With the right timing and care, you can cultivate your own winter vegetable garden to provide delicious produce in colder months.
Don’t worry about being too late to get started. You can build a cold frame that covers your crops, protecting them against seasonal winds and frost damage while they utilize the sun to grow. Reuse the frames for seed propagation in spring and summer. There are also hotbeds available that heat your plants from underneath by electric or steam-heated elements. A more natural alternative is fresh manure; it absorbs and retains the heat from the sun for a long time.
For the best garden, figure out what you want to plant, how much time the plants need to grow, and how much space is available. Create the right amount of space for your winter garden is by diagramming your existing plot(s) on graph paper.
Some plants like beets, carrots, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower take 90 days to mature. Others like leeks, turnips, collards, and perennial herbs take 60 days to mature. Chives, bunching onions, broccoli and spinach need only 30 days to mature.
Set aside some time this fall to plan out spacing and plants that interest you. A little planning will go a long way in preparing your next winter garden.
