Fall and Winter Vegetable Gardening | Minter Country Garden
There are many other winter crops, but these are the mainstream varieties that folks are really beginning to appreciate! Potted perennial vegetables, like horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, and rhubarb, can be planted now. Perennial herbs, like mint, parsley, chives, marjoram, and oregano, can also be planted for some late fall and early spring additions to your culinary dishes (cilantro, though an annual, can tough it out as a fall crop too)! September is the best time to plant garlic for next year’s harvest. Seeds for these winter hardy varieties are widely available from West Coast Seed* racks, but the closer we get to mid/late August, the more you will need to rely on transplants.
Remember that our days are getting shorter, and the angle of the sun will change, so place your plants in a location that will receive the most light over winter, preferably out of north/east winds. When we get severe cold (below -10°C), a simple mulching of root crops with sawdust or bark mulch helps greatly, and a cloth cover, called ‘N-Sulate,’ can make a 6-8°C difference in protection. A particularly cool winter/early spring can delay harvests, so be patient come spring-time. Instead of assuming an overwintering veggie hasn’t matured enough (and pull it out), give it some time to come around.
Please give winter gardening at least a try this year. It’s fun, truly a great source of winter food and nutrition and, perhaps best of all, it’s exhilarating to harvest fresh produce from your garden during some of the darkest days of the year!
*They have a terrific winter veg seed timing tool on their website too…visit westcoastseeds.com to view their planting chart!