Fresh-picked Vegetables all Winter long

Other BIG IDEAS

My Winter Gardening Method

Only consider hardy plants like Beets, Kohlrabi, Kale, Turnips, Arugula, Rutabaga, Cabbage and Swiss Chard.

I use:

• Sticks poked in the ground at the height of the plants, spaced about a foot and a half apart, usually highest near the center and sloping toward the ends for rain runoff. Sticks usually last a few years because when I pull them in the Spring, I store them dry in a plastic tub in my garage.
  
• Two layers of plastic sheets. The one with more holes is below the better one (and I have a few spares). I put heavier, longer 2x4's along the perimeter and then put some wider boards standing against the walls, with a few long light boards across the top to create a definite slopping path for any rain to follow. During high winds, some side or top boards blow off. During storm Elliot, about 6 side boards blew off, but the longer, heavy 2x4's held the perimeter, as the water tends to puddle and freeze under boards at the perimeter, further securing the plastic.
  
• I also place a few very wide boards over the sticks to help distribute the snow loads and reduce the tendency of weighted sticks poking through the plastic sheets.
  

  Keep the covering as low as possible because internal convection causes moisture to condense on the undersides of top cardboards while transferring cold to the ground.

• I never buy the garden wood. I look for wood that people have set out for garbage pickup. I look for wide short boards to use as stepping places in the summer, placed over my mulch (so soil doesn't get compacted and to help hold the plastic down in the winter cover. I also look for scrap long 2x4's or 1x6's to make a walkway in the summer and hold down the edges of the plastic in the winter cover.
  

Ground water soaks the side cardboards. But when warmer weather comes, it is usually followed by a sunny day so I lay wet cardboard out to dry in the driveway all day, then store them in the garage for the next cold spell. Some go in the garage attic, which is usually the best place for drying.

Wet Cardboard, though fragile when wet, retains strength when dried and can last a few years. I use cardboard from large boxes, but you can probably get free boxes from your grocery store. I store cardboard in my garage attic during the summer (and to help dry some in the winter). The plastic covers used in the winter come from things like mattress covers and stuff I find. Sheets will last for decades, but gradually accumulate holes. Patching them seems to be a waste of time, as the tapes peel off.

There is no need to water the crops since the weather was cool and rainy anyways. Notice that the ground is damp this time of year and the sun is not as intense. And the occasional times my garden is open, there will usually be a rainy day.

There is no need to water the crops since the weather was cool and rainy anyways. Notice that the ground is damp this time of year and the sun is not as intense. And the occasional times my garden is open, there will usually be a rainy day.

Some points I should make:

• There is no need to water the crops since the weather was cool and rainy anyways. Notice that the ground is damp this time of year and the sun is not as intense. And the occasional times my garden is open, there will usually be a rainy day
• Lower covering is warmer than higher because it reduces covered surface area and lessens convection, which can transfer the cold downward as well as causing wet condensation in the underside of cardboard.
• Try to slope the covering slightly so the rain will roll off and use two layers of plastic so any holes don't line up. Hold the plastic down with wood (scrap long 2x4's or 1x6's work best).
• If you have deer, they may raid your garden while uncovered, especially the beet leaves and carrot stalks (Deer never bother Turnips, Kale, Arugula or Rutabaga).
• Take a picture before covering so it is easier to know where to uncover and grab a few vegetables, as snow may be needed to shovel off before digging.
  
• Snow is good extra insulation, so if you removed some during a harvest, shovel it back.
• Plan to harvest everything by April because warming will cause plants to go to seed and become woody. However, some plants if left in, will produce very tasty "broccoli-style" sprouts about every two days for Kale, especially Russian Kale, Arugula, Turnips and Rutabaga.
• Kale is so hardy I keep it outside my covering and only cover it when temperatures drop below 15°F (But Russian Kale is not hardy and needs to be covered).
• My garden survived winter storm Elliott in December 2022 under 3 layers of cardboard covered with 2 layers of plastic sheet (temperatures dropped to -5°F)
• Vegetables don't grow much, especially when covered. However, I noticed that Beets, Turnips and Rutabaga get much larger in the Fall (I planted Turnips July 31, 2022 and most are huge). They hang on during hot weather and then take off in the Fall. Turnips, Kohlrabi and Rutabaga do NOT get woody inside, unless they try to go to seed. I think what keeps Kohlrabi from getting woody is to plant it where there is only half sun. Beets also do not get woody, unless they try to go to seed.
  
• Sometimes in early Spring it may help to shield these plants from sunlight, so they don't try to go to seed.