Spring, summer, and fall are the months all home gardeners live for, especially with the perfect temperatures and conditions to grow nearly any food. Once the fall harvest is over, many gardeners put away their equipment for the winter and prepare their soils for the colder temperatures and snowfall ahead.
Although many people think gardening stops in the winter, the season still offers an opportunity to grow crops. Some plants thrive in colder weather, meaning you can continue gardening long into the winter months, even with shorter days and little sunlight. This means you can have homegrown food all year long, making your life even more sustainable and self-sufficient.
Here’s how to grow a successful garden through winter.
Understand the Types of Winter Gardening
You need to understand winter gardening and the benefits of the practice. There are a few strategies or types of winter gardening. The first is what may come to mind when thinking about winter gardening, which is planting crops in later summer or fall to harvest throughout the winter. They reach maturity before winter arrives but hold well in the garden.
Another method of winter gardening involves planting quick-growing crops after your summer harvests. These are vegetables that grow within about six months so you can produce and harvest them before the colder temperatures set in.
For home gardeners with greenhouses or other plant coverage methods, you can plant summer crops even during the winter. You can grow almost anything if you have a way to keep your plants warm and the soil moist.
Finally, you can plant slow-growing crops that you can harvest in the springtime. These crops essentially go dormant in the winter and start to grow again once the temperatures rise and daylight increases.
Using a combination of these winter gardening techniques will allow you to plant and harvest throughout the winter. Plus, it’ll add variety to your winter diet.
Prepare Your Soil
As with any planting season, you have to prepare your soil. You need good soil if you want a successful harvest.
Ensure you harvest all of your crops from the fall before preparing your soil for the winter crops. If your summer or fall crops were in a shaded area, you might want to consider planting your winter crops in a location that receives more sunlight. Top the soil with compost or manure, which boosts organic matter and adds nutrients to the ground.
Choose Your Crops
Before planting any winter crops, you should choose what to plant. Again, if you have a greenhouse, you can produce almost any type of vegetable. However, not everyone has access to an indoor growing facility. Here are some crops that grow well in the winter:
- Garlic
- Beets
- Carrots
- Broad beans
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Peas
- Onions or shallots
- Asparagus
- Asian greens
- Turnips
- Brussels sprouts
If you have the means to grow crops indoors, you should grow salad greens. They do exceptionally well under cover in the winter, and it’ll be nice to have fresh salads throughout the season.
Start Seedlings Indoors
Timing is everything when planning for a winter garden that will last through the winter. You want to start your seeds early so they’re ready to go in the ground right before winter sets in for the year. Remember that this is not the season for warm-loving plants like tomatoes. Choose vegetables from the above list or any others that are cold-tolerant or winter-hardy.
In mid- to late-summer or early fall, start the seeds you plan on growing throughout the winter. By the time they grow into hardy seedlings, you can transplant them. This will also save you time after you harvest your last crops of fall. When a garden bed becomes vacant, you can fill it again with seedlings.
Cover Your Plants
Some winter vegetables will need cover to thrive throughout the winter. If outside temperatures are freezing, a little bit of warmth for your plants can go a long way. There are a few different ways to cover your plants, but know that growing under cover means you need to give your plants a bit more attention. They’re at a higher risk of disease and mildew, so they’ll need airflow. Additionally, be cautious with your watering when growing undercover.
Here are a few methods of covering your crops:
- Cold frames: Cold frames look like mini-greenhouses. They’re made of brick, plastic, straw bale, or wooden boxes and have either a plastic or glass cover. It’s best to keep the covers at an angle so rain and melted snow can run off easily.
- Greenhouse: Greenhouses vary in size and cost, but they’re one of the best investments long-term if you plan to grow a winter garden every year. They’re sturdy and do a great job of insulating your crops.
- Polytunnels: Polytunnels are tunnels made of hooped row covers with a skin of plastic. They work similarly to a greenhouse and are a more affordable option for home gardeners. You can plant crops directly in the soil if you have large enough polytunnels.
- Frost cloths: Frost cloths are essentially mini polytunnels. They’re lower to the ground and cover one row at a time.
- Raised beds with lids: Another option for growing a successful garden through winter includes raised beds with covers. Raised garden beds tend to be warmer, and if you put a lid on them, it keeps in that warmth so your vegetables can thrive.
- Quick cloches: Cloches cover individual plants and are great for protecting mature garden plants or plants in containers. You can make one out of a glass jar, plastic jug, or tomato cage covered with a clear garbage bag.
Whichever method you choose will help keep your plants warm throughout the winter. Depending on the crops you grow, you may not need a cover, but it adds extra protection from harsh winter temperatures.
Add a Layer of Mulch
Mulch is one of the most affordable ways to grow fresh crops in the winter. The material acts as a seasonal extension for cold-hardy crops like beets, parsnips, carrots, and other root vegetables. Cover the garden beds with a thick layer of mulch before the ground begins to freeze, which is usually in late fall.
