Tips for Insulating Greenhouses

About 80 percent of the heat in a greenhouse is lost through the glass, but you can reduce this dramatically
by insulating the inside during the coldest months, from late September or October until April.
Double glazing is the most efficient way to conserve heat, but it is expensive and only a serious option for a
conservatory that is also used as a living area. A far cheaper method is to line the greenhouse inside with a
skin of clear polythene sheeting, pinned to the glazing bars or attached with special plastic clips to leave a 1
inch (2 to 3 cm) air gap. This can save 30 percent of the heat lost. By using bubble plastic for lining, the
saving increases to 40 percent. Thicker materials save even more heat, but reduce light levels
proportionally. An effective compromise is to use thick triple-layer bubble plastic with large bubbles for the
lower half of the walls, and thinner material above bench level.
Instead of insulating the roof, install a thermal screen above head height to pull across on horizontal wires
at night and on cold days. Use fleece, clear woven plastic or a similar porous material to reduce
condensation, which is sometimes a problem with polythene-sheet insulation.

Insulating a greenhouse with bubble wrap can save 40 percent of heat loss.

How To Grow A Four-Season Garden - Part 1

Posted by Melinda on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Don’t Believe Everything You’re Told

When I moved to Geyserville, California in May of last year, I was excited to grow my own food for the
first time. But immediately my neighbors dashed my hopes. They told me that it was too late to grow much
this year - that I’d have to wait until next year. Sure enough, I found a pamphlet put out by the local Master
Gardeners, confirming that it was too late to plant most crops.

Fortunately, I didn’t listen.

Matt and I first amended the soil. Then we made garden beds. And then, between mid-June and mid-July,
we finally got in our tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, winter squash, runner beans, bush beans,
tomatillos, ground cherries, beets, carrots, radishes, scallions, corn, oregano, cilantro, fennel, and loads of
salad greens of all different types. Plus worms and microbes to help them along. A few weeks later we
planted kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, kale, more winter squash, melons, and started successional planting our
greens and carrots.

What didn’t work? The melon plants produced tiny little melons that tasted awful. The corn never got knee
high before it died. And my first try at carrots didn’t work. (But the second time they did better, and the
third time they flourished.) Everything else thrived! Our first harvest was July 8th (below).
In September, our neighbors told us we would lose our garden to the rains any moment. In October, they
said we would lose it to the frosts. In November, they gave up telling us about gardening, when we still had
tomatoes on the vine and a full garden of veggies (which we shared with them). And it wasn’t just our
neighbors, it was the nurseries that shuttered their doors, the hardware stores that put away their gardening
supplies, and the conventional gardening books and websites that told us to dig up our old summer plants
and mulch for the winter.

We harvested 240 lbs. of tomatoes from 4 plants. We consumed more zucchini and crooked neck squash
than I care to think about (until I found the beauty of squash blossoms). We had many more beans than we
could eat. We made loads and loads of tomatillo salsa, fresh even as a Thanksgiving appetizer. We had
enough winter squash that we ate casserole, souffle, and pumpkin pie many times and still had two
squashes left over in April. We ate out of our garden at every meal from July 2007 through the time we left
in May 2008.

We didn’t listen. But we read. And we paid attention to the weather. We covered our tomatoes as it began to
get cold and wet and when there was danger of frost (we were still picking tomatoes on the solstice!). We
sheltered our greens with a shade cloth (above), which kept the sun off in the summer and the rain off in the
winter. We put burlap over our carrots in the summer and took it off as the weather cooled down in the fall.
We stored root vegetables in the ground, harvested their leaves as tasty greens, cellared our green tomatoes
when the frost did hit one too many times in late November, carefully stored our winter squash and beans,
dried our ripe tomatoes in the oven, froze string beans and summer squash, and welcomed fresh lemons in
the middle of winter… Truth be told, if we had to, we could have survived on are garden alone through the
fall and winter.
All because we really wanted to do it and nothing was going to stop us. So we found ways to extend the
seasons, and to use them to our advantage.

