Tomatoes growing inside a cold frame in my Indiana garden on November 11, 2011.
See the vegetables that are still growing and being harvested under cover in Indiana in November.
Filed under Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Nov 11th, 2011. Comment. 
Kale doesn't mind frost. In fact, the leaves taste sweeter after a frost has hit them.
Grow a variety of salad mixes in a cold frame and eat fresh salads all winter long.
Tomatoes growing inside a cold frame in my Indiana garden on November 5, 2011.
A number of warm-weather crops, such as tomatoes can be kept alive for several more months by erecting a cold frame over the top of them before the temperature falls below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Any stems, leaves or fruit that touch the plastic or row cover will sustain damage, so be aware of this. This is why tunnel houses often work best for taller crops.
Cabbage growing in a cold frame in my Indiana garden on November 5, 2011.
Cabbage – as well as most other cool-weather crops such as spinach, turnips, radish and carrots do fine under cover throughout the winter. The cabbage above was planted last spring. The area where it was grown received shade all summer long. Now that the leaves have fallen, it is in full sun. The plan is to leave it in the ground until I am ready to use it to make saukerkraut or coleslaw. In fact, I have an entire bed of cabbage planted in this particular cold frame.
Here are a few other plants that take a light frost and bounce back for more. Mix and match these – and just think how much longer they would last if given some frost protection.
Swiss chard still going strong after several frosts, including a killing frost.
Japanese red mustard doesn't mind snow, or frost - and grows all winter long in the open garden without protection.
Peas can handle some frost, but providing frost protection keeps them alive longer.
Snapdragons also tolerate frost, but growing them under cover results in taller plants that bloom much longer.
Extending the growing season is all about learning which plants tolerate frost and which ones need frost protection. Just like any aspect of gardening, it is trial and error. Keep notes. Learn what you did right and what you did wrong. In no time at all, you too can be gardening year-round, even if you live in a cold climate like I do!
Filed under Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Nov 5th, 2011. Comment.
Row cover protects tomato plants from light frost allowing the harvest to be extended.
Filed under Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Nov 3rd, 2011. Comment.
There are many varieties of seeds ideal for winter planting including lettuce.
Fall is the appropriate time for planting winter vegetables, however winter gardening and winter planting are two very different aspects. Winter gardening is all about growing fruits, flowers and vegetables during the coldest part of the year. Winter planting is all about putting those crops – rather they are bare root plants, seeds or tubers – into the ground from December through February.
The key to winter planting is pre-planning. Potatoes and bare root plants typically require that the hole be pre-dug before the ground freezes. Now that is not to say you cannot dig frozen ground with a pick-axe or use plastic to create enough heat to allow you to dig, but let’s face it, that requires a lot of extra effort – and frankly, when it is cold enough outside to see your breath who wants to be outside long enough to plant a garden. This is why pre-planning goes a long way towards your winter planting success.
Remove weeds and plant debris in the fall so the beds are clean come winter.
When it comes to seeds, the only pre-planning required is to make sure your beds are free of weeds and cultivated so once spring arrives you aren’t trying to figure out which seedlings to remove and which ones to keep. After all, it never seems to fail that weeds grow faster than cultivated crops.
Here are a few crops that are ideal for winter planting – and best of all, if you let them set seed – once your beds are weed free – they will self-sow year-after-year.
potatoes – yes, even in United States Agricultural hardiness zone 5 – plant them from the end of November to the end of December.
lettuce
peas
radish
carrots
kale
collards
broccoli
parsnips
tomatoes
turnips
mustard
radish pods
winter squash
amaranth
rutabaga
tomatillo
arugula
beets
orach
sunflowers
bachelor buttons
celosia
cosmos
calendula
cleome
poppies
nasturtiums
four o’clocks
sweet alyssum
viola
chamomile
fennel
dill
cilantro
cutting celery
parsley
A large tunnel house in the background. Smaller tunnels covered with row cover in the center. Hoops made of plastic conduit in the front waiting to be covered.