You can use mulch purchased from the store or make your mulch using fallen shredded leaves, straw, and other yard material. Then, cover the mulch with another insulation layer such as plastic or old bedsheets. When you want to harvest, lift the fabric, push back the mulch, and dig your vegetables.
Protect Plants From the Wind
During the winter, cold winds can wreak havoc on your plants. Strong gusts can break stems or damage your crops. Creating a windbreak can help keep your plants standing straight and tall. You can utilize a natural windbreak by planting your crops near a row of trees. If your garden is in the open, use tall stakes and tarps to create a barrier. This added protection can help your plants thrive all winter long. If needed, tie plants to stakes to keep them from blowing over.
Opt for Indoor Gardening
If you don’t want to chance cold temperatures or don’t want to have to go outside every day to check on your crops in the winter, you can opt for indoor gardening. One way to garden indoors is with a greenhouse. However, you can plant plenty of plants in your kitchen or garage. Herbs grow incredibly well indoors. You can also grow salad greens indoors, which will provide you with fresh salads from the comfort of your kitchen.
Give Plants a Slow-Acting Fertilizer
Slow-acting or slow-release fertilizers are those derived from natural materials, although they can be made synthetically. These slowly release nutrients over a long period, making them perfect for winter crops. Some home gardeners prefer to plant winter crops and intend to go dormant throughout the winter and restart their growing in the spring. Applying slow-acting fertilizers offers the plant nutrition while it slowly grows or even stops growing.
Use Cover Crops
During the winter months, planting cover crops can help restore any lost nutrients to the soil. Usually, if there aren’t any plants growing, the ground can lose its structure, so the root systems in cover crops keep it strong for your next planting season. Additionally, cover crops help control weed growth, and they can prevent both erosion and compaction in your soil. Once you harvest your final crops for the fall, sow a cover crop rather than leaving the soil bare.
Plant Cold-Weather Perennials
Some plants benefit from the cold snow and freezing rain during the winter. You can plant hardy perennial plants once February comes around. One benefit of planting during this time of year is that the ground is already wet, meaning you can spend less time watering the plantings and they can settle in a bit better. Examples of cold-weather perennials include lupins, globe thistles, hardy geraniums, and acanthus. These flowers will appear in the spring and summer.
Continue to Help the Pollinators
Your pollinators struggle a bit during the winter months. They need to find new food sources since theirs are either dormant or covered in snow. Keep a few bird feeders around your home and garden to feed the winter birds. Birds help pollinate your plants from the spring through fall, so you’ll want them to stick around even in the winter. Additionally, keep your compost, bare soil, and dead logs where they are — these places may house bees and butterflies over the winter.
Keep Up With Winter Maintenance Tasks
While gardening through the winter, you don’t want to neglect essential maintenance tasks to prepare you for the spring planting season. There’s no rest for the gardener who wants to have plants and fresh produce year-round. Here are a few ways to maintain your garden throughout the winter:
- Make sure you remove any finished or dead plants. This plant litter is the perfect breeding ground for pests and diseases.
- If you have any bare soil over the winter, maintain it for spring planting. Add soil amendments like your compost materials or grow cover crops.
- Winter is the perfect time to prune landscaping and flower beds. Remove dead material and divide and plant any bulbs on your perennials.
- Clean gardening tools to extend their lives. Sharpen tools, store garden hoses, clean engines, and reorganize your planting materials so they’re ready for spring.
- Continue to build your compost during the winter. Your plants need those added nutrients in the colder months, and your spring garden will need compost as well.
By completing these tasks during the winter, you’ll be prepared for the spring and summer planting seasons to continue your year-round garden.
Beware of Winter Warm Spells
Mother Nature rules, and sometimes you might have a warm spell during the cold winter months. If you planted a winter garden, you need to be proactive about keeping your plants alive during the warmer day or two during the winter. If you have covered your plants, uncover them when the temperatures rise so they don’t overheat and die. When the temperatures reach above freezing, you’ll need to remove the covers.
Water Your Garden
Finally, ensure you water your plants if you want to grow a successful garden through winter. However, this depends on your climate and the weather circumstances. Periodically check your garden beds and the soil’s moisture content.
You need them to be adequately hydrated, but you also don’t want them to be overwatered. If you get a hot spell, it may dry out the soil. Add water to the soil if it’s dry an inch below the surface. You may have to haul water if you shut off outdoor faucets for the winter season.
Growing Plants in the Winter Months
Growing fresh produce through the coldest season of the year is no walk in the park, but it is worthwhile to have the freshest fruits and vegetables. It benefits the environment because food won’t have to travel as far, and it benefits your family because they get to dine on the most nutritious foods in the winter. Be sure to follow these tips to have the most successful winter gardening season!
[Note: This was a guest post.]
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