Ten Reasons To Grow A Four-Season Organic Garden

Growing your own food reduces the distance your food travels from the farm to you (10 feet, say, versus
250-2,500 miles). That means you’re eliminating the petroleum products used in farming equipment,
fertilizers, pesticides, packaging, storage, and transportation.
By reducing the distance your food travels from the farm to you, you also reduce your overall carbon
output, taking a bite out of your impact on climate change.
In the winter when most farmer’s markets close up shop, you’ll still have fresh, tasty produce.
When you grow your own food, you also know where your food is coming from (no weird salmonella
strains in your tomatoes and spinach, for instance).
Home grown food tastes many times better and has more vitamins and minerals than vegetables raised in a
monocultural setting.
You can choose to grow various heirloom crops that you just can’t buy in a grocery store.
You can choose to grow crops that aren’t genetically modified.
You can save seed and create different varieties that are best suited for your little backyard microclimate.
Knowing how to grow your own food makes you much more adaptable to whatever economic or
environmental hardship that comes your way in the future.
And lastly, it’s fun, it tastes better, and gardening nourishes your soul.

When To Plant Fall and Winter Gardens

Plant in early to mid-summer for a fall garden.

Plant in the late summer and early fall for a winter garden.
Obviously this is a general rule of thumb. Some of you in the lower hardiness zones will want to be
planting your winter gardens asap - yesterday even. I know I sound like a broken record, but seek out your
local Master Gardeners and get your hands on a planting schedule for your area. It won’t be perfect, but it
will be a general guide for you.

Then find out your average frost date. You can find this in the Farmer’s Almanac, or a good local nursery,
or farmers in the area. When you find this out, you will know the date at which - more or less - your winter
crops should be matured. You can work backwards from that date, looking at a seed packet for the “dates to
maturity.” If your seed packet doesn’t tell you, a good gardening book will (see references in Part 2).

For example, if your first frost date is October 15th, and you’re planting something that needs 30 days from
seeding until maturity, you’ll want to plant it at around September 15th, maybe a bit later depending on
how warm your fall days are. But having said that, don’t be afraid to experiment and see if you can get
more out of your garden - if it’s September 15th and your seeds don’t mature for 60 days, try planting a few
anyway - they’re just seeds! Alternatively, you can plant seedlings from a nursery and gain at least 2-3
weeks.

Your fall crops will also grow a bit faster if you mulch them and/or cover them using one of the season
extensions discussed in Part 2.

Good Fall and Winter Crops

Root vegetables: carrots, radishes, beets, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas

Greens: kale, chard, spinach, mustard greens, collards, Asian greens (eg, bok choy, mizuna), arugula,
radicchio, lambsquarters, mesclun lettuces, orach, sorrel, endive

Brassicas: brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi

Herbs: oregano, marjoram, basil, cilantro, parsley, chives, fennel, and any perennial herb

Others: Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), scallions, leeks, peas, celery, celeriac, bush beans, fava beans,
garbanzo beans, oats

Fruits: There also some fruits that are harvested in the winter, like apples, pears, persimmons, and citrus
fruits. But you’ll need to plant these in late fall, winter, or early spring.

Summer Crops: Almost every summer crop can extend into November, if you live in a temperate climate.
Tomatoes, tomatillos, winter squash, berries, beans are all good candidates for fall season extension.

Over-Wintering and Cover Crops: I’ll reserve these for another post. Over-wintering crops are ones that are
planted in the fall, are then left well-mulched over the winter, and become your first crops of the early
spring. Cover crops are those that protect the topsoil from rains and snow, and add nutrients to the soil -
either through their roots or when dug into the soil in early spring.

Note: this is by no means a complete list - if you have other suggestions, please let everyone know in the
comments. And do forgive my loose taxonomy.

Read On!

This discussion continues at Part 2: How To Extend the Season and Get the Most Out of Your Garden.

Also, I was thinking about creating a new challenge for growing a winter garden. However, I think we
cover it pretty well with The Growing Challenge. So, if you’re thinking about growing a fall or winter
garden and need some extra incentive, join us in The Growing Challenge!

