Growing vegetables all year round. January 2010 update
Comments(13)
Photo: Frosted pots
It’s still very cold here. There was snow yesterday and a bit more last night – just a sugar frosting. So pretty if you can stay indoors tucked up beside a glowing woodstove. The fur lined wellingtons
The brassicas are much sweeter since the hard frosts and the Brussels sprouts are to die for. Completely different from the ones available in the shops. Today I’m planning to pluck some of the kale – Black Tuscany that offended us so much back in October. I’m also going to take Suzanna’s advice and take the smaller leaves from the centre of the plant. I’ve just read all the comments on that post and they are bursting with great ideas for cooking with kale.
I have some small Webb’s lettuces growing under an open ended cloche. In the snowy weather they looked a bit unhappy but have perked right up again now most of the snow has gone. The mizuna and Italian lettuce leaves that are growing under domed cloches in the kitchen garden pots are doing well.
But the biggest surprise of all is how well the peas are doing under one of the giant homemade cloches. These cloches are great but I had to buy more anchoring pegs as the fleece has a tendency to blow off on a windy day, leaving the pea and carrot seedlings exposed.
I ran out of paraffin for the greenhouse over Christmas so was a bit worried about the temperature in the greenhouse. It is bubble wrapped on the inside and has an enormous curtain of bubble wrap over the door (courtesy of Freeman Harding’s generous packaging around the last delivery of jam jars). I had a peep yesterday afternoon and the thermometer told me that the temperature had not dropped below -2. So the bubble wrap has proved its worth!
I’ve decided to give our organic garden a boost by using biodynamic gardening techniques in 2010. I’m hoping to increase production by at least 25% – optimistic but not impossible. This should give us surplus crops to sell on the gate side stand as well as dehydrate for use later in the year.
By attempting to grow vegetables all year round we’ve already saved hundreds of pounds. But it’s the connection with nature and the changing seasons that I’ve enjoyed the most. It is wonderful to be able to harvest ultra fresh and tasty vegetables – with just minutes between plot and plate. I feel especially blessed.
Harvesting bags
R.I.P. Alfonso and Massimo. Could you eat your own chickens?
Belly of Pork with Morello cherries recipe
Dead fish stink
Biodynamic gardening update: July 2010
A grand day out
Pamela on 
dantom on 
Shereen on 
Claire on 
Lara on 
Brian Wood on 
Catrin on 
Amanda on 
Carol on 
Bib on 
fn on 
Gosh I am jealous! Before we left London I had my own allotment and I know exactly what you mean about the pleasures of growing your own veg. I miss it terribly and can’t wait to get my new vegetable plot under way at the barn; I just hope all the messy groundwork will be done in time for me to get something in for this year. Watching someone really enjoy eating food you not only cooked but also grew yourself is one of the great joys in life as far as I’m concerned.
I think we are a long way off year round vegetable gardening, it was -17C outside today when we came home after making our own cross country ski run, there is at least a foot of snow on the land. Maybe the polytunnel next year will be useful for brassicas and kale, I am sure they will still get frosted at these temperatures even if they are under a double layer of plastic. We can but try.
After you prompted us with the bubble wrap I brought out my seedling plastic green house. I put this inside the green house and so far so good we have had lettuce and land cress that is still edible. we are also lucky to have a completely south facing garden. So salad greens are ok at the moment.
The kids have ruined pretty much everyones allotments this year. I am just thankful we dont have a shed else they woul have burnt that down with all the rest. What the havent trampled they have pulled out.
Next house, has to have a garden big enough so we dont need an allotment.
I think my leeks may have had it in the back garden though. I will have to wait an see when the ground warms up a little.
Every year we get a little closer to year-round gardening. Also, after many years of organic gardening, it feels somewhat natural to explore biodynamic techniques. That’s my personal goal for the garden this year — to begin using some biodynamic principles out there. I understand about the feeling of connection to the seasons. Just yesterday I was taking a long walk in the dreary rain and seeing all signs of life and winter wonder… I realized that even last year I would have been blind to some of that wonder. This year, I’m more tuned into what’s really happening with plants during the winter. Please post about what you do with the kale.
(Just another side note about kale… I dehydrated some this year and used it in a soup recently and realized that the dehydrated, crushed kale added a wonderful texture and sweetness to the soup that fresh kale doesn’t. I will be dehydrating leafy greens much more often now.)
Wonderful post, and I’m going to have to look very seriously at year-round gardening as the next season approaches. What with all the work on the property, my vegetable plans were scuttled this past season. Need to be sure to devote time to it next year. In fact, I think your post has steered me to my reading for today.
