If you live in an area that sees hard freezes in winter and sometimes extremely low temperatures, then you might think there isn’t anything you can grow for harvest in the winter. Not so! Even if you live in areas where the ground is routinely frozen solid for months on end, you can keep some crops in the ground and, with some effort, harvest some of those during at least the early parts of winter before bringing the final harvest indoors.
If you live in an area where you can grow food year-round you might not be aware of what crops are best for you to grow in your climate at the coldest and darkest time of the year.
There are two main factors that go into what you can grow in your garden through the winter: your weather conditions and your number of daylight hours.
Today on Just Grow Something we’re going to talk about crops that are contenders for being planted in the fall, harvested in the winter, whether you’re in a warmer area with plenty of daylight, or don’t have much daylight and it gets super cold. Let’s dig in!
Episode Resources and References:
Sunset and sunrise times for any location - Free calendars and calculator (sunrise-sunset.org)
Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group
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This is positively farming. Media self-sufficiency is one of
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the number one reasons people. Grow a garden followed very
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closely by flavor and nutritional value.
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If, like me, self-sufficiency is one of your goals and you live.
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In an area that sees hard freezes in the winter and
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sometimes. Extremely low temperatures, then
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you might think there isn't anything you can grow for.
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Harvest in the winter. Not so, even if you live in
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areas. Colder than where I live, where
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the ground is. Routinely frozen solid for
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months on end. You can keep some crops in the
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ground and with some effort. Can harvest some of those during
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at. Least the early parts of winter
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before bringing the final harvest indoors.
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And if you live in an area where you can grow food year round,
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you might not be. Aware of what crops are best for
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you to grow in your climate at the coldest and darkest time of
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the year, there are two main factors that go into.
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What you can grow in your garden through the winter, your weather
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conditions, namely temperature and your number.
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Of daylight hours, most of us at some point during the season.
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Will dip below 10. Hours of daylight per day.
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This is called the Persephone period.
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This is when plant growth pretty much stops, which means for a.
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Winter harvest. We need to get fall plants to
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maturity. Before that period.
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Now if you're somewhere below. The 33rd parallel you likely
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don't have a Persephone period. You don't ever have less than 10
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hours of sunlight per day. So your concern is really going
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to. Be about the weather.
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Opposite of that, if you live above the 50th parallel, you
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have some really long nights during the winter and an.
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Already short growing season during the warmer months, so not
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only are you going to be. Concerned with daylight hours
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but also harsh cold temperatures.
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Today on Just Grow Something, we're going to talk about crops
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that are contenders for being planted in the.
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Fall and harvested in the winter, whether you're in a
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warmer area with plenty of daylight or don't have much
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daylight. And it gets.
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Super, super cold. Let's dig in.
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Hey, I'm Karen and I started gardening 18 years ago in a
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small corner of my suburban backyard when we moved to A5
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acre homestead. I expanded that garden to half
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an acre and I found such joy and purpose in feeding my family and
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friends. This newfound love for digging
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in the dirt and providing for others prompted my husband and I
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to grow our small homestead into a. 40 acre Market Farm When I
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went back to school to get my degree in horticulture, I
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discovered there is so much power in food.
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And I want to share everything I've learned.
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With as many people as possible on this podcast, we explore crop
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information, soil health, pests and diseases, plant nutrition,
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our own. Nutrition and so much more in
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the world of food and gardening. So.
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Grab your garden journal and a cup.
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Of coffee and get ready. To just grow something for those
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of us who garden in the middle ranges of the USDA hardiness
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zone, say zones 5. Through seven, we generally are
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going. To see our daylight hours drop
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for a time during the winter and we often get.
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Frosts or freezes. This means that we.
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Have to pick crops that are going to reach maturity before.
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The daylight drops below those 10 hours.
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Per day and that can. Tolerate our temperatures now.
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In most of these areas we're not seeing freezing.
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Temperatures that last for days or weeks or even months on end.
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But they do dip below the freezing mark, in fact.
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Well below the freezing mark. So that is 1 consideration for
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the crops that we're going to choose.
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The other one is that Persephone period.
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So my Persephone period in West Central Missouri starts.
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This year, on November 19th, that is the.
