Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Winter greenhouse crops (was Re: To eat . . . . or to drive?)

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Liz <liz@allslash.org>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Winter greenhouse crops (was Re: To eat . . . . or to drive?)
  • Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:09:08 -0400

At 02:00 PM 8/28/2007, you wrote:
>
> We're learning what we can do to keep raising
> production on part of our one acre, double cropping, starter plants in the
> greenhouse, spring and fall crops like snow peas, vertical growing on the
> fence lines, and so forth. ~Paul

I don't see any mention of winter crops from the greenhouse. Of course,
your farmer's market is doubtless closed then, so maybe distribution
gets to be an insuperable barrier. But please do experiment with winter
greens--both "potherbs" like spinach and kale and Oriental greens; and
lettuces and other salads. I especially recommend chicories for the
winter greenhouse.

I grow lettuce (red leaf varieties) right through the winter in little plots protected by bales of hay with old window panes lying on top. The sun coming through the glass warms the ground during the day and the hay keeps wind off the plants and probably supplies some small amount of heat as the hay slowly decomposes. We don't get a huge amount of snow here (southwest Virginia) so the ground freezes and heaves, everywhere but in the raised beds where I have the winter greens. The lettuce grows slowly during the winter, so I plant a lot of it and we harvest a bit here and a bit there. By spring, when it's ready to take off and grow, we have thinned the plants out to where we can eat enough to keep up with the production. Then I let the last of it go to seed, and harvest that for next winter's lettuce. Last year I was on the road so much during the cool weather that I didn't plant my lettuce, but this year I am going to do it no matter what. I have two envelopes of seed from previous years, and a couple of handfuls from volunteer plants that came up on their own this year.

Liz





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page