Came back from hols and yesterday enjoyed some buttery baby leeks and Sutherland kale with roast pots and a slow roast shoulder of lamb. Utterly delicious and the only thing not home grown was the lamb. We’ve only been at this a year and sooo excited that the veg is on-going, although we planted only enough for occassional winter treats. Megan will have my guts for garters if I invade any more garden space but the temptation is mighty strong!If you haven’t tried Sutherland kale, even the large leaves are sweet and the flavour is complex and quite sophisticated, rather than being a kale-wallop type of thing. Highly recommended. Happy New Year and wishing you lots of positive thoughts and plans
Does cutting some of my wild garlic chives from the lawn today count as year round veg gardening?
Had some of my Jerusalem Artichokes for lunch today- absolutey delicious, dug from the big pot I grow them in before it freezes solid then straight into the kitchen.
The resultant wind is, admittedly,spectacular, but ooo the flavour….
Year-round vegetables have been much on my mind. There’s a guy here (in the US) named Eliot Coleman who’s got a year-round farm up in Maine (which is even colder than here on Cape Cod). He uses hoop houses, which are really just cloches writ large, and is very successful.
For now, I’m having enough trouble growing decent vegetables in the summer, so I probably won’t be tackling this in the next year, but it’s very encouraging to hear about your successes.
Hi Fiona
You are having better luck than we are with year round gardening. We have had below zero temps, some of the plants (roots) seem okay with that, but the chard didn’t like it much. Inexplicably, a chamomile is still growing. I was wondering if you have heat in your greenhouse or a way to use heat mass at all? We sprayed gallon jugs black and placed them in the cold frames. This might help in your climate, didn’t do much for mine.
Hello Bib
I do hope that you can get your vegetable garden up and running asap. I’m loving mine although with the snow there is very little that I can do at the moment. Meanwhile I’m busy with all the seed catalogues!
Hi Joanna
It might be worth considering bubble wrap in the poly tunnel. Even if it just extends the seasons for a few weeks.
My brassicas are out in the open – with no protection. They look a bit droopy when it gets below -5 but as soon as it warms up they are back to looking fine.
Hi S.O.L
Great idea putting a mini greenhouse inside the greenhouse! How nasty of those kids – I’d be so angry if I had an allotment there. We are lucky that we have a big garden and just have to deal with the pigeons.
My leeks look a bit unhappy too but hopefully they’ll perk up when the weather gets a bit warmer.
Hello Cathy
I’m so pleased that you are going to try out some biodynamic techniques this year. Danny thinks that it’s all a bit odd but is happy for me to try them out. There’s an interesting link here – where gardeners were experimenting with growing tomatoes
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/gardens/biodynamic_experiments.php
Thanks for the tip about dehydrating kale leaves!
Hello Small Pines
You done so much work on your property this year – I’m not surprised that the vegetables had to take a back seat!
We are experiencing the coldest winter for 18 years and the vegetables are holding up well in the snow.
Someone gave me a pair of French windows and I’m going to make them into large cold frames for next winter.
Hi Paul
Sutherland kale is now on my seed list! I can recommend cauliflower Lateman as it crops over a long period and it so sweet and tender.
I know what you mean about extending the veg patch! I’m thrilled with ours but am having trouble finding a place for everything.
Hello Carol
Of course it does!
Hi Kate
They are delicious straight from the garden. Wind is a problem here too!
Hello Tamar
I bought an Eliot Coleman book just before Christmas! It’s a fabulous book. So pleased that you mentioned him.
I’ve found that the winter vegetables are easier than the summer ones – fewer pests, less watering etc. The brassicas taste great compared to the stuff in the shops. It’s good to see the beds filled with food!
Hello LindaM
Oh that’s a shame. I’ve got Swiss Chard under cloches and it’s standing up well to temperature of -5. I haven’t heard of heat mass – thanks for the tip.
The greenhouse is lined with bubble wrap – which is supposed to conserve heat loss by up to 30%. I have a small paraffin heater in there which is lit when the temperature outside is below freezing. The home made cloches are working well too.
Hi,
I use an old black plastic dustbin filled with rainwater with a lid on as my ‘heat mass’ in the greenhouse. I use it for convenient watering (replenished by a water butt on a syphon) but it just sits there otherwise, stabilising the temperature to some extent. It is not doing much right now (it is frozen!) but I believe it helps chilly spring / autumn nights, keeping the greenhouse just that bit warmer, without more fuel; it also absorbs heat in summer. Other options are to put bricks, rocks or any similarly dense material in the greenhouse, so it warms up during the day and releases heat at night. I understand you can make paths with dense aggregate and the same principle applies. Presumably black polythene on top would increase heat gained. Hope that helps!
Hello Poppy
Thank you so much for these tips. I’ve not heard of these methods until now. I have a suitable plastic barrel that I can paint black! Can’t wait to give this a go.