Growing a Winter Garden

Mother Nature has thrown us yet another curve ball with warmer than normal fall temperatures here in New England, but as a gardener you can use this to your advantage to start a winter garden. 

I have come to appreciate walking out into may garden to pick fresh kale, lettuce and other salad greens all summer as opposed to the tasteless and often bitter greens you often get from the grocery store, and just because summer is over it doesn't mean that supply of fresh greens has to end.

There is nothing like going out to your garden in the middle of January to harvest fresh lettuce, greens, radishes, and carrots for a salad. The cold tolerant veggies are easier to grow in late fall and winter because you don't have to water as much, the problem of pests is virtually eliminated, and the veggies taste even sweeter because of the colder temperatures! 

Winter growing is extremely easy to do, and is quite possible even here in the North East with cold winter temperatures and an abundance of snow. To be successful you need to do a little planning which I have written about in Planning a Fall Garden. You need to choose cold hardy varieties of arugula, celery, endive, leeks, lettuce, parsley, radish, scallions, spinach, swiss chard, carrots, kohlrabi, mache, radicchio and kale and start them early enough to be established before the cold weather hits. As soon as it starts getting colder, the plants growth will continue, but at a much slower rate. You will also need to protect your plants from frost and snow by using row covers, hoop houses or cold-frames (mini-greenhouses).

I have written several posts about growing a winter garden using min-greenhouses.

Mini-greenhouse are practical, inexpensive and are perfect for those who don't have the room for a greenhouse. They are easy to build, portable and have many uses throughout the year. They can be used for starting seedlings in the spring, starting early tomatoes & peppers, protecting tender plants from wind and harsh weather, hardening off seedlings before planting in the garden, moved to the garden to extend the growing season, and of course to grow a winter garden.

Free downloadable plans to build the mini-greenhouse are available on my Project Plans page.

 I have had such an overwhelming response to my step-by-step greenhouse plans that I have decide to also make available step-by-step plans to build the mini-greenhouses as well. 

The plans include complete step by step instructions as well as materials list, cut lists and templates to build both the 4' x 4' and 4' x 8' mini-greenhouse. They also include plans to build the raised bed system which can be used as the base for the mini-greenhouse.

They are available in my ETSY store in PDF form and will also be available soon as a printed and bound booklet.

Happy Gardening!

~Rob~

Planning for Spring Planting - Cold Frames (mini-greenhouse)

Most gardeners and backyard farmers are busy pouring through the piles of seed catalogs that seem to keep coming in the mail, dreaming about what varieties to plant in this year's garden and anticipating warmer weather to start their seeds. 

An easy way to get a jump start on your spring planting is with the use of cold frames or mini-greenhouses. These cold frames are easy to build and can be used for early spring planting, extending your growing season in the fall, and for winter growing. They are also great to use for seed starting if you don't have the space for a larger greenhouse.

The cold frames (mini-greenhouses) are 4' x 8' and are constructed using 2 x 3's and exterior grade screws. Each unit has four hinged roof panels that can be opened for planting and propped open for ventilation. They are very easy to build and can easily be constructed in an afternoon.

Once assembled, I used 6 MIL greenhouse film, which I purchased from Growers Supply, to cover the units, stapling the plastic to the frames and folding it around all edges. For added protection I use row covers and row cover hoops inside the mini-greenhouses to cover the seedlings.

Early last spring I moved one of my mini-greenhouse over the garden bed and planted my tomato seedlings directly in the garden. The protection of the plastic created a nice heated environment for the plants and they thrived, giving us early tomatoes!

Once your mini-greenhouses are built you can also use them in the fall to extend your growing season. In late fall right after the first light frost I move the mini-greenhouses over the kale, broccoli, cabbage, scallions and other cold hardy crops.

The hinged roof panels can be propped open so the mini-greenhouses don't get too hot during the sunny days, and closed at night to keep the frost or snow off the plants.  

I start more crops of lettuce in the fall and make sure the plants are well established before the frost. The plants will keep growing with the protection of the mini-greenhouses, providing us with fresh greens all winter long.

The plants may wilt when the temperatures drop well below freezing, but they will spring back to life as soon as the sun rises and the mini-greenhouses start to heat up. It is so satisfying to be able to go out into the snow and pick fresh greens in the middle of winter! I have had good luck growing kale, leaf lettuce, spinach, arugula, parsley, sage, carrots, garlic, scallions and leeks throughout the winter.