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Last day that I get 10. Hours of daylight, it stays
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below 10 hours until January 23rd when our day length starts
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to lengthen again. So that's roughly 9.
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Weeks where there will be very little plant growth, but that
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doesn't mean that. Those plants can't be in the
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garden and actually be in a condition.
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To be harvested. So I'm zone 6.
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A. Our average low temperature for
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the winter is -10 Fahrenheit or -23 Celsius as the coldest.
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Now obviously, this can fluctuate from season to season.
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Last year, we weren't nearly that cold, in fact.
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We barely had those temperatures for any strength length of time
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at all. We also are sometimes very
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snowy, sometimes very icy and sometimes very.
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Dry Last winter we were very dry now according to the long range
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forecast. Supposedly we'll be making up
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for some of that difference this year.
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Obviously all of these conditions can fluctuate.
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That remains to be seen, but what I'm saying.
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Now zone 5, your temperatures can get to be as.
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Low as -20 Fahrenheit or -28.9 Celsius.
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Yes, that is cold, but again, it's not usually consistently at
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those temperatures and then on the warmer side, Zone 7.
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You guys have it a little bit easier on the plants with low
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temperatures, as low as 5 Fahrenheit or -15 Celsius.
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That's not bad, but still not conducive for actual plant
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growth. So in all three of these zones,
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we're going to be looking for cold Hardy plants that can
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reach. Maturity before our Persephone
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period kicks in. Now how do you know when your
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Persephone period is? I will link to a sunset sunrise
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calendar in the show notes that you can use to.
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Look up by city and it will. Show you when your.
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Daylight hours begin to dip, in fact.
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It goes day by day to tell you when your sunset and your
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sunrise times, and it tells you the number of.
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Daylight hours that you have. So this is a really great tool
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to have on hand. You will count backwards from
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that date, that 10 hour date to find out when you should be
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planting your cold Hardy plants to get them to maturity.
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And again, this entails figuring out the number of days to
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maturity for that particular plant that you're.
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Trying to grow and then counting backwards from there to figure
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out when it should go in the ground.
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You also want to probably. Add a few days on to that to
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account for the. Slower growth as those daylight
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hours begin to shorten. So in zones 5 through 7.
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Great crops for overwintering throughout the.
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Whole season would be. Larger, really Hardy greens like
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kale and spinach. These are the types of things
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that we can get to maturity we can cover with Roe.
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Covers for protection from extreme freezes and then just
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harvest them as they are needed. We don't have to cover them
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right away at the beginning of the season.
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They can handle a few frosts. In fact, they actually taste
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better once they've had a few. Frosts and then once we.
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See our temperatures really start to dip to the extreme
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cold. Then we can go ahead and put
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covers on them to continue to be able to harvest them.
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The bonus? With these is that they will
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start their regrowth immediately when the daylight hours begin to
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lengthen again towards the spring.
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So you will get a nice. Early bumper crop in the spring
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of these Now, next week's episode, we're going to talk
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about more of these types of crops where you can plant them
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in the fall and let them be dormant and then allow them to
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pick up and grow again in the spring.
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We're going to do a whole episode on that next week.
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For now, we are just talking about things that we're going to
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harvest in the winter. So kale and spinach for these
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zones 5 through 7 are two really good ones to start with.
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Another one is. Cabbage.
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Cabbage will hold really well in the garden with very little
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protection even if you get heavy snow loads.
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I mean, snow can be its own insulator, so you don't
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necessarily need to. Cover the cabbages very early in
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the season if what you're seeing is more snow rather than extreme
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cold. Now, once your temperatures do
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start to get extremely cold, like those really negative
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temperatures, then you can either.
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Try to add layers of frostcloth to further protect the cabbage.
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Or you can harvest the remaining heads and just bring them
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inside. But doing it this way means that
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those cabbages are going to be out in the garden for weeks and
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weeks. After your first frost hits, so
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essentially you're storing them in ideal.
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Conditions, but they're out in the garden instead of being
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inside. Leaving them outside for as long
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as possible not only makes them taste better, but then you have
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access to them for much longer because you're not storing them
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off the plant for as long, which means they stay.
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Good for a longer period of time.
