Fall Planting
I know how to do basic water bath canning and have a food dehydrator. But I really like the idea of having SOMETHING to harvest fresh nearly all year round. There is a way of gardening where you 'put your garden in' sometime in June. Then you harvest in big gluts, do massive of preserving, and you're done. A lot of folks really make that work... but it's not for me. For one, I never have that much time on any given day or week. I have to spread it out. Another reason, I can't imagine spending so much time canning at the end of August on a hot day without good air conditioning.
What really gets me excited is the idea of year-round gardening. When we were living at Radford Mill Farm in the the west of England, the growers there used polytunnels to extend the season. I had never seen such a thing before, but I think it is a great answer to the whole unpredictable climate thing these days. They're basically just a big cold frame or hoop house covered with plastic. In the pacific northwest (like the UK), you can do it largely unheated and have something to eat year-round. Isn't that COOL? If you can put a little heater in there, so much the better. I don't have such a big tunnel (yet), but I do little versions while I get a bit more experience and work my way up to it.
The books I use to plan my garden and get ideas for extending my seasons include 'Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades' by Steve Solomon and 'The Winter Harvest Handbook' by Eliot Coleman. (I would love other recommendations). Solomon gives me really good tips on planting dates for my exact location and ways to work with the unique soil of the Pacific Northwest (these dates, of course, are changing a lot nowadays). I've learned that gardening here is much more like gardening in England than gardening in Iowa or New Jersey... and that's what most of the veg advice is for in U.S. books. Coleman is an expert at growing veg in unheated greenhouses (polytunnels) in New England. And man, if you can do it there, you can certainly do it here.
For my fall and winter garden, I usually start in July by sowing my final crop of carrots and parsnips. I've had a hard time with both of these crops lately. Mice eat my carrots from the bottom up (!!!!) and this summer, something was eating all of my newly germinated seedlings. Grrrr. Parsnips, I've had a hard time w/ germination 2 years in a row. Mice will love them too, if they ever grow. For the many rodents, my cat is working as hard as she can, and I have discovered a few of my chickens to be EXCELLENT mousers as well (chickens eating small rodents is great on SO many levels). I hope to achieve a balance more in favor of root crops before having to go all Caddyshack on them. But I still needed to improve germination. After consulting a few friends, I decided to sow both crops, then cover with a bit of thin fabric that would let in both light and water, but block bugs from getting in and also help minimize evaporation. It worked GREAT! In the picture, parsnips are on the left, carrots on the right. I just kept it covered until the leafy bits were about 10 inches tall and I got tired of replacing it after thinning. I started eating carrots from my 2nd thinning at the end of August. I don't usually eat parsnips until after the first frost. That's when they get nice and sweet. More musings on roasted parsnips in November... I hope.
Now, at the end of June or so, I started a 'leek nursery bed'. Solomon advises this. I sow my leek seeds nice and thick, let them grow up, then transplant them in July to a newly worked bed with lots of space and rich soil to get big. In the winter time, I prefer to use leeks for most things. I think they have a wonderful, mild flavor, and are easy to grow without any protection at all. You don't have to cover them or anything. You see they are in trenches so I can fill as they grow. This keeps them nice and clean (in theory).
Now for onions. Below is a picture of them. These are an overwintering onion, which are easily gown here. I sowed the seeds in mid-August, I'll thin them soon, and in the spring time will feed them to give me nice, sweet bulbs mid summer. Easy peasy. I don't worry about storing very many of them, as I prefer to use leeks in the winter time.
I want to have some broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower this fall, and here they are. I sowed them in pots at the end of July/early August. I did a few successions 2-3 weeks apart. Uncovered, I should be eating them until Thanksgiving, depending on how freezing it gets. If I cover them, maybe I'll get some side shoots from the broccoli after harvesting the main head.
In other beds, I put the brassicas I expect to harvest from through the winter solstice: Kale and Brussels Sprouts. Usually, they do well without any cover. They freeze, and recover nicely. Last year, however, they all died from the weather. It was that kind of winter with freezing temps, but no insulating snow. I might put a little plastic tunnel over them this year to give me some insurance. In another bed, I put some overwintering broccoli called 'Purple Sprouting Broccoli'. I first came across this in England. You start your seed aound August 1, it overwinters, then gives you nice little broccoli and greens in the spring time when nothing else is happening. I like it a lot. Again, usually survives uncovered... but last winter killed it. Might cover this year.