Please Share Your Knowledge And Experiences

What else do you all grow in the fall and winter? What books and other resources do you use? What is your
favorite method of season extension? Any of you who haven’t done this before, do you have specific
questions about it?
Similar Posts:
Gardening 101: My Top 12 Easy Vegetables To Grow From Seed
THE GROWING CHALLENGE: Growing Food Year-Round
Our Luscious Community Garden Plot
THE GROWING CHALLENGE: What Did You Learn Last Season?
Our Fire Escape Garden
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Tags: Gardening, Organic Gardening 101, Sustainable Living

Filed in Gardening, Organic Gardening 101, The Growing Challenge |
37 Responses to “How To Grow A Four-Season Garden - Part 1”
Heather in Oregonon 27 Aug 2008 at 2:04 pm 1
M,
I am right there with you!
I just bought Walla Walla onion starts (the ones from seed, not sets) at the local garden shop. If anything,
we’ll have great green onions…although with plants as tasty as these it would be a shame not to let them
mature.
Also, don’t forget to plan now and put your Artichokes in the ground for next Summer’s harvest.
Supposedly you can start them from seed now and then winter them out, which I am going to try. After all,
like you said, it’s just seeds.
I’m also growing something else this year…friendships…
We placed a walkway from the road into our yard this week. We are also planting our front flowerbeds
entirely in Kale, Swiss Chard, Artichokes and misc. herbs etc…
One neighbor we really like was walking by with his granddaughter who is 3 months old. I said hello and
we started chatting about my volunteer Swiss Chard plants (see my blog for pics…it’s kinda cool). This
evolved into me showing him the real garden complete with a tasting of my sun warmed cherry tomatoes. It
was a proud moment to hand him those gleaming little red orbs and say - oh yeah you can eat them without
washing - we don’t use any chemicals at all.
He is a Buddhist and a retired hippie, so his eyes just lit up when I said that. Part of my green commitment
is to connect with my neighbors more…this is hard for me as I tend to be a bit reclusive at home.
So far, so good…and I think the front flowerbed sharing garden will be a hit - as I told my neighbor that he
could harvest from there anytime he would like.
I can’t wait for your next installments. I am soooooooooo inspired to get my hands dirty. Yay.
Megon 27 Aug 2008 at 2:08 pm 2
What a great post and fantastic advice, especially for new gardeners. I think one of the most satisfying
things you can do as a gardener is successfully push the seasons. A lot of folks try this with various
schemes for super-early tomatoes, but really if you do your research and learn a couple basic methods you
can grow all sorts of stuff in most places. Even here in PA we were growing lettuce until late December and
eating chard and some root veggies fresh year-round.
We were lucky enough to catch an NPR program featuring Elliot Coleman (of Four Season Harvest fame)
right after we started gardening. Listening to the piece about his giant movable hoophouses made us go,
Huh! We mentioned this to my dad, who graciously stole a big roll of heavy-duty plastic from work for us,
and we made mini hoophouses for some of our raised beds. We’ve had a lot of success with them through
two winters, now, and they are also great for keeping the snow off peas and brassicas early in the spring.
Kirkon 27 Aug 2008 at 3:38 pm 3
Meg beat me to recommending Eliot Coleman’s excellent book. I based my hoophouse on his and a friend’s
experiences. Mine was made of 20′ re-bar and six-mil plastic. If you bend each end into the ground, you get
a hoop about 6′ high and 12′ wide. Six hoops spaced 4′ apart gives you a basic hoop house of 12×20. One
final 20′ rebar is fastened to the peak of each hoop for stabilization. Make yours a full 20 feet long or as
short as you want. The six-mil plastic is really only good for one growing season.
On one end I used an old aluminum storm window fastened to a 2×4 frame. A few more 2×4s, some hinges,
and another old storm window and I had a door for the other end. As I recall, Mr. Coleman let the dirt and
