Row covers in a community garden

Beds in the Pearson Community Garden

There's an interesting community garden in our neighborhood in the mountains.  It's the Pearson Community Garden, supported by the Bountiful Cities Project, a local non-profit organization.

I've posted photos from this garden before; it's been fascinating to see what they're doing and how the garden changes.  I volunteered several times last summer on their regular Wednesday workday, and enjoyed talking with the much younger fellow volunteers, who were keen about learning how to grow vegetables.

But this year, I'm totally impressed (and encouraged) by the success that they've had with simple row covers in protecting winter greens. 

This was a hard winter for us in the Carolinas (in the Southeastern U.S.)  We had unusually COLD temperatures (for example, in Asheville, NC, lows were in the teens (F°) for weeks on end, and there was MUCH more snow than usual.)

Check out these greens! 

These were protected by simple hoops covered with plastic over the winter.  They're growing directly in soil.  Wow.

Pearson Garden rows and hoop house

Lettuces

More winter greens

Our young neighbors in the mountains (who live in the apartment building next door) have been fun to watch (and encourage). 

There was a large cast iron water feature that was breeding mosquitoes when we took over our cottage;  we put anti-larval dunks in it to their approval (they're mostly health professionals).

a re-purposed salad bowl

But this year, they filled it with potting mix and are growing mustard and chard.  What a nice thing!

Our late November raised beds with leeks, chard, lettuce, and greens

A long fall season

After a mild frost (30-32°F) last weekend, we've had lovely warm days (highs near 70° F) with lows in the 40's.  Tender annuals and perennials were zapped, of course, but hardier plants, whether ornamental or vegetable, sailed through.

In our (SE US) climate, it's always variable, and with a mix of plants from around the world in our gardens (vegetables included),  it's hard to predict HOW the impact of oncoming cold weather will affect our individual gardens.

There's always the site to consider, and exposure, in addition to how frost affects our plants (whether edible or ornamental).

We're doing an experiment in our unheated education (Sprouting Wings) greenhouse this winter (I've posted about this previously).

It'll be interesting see if we can 'grow' greens in the winter, beyond simply holding them for harvest.

Winter greens and other winter vegetables

We're doing an winter vegetable gardening experiment in our unheated education hoop house (it used to be a 'greenhouse').

Propane costs ran up to $500/month to heat the house (and after losing all of the tropical plants after an severe freeze, without heat, a couple of years ago), it's quite appealing to run the house as a demonstration 'cold house'.

In our Piedmont South Carolina winter, we only have a few weeks with less than 10 hours of sunlight a day.  That's plenty to support winter greens to harvest, and probably to grow  -- I'm thinking we'll be able to do successive lettuce mix plantings as well as grow hardy and semi-hardy vegetables in containers.  (This house has a gravel surface so isn't conducive to ground sowing.)

West Dean, UK cold frame

We sowed various mixes of greens today, and will be doing more in the coming weeks.  There may be enough light for greens to grow through mid-December and take a rest, and then resume growing, but temperatures will be important, too.

We've got a bank of black plastic drums (recycled soft-drink syrup containers) filled with water that will be serving as a reservoir of heat, and we can always add a second layer of frost-protection with floating row covers.

If Elliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch can grow greens in coastal Maine in unheated houses, surely we can manage to extend our growing beyond kale and collards in the Southeastern U.S. (They're tasty, of course, but lettuce, spinach, and arugula are great additions to winter salads.)

Winter vegetables

In the Southeastern U.S., we're blessed with plenty of winter sunshine (at least compared to Northern and Central Europe and Northern Asia) -- I need to check corresponding parallels in Asia, to be sure, actually.

And our winter temperatures aren't so bad either, being much more moderate than the Northeastern U.S. We often experience relatively mild winters, although it's variable, and more recently, even more so.

In the mountains of N.C., we're Zone 6, but have only had a light frost so far, which even romaine lettuce of unknown hardiness (transplants from a big box store) sailed through.  With predictions of 28°F for next weekend,  I harvested all of the outside (lettuce) leaves this afternoon, and chard leaves of any decent size, and the arugula in that category, too, before heading down the 'hill' tomorrow.  I'm sure that the frost/freeze might not amount to much and the raised beds are plenty buffered by their stone walls, but I'd rather enjoy eating the greens than clean up the frost-bitten remnants on a later trip!

The young mesclun mix, kale, and mustard seedlings are on their own.  I'll be delighted to harvest any of them.  The parsley is looking great, too, so I'll probably cut quite a bit tomorrow morning, too.

At home in the Piedmont (Zone 7b), I've planted several beds of garlic, but need to tuck in a couple of more beds.  And I have flats of kale, arugula, and other greens to tend.

I'm planning for a winter vegetable garden experiment in one of our unheated houses at the Garden where I work.  Doesn't it seem like winter greens are a no-brainer?

Check this book out (The Winter Harvest Handbook by Elliot Coleman).  It's a fabulous guide (and inspiration) to what more of us should be doing.