With the winter season a strange one when it comes to gardening, here are some tips for winter gardening.
-
Calculate Planting Dates Ahead Of Time
For winter gardening, you have to do a little planning in advance. For some who live in the colder regions where frost arrives, you only have a few months left in the year to garden. So, in order to harvest anything, you need to start on time. “On time” means to give your plants enough time to grow before the deadly frost comes in like a biblical plague.
This means if you’re growing by seed, you need to take your first expected day of frost and work backwards based on how many days it takes to harvest that plant. For example, if your first day of frost is June 1st and your plant takes 30 days to harvest, you need to plant around March 31st at the latest.
2. Start Your Seeds For Winter Inside
Planting seeds for your winter crop can be tricky if you live in very hot summer areas.
A good option is to plant your seeds inside where it is cooler, and then as the summer heat cools down, you can transplant the seedlings outside to your garden. This will give you the time you need before the first frost arrives.
Using a seed tray to start the growing process is a great way to kick-start the growing process inside away from the elements and garden pests like slugs.
3. Plant Quick Crops
Be aware that there are crops that grow quicker than others. You probably want to avoid the slower plants, or else they’ll be buried in snow before you can even harvest them. Do some research based on your zone and see what grows well and quickly in your region for the winter.
Once your seedlings are planted outside, use a garden cloche to protect the growing seedlings from the elements, such as frost and wind.
4. Extending Your Growing Season
For most of us, frost is inevitable. When that cold frost hits, we know the season’s end is near for our garden. Unless you have a greenhouse, there’s not much you can do to avoid winter.
However, there are some things you can do to protect your plants during the early frost days. Better Homes and Gardens suggests:
“Extend your growing season later in winter by protecting your plants from frost. A cloche is a classic, elegant way of protecting individual small plants. But for larger areas, cover the garden with an old sheet, blanket, tarp, or row cover.”
5. Vegetables Great For Winter Gardening
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce
- Radish
- Spinach
“Frost Doesn’t Scare Me” Vegetables
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Collards
- Kale
- Leeks
- Lettuce
- Mustard
- Rutabages
- Swiss Chard
- Turnips
