Using Your Greenhouse or Hoop House all WINTER to Grow your Vegetable WITHOUT HEATING IT!
We are just about into September. This means that it is like Spring. Now is the time to put your seeds into your pots or raised beds in your GREENHOUSE or HOOP HOUSES. This post will reveal which crops can grow in your greenhouse/hoop house/cold frames over the cold winter months, without heating them and no worry about snow or mulching. Read on to learn more.
Here is my cold frame and Greenhouse. Today I will be preparing the soil and planting my seeds. So now what seeds will I be planting. There are some vegetables like carrots, parsnips, leeks and kale that taste even sweeter in winter due to the starches that turn into sugar as a natural form of anti-freeze.
Here is a creative example of a simple way to grow outdoors on the ground this winter. Love this concept.
As many of you know, I grow a bunch of my vegetables in containers. This is so that I can learn and apply these concepts over the winter for my greenhouses. I learn which plants need deeper pots, which plants I can grow, with 2 or 3 per pot. All lessons like this I apply over the summer months so that I can get it right over the winter months. This will apply for both my indoor and outdoor growing over the winter months.
The following are plants that can overwinter for early spring harvest in Zones 4. Garlic, Leeks, Onions, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and Cabbage. Then here are some herbs that I will plant. Thyme, Oregano, Sage, and Chives. Then here are the root vegetables, Turnips, Carrots, Parsnips, Beets, and Radishes. And of course your greens Spinach and Kale. There are many others out there, but my rule of thumb, only plant what you eat.
Most of these Vegetables if not all, DO NOT NEED POLLINATORS. The best part of growing in Winter is no bugs or Slugs to maintain. But you will have to remove snow to and on top of the cold frames and greenhouses.
I chose varieties that grow to maturity in short time periods.
I tend to WATER less in the late fall this is to prevent freeze/thaw cycles from splitting vegetables. To achieve continuous harvest I tend to plant greens, lettuces and herbs every few weeks.
I hope this will not be you this Winter.
I AM CHALLENGING ALL MY STEEMIT FRIENDS LIVING IN CANADA AND THE NORTHERN US TO TRY WINTER GARDENING ON YOUR HOMESTEADS AND LETS COMPARE NOTES IN THE SPRING.
HAPPY TRAILS
Image Source:
https://theonettiencube32.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/i-dare-you-to-join-lets-party-blogging-style/
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/gardening-techniques/year-round-gardening-zl0z12onzhir
http://bepasgarden.blogspot.ca/2013/02/planning-for-spring-planting-cold.html
http://balanceoffood.typepad.com/balance_of_food/2012/06/think-food-prices-are-high-try-the-northern-territories-of-canada.html
I accept this challenge with happiness !! It's been two years since I want to try the winter garden experience but I always forget to sow when the summer is over because I'm busy preparing my hunting season! So thank you for sharing this reminder that it is time to sow in my greenhouses !! I am in Quebec in zone 4 but some winter are curling zone 3 because I am at the foot of Mount Mégantic in the bottom of the valley of the Salmon River, I can not wait to see what will succeed to grow! I'll try carrots, broccoli, beets, lettuce, spinach, peas and kale! Good winter gardening season everyone !!!
Lac Megantic was truly a sad story a few years back with that explosion. I am also in Zone 4, I am in the Ottawa Valley. Always nice to have a fellow Canadian on STEEMIT. I am building my database of Canadians so that we can eventually have Canadian Steem Meet up. I am fluently Bilingual so feel free. Welcome. Now following.
Merci pour l'acceuil! Un Canadian Steem Meet Up serait vraiment génial!!!! J'ai de la famille éloignée dans la région d'Ottawa, c'est un beau coin!! :-)
C'est vrai que l'explosion à Lac Mégantic était un évènement vraiment triste... L'anniversaire de mon conjoint est le 5 juillet et cette année là on avait prévu aller souper à Lac Mégantic mais on a changé nos plan à la dernière minute... j'en remercie encore le ciel!!
Bonne journée!! et Bon jardinage!! :-)
I'm accepting this challenge. I live in zone 6a and have a similar greenhouse.
I'll plan out what I'll grow, get seedlings started and keep you updated.
Looking forward to this!
Thanks for the motivation.
Fantastic I look so forward to results and what you planted. Thank you for accepting the challenge.
Great information and challenge @gardengirlcanada! Melissa and I currently have our raised bed garden designed in the traditional German format. After the end of this years harvest we are going to modify the raised beds to better accept caterpillar tunnels. Thanks for the info!
Caterpillar tunnels, I have never heard of this. Please do share what it's all about, and glad to see you jumping into winter gardening. Thank you
Hi @gardengirlcanada, they are small hoop houses that are inexpensive.
https://www.tunnelvisionhoops.com/caterpillar-tunnels/
Wow I never knew that something like this was available on the Market. Thank you so much
You're welcome @gardengirlcanada
Zone 6a here and part of our winter crops are in. We hoop our raised beds with 6 mill plastic. Most of it will be ready to harvest before 1st frost but should go through a few weeks afterwards. Our September planting should last through December.
We grow lettuce, kale, peas, beets, carrots and are trying beans this year.
That is wonderful. Peas? Interesting. I think I shall try that this year. I have confidence that beans will do well in Zone 6a. I would love to see a picture of your hoop garden. Thanks for sharing.
I just got a greenhouse like that and will try to extend my Ginger into a later harvest. I'm in the south so extending my season a little differently but I will accept the challenge anyway if that's okay...
Fantastic, and yes absolutely accept that. But why stop at Ginger, go for the Glory, jump into some carrots or something. But hey I am just as happy that your going to a least try Ginger. Thanks ever so much!
We are able to grow carrots all winter without protection. Just have to start now as seedlings
I still wish steemit had a function to "favorite" or bookmark a post.
=)
love the name, and yes a bookmark would be wonderful. Now Following.
thank you for posting this information I am new at gardening and would like to continue throughout the winter so this gave me some real good ideas I will stay in touch and let you know if I was succesful.
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We have been looing into gettng a greenhouse for sometime now. Is there a type of greenhouse that you think works better?
don't even need a greenhouse, just some repurposed windows, or go to home depot and buy some piping, cheaper, and a roll of 6 mill plastic. Greenhouses are nice but not necessary. I bought mine on Kijiji for $40.
A year or two ago, we built a little greenhouse and it worked okay, but the big issue was that we could not grow many plants in it. We have been looking at various small greenhouses. I have noticed that some have a hard plastic and others have a paper-like plastic. Have you had better luck growing plants with a clear glass from a window/hard plastic or with the more paper-like plastic?