I have plans available on my website that you can download for free 

and use to build yourself either a 4x4 or 4x8 cold frame (mini-greenhouse).

We have had quite a few warm days this winter so why not take advantage of some of them to build yourself a cold frame (mini-greenhouse) and get a jump start on your growing season! They are easy to build and are versatile for extending your growing season!

~Rob~

Shared at:

Deborah Jean's Dandelion House
Tilly's Nest 
The Backyard Farming Connection 
Farm Girl Blog Fest 
The Self Sufficient Home Acre 
The Creative Home Acre 

Tomatoes in the Mini-Greenhouse

The mini-greenhouses, or cold frames, have been working out extremely well as seen by the healthy tomato plants now growing inside! 

The tomato seedlings had been sitting in the greenhouse in their soil blocks waiting to be planted in the garden. I wasn't able to transplant them earlier because the weather wasn't cooperating, but they seemed to be holding up just fine. I was getting concerned because some of the plants were starting to flower early, but as you can see from the photo the soil blocks allowed the roots to grow thick without becoming pot bound and the plants were healthy despite their longer stay in the greenhouse 

 I previously had kale growing in the min-greenhouse which I planted last fall. I harvested everything, gently cultivated the soil and topped with 6" of homemade compost before planting the tomato seedlings. The mini-greenhouse has been working well, keeping in the heat and moisture during the colder nights and days, as seen by the condensation on the plastic. I am careful to monitor the temperatures so it doesn't get too hot inside. During the warmer sunny days I open the roof vents for ventilation and to allow the bees get inside to do their job.

 These tomatoes were planted on  5/13/12 and you can see how small they were when they went in. In just a few weeks they have become dark green with vigorous growth, almost ready for pruning.

The plants on the edges of the mini-greenhouse are starting to reach the roof line, but the days are getting warmer so I can either leave the vents open all the time or move the mini-greenhouse off the plants and put in plant stakes.

If you would like to build your own mini-greenhouse, the plans are available on my website for download by clicking here. I am also putting together full size greenhouse plans that will be available in both downloadable pdf form and paper print set that you can order so you can build your own inexpensive greenhouse! 

Cold Frame Plans

The plans for my mini-greenhouses (cold frames) are now available

for download on my website.

I have posted plans for both the 4' x 4' coldframe

and the 4' x 8' cold frame.

Feel free to download the plans to use to build

one for yourself.

Cold Frame (mini-greenhouse) Feedback

It's the first day of summer, all the seeds have been planted and the seedlings are all out of the greenhouse and into the garden beds, so I am now ready to start planning my winter garden.

It feels like an ongoing struggle -always trying to stay ahead of the calendar.

Did anyone download and use the cold frame (mini-greenhouse) plans I posted last year?

 If you built a cold frame and used it over the winter I would love to hear from you. You can email me and tell me how it worked (or didn't work), and be sure to include photos. I would like to do a future blog post (if I get enough responses) and include reader built cold frames with pictures, results, etc. If you have a blog include that in your email as I will include your link as well.

My cold frames ...

Mini-greenhouses - January 8th, 2011!

Using my cold frame design, I was able to grow lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, scallions, carrots and sage throughout the (northeast) winter. Most of the plants survived but I did learn that I do need to start them earlier in late summer / early fall so the they are more established before the temperatures drop. The plants were able to survive the sub-zero weather, but grew slowly once the temperatures got cold. Having the plants almost fully grown before the winter hits would be ideal.

In the works ...

I am working on putting together full-size plans for my cold frames as well as small backyard greenhouses. They will contain a complete set of building plans, materials list, cut list and assembly instructions. I hope to have this finished by the end of summer. I am also in the process of developing a new website where the plans will be available as well as useful links, growing instruction and anything that has to do with growing organic, healthy eating and healthy living. Stay tuned ...more on this later!

Click here for cold frame plans!

Winter wonderland

Friday and Saturday we were hit with two small storms that dumped a total of 7" of snow creating a winter wonderland.

The mini-greenhouses are still working great and have been providing us with fresh greens throughout the winter. The plants are growing slowly, but nonetheless continue to grow and seem very healthy. The ground inside the mini-greenhouses hasn't frozen at all and is full of earth worms enjoying the winter protection. In the second picture above you can see the snow covered mounds of the row covers protecting the carrots.

