The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space

Growing vegetables all year round. January 2010 update

 

Photo: Frosted pots

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 that my mum gave me last Christmas have really come into their own this winter as they have grippy soles and don’t slip in the snow and ice.

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.


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13 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. kate (uk)

    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….

  4. Does cutting some of my wild garlic chives from the lawn today count as year round veg gardening?

  5. 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 🙂

  6. Small Pines

    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.

  7. 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.)

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

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