A Winter Container Garden

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A CROP-BY-CROP GUIDE

Swiss Chard: This superproductive green just doesn't know when to quit! It's the only vegetable that grows equally well in cool or hot weather. I'm now eating chard that I started in April, and it's just as flavorful as the small sowing I made in August. I've had best results with Lucullus Light Green (available from George W. Park Seed Company, Box 31, Greenwood, SC 29647, and other companies). There's another fine variety, Rhubarb Chard, that has red veins and stems and makes an attractive companion to the green species. If you plant chard in an 8" pot around the end of July and keep the leaves picked before they reach 15" in length, you'll be rewarded with copious production. Fifteen plants are more than enough to allow a family of four to dine on this delicacy about once a week. Chard is tolerant of light frost, but why take a chance? Bring it inside when the season's first freeze is predicted.

Kale: "What is it?" and "Can you eat it?" are the typical questions visitors ask when they first see my spectacular flowering kale. This showpiece vegetable would be a standout in any ornamental garden, yet it's just as tasty as regular kale.

It forms a tight head with a creamy white center that's surrounded by less compact, green outer leaves. There's another variety that's red-on-green (Frizzy Red, from Park). I think these plants are too pretty to disfigure by partial picking, but when each full head is harvested, it'll provide up to four portions. I also grow the standard kale, which continues producing after the outer leaves have been cut. Kale should be grown in 6" to 8" pots and started in mid-July. The cool fall weather brings out the color, and the vegetable actually needs several nights of frost to make it sweet. In fact, it's one of the most frosttolerant of vegetables.

Broccoli: The sprouting types are the most prolific. After producing small main heads, they'll send out side shoots over a long period of time. These get smaller following each picking, but their taste sure holds up! I'd recommend Green Goliath from Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee Company, 300 Park Ave., Warminster, PA 18991). But remember that, because broccoli has deep roots, it will require a big 11" pot. I sow my winter crop in midJuly and have found that broccoli can take some frost.

Lettuce: I'm partial to Park's Mission, which has a head that doesn't always form up if planted in mid-July for winter pickings. Even so, it's just as good as any loose-leaf lettuce I've ever grown. In addition, I grow Bibb, which has small but sweet heads. Since lettuce roots are shallow, a 6° pot is fine. I don't risk any frost with lettuce. Even in the protection of the attic, the outer leaves tended to turn brown, but we were still able to have fresh salads through most of January.

Cabbage: 1983 saw my first attempt at growing this vegetable. I was given some seeds but didn't learn what variety they were. This season, I'm experimenting with Park's Darkri, a fast-growing, medium-heading variety. Last year I started cabbage in mid-July in 8" pots. The plants seemed to hold up nicely indoors.

Brussels sprouts: Like kale, these minicabbages taste sweeter after a few nights of frost. Sprouts require a long growing season and should be started early in July. My 19831984 choice was Burpee's Long Island Improved, which yielded a profusion of sweet, tender-but only marble-size-sprouts, which we were able to enjoy until the end of February. A friend at the New York Horticultural Society suggested that the stunted size of the sprouts probably resulted from the unusual sustained heat our part of the country suffered during the outdoor growing season. For the winter of 84/85, I'm trying jade Cross E Hybrid from Burpee, which should yield bigger heads.

INDOOR FARMINGFOR HOMEOWNERS

The light and heat in my warehouse attic (and the absence of available space in my apartment) limit the varieties of crops that I can grow. But homeowners-even those who can't install greenhouses-can combine artificial lights with higher indoor temperatures to insure fine harvests in attics, basements, or spare rooms. After all, there's no spacing problem with containers. Just put the pots side by side, touching one another. And, especially if you have shelves, a surprising number of plants can be placed in a relatively small area to yield a greater bounty per square foot than many outdoor gardens.

Whether your harvest is large or small, though, you'll be sure to welcome the marvelous taste, nutrition, and freshness your homegrown produce will provide. You'll experience the fun and satisfaction of being just a bit more self-sufficient, too.

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