The lettuce, kale and scallions seem to be holding up the best in the below freezing temperatures. The cabbage is also doing very well, but like everything else is also growing very slowly. I have been harvesting some of the small cabbage plants for the rabbits so they can have fresh greens during the winter. The broccoli and cauliflower plants have wilted a bit but still continue to grow. The plants are now about 2' tall with new florets growing on the main stalks. It has been difficult to water steadily during the cold days which is why I think the plants are wilting, something I am hoping to address for next winter.

During these cold wintry days I have been sitting by the wood stove pouring through the seed catalogs planning the gardens for this coming year with plans on expanding the gardens and fencing them in, building new mini-greenhouse and placing them on raised stone beds, and adding irrigation systems to them. Another huge project, that we are excited about, is creating an organic school community garden at the elementary school. We received the go ahead in the fall and are already busy planning!! It should be a fun and rewarding project!!

Mini-greehouse update

Yesterday we enjoyed a nice fresh salad from our mini-greenhouse! The lettuce was buttery sweet and vibrant green, absolutely delicious! The units have been working extremely well! The nighttime temperatures have been dropping into the low 20's but the mini-greenhouses have been maintaining temps 6 - 8 degrees warmer than the outside, with humidity levels between 86% - 96%. There is always condensation on the walls and it never freezes even during the bitter cold nights.

The romaine lettuce is growing slowly, but it is still thriving and has been able to tolerate the sub-freezing temperatures.

The broccoli is starting to form now. The plants are about 2' tall almost touching the top of the mini-greenhouse.

The cabbage has been coming in nicely, starting to form the heads. I have been picking bottom leaves and some lettuce to feed the rabbits so they can have fresh greens!

This photo was taken when it was 34 degrees outside. As you can see the mini greenhouse was 41 degrees with 91% humidity.

So far the mini-greenhouse experiment has been very successful. The only thing I have noticed is on mornings after a really cold night the lettuce is a little wilted, but it perks right back up when the sun comes out. I imagine when it starts snowing and there is accumulating snow around the units the temps inside will stay even warmer at night. Everything seems to be thriving, even the kale, scallions and sage, and the garlic bulbs I planted are coming up as well. It will be interesting to compare their growth with the ones I planted outside in the bed. I have also planted some chestnuts in the units that came from a tree grown from nuts from a tree my grandfather had planted many years ago. I have tried growing trees before but when they are about 2' tall the squirrels always seem to find them and eat them. I have 12 nuts planted so hopefully this time I can get at least 2 trees to survive!

First Snowfall

Today we are having out first snowfall of the season here in New England. We are only expected to get an inch or two, but it is blustery and cold with high wind warnings. Most of the garden beds have been cleaned out and mulched with chopped leaves, the asparagus has been cut down and the garlic has been planted. We have already had our first frost and a few very cold nights where the temperature fell to about 28°.  During those freezing nights the temperature inside the mini-greenhouses has stayed around 32° with 91% humidity. I pulled the row covers over the hoops inside at night to give the plants extra protection, so the temperatures closer to the ground should have been a little warmer. None of the plants were affected by the freeze and the lettuce, which I thought would be wilted, was still looking great!

This morning the temperature outside is 30° and it is still 36° inside the mini-greenhouses with 93% humidity! The plants are all still thriving. Last weekend when I was cleaning out the herb garden, I transplanted some sage, parsley, basil and chives into the mini-greenhouses along with some garlic.

Building the mini-greenhouse

I spent the morning building the first of the mini-greenhouses for my winter garden. . This unit is 4' wide x 8' long x 44" tall, is made out of 2x3's and has hinged roof panels. As I was building it I thought it might be too big making it difficult to reach inside to harvest or plant, but now that it is finished I am very pleased with how it turned out. Each roof panel is wide enough to allow room to easily reach inside. All four roof panels are hinged so there is access from both sides.

While the temps are still above freezing I am using row covers to protect the plants. I purchased some greenhouse film that I will install later this month as the nigh-time temps begin to drop. I am considering attaching the film to panels so I can easily remove them in the spring and go back to using row covers (for seedlings). In the summer I plan on leaving the mini-greenhouse in the garden (without covering) for the plants to grow inside, but I've constructed the mini-greenhouse in sections so I can easily break it down and store in the shed.

I have posted the basic plan if anyone is interested in building one. Click here to download. 

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