And speaking of covers, this is sort of what I do that is easy. I buy these PVC pipes... thin-walled so they are easier for me to flex. I push the ends in the ground on either side of the bed as shown below, then when the forecast calls for freezing temps, I drape my clear plastic over it and pin the sides down with rocks. I know, I know... more plastic. But I've been able to use my plastic for a few years now and when it gets all damaged, I'll try to use it for something else.
In that picture above, I've got some lettuce. I'll eat all of this by mid-September and actually have some other seedlings going elsewhere. The first week of Sept, I sowed some more lettuce, spinach, mesclun and chard that I can put under cover and grow up a bit for winter salads before the days get too short to grow.
Finally, remember all those lovely broccoli and cauliflower plants a few pics earlier? In October, I'll plant my garlic and shallots around them. Last year was my first garlic year. In my fall broccoli bed, I co-planted with my garlic cloves in the spaces between plants, and left them alone. In early spring when I felt like doing some work, I cut the broccoli plants off at the base to compost them, leaving the roots so as not to disturb my garlic seedlings. I fertilized my garlic then, and harvested at the end of July. That's 10 months of using the bed and I got 2 nice crops out of them. After garlic, I got one mid-summer lettuce harvest. I was very pleased with this way to use a bed. I'm new to ways of rotating crops and the best way to make use of my space. I'd love some other ideas for this.
Those are my big winter plans for the year. I'm only using half my garden space right now because I'm working on infrastructure on the other side while I do successive green manures. It seems like no matter where you live, there are crops you can grow year round with a bit of planning and protection. I would really love to have a walk-in hoop house (polytunnel), but I feel like I'm still very much in the learning phase of growing our food, and I like to feel like I've earned it when I buy myself a big piece of kit like that. I have this vision of a 12 ft wide, 8 feet tall and 20 feet long tunnel. I walk in, hang up my rain gear, turn on the radio and do a bit of gardening in my warm, dry tunnel in December. Or maybe... just maybe... we get a REALLY big one and put a lap pool down one side, and winter salads down the other. Wouldn't THAT be awesome? Keep dreaming.
What really gets me excited is the idea of year-round gardening. When we were living at Radford Mill Farm in the the west of England, the growers there used polytunnels to extend the season. I had never seen such a thing before, but I think it is a great answer to the whole unpredictable climate thing these days. They're basically just a big cold frame or hoop house covered with plastic. In the pacific northwest (like the UK), you can do it largely unheated and have something to eat year-round. Isn't that COOL? If you can put a little heater in there, so much the better. I don't have such a big tunnel (yet), but I do little versions while I get a bit more experience and work my way up to it.
The books I use to plan my garden and get ideas for extending my seasons include 'Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades' by Steve Solomon and 'The Winter Harvest Handbook' by Eliot Coleman. (I would love other recommendations). Solomon gives me really good tips on planting dates for my exact location and ways to work with the unique soil of the Pacific Northwest (these dates, of course, are changing a lot nowadays). I've learned that gardening here is much more like gardening in England than gardening in Iowa or New Jersey... and that's what most of the veg advice is for in U.S. books. Coleman is an expert at growing veg in unheated greenhouses (polytunnels) in New England. And man, if you can do it there, you can certainly do it here.
Carrots, parsnips, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, overwintering onions, garlic, shallots, spinach, lettuce and asian greens....
sounds good, doesn't it?
sounds good, doesn't it?
Fall and winter seedlings started at the end of July. After they get true leaves, I pot them up and feed them with fish emulsion a few times per week to keep them growing until I have their beds ready. I find larger seedlings fare better against my garden pests.
For my fall and winter garden, I usually start in July by sowing my final crop of carrots and parsnips. I've had a hard time with both of these crops lately. Mice eat my carrots from the bottom up (!!!!) and this summer, something was eating all of my newly germinated seedlings. Grrrr. Parsnips, I've had a hard time w/ germination 2 years in a row. Mice will love them too, if they ever grow. For the many rodents, my cat is working as hard as she can, and I have discovered a few of my chickens to be EXCELLENT mousers as well (chickens eating small rodents is great on SO many levels). I hope to achieve a balance more in favor of root crops before having to go all Caddyshack on them. But I still needed to improve germination. After consulting a few friends, I decided to sow both crops, then cover with a bit of thin fabric that would let in both light and water, but block bugs from getting in and also help minimize evaporation. It worked GREAT! In the picture, parsnips are on the left, carrots on the right. I just kept it covered until the leafy bits were about 10 inches tall and I got tired of replacing it after thinning. I started eating carrots from my 2nd thinning at the end of August. I don't usually eat parsnips until after the first frost. That's when they get nice and sweet. More musings on roasted parsnips in November... I hope.
