A Winter Vegetable Garden in B.C.

A winter vegetable garden in the Fraser Valley - who would have thought of picking vegetables after the cold weather we have had. A two-week cold spell in November and more below zero night-time temperatures since then, it is amazing that there are still a few pickings in the vegetable patch. It's now past the middle of January and there are edible fresh kale and greens growing well. Read on for more information on what survived, and did not, in our garden.

Fall: Kale & chard & next year's garlic — Kale & chard & next year's garlic

The Winter Vegetable Garden

In the outside vegetable garden:

The 5 kale plants as well as Swiss chard, sorrel, sage and parsley have survived with a minimum hay mulch.
The 4 - 6" shoots of the 60 garlic planted in October also look fine.
Parsley and thyme growing in pots on the patio have also survived.
These will all be planted again next year.

Other crops to consider growing outside, if you have room, are broccoli, Brussel sprouts and collards. Also root crops such as carrots, onions and turnips. Plant all these during the summer for winter harvest. There is not room in our small, shady vegetable garden to plant these vegetables.

In the Greenhouse

In the unheated greenhouse:

Small lettuces and mature greens, including bok choy, and a lonely shoot of dill look untouched.
The herb portable pollinator pots are also over wintering well.
Due to poor planning and other issues these past six months the winter garden experiment in the greenhouse did not happen. Next year we will try again.

The greenhouse (and cold frame) will hopefully be used to grow late Fall crops and winter greens next year. The small greenhouse should hold 2 mature kale transplanted from the main garden in mid September as well as seeding parsley, spinach and Chinese cabbages. Nothing too ambitious at the beginning of the experiment.

For fresh chemical free greens during the winter we plan to grow sprouts such as Brassica, bean, etc. inside in the New Year.

I am starting to research how to prevent plants inside the greenhouse freezing as it is too far from the house to run an extension cord for heating. An option to keep the freeze off is a 70 watt light powered by our portable solar panel

Our Meyer lemon tree shortly after transplanting outside this summer

The Lemon Tree

We moved the lemon tree to the vegetable garden this past summer as it was too large to move each year. Unfortunately during the prolonged cold weather, even though protected (but without heat) it has been frozen and has lost many of its leaves. This tree has been so much fun and supplied incredibly fragrant and tasty lemons over the years, so we hope it will survive.

A winter vegetable garden, either inside and outside is a great way to eat healthy, chemical-free vegetables all year round. Well worth the effort to plant a few hardy vegetables in late summer. A 2016 Seed Catalogue just arrived so planning is underway for next year's garden ~ which will start inside in January. Happy gardening!

Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle

~ Luther Burbank, Botanist

Woodpecker feeding — Woodpecker at suet feeder

Snow is here, Christmas is near — Help our birds when heavy snow falls

A Winter Garden for Birds

As mentioned in a recent Caramel and Parsley article on hummingbirds, we have many birds in our winter garden such as Thrushes, Juncos and Towhee birds. One of the reasons we are fortunate to have the wild life we do is that our home backs onto a wooded green belt. Why not think about growing a few wildflowers for the birds this year. A bird friendly garden is a lovely place to spend time. Happy planning!

A Note About Bees, Bears & Raccoons

We had hoped to put 2 bee hives in the back yard as pollinators this Spring but bee hives attract bears. There is a full-grown black bear who passes through our area each spring and fall and we don't wish to attract it to the yard. If it finds a food source, it will continue to visit us each year after the honey, compost or bird feed. We no longer feed the wild birds during the summer due to this concern. The raccoons and squirrels can also be a challenge. It was suggested to deter bears, we could put up an electric fence around the vegetable garden, hives and compost. This was not a consideration for us with young grandchildren.

If you want to be happy for a lifetime, plant a garden