June is the best time to think about the winter –- the winter garden that is!
Our mild West Coast winters provide fantastic winter growing conditions. Whether or not you have cold frames or a greenhouse, you will be able to grow a variety of vegetables through the winter months.
I know it may seem counter intuitive to think about it now, just as your garden is starting to fill out, but the winter garden requires some planning ahead.
You will need to plan to find a place to put your winter vegetables as you harvest summer crops, and to ensure your winter crops are old enough to thrive as the temperatures dip. The effort is well worth it!
I remember my first foray into winter growing – a single purple sprouting broccoli. I planted a 10-centimetre tall seedling in the middle of my recently harvested garlic patch sometime in early August and wished it well. I was discouraged when by October it had only filled out a bit, and I assumed my experiment would fail.
However, sometime in February when the rest of my garden was still sound asleep, this broccoli started to grow ... fast! By the end of March it was waist high and four feet wide with prolific and flavourful purple broccoli sprouts. I harvested and ate these for weeks and they are still my favourite vegetable.
There are a few important things to know about growing winter veggies.
First, my rule of thumb is to expect extremely slow to no growth between Halloween and Valentine’s Day because this is when we have less than 10 hours of sunlight a day.
Second, there are two categorizes of winter vegetables: over-wintering and winter harvest. The over-wintering vegetables are ones that provide a very early spring harvest (like my purple sprouting broccoli). They are planted as seedlings in the late summer and reach maturity in the early spring. Winter harvest crops are mature by early fall, and are hardy enough to withstand harvesting throughout the winter. The trick with winter harvest crops is to have them as big and luscious as possible by Halloween. After that you’ll be harvesting from them at a faster rate than they will grow back.
Third, start your winter vegetable seedlings in June to guarantee a good harvest.
Here are some examples of both categories of winter veggies:
Over-wintering vegetables: Purple sprouting broccoli, January King cabbage, Galleon cauliflower, garlic and spinach.
Winter harvest vegetables: Arugula, winter hardy lettuce, spinach, brussels sprouts, kale, beets, carrots, leeks, mustard greens
and more.
West Coast Seeds has a great winter and fall gardening guide that highlights specific varieties and planting information (viewer.zmags.com/publication/3c923367#/3c923367/1).
With a little bit of care you can even extend the harvest of some of your summer vegetables like carrots and greens.
This might be easier if you feel you have maxed out all of your growing space this year, but it will require building or buying some basic season extension equipment.
Carrots love a layer of leaf or straw mulch once the frosts come. After the green tops have died back from frost these roots will be much sweeter.
A small cold frame or mini-hoop house will keep the temperatures high enough to extend your harvests of lettuce greens well into the fall.
Using protective techniques like cold frames, hoop houses and mulching opens up a whole other world of possibilities for your garden.
If you’d like to learn more about winter gardening, the GardenSmart Workshop on Growing Food Through a West Coast Winter is being presented Thursday, June 2 at 7 p.m. Cost is $8.25 and registration is required at eventbrite.ca.
On Sept. 24, GardenSmart is hosting a workshop on Do-It-Yourself Season Extension where you can learn how to build mini-hoop houses and cloches. Cost is also $8.25 and you can register at eventbrite.ca.
Happy gardening!
Emily Jubenvill grew up on the North Shore and is passionate about growing fresh organic food. She’s starting an organic farm, and working for the North Shore Neighbourhood House’s Edible Garden Project. [email protected] ediblegardenproject.com
