My Rocky Mountain Winter Garden

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Two weeks after planting, I discovered very little seed was germinating. Frequent cold weather combined with limited exposure to the sun did not encourage the seeds to sprout, and my impatience probably didn't help either. Each night I would cover the garden with the plastic sheet for protection and warmth, and each morning I would roll it back to prevent any tiny seedlings from overheating.

All autumn, as the tree leaves were turning yellow and falling to the ground, I was covering and uncovering my growing number of seedlings and wishing with all my might that they would grow large enough to make viable plants before the long, dark winter arrived.

It wasn't until late November, though, after a number of snowstorms and freezing nights, that I finally was convinced of the tenacity of my greens. By then, I had to brush the snow off the plastic covering to peek inside this quiet refuge, and every time I did, I would see a veritable sea of greens — a welcome sight to my skeptical eyes. The spinach, arugula, tatsoi and mâche all appeared like green sentinels standing up to Old Man Winter's blanket of white snow. I was amazed to think that common hay bales and a thin sheet of plastic were enough to protect them from what would be their inevitable fate outside this "garden wall." Excitedly, I harvested my first delicious salad from the snowbound patch to share with friends and family for Thanksgiving dinner.

As winter progressed and snowstorms rushed through the mountains, I often would leave my garden covered, with snow piling up on top, for several days between pickings. Each time I brushed off the snow and uncovered the garden, I was met with such a green reward. The spinach (`Space' and `Hector' varieties) and the mâche never faltered, proving themselves the hardiest of the 10 greens I grew. The arugula and tatsoi withered a bit in subzero temperatures, but kept on producing, and the pak choi (Joi Choi' variety), by far my favorite, was similar to the tatsoi but didn't bolt as early. The baby leaves are the tastiest of all, and very beautiful, too.

I also tried a red oak leaf lettuce (`Dano'), claytonia (in the purslane family), Swiss chard, parsley and a mesclun mix. All were less successful during the winter than those my dad helped select, but as spring progressed, all produced healthy crops except for the Swiss chard. I have not had much luck with Swiss chard during any season.

By March, my winter gardening journey was nearing its end. After their four-month-long hibernation, my little garden greens appreciated every bit of the increasing warmth and sunlight. I removed their plastic cover and continued to enjoy abundant harvests from the plants throughout the spring.

My dad's cold-frame advice worked so well that I decided to build a walk-in greenhouse to make growing my own greens in winter even easier in the future.

Mother Earth News

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print