The shovel helps make a path to the greenhouse.
In some regions of the country they can grow fresh food year round because the weather is well suited for it.
For the majority of us though, as you can see from the picture of our yard, it’s a challenge.
And in some areas, it is for opposite reasons- it just becomes too dang hot.
So what’s a gardener to do?
For those of you with the issues of cold, I would recommend two books:
Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman
The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour
The first was my gardening bible when we were just starting out. We dabbled in cold frames, and later in high and low tunnels, and were able to easily add at least 6 weeks and then more on to a season that is basically only 4 months long.
The second book was the kick in the pants we needed to take it even further. With the recent addition of a small greenhouse, and by using our own gardening system, we have been able to grow fresh food even longer into the season.
I must admit though as we get older, the idea of shoveling a path to the greenhouse or even going out into the cold to harvest becomes a little less appealing. So, what we are looking at primarily this winter is growing food indoors.
If you have an area that you are heating anyway, this is a great way to get fresh food throughout the winter.
We are still harvesting basil from last fall, and our cucumber, tomatoes, baby belle pepper and watermelon plants are up and soon to be transplanted.
The cucumber is a variety that does not need pollination, known as parthenocarpic. Peppers contain both the male and female close enough together, as do tomatoes and eggplant, that with just a wee bit of help they will produce fruit. The watermelon will need some hand pollination from us. We’re also trying a container variety of butternut squash.
All of these are doable things, and we will be posting throughout the experiment how things go.
In the meantime, know that snow falling or cold temps, or even the opposite of blistering heat, does not mean you must stop growing fresh food, because the truth is:
You Can Grow That! is a collaborative effort by gardeners around the world to help others learn to grow.
Click on the link above for more.
For more info on Extending the Harvest read here.
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