What veggies have you grown in the middle of winter?

[Montray Davis]

Thanks for reading!

I'm trying to get an idea of what vegetables I can plant during the winter, if any.
I'm curious to know what vegetables have you guys grown in the winter? I live in zone 8b so we don't get anything too drastic for too long.

 

[MaryMary]

In Ohio?

You might want to wait for one of the Texas gardeners to verify, but I'm going to guess that in zone 8, you could probably grow spinach, arugula and kale. Probably others I'm not aware of.

Meanwhile, I'll post a post of Chuck's that I found in another thread; it will give you soil temperatures for germination, and the days to appearance of seedlings at various temperatures.

This might be of help
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes/sites/default/files/Horticulture/documents/soiltemps.pdf

(Thanks again, Chuck!! )


You might want to invest in a temperature probe. If it were me, I'd shop other places than a gardening center, try a hardware store. My boyfriend does HVAC, and he gave me one, as he had two. They might be cheaper in that section than they would be in the gardening section. For HVAC, it's a necessity, in gardening, they might consider it a frill and charge more!!

 

[marlingardener]

Montray, we are in central Texas 8a or 8b, depending on which map you use. We have broccoli, lettuce, green beans, arugula (roquette), and spinach in now. The seeds were planted last weekend, and I purchased broccoli starts, which we hardened off and planted yesterday.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/fallgarden/falldirect.html gives you an idea of what and when to plant for a fall garden.
If you have indeterminate tomato plants,you can cut them back by 1/2 to 1/3 now, and have a fall crop of tomatoes. You won't have a large production, but fresh tomatoes for Christmas dinner is a wonderful thing! Keep your pepper plants watered, and give them a bit of fertilizer. You will likely get a few more peppers. Our bell peppers are blossoming now, and I'm hoping for more fresh peppers in a month or so.

 

[Chuck]

I am planting Swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower and brussle sprouts now. In another month I will plant beets, lettuce and carrots. A soil temperature gauge is very important and if you get one get a good one

 

[Montray Davis]

I am planting Swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower and brussle sprouts now. In another month I will plant beets, lettuce and carrots. A soil temperature gauge is very important and if you get one get a good one

Awesome!! Thanks for the suggestions! Since we live very close, I think I'll take your word on those varieties get a temp guage, and have a go at it

I also heard Asparagus was very cold hardy... Can you confirm?

Montray, we are in central Texas 8a or 8b, depending on which map you use. We have broccoli, lettuce, green beans, arugula (roquette), and spinach in now. The seeds were planted last weekend, and I purchased broccoli starts, which we hardened off and planted yesterday.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/fallgarden/falldirect.html gives you an idea of what and when to plant for a fall garden.
If you have indeterminate tomato plants,you can cut them back by 1/2 to 1/3 now, and have a fall crop of tomatoes. You won't have a large production, but fresh tomatoes for Christmas dinner is a wonderful thing! Keep your pepper plants watered, and give them a bit of fertilizer. You will likely get a few more peppers. Our bell peppers are blossoming now, and I'm hoping for more fresh peppers in a month or so.

I love growing peppers! They are among my favorites types of vegetables to grow. That's awesome ^_^

In Ohio?

You might want to wait for one of the Texas gardeners to verify, but I'm going to guess that in zone 8, you could probably grow spinach, arugula and kale. Probably others I'm not aware of.

Meanwhile, I'll post a post of Chuck's that I found in another thread; it will give you soil temperatures for germination, and the days to appearance of seedlings at various temperatures.



(Thanks again, Chuck!! )


You might want to invest in a temperature probe. If it were me, I'd shop other places than a gardening center, try a hardware store. My boyfriend does HVAC, and he gave me one, as he had two. They might be cheaper in that section than they would be in the gardening section. For HVAC, it's a necessity, in gardening, they might consider it a frill and charge more!!

Very useful thanks!!

Well, my hope was that even if you aren't in Texas, if you're in a colder climate, then surely my veggies would survive Texas winter if it survives Ohio winter ^_^ (Ohio gets much colder, I think?)

 

[Chuck]

Awesome!! Thanks for the suggestions! Since we live very close, I think I'll take your word on those varieties get a temp guage, and have a go at it

I also heard Asparagus was very cold hardy... Can you confirm?


I love growing peppers! They are among my favorites types of vegetables to grow. That's awesome ^_^



Very useful thanks!!

