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Our Winter Garden

Built in the summer of 2007
and inspired by the book: "Four Season Harvest"
by Eliot Coleman.
We now can have fresh vegetables from
the garden ALL YEAR ROUND!!

In the summer of 2007, I embarked on yet another gardening
adventure - the winter garden. I built 7 cold frames along the
south side of our house. The leeks were planted in the spring.
Carrots and beets planted in August. Some greens were
planted as late as September.

October 2007 and the winter garden is overflowing with
mature vegetables ready to be harvested. I haven't
needed to cover them yet. From left to right: leeks, green onion, carrots, beets, bokchoy, tatsoi, green and red winter hardy lettuces, spinach, 'bull's blood' beet greens, endive, mizuna, swiss chard, garden sorrel, arugula, purslane, and parsley.

Leeks and green onion. October 2007.

Bokchoy and tatsoi. October 2007.

Spinach, 'bull's blood' beet greens, endive, mizuna,
and swiss chard. October 2007.

Arugula, purslane, carrots, parsley.
October 2007.

Haifa helping to lift the lid on one of the boxes.
There is 3 inches of snow on everything but
the vegetables are SO happy. There's a bowl
of leeks and spinach ready to make quiches.
November 23, 2007.

Here is a close-up of what's inside the box.
Endive, beet greens, and spinach...
don't you just want to pick it
and munch on it's juicy sweetness!!!

The plants change to adapt to the cooler temperatures. One of these changes is that they contain higher levels of soluble proteins and reduced amounts of sugars. This makes the winter vegetables more nutritious and digestible than vegetables grown in warmer temperatures. I believe that consuming these cold weather vegetables is conducive to our bodies being healthy and able to adjust to the cold climate. I don't know of any place where you can actually BUY cold weather vegetables. Everything we buy in the supermarket has been grown in warm temperatures and provides the proper balance of nutrients for our bodies to function in that climate. I think it's important to eat cold weather vegetables in cold weather and warm weather vegetables in warm weather.

This year I tried leaving carrots in my large garden
completely uncovered and unprotected.
There is 4 inches of snow covering them
but the soil is not frozen and is easy to dig.
The carrots were fabulous.
November 2007

A bowl of freshly dug carrots and green onions
sitting in the snow.
December 2007.

Some green onion and carrots from the winter
garden picked in December 2007.

Here's a bowl of freshly picked green onions
and carrots in January 2008.

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