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Go back to last week's episode about crop storage and you'll
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understand why this is. And then finally to round out
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the top. Five root crops, carrots, beets,
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even turnips and parsnips, these all.
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Taste better after a few frosts, they can be kept in the ground
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through the winter and just harvested as needed.
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Now in zone 7, you guys likely aren't even really going to need
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to add anything additional to keep the ground from freezing
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solid because you guys just don't really get.
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Those those temperatures where your ground is going to be
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frozen for extended periods of time.
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If if you're a five or six person, you very well may want
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to cover the the. Ground a little bit, especially
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if you're in an area where you. Get a lot of freeze and thaw
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cycles. This is going to keep those
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roots from getting damaged when you're trying to harvest them
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because the ground won't be frozen solid, or it's also going
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to keep them from getting mushy if they get, you know, multiple.
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Cycles of freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw.
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So definitely here. I recommend some mulch of some
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sort if you can, in addition to doing some row covers if you're
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going to have some really, really extreme temperatures.
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Just keep in mind here the benefit is that.
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Root crops are biennials. So they are designed to stay
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underground in the winter because that's.
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How they get through and are able to produce?
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Seed the following season. So they can be stored in the
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ground. Very, very easily.
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You just have to be sure that they are to maturity before your
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perception period and that's how you keep them in good condition.
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OK, so Next up, crops. For those cold climates zones
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for and colder. Just because your area is
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generally covered in snow most of the winter or.
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You see bitter, bitter cold temperatures does not mean that
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you can't. Harvest crops through the
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winter. With a little bit of help.
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Now, the caveat here is that I'm talking mainly to.
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Those of you who are in zones 3 and 4, I'm not sure what can be
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done in those extreme winter temperatures of zones one and
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two without some really extreme measures.
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That's way out of my wheelhouse if you're gardening in one of
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these extreme areas and you want to talk.
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About tricks and techniques for winter.
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I would love to talk with you. But for today's purposes, what
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I'm suggesting is more for zones 3 and four, because that's sort
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of what I'm familiar with looking at winter.
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Averages as low as maybe -25 Fahrenheit to -40 Fahrenheit or
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-31 to -40 Celsius. Did you catch that if you were
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paying attention there? Yes, -40 Fahrenheit and
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negative. 40 Celsius are the same temperature.
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This is the only time that. Those two scales are equal, so
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there's a fun fact for you once again here.
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For a lot of you, it's going to be earlier than many of us here
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in the zones 5 through 7, so make sure that you are counting
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backwards to get those plants in the ground early enough to get
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them to maturity. You want to know your
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Persephone? You definitely want to have
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frost and freeze protection measures on hand for crops that
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you want to keep harvesting from greenhouse plastic.
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Placed over top of bent PVC. Hoops to create a small tunnel.
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Over the crops is a fabulous way to do.
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Sort of a first layer of protection.
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Mini greenhouses or cold frames that you can pop over tops.
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Of beds are also very, very good options.
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Anytime the sun is out, it is going to be really warming up
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the air under those. Little structures and then if
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you add a. Layer of frostcloth or even
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freeze blankets depending on your average.
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Temperatures directly on top of the plants, underneath your
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little greenhouse. That's going to create another
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layer that keeps frost from forming directly on the plants
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and helps protect from those sort of extreme temperature
00:12:45
swings that might occur when you've got the sun out and it's
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coming through that plastic, because it can actually get
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very. Hot And then the third sort of.
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There would be tons of mulch. This is not only going to help
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keep the ground workable under there, it's also going to keep
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those plant roots a little bit. Warmer, so your top crops are
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going to be things like bok. Choy or tutsoy and Napa cabbage.
00:13:08
Now tutsoy is very similar to. Bok choy.
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It's just smaller and a little bit more tender, which means it
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can be used in salads. A little bit easier, but these
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are both really, really good candidates for winter harvests.
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Napa cabbage is an Asian type of cabbage that grows differently
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than our. Usual sort of ball shaped
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cabbage heads. All three of these are very
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amenable to growing under some protection and harvesting
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throughout the winter. Even in very, very cold climates
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they can actually be left. Exposed early on if your.