Be sure to wait until the ground is completely frozen – which is usually after December 21. Otherwise the seeds may germinate too soon. If you live in an area with lots of bird or wildlife activity it may be necessary to cover the seeds with row cover or a cold frame to prevent them from becoming a food source for hungry critters.
Filed under Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Nov 2nd, 2011. Comment.
Radishes are ideal fall crops.
A large tunnel house in the background. Smaller tunnels covered with row cover in the center. Hoops made of plastic conduit in the front waiting to be covered.
It doesn’t take a lot to keep frost off of plants, which is half the battle. Simply covering them with row cover is enough depending on how cold it gets and the severity of the frost. For example, last night we had a killing frost here in my Indiana garden. The vegetable plants in the open garden – with the exception of carrots, kale and peas – were killed. The plants under the row cover and plastic were fine – including the tomatoes.
Tomato in bloom after a killing frost. This plant was protected by 6 mil. plastic. and nothing else.
A neighboring tomato plant, under the plastic, with fresh tomatoes on it on October 30.
Tomatoes harvested on October 30, 2011.
So you see, growing vegetables year-round is not rocket science. In fact, anyone – even you – can do this. All it takes is a simple cold frame and selecting the right vegetables. While it is true that the tomatoes won’t make it until spring, they will survive several more months and the crops, which are all cool season crops, won’t have any problems at all making it through the winter, even here in United States Department of Agricultural hardiness zones 5/6.
Filed under Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Oct 30th, 2011. Comment.
Learn how easy it is to make your own cold frame! No buidling required. If you can cut plastic, bend hoops and use clips to secure everything, you can make your own cold frame!
Filed under Year-Round Gardening by on Mar 26th, 2011. Comment.
Save money and eat better by growing fresh fruits and vegetables year-round in your home garden, even if you live in the north! Fresh produce naturally tastes better than produce that was picked before it was ripe and shipped hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to your local grocery store. Fresh produce also has a higher nutritional value.
If you grow your own food, there is no need to worry about natural or man-made disasters that may prevent your local grocery store shelves from being stocked, nor do you need to wonder what chemicals or preservatives were sprayed on your produce.
Follow these 5 easy steps to start growing your own produce year-round now!
1.) The first step is select a sunny area of your yard to garden in. An area close to your home will make it easier for you to get to your fresh produce during the winter months, especially in the event of heavy snow fall.
2.) Prepare the ground by removing all the weeds, turning the soil and amending it with compost. Turn the soil by hand two to three times, digging to a depth of 24 inches, if possible. Be sure to allow the soil to rest in between turnings so the weed seed on top has a chance to germinate. It is best to get as much weed seed out now as possible. Be aware that many weed seeds can germinate after lying dormant for 7 years!
3.) Plant cool crops in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Examples of these crops include lettuce, salad mixtures, endive, Swiss chard, kale, potatoes, carrots, spinach, turnips, broccoli and onions. There are many other varieties of vegetables that will thrive under cool conditions. The best way to know what works well in your area is through trial and error.
4.) Cover the seeds, or young plants, with a cold frame to protect them. A cold frame is nothing more than a box like structure with a clear glass or plastic top that allows light into the plants. The sides can be made of glass, plastic, wood, straw or a variety of other building materials.
5.) Cold frames are also useful for planting out warm weather crops a month (or more) before the last frost in your area. Many plants will survive in cooler temperatures as long as they are protected from frost. Use them again in the fall to protect cool weather crops that were sown in late summer so you can harvest fresh vegetables all winter long.
If you want to know more about year-round gardening, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening, is a great book that covers all aspects of gardening indoors and out, all year long.
Filed under Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Feb 3rd, 2011. 1 Comment.
There’s nothing quite like picking your own tomatoes on January 1, 2011! Today is also the first day of the year that gardeners can sow carrot seed under cover. The first video is of carrot seed being sown and the second one is of the tomato I found under the frost cover in the cold frame.
Filed under In The Greenhouse, Vegetable Gardening, Year-Round Gardening by on Jan 1st, 2011. 4 Comments.