Well, my hope was that even if you aren't in Texas, if you're in a colder climate, then surely my veggies would survive Texas winter if it survives Ohio winter ^_^ (Ohio gets much colder, I think?)

Yes, very cold hardy here.

 

[marlingardener]

Montray, asparagus is a perennial, and returns each season. In our area, asparagus is planted in December, and after two years, we get a nice harvest.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/files/2010/10/E-503_asparagus.pdf
I keep posting links to A&M, but believe me, I have no affiliation to A&M--it's just that their horticultural sites are very handy and informative!
We get several nice cuttings of asparagus in the spring (March, April) and then again in the fall (November) but that harvest is smaller.
Keeping weeds out of an asparagus bed is difficult--heavy mulch helps, but you still have to go in and dig/uproot/spray weeds. Plant asparagus where you can leave it for several years--our bed is eight years old, and going strong.

 

[MaryMary]

Well, my hope was that even if you aren't in Texas, if you're in a colder climate, then surely my veggies would survive Texas winter if it survives Ohio winter ^_^ (Ohio gets much colder, I think?)

The "average extreme minimum" here is -5 to -10 degrees F.

That's why I was so surprised when @marlingardener said you guys can plant trees December through February!! .. (Just the thought of it cracks me up!! "Ok, honey, I'll shovel the snow, if you man the pick axe..." )

Rule of thumb here is that it's not safe to plant outside 'til Mother's Day. And even then, you'd best keep an eye on the weather and be ready to cover things.

 

[Montray Davis]

The "average extreme minimum" here is -5 to -10 degrees F.

That's why I was so surprised when @marlingardener said you guys can plant trees December through February!! .. (Just the thought of it cracks me up!! "Ok, honey, I'll shovel the snow, if you man the pick axe..." )

Rule of thumb here is that it's not safe to plant outside 'til Mother's Day. And even then, you'd best keep an eye on the weather and be ready to cover things.

Yikes that's a bit of a bummer. I'm wanting to move to Zone 10 because I feel like even zone 8 gets too cold for the type of fruits and veggies I'd like to grow. Being in any zone less than 8 would drive me insane!

 

[headfullofbees]

Leeks.
I love leeks, and they are great for winter soups, or sautéed in butter, or in a ham cheese and leek pie.

 

[RamblingChicken]

I'm in zone 7a. (I mention in case I forget to mention later.)

I was just reading a book that told me that most crops stop growing when day lengths get below 10 hours, and resume when they climb above 10 hours again. I just looked up a chart of day lengths for my town, and it tells me that much of November and all of December and January have fewer than ten hours of daylight. I prefer to believe that things keep growing through the milder parts of my winter, but the behavior of my garden lettuce in the past seems to confirm that growth stops.

That doesn't men that you can't have living crops in your garden in the winter--it just means that they'll take a nap for those momths.

That said, the following are planted in my garden and will probably overwinter:
Lettuce
Overwintering broccoli
Overwintering cauliflower
Chard
Scallions
Cabbage
Carrots, unless they finish before it gets really cold.
The same for beets.

I plan to plant the following and am reasonably confident that I'm not too late:
Shallots
Garlic
Potato onions

I'm considering the following , but I may be too late:
Kale
Fava beans
Spinach
Mache
Various Asian greens that I'm eyeing in a seed catalog

I considered the following but didn't plant them:
Peas
Brussels sprouts
Leeks

 

[SydneyGee]

I am in zone 10, and it's be a heck of a season for us. It has gone from 100 degree days to 60 degree days cold and foggy back up to 80 with 30MPH winds! For the last week it has been 70's in the day and 40's at night, so I am thinking we may have a pretty cool winter for our parts (usually it never dips below 40, but it may stay around there more consistently). We just planted

Microgreens
Swiss Chard
Pie Pumpkins
Early Girl Tomatoes
Leeks
Butternut Squash
Bok Choy
Garlic

I want to try more (planted these in the summer and fruit was tough, bitter, and sparse due to weather)
Cucumbers
Bell Peppers
Yellow String Beans
Asian Broccoli

 

[AntonioCalcano]

I used to grow many kinds of veggies when it was winter, I remember that I used to think that they would die but they actually kept going strong. Now I moved and I only have Summer but it should be pretty fine to grow any type of veggie as long as you take proper care.