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Early weather is just snowfall. They don't mind the snow, it's
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the cold temperatures. That you have to worry about
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later on so you can cover them later once your temperatures
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begin to dip. Way below that freezing point
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for extended periods of time just to keep them from getting
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damaged and then harvest them completely to store them indoors
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once your temperatures begin to drop to about -15 Fahrenheit or
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-26 Celsius. Just a little protection before
00:14:08
that point really does go a long.
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Way with these and it makes it to where you're harvesting fresh
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out of the garden instead of bringing them in to store.
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And bok choy and Tatsoy don't. Really store very well for the
00:14:20
long term anyway, so. This is a really good candidate
00:14:23
for keeping out in the garden to be able to harvest later on into
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the season your next. Candidate here is Brussels
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sprouts. Brussels can do just fine
00:14:32
hanging out in a Zone 3 or Zone 4 garden for.
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About six weeks or so after your first frost Snow.
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Really doesn't bother them and they.
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Have those waxy leaves that tend to give them a really good
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amount of protection, and once it gets really too cold outside,
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then obviously the Brussels are kind of too.
00:14:51
Tall to be covered with like a frostcloth or greenhouse plastic
00:14:54
or something. So you can just dig up the whole
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plant and bring it indoors or you can at least.
00:15:01
Cut the stock off at the base and bring the whole stock in.
00:15:05
Strip off the. Leaves and then store that stock
00:15:08
in a cool dark place and then harvest the sprouts.
00:15:10
Off the stock as needed. We talked about this a little
00:15:13
bit in last week's episode. I will link to that in the show
00:15:16
notes. And then finally to round out
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your top five, cabbage, kale and collards.
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Again, great candidates for winter harvest.
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Even colder zones. They hold.
00:15:27
Really well, in the garden, even through the.
00:15:30
First, heavy snows of the season without any protection measures
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and then they can go even longer if you can manage those freeze
00:15:38
protection measures in. Place.
00:15:40
With those methods, cabbage can hold in place.
00:15:44
A Really. Really long time.
00:15:47
Like almost all the way up until spring, kale will eventually.
00:15:50
Start to look pretty ragged, but it'll bounce back again in the
00:15:53
spring the same goes. For the collards, again the key
00:15:56
with the leafy greens. Is to be sure that they are
00:15:58
fully mature by the time your day length.
00:16:01
Decreases Now as a bonus, here you can do.
00:16:05
Root crops also in zones 3 and four, like carrots and turnips
00:16:09
and beets. The big thing here for
00:16:11
harvesting them in the winter. Is to be sure that they are
00:16:14
adequately mulched so the ground doesn't freeze.
00:16:18
Solid, so that you have the ability to be able to dig them
00:16:22
out without damaging or breaking them.
00:16:24
If that happens, where it your ground freezes solid, well,
00:16:28
they're kind of stuck there until the ground thaws, which is
00:16:31
perfectly fine. Again, they're biennials.
00:16:33
They're sort of meant to stay. That way you just need to pay
00:16:36
attention and harvest them all when the ground begins to thaw
00:16:40
in the spring so they don't become super soft.
00:16:43
But lots of mulch, lots of row cover, plus some exterior cover
00:16:47
means that you can store them in the garden and harvest them
00:16:51
throughout the winter. Finally, for you gardening
00:16:55
friends who are in those warmer zones of nine through 13, you
00:17:00
have some different considerations.
00:17:02
Firstly, some of you do. Dip below freezing at certain
00:17:06
points during the season, so you'll need to choose crops that
00:17:09
can either withstand a frost. Or just be sure that you have
00:17:13
ample frost protection measures on hand if you're in zones 9 and
00:17:16
10, and if you're in zones 12 or 13, again, you guys.
00:17:21
Are at the opposite end of the spectrum from what I can speak
00:17:24
to, so I'm not really going to include you guys here very much.
00:17:28
I am not familiar with growing in a very tropical climate
00:17:31
through the winter. But if you are, I'd love to talk
00:17:34
with you. So this is mainly for my
00:17:37
gardeners in zones 9 through 11 here Winter.
00:17:41
Is a really good time for you to try growing.
00:17:45
Brassicas, especially if you are in one of those areas that
00:17:49
doesn't get below 10 hours of daylight in the winter.
