Fine Gardening

Winter is the only season which gives an opportunity to take a look at those winter vegetables available in the market. Instead of falling to the cravings of interesting junk food it would be ideal to take a look at wide variety of winter vegetables available in the market or pick them from the winder garden. The winter vegetables play an important role in nourishing the body and create energy reserve that could be used for rest of the year.

Choosing the right vegetables for your garden and the modes to groom them is more important. Also you need to understand as to which vegetable will survive with cold cover and which will be curving without a cover. The winter vegetables that could be grown in the garden without a cold cover falls under the category of oriental greens. These varieties of oriental greens were created out of combinations of mustard, kale, turnips and other cold hardy plants. They thrive in mild, cool and wet winter environment.

Those vegetables that are a little more delicate need floating row cover to add a couple of degrees of heat retention underneath of the row covers. This could extend the harvest by couple of weeks.

Parsnips vegetables should be planted earlier – no later than June – but all other winter vegetables can be sowed in July or August. Carrots can be kept in the ground for most of the winter.

Many plants  get to bolt stage that is go to seed stage, when spring arrives hence the winter vegetables should be harvested before the end of April.  You can plant seeds directly or transplant. Take precautions to save your winter green seedlings from the predators in the garden.

Some plants that could be tried are Tat Soi, Komatsuna , Typhon, Bok Choi, Pac Choi, Joi Choi, Mizuna, Corn plant, lettuce, alliums (the onion family), parsley, cilantro, beets, brussel sprouts, kale, collards, chard, broadbeans (also called Fava beans). They can be planted but they are harvested in late April or May so this is one for the permanent plots, or if you simply wish to improve the soil.

Another winter vegetable is Typhon (a turnip rapeseed cross) that gets large, over 5 ft tall. The plant should be thinned so that they are at least about 3 ft apart. You can eat the thinning. All parts of Typhon are edible but the stems will need to be skinned if they get larger then about 1″ in diameter. Typhon makes a good windbreak so consider planting on the west side of your plot.

Eggshells are a good source of calcium. You can use a coffee or spice grinder to make them into powder so they break down faster. Be sure to bake eggshells at 300F in the oven for at least 10 minutes to kill any salmonella bacteria. Just drying the eggshells will not prevent salmonella.  A coffee ground makes a great addition to your compost pile at home and in the winter.

Winter vegetables are preferred plantation in our winder garden or the popular kitchen garden. There is a lot of literature available online, which will help you understand.

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