I’ve had a winter vegetable garden for the last four years here in the Chicago area (zone 5). In this video, I talk about how I started winter gardening and some of the basics involved in getting started. Will you be growing a vegetable garden this winter?
How To Make And Apply Compost Tea: http://youtu.be/_4VKLtDuzD8
How We Make All Our Compost: http://youtu.be/t3P_Tw7knyo
Our First Batch Of Comfrey Tea: http://youtu.be/w6-MGN8rpkU
Planting Our First Fall/Winter Cover Crop: http://youtu.be/OlEQktwaJiE
Eliot Coleman’s website: http://fourseasonfarm.com/
Growing Power’s website: http://growingpower.org/
29 Comments
I am in Northern Illinois so I was very excited to see someone from my area that is having success with winter gardening. I have been wanting to try this for a couple of years. Finally this year I started to build a hoop house to extend my growing and also start winter crops in. I started peas, beans, carrots and a number of greens. Unfortunately, anything that did start to germinate was eaten off to ground level. Now that it has gotten colder I wont get things to germinate.
I am new to winter garden I do plan on building some next year I am going to spend this year studying my yard and see where is a good place to put a few cold frames.
I used a soil heating cable with a wooden cold frame-like frame with row tunnels instead of glass on top, I used some big globe string lights too to help heat up the air and I was able to plant kale, swiss chard, radish and kohlrabi at the beginning of March in zone 6, well before the snow was through! I have details and photos here if you're interested. I used Eliot Coleman's book as inspiration. https://shellardadam.wordpress.com/
I'm planning on using bamboo to build the greenhouse and a rocket stove to heat it.
I want to start one and I'm in zone 4b. Any suggestions?
Does flavor change in the vegetables that are grown in hoop houses or greenhouses during the extension into fall and winter? With less natural light do you get a noticeable different harvest?
Another excellent video. Love The idea of providing food year round.
Another excellent book… She's a zone 5b Halifax and explain veggie by veggie when to plant for spring and winter… All the different protections for winter…
Niki Jabbour year round vegetables garden
Last year I had one small poly tunnel over a raised bed. zone 6. Between your videos, and the success of the little poly tunnel, I built a 8 x 32 recycled glass lean-to, 20 feet of which is greenhouse. Did not finish in time to have a mature crop in there this winter, but am experimenting with all sorts of things and am having great fun with it. I have watched all your videos. Thank-you for the inspiration. I grew up in the Chicago area. Your yard is amazing! GO VEGETARIANS! And give that cat a hug for me. (Will use your Amazon link and let the ads run for you. ).
New subscriber here 🙂
I have a question.
We just moved into a new house and we have a largish backyard but it's winter. I wanted to build beds and prepare the soil (back to eden garden style) for the summer but I'm at a loss because there are two large trees and I know those and the sun will change the amount of light that hits the yard in the summer.
So I'm not sure how to determine where to build the beds and where to plan on planting things since it's winter. I read someone waited a whole year to plan and plant so they could see where the sun was all year but is there a way I can figure out where the sun will be and what it will be like with the trees casting shade in the summer even though it's winter and without waiting a whole year?
I want to plant for sure a handful of fruit trees and berry bushes and a vegetable garden. I'm assuming the trees and berry bushes need medium to high amount of light so that's why I'm hesitant to ore plan and build "blindly" without knowing how the trees will affect the sun and the different sun position and times in the summer at our new house.
Or do you think I can only confidently plant a winter garden and then just wait for summer to see where the sun will be and then build and plant then?
Hi, I am from Europe. Planing to do Walipini.
is there any advice about saving vegetables from squirrels in Chicago area
I'm gonna get some size of winter garden going, thanks to inspiration from you! btw, endive is French, it's actually pronounced ahn-deeve, so if you're selling to upscale restaurants sometime, you'll know. Most the time, I just say it end-dive.
Hi Patrick, do you grow beets in your winter vegetable garden? How cold tolerant are they. I'm thinking they might be like carrots, if you mulch them good inside of a low tunnel the roots will be protected and will not freeze. What do you think? Thanks!
What really helps me to grow food in the winter are pepper foam boxes. You can get them for free at your local fish store or fish restaurant. Just drill holes in the bottom, fill them and put them in the greenhouse.
styrofoam boxes
Does Oscar stretch, tear, or otherwise damage the hoop house plastic?
I live in Zone 5 also but in the CO area. Gardening is my happy place but sadly right now I only have space for a container garden so I lose the winter months but in the next few months I should be moving and getting a green house! Can't wait to use your tips to get started!
Found you by chance while trolling for info on gardening. Have been gardening most of my life but not always with success and never in winter. Being 72 and retired now there is more time and space to try it. Your videos are well thought out and you are well spoken. Am going back and watching all your videos and learning quite a lot. Thank You for doing such a great service.
I love your videos and muffin cat loves Oscar-Zone 8b, Seattle suburb, we have a green house but no in ground beds inside so I’m trying water troughs. Cold frames outside made from pallet wood and row covers too. Thanks for all the advice.
I think I've waited too late to start my winter garden. I'm in West Michigan 30mins east of Lake Michigan, any recommendations ?
I have kale still gtowing from last year. I have spinach, lettuce, garlic, kollards, brussels sprouts and much more. I have not tilled my garden since i found your videos on youtube. My results are much better. I will send you more pictures soon.
I love watching your videos and have learned a ton. Like you I am in Zone 5 over in Massachusetts,
I hope to build a number of Cold frames in the next month. I am about to come into a bunch of free old window panes from my in laws porch renovation. Hopefully I can get them outside in March to start hardening off seedlings. I also hope to build a small hoop house greenhouse by time fall hits.
I wasn't planning for winter gardening until next winter, but thanks to all the Michigan snow in mid April I have an early start. So far, so good under single cover. My kohlrabi, kale, spinach, claytonia, mache, arugula, and lettuce seem to be doing fine. Hopefully it warms up soon.
This may be a stupid question, how do you water in the winter and frequency.
I always wonder if the soil ever freezes or if this is enough to prevent a deep freeze into the soil?
This video brought me great joy!Tell your wife Unless Oscar is also an artist?
How would you compare Coleman and Nikki jappours 4 season books?.. Stu30kat@gmail.com
I'm going to winter garden in eastern Canada (zone 5a). I decided to try cattle panel with some wooden support for our winds, and UV 6mil poly as the cover. I may use a two layer system as well. Pretty excited because I don't like seeing the season end. The weather has become unreliable for a lot of farmers here and around the world with the colder/warmer changes. All good, as far as I'm concerned, to start producing our own food.