouting up in the early spring or even some over the winter. Clip some of the greens and use them like you would green onions but where a more garlicky flavor is welcome.
The tops get bigger all spring. You can dig up a few bulbs now to use as new garlic, like new onions–they don’t store for very long and are more tender than mature garlic.
Finally the tops start to yellow and flop over in, say, June or so. Dig up the bulbs, let them cure in a warm, shaded area with good air circulation (I use one of those iron-grate-top tables on the back porch) and ta-da! Garlic!
I get bulbs from Seed Savers or use leftover ones from the previous season. Seriously, so easy, and it saves me so much money!
Katie, thank you for sharing that encouraging note about garlic. It is really easy to grow and its so much better than what we can get in the store for “fresh” garlic. I just pulled mine yesterday as a matter of fact and have it hung to cure. The first time I ever grew it I was amazed at how juicy it was! Nothing like what I would get at the local grocery store. What I really love is if we grow our own we can choose the variety we want to grow as well.
Love Seed Savers Exchange, an excellent source for unusual/heirloom varieties. One of my trusted go to sources.
Hi there,
I enjoyed your blog on extending the growing season. Check out http://www.growingwisdom.com/index.aspx?pid=17&sid=1&cid=479
There are several videos in collaboration with JSS on high and low tunnels.
Regards,
Dave
Thanks Dave. Its always good to have good resources to go to and videos are such a help to many of us gardeners.
Patty,
Great post! I worked for the Noble Foundation in southern Okalahoma in the late 1990′s after college. We worked a lot on hoop houses and season extending practices. We were able to have tomatoes by the end of June each year. We also grew carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower in late fall and through the winter.
I now live in southeast Idaho at an elevation of 5000′. Growing all winter here is a real challenge due to the frozen ground and heavy snow loads. A tip I would like to add is for growing greens, onions, and other small crops in similar climates. This is accomplished using the combination of cold frames and large pots or trays that are equipped with wheels. The plants can be left in the cold frame or hoop house and wheeled into a garage, shed, or basement when extreme weather is predicted.
Thanks again for sharing this information.
Hi Tommy. Thanks for the compliment and for your comments. You face similar challenges to many of us here in the mountain Northwest region and in Alaska. I like your solution of pots on wheels.
Hi, all (or, being from Texas, I should probably greet you with “y’all”). We’ve had a harsh drought going for more than three years now. Summer crops gave up early and even the farmer’s market is having trouble growing things like tomatoes in their greenhouses. However, I’ve planted winter tomatoes in containers and hope for success. Hard to go back to pink, grainy tomatoes in the grocery stores, having had the good kind all summer. I’m wondering if any of you have container gardens during the winter. We do not have a greenhouse and have no plans for one. I want to grow beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and turnips. I’ve had good luck with spring-time lettuces but haven’t tried these in the winter. I assume I would germinate the seeds indoors and then plant them in large containers with good sun and hopefully easy access to I can cover them during the harsh Texas winters. Any advice is always appreciated! Thanks..
Bree,
Texas winters are harsh?? JK Here in Idaho we grow all kinds of winter “greens”.
Spinach loves to over winter, I’m making successive planting now of both winter spinach and lettuce, they overwinter in our raised beds and pop out in spring and we’ll have full head by April. You should have no problem growing both spinach and lettuce in pots for fall and winter, what you need to track down is a formula for when to start your planting. Winters here get a bit cold at around -10F, which doesn’t hurt the plants a bit, onions also do fine, the main concern is keeping the beds moist but not soaked. See this link for figuring when to plant… http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/pnw/pnw548.pdf
Anyone know how the vegetables work in Southern Ontario aroundnorth of Kingston, Ontario.
I am curious as my garden didn’t fare well this year from drought then torrential rains and I am determined to can all my own harvest and have fresh too.
Any advise would be great.
Thanx muchly,
Shelly
Shelly, Its been kind of a tough year for a many gardeners this year in your area and others. As far as your question I would recommend you hook up with the folks at Johnny’s Select Seeds. They are in the northeaster US and great with colder regions for that kind of information. I did a little Google search and came up with a couple of things for you.
The Master Gardeners of Ontario Canada and one other link are below.
http://www.mgoi.ca/
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/climzoneveg.htm
Eliott Coleman’s book “Four Season’s Harvest” is an excellent tutorial on the subject as well.
~Patty~
i live in north la i have pots plant every thing in them try and era