Winter gardening, and how to beat Gardener's Winter Blues

[Marmalade25]

This thread is for ideas and techniques for winter gardening. But also for ideas for us folks that go into withdrawal mid-winter and need a shoulder to cry on, or rather could use some encouragement that green can exist outside of the traditional summer growing season.
Up north, here, we forget what green leaves on the trees even look like sometime in March.
So bring on the sage advice, the techniques, the failed attempts (those would be mine). It's just nice to know that there's someone else out there that needs to see green. Cheers!

 

[itsasmallfarm]

not sure as i live in Canada would love to hear what others do.

i have thought about aquaponics though...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Only thing I keep growing in winter is kale. Even when it's nearly frozen I can clip off a few leaves for lunch.

I also usually leave a few carrots in the ground as winter approaches. As long as the ground doesn't freeze solid all the way down you can still pull them and cook them. I've even chipped some out of frozen soil but it's too much work.

Otherwise all I do for gardening in winter is go through seed catalogs to see what I want to order for the next year!

 

[oregonkat]

Righty ho then, @Marmalade25. I will go through my notes and gather some info to post here and we will proceed through the winter months together and with anyone else who would like to chime in.

 

[lazy gardener]

The time to start greens for winter enjoyment is in July and at the latest, August.

Why? When weather gets colder, and more importantly days are shorter and angle of the sun changes, those veggies tend to go dormant. If you are planning on having a cold frame or green house full of luxurious greens for salads through the winter, you want to have good sized plants before everything in your garden gets killed by frost.

 

[Marmalade25]

Thank you, lg. It does seem strange to talk about winter gardening now, but by the time I read about it last winter it was too late to start. Just for the record, I am a complete newbie to winter gardening. I have never successfully grown decent lettuce, spinach, kale, or carrots. Although we planted lots of carrot seeds the other day! I would love to be able to pull chilled carrots in winter and grow greens as well. I am not naturally gifted in the sciences (only the arts, and not many at that) so gardening is already a learning curve for me. But I am hopelessly persistent when it comes to gardening and I plan to get it right one of these days.

Does anyone have reccomdations for good varieties to grow? And should seeds be started in pots outside now so they can be moved?

 

[Marmalade25]

@oregonkat Yay!

 

[sourland]

In addition to the carrots plant some parsnips. Winter or early spring parsnips are sweeter and more flavorful.

 

[Conan]

Hmmm, I am in Western Washington and I typically have lettuce growing as late as I can, cauliflower, radicchio (I'd love to try endive as well), carrots in the ground and parsley. I did plant a lovely purple sprouting overwintering broccoli last year that was a fantastic early spring bearing plant. I would highly recommend it. I also overwintered some savoy cabbage that provided giant heads in early spring.
Added a greenhouse this spring so I plan to try a couple more things this year that may not survive out in the elements. I will post any successes. Full disclosure, I am using "bunny" heat for my greenhouse during the winter. They live in there and provide excellent fertilizer whenever necessary though they do require some additional work to keep them from the crops.
Neat idea for a thread, @Marmalade25. I look forward to the experience of others!

 

[Marmalade25]

*Bunny heat* wow! That is ingenious. I love the idea of an alternative heat supply in a greenhouse. A greenhouse is a sure way to beat winter blues too!