With cold temperatures almost here, many backyard gardeners across North America will
soon be retreating inside, content to wait out Old Man Winter until a Spring thaw beckons them outside again. But plucky gardeners don’t take lightly to putting the soil, seeds, pots and fertilizer down for any amount of time. Their solution? Gather the right tools, identify the best vegetables to winter garden, and forge ahead with joyous abandon!
If you desire to transition into that latter category, and free yourself from high grocery store prices and GMO foods, let’s identify what you’re gonna need to succeed.
Location, location, location
First, where will you grow? Basements with heaters and grow lights have been a great fall back locale when other, better options aren’t present, but it’s fraught with setbacks including losing your basement for any other productive purpose while you try to cultivate plants in it. But more and more smart backyard gardeners are opening up their gardening world to year-round status by procuring a genuine year-round backyard greenhouse that’s made to withstand the worst winters and successfully grow fresh veggies when most people think you can’t. May I humbly suggest a Solar Gem Greenhouse? No other requires no assembly, requires no maintenance, diffuses all sunlight, is made for cold weather gardening, and comes with a Limited Lifetime Warranty.
Keeping it warm enough to winter garden
What will you need in your new backyard greenhouse? Well, depending upon your latitude, and the severity and duration of your winter weather, you are likely to need some combination of propagation mats (check out the store on the Solar Gem website) and a ceramic space heater to keep the temperatures inside conducive to cultivation. And what temperature is that, you ask? Generally speaking, you’ll want to maintain an interior temperature north of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s about 4 degrees Celsius). Also, a low-tech but helpful way to maintain warmer temps inside your greenhouse is to place a few plastic garbage cans filled with water inside… they will absorb the heat of the day (even in the dead of winter) and radiate that stored heat back into the greenhouse interior when the sun goes down and temps drop precipitously.
What’s on your menu?
Now to the exciting decisions – what will you grow? Some of the best vegetables to winter garden are (in no particular order) kale, potatoes, spinach, chard, turnips, carrots, Brussel sprouts, lettuce and onions. That’s not to mention some herbs and spices that do well in the colder times of the year… basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, chives, and sage. And yes, these can be grown in pots and containers.
For many of us, winter is a time of low humidity. So, be sure to maintain a solid watering regimen for those things you grow in the winter months.
Be bold, and don’t give in to cold temperatures!
You can be a winter gardener too, and enjoy some favorite edibles even when there is snow on the ground! For even more growing ideas, visit one of my favorite gardening sites www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com. Take charge, eat healthier, and make this winter a memorable one as you grow fresh, delicious and healthful winter vegetables in your own backyard garden.
