We've been reading Eliot Coleman's new book The Winter Harvest Handbook, which is, as it turns out, all about winter harvesting. And winter growing, too. He faces most of the same challenges as we do on his farm up in Maine, and he's been farming for a long time, so I'm inclined to listen to what he has to say.
He has a lot to say about winter gardening. His approach is all about the low-tech solution - he is not talking about growing hothouse tomatoes in February, though there are some folks doing that up here. He's talking about modifying the conditions just enough that cold-adapted crops will grow - things like spinach and leeks and greens and carrots. For most of them, you want to plant in the fall, and then they grow until it gets really cold, then sort of hibernate before starting up growth again in the spring. We didn't get our greenhouse up and covered until just a couple of weeks ago, so we missed the planting dates for most of his suggested crops.
But not carrots! Today, on December first, we seeded our first bed of winter carrots. Theoretically, these carrots will grow slowly all winter and be ready sometime in May. And theoretically, they will be some of the sweetest carrots that anybody's ever tried.
We aren't betting anything on these carrots, since it's our first time growing them, but I sure am excited. We're planning a bunch of other winter experiments for the greenhouse, as well. I really like the idea of working within the boundaries of the season, but playing with them just enough to have something growing all year round. Fresh greens all winter! Just think! We probably won't succeed at that for this year, but next year we're hoping to.
He has a lot to say about winter gardening. His approach is all about the low-tech solution - he is not talking about growing hothouse tomatoes in February, though there are some folks doing that up here. He's talking about modifying the conditions just enough that cold-adapted crops will grow - things like spinach and leeks and greens and carrots. For most of them, you want to plant in the fall, and then they grow until it gets really cold, then sort of hibernate before starting up growth again in the spring. We didn't get our greenhouse up and covered until just a couple of weeks ago, so we missed the planting dates for most of his suggested crops.
But not carrots! Today, on December first, we seeded our first bed of winter carrots. Theoretically, these carrots will grow slowly all winter and be ready sometime in May. And theoretically, they will be some of the sweetest carrots that anybody's ever tried.
We aren't betting anything on these carrots, since it's our first time growing them, but I sure am excited. We're planning a bunch of other winter experiments for the greenhouse, as well. I really like the idea of working within the boundaries of the season, but playing with them just enough to have something growing all year round. Fresh greens all winter! Just think! We probably won't succeed at that for this year, but next year we're hoping to.
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