00:17:52
Brassicas are notoriously finicky when it comes to warm
00:17:55
temperatures, and this may be the only time of year when you
00:17:59
can get a crop of them in. We're talking broccoli.
00:18:02
Cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, anything that needs to
00:18:06
form a. Head for Harvest.
00:18:08
The winter temperatures combined with the adequate day length is
00:18:12
the perfect time for these in your climate and even.
00:18:15
If you do dip below 10 hours of daylight for a few.
00:18:19
Weeks, That's OK. Those plants are just going to
00:18:21
sit in stasis and kind of pick right up.
00:18:23
Where they left off once. Those daylight hours begin to
00:18:26
lengthen they can handle. Frost too, so you likely won't
00:18:30
need much in the way of protection even if you're in
00:18:32
zone 9 Now other. Crops that are perfect for
00:18:35
winter growing and harvest in these zones are those.
00:18:38
Root crops. We talked about carrots, beets,
00:18:40
turnips, rutabaga parsnips. These all love cooler weather.
00:18:45
Now maybe the only time your soil temperatures are cool
00:18:49
enough for germination. So take advantage because these
00:18:52
are often things that don't transplant well.
00:18:55
Your flavor profile on these might be a little bit different
00:18:58
than for those of us who are in colder climates, because that
00:19:00
definitely has an effect on taste.
00:19:03
But it's the perfect time to get.
00:19:05
Your root crops in radishes are included in this too, and you
00:19:08
can often do multiple successions of those throughout
00:19:10
the winter. And depending on your zone here,
00:19:14
you can also do a number of shortterm crops in the fall for
00:19:19
a winter harvest up until. You get a frost if you're in one
00:19:23
of those zones that gets them. Green beans are a good one for
00:19:26
this. They can be planted in the fall.
00:19:28
They mature very. Quickly, you can harvest them
00:19:30
over a couple of weeks and then they're done.
00:19:32
So if you don't get a frost. Until like December or January,
00:19:37
you can even get a. Couple of successions of beans
00:19:40
in during that time. Now remember with.
00:19:43
All of these suggestions it's going to be dependent on your
00:19:47
climate and your day length, and if you're in one of the warm
00:19:50
zones, you can likely grow everything.
00:19:52
That I talked about for those other zones.
00:19:55
Now if you're in the mid range like I am, we can grow
00:19:57
everything that the coldest zones.
00:19:58
Can you gardeners in zones 3 and four, well, you guys probably.
00:20:02
Just need to. Experiment a little bit.
00:20:04
Every season is different. The weather conditions change
00:20:07
and what we can grow one year may not do well the next and
00:20:11
something we've never been able to grow before.
00:20:14
Might suddenly do fantastically well this year.
00:20:17
We can't predict it, and if we don't try, we'll never learn.
00:20:21
And now remember, today's episode was.
00:20:22
Only about what we can plant in the fall to harvest.
00:20:26
In the winter next week we'll go.
00:20:29
Over things that we can plant in the fall and even in the winter,
00:20:32
in some cases that will be. Harvesting in the spring and
00:20:37
even in the summer of next season, so make sure you're
00:20:39
subscribed or. Following the podcast in your
00:20:41
app so that you don't miss that episode.
00:20:44
Until next time, my gardening friends, keep on cultivating
00:20:46
that dream garden and we'll talk again soon.
00:20:48
You just finished another episode of the Just Grow
00:20:50
Something podcast. For more information about
00:20:53
today's topic, go to just. Growsomethingpodcast.com where
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you can. Find all the.
00:20:57
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00:21:00
Sign up and more. I'd also love for you to head to
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Facebook and join our gardening community in the.
00:21:05
Just grow something gardening Friends.
00:21:07
Facebook. Group and again, this entails
00:21:11
choosing No, we're not choosing, we're reading.
00:21:16
You also want to account if you're gardening in one of these
00:21:22
extreme areas and you want to talk about ticks.
00:21:25
Trips Firstly, some of you do. Dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip.
00:21:36
And then again, depending on your zone.
00:21:39
Not again. Until next.
00:21:42
Time, my gardening friends. Keep learning and keep.