It is possible to have color in the garden in November, even if you live in a cold climate like Indiana, which depending on which edition of the USDA map you look at, we are either a zone 5 (older map) or a zone 6. Due to global warming, the part of Indiana we live in became a USDA hardiness zone 6 several years ago.
The goal with my outdoor garden is to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers all year-round. Check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening
This is an autumn crocus.
If you look inside the bird house, you will see even though this was a decorative house, a bird took up residence. The plant is bittersweet, which will keep its colorful berries all winter until the birds eat them up.
A close-up of the bittersweet berries.
Here are some of the helleborus that grow in the shade garden. They will remain green all winter and bloom before winter comes to an end. Some varieties bloom as early as November.
Sedum is a colorful fall blooming plant whose faded flowers remain on the plant for most of the winter.
The fuzzy Magnolia buds create texture in the fall and winter garden.
The colorful foliage of ninebark is still on the shrubs.
The colorful foliage of the euonymus.
I simply love the foliage of the Korean Viburnum.
This is a different variety of Viburnum. The flower bud will open to reveal highly fragrant flowers in the spring.
Who can resist lamb’s ears? They are a great border plant that provides texture and a unique foliage color in the garden, not to mention hummingbirds love the purple flowers!
If you grow ornamental grass, leave it stand until spring. The foliage creates an intersting sound during the winter, helps block snow and the feathery flower plumes look good too. Winter birds love landing on large clumps of ornamental grass in the winter.
Some varieties of mums keep blooming even after several light frosts. The trick is to deadhead, or remove the flowers as they fade.
Here is another variety of mum that is still in bloom.
Rose hips are a tasty snack that is high in vitamin C. Pick them right after the first frost hits them and make rose petal jelly, rose petal syrup or a variety of other tasty treats with them. Dry some to add to homemade potpourri and leave some to create winter interest in the garden and give the birds something to eat. The seeds inside the ones you pick will germinate, so plant some to increase the roses you have and share some with friends! This particular rose has apple scented leaves.
A close-up of a cluster of rose hips.
Sometimes herbs or flowers that dry on the plant, such as these hops, create winter interest.
Bark often creates interest too. Here is a photo of Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick.
Another plant with interesting bark is the hardy orange, Flying Dragon, and yes, it is hardy here in Indiana.
Don’t forget to plant a red twig dogwood. The red bark looks fantastic against the snow. The birds love the white berries. Keep the bark red by removing the older twigs as they turn brown.
Don’t forget to grow some winter lettuce and radish in a cold frame!
Once the leaves have fallen, check shrubs and trees for bird nests. This will help you locate where the birds are nesting come spring and prevent any possible problems. Check out this bird nest in a pear tree! I guess I will need to use bird netting on this tree next year.
Finally, don’t forget to plant a few holly bushes, out in the landscape. The evergreen plants with red berries look fantastic against the pure white snow and you can take cuttings to use in your holiday decorating!
Filed under Year-Round Gardening by on Nov 5th, 2010. 22 Comments.
Many perennials and cool season vegetables can be started from seed sown in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, then be transplanted in the open garden once weather permits. An advantage to this is you will get a head start on the planting season and have flowering plants earlier than if you were to start them outside, the exception being if you use the winter sowing method.
It is nice to walk into a greenhouse, even if it is unheated in the middle of winter on a sunny day. The temperatures are sure to be warm enough that you may not need a jacket or coat. You can sit in the greenhouse and prepare the flats, seed them and water them in comfort.
If the greenhouse is a bit chilly for you, using a small ceramic heater should warm it up enough to be comfortable while you are working in it. Rain barrels or other food safe plastic containers can be filled with water and depending on where you live, how warm your greenhouse stays, etc. they may only develop a small sheet of ice on the top of the container which can easily be broken up. If ice is a real problem, look into an animal water trough heater which could be used to keep the water from freezing.
Unheated greenhouses can be a source of real pleasure during the winter months. Don’t forget to add in a few cool weather vegetable crops such as lettuce or kale for your family to eat during the winter.
Filed under In The Greenhouse by on Jan 19th, 2010. Comment.
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