Parsnips and Carrots
Now, at the end of June or so, I started a 'leek nursery bed'. Solomon advises this. I sow my leek seeds nice and thick, let them grow up, then transplant them in July to a newly worked bed with lots of space and rich soil to get big. In the winter time, I prefer to use leeks for most things. I think they have a wonderful, mild flavor, and are easy to grow without any protection at all. You don't have to cover them or anything. You see they are in trenches so I can fill as they grow. This keeps them nice and clean (in theory).
Leeks (with a few fall peas on the left)
Now for onions. Below is a picture of them. These are an overwintering onion, which are easily gown here. I sowed the seeds in mid-August, I'll thin them soon, and in the spring time will feed them to give me nice, sweet bulbs mid summer. Easy peasy. I don't worry about storing very many of them, as I prefer to use leeks in the winter time.
Overwintering onion seedlings in August (look closely... they look like little grasses)
I want to have some broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower this fall, and here they are. I sowed them in pots at the end of July/early August. I did a few successions 2-3 weeks apart. Uncovered, I should be eating them until Thanksgiving, depending on how freezing it gets. If I cover them, maybe I'll get some side shoots from the broccoli after harvesting the main head.
Cabbage (left) and broccoli (right) seedlings
In other beds, I put the brassicas I expect to harvest from through the winter solstice: Kale and Brussels Sprouts. Usually, they do well without any cover. They freeze, and recover nicely. Last year, however, they all died from the weather. It was that kind of winter with freezing temps, but no insulating snow. I might put a little plastic tunnel over them this year to give me some insurance. In another bed, I put some overwintering broccoli called 'Purple Sprouting Broccoli'. I first came across this in England. You start your seed aound August 1, it overwinters, then gives you nice little broccoli and greens in the spring time when nothing else is happening. I like it a lot. Again, usually survives uncovered... but last winter killed it. Might cover this year.
Purple Sprouting (overwintering) broccoli seedlings. They get HUGE!
And speaking of covers, this is sort of what I do that is easy. I buy these PVC pipes... thin-walled so they are easier for me to flex. I push the ends in the ground on either side of the bed as shown below, then when the forecast calls for freezing temps, I drape my clear plastic over it and pin the sides down with rocks. I know, I know... more plastic. But I've been able to use my plastic for a few years now and when it gets all damaged, I'll try to use it for something else.
PVC pipes as a frame for plastic tunnels over lettuce and herbs.
In that picture above, I've got some lettuce. I'll eat all of this by mid-September and actually have some other seedlings going elsewhere. The first week of Sept, I sowed some more lettuce, spinach, mesclun and chard that I can put under cover and grow up a bit for winter salads before the days get too short to grow.
Finally, remember all those lovely broccoli and cauliflower plants a few pics earlier? In October, I'll plant my garlic and shallots around them. Last year was my first garlic year. In my fall broccoli bed, I co-planted with my garlic cloves in the spaces between plants, and left them alone. In early spring when I felt like doing some work, I cut the broccoli plants off at the base to compost them, leaving the roots so as not to disturb my garlic seedlings. I fertilized my garlic then, and harvested at the end of July. That's 10 months of using the bed and I got 2 nice crops out of them. After garlic, I got one mid-summer lettuce harvest. I was very pleased with this way to use a bed. I'm new to ways of rotating crops and the best way to make use of my space. I'd love some other ideas for this.
Me with this year's garlic harvest.
Those are my big winter plans for the year. I'm only using half my garden space right now because I'm working on infrastructure on the other side while I do successive green manures. It seems like no matter where you live, there are crops you can grow year round with a bit of planning and protection. I would really love to have a walk-in hoop house (polytunnel), but I feel like I'm still very much in the learning phase of growing our food, and I like to feel like I've earned it when I buy myself a big piece of kit like that. I have this vision of a 12 ft wide, 8 feet tall and 20 feet long tunnel. I walk in, hang up my rain gear, turn on the radio and do a bit of gardening in my warm, dry tunnel in December. Or maybe... just maybe... we get a REALLY big one and put a lap pool down one side, and winter salads down the other. Wouldn't THAT be awesome? Keep dreaming.