snow hold down the plastic during the cold Maine winter. My experience (winter temps in KS can range
from 10 degrees to nearly 60 - sometimes only days apart!) and lack of lasting snow, necessitated the
creation of a 2×6 frame around the base of the frame. Also, I needed simple concrete footings for the re-bar
so the constant freezing/thawing of the ground during winter wouldn’t loosen the frame. For my footings I
used a #10 can (the large restaurant-sized food cans) and simple 1/2″ diameter pvc. Fill the can full of
concrete and insert an 8″ piece of pvc (one end taped shut) into the concrete and let cure.
Time and other commitments (read: children) whittled mine down to 12×12 until I finally gave it to friends
on long-term loan. About 10 years ago, I think mine cost me around $100 to make. However, that might not
include the additional customization of the footings and frame for the base. The storm windows were
salvaged, as were some of the 2×4s.
Salad greens were wonderful in February as was early broccoli! I wish I could find copies of the pictures of
my hoop house. I apparently sent all of them to a friend in New Hampshire wanted to build one. Being pre-
digital, I’ve lost the negatives. If I have copies, they’re probably in a box (lost) somewhere in the basement.
Katieon 27 Aug 2008 at 5:23 pm 4
I remember first “meeting” you last year as the first frost hit your tomatoes, and you were able to get one
last harvest.
I love Northern California because right now is like our second spring…I can’t wait for this heatwave to
pass so I can do plant cucumbers and a few other “summer veggies” as well as winter staples in the garden.
Great post.
Robj98168on 27 Aug 2008 at 6:14 pm 5
Thanks for the list- I am going to do my first array into winter gardening. I do not about kale- I am told it is
one of the best things to plant in fall weather. BUt i have, Like the broccoli I just started- hav enever
planted it and unlike broccoli I have never eaten it. I am just dumbfounded what to do with kale! I have
plans to make a sunroom on the back porch to do some of my gardening. Although it will probably be more
of a place for the cat to go air out.
Heather in Oregonon 27 Aug 2008 at 6:54 pm 6
I have this wicked Kale Risotto Recipe.
I’ll hunt around for it and report back.
Simply.belindaon 27 Aug 2008 at 8:09 pm 7
Well with one years Winter gardening under my belt all I can say is … go for it.
There is nothing like being able to walk out into the garden and pick new stuff in the dead of winter.
My musts for next year are definitely Broccoli and Cauliflower.. I am finding the mustard greens a bit of a
hard sell in this house but they have been wonderfully productive so will just keep trawling recipes until I
have a stash that we like.
Kind Regards
Belinda
Stephanieon 27 Aug 2008 at 8:56 pm 8
No winter gardening? In California? I can believe it in Minnesota or someplace like that, but California? It
really doesn’t get THAT cold. Just a few freezes in January/February. That’s why we’re the agriculture
state.
I will be sure to try winter gardening someday… someday…
rhonda jeanon 27 Aug 2008 at 9:50 pm 9
Hi Melinda, sorry it’s taken a while for me to get back to you about pigeon peas but here I am.
If you look at this post here:
http://down—to—earth.blogspot.com/2008/06/winter-vegetable-garden.html
you will see the pigeon peas still green in their shell. This is when the chooks like them the most. You can
carry on and allow them to dry in their shells, still on the tree, and them make them into dahl or pea soup.
You can cut back the foliage and use it for mulch and being a legume, they have that lovely nitrogen action
in the soil that I’m sure you know about. Good luck love!
Shibaguyzon 28 Aug 2008 at 1:34 am 10
Great series Melinda! We’re definitely going to work on the four season garden this year… we’ll see how it
works out!!
4 Season Gardens (link) — Brazos Growson 28 Aug 2008 at 3:07 am 11
[...] Link: How To Grow A Four-Season Garden - Part 1 [...]
Seahorseon 28 Aug 2008 at 5:53 am 12
Wow, this is so inspiring! How much land did you use?
The Greene Onionon 28 Aug 2008 at 7:00 am 13
Congrats on your 4 Season Garden! Looks like you had wonderful sucess - everything looks great!
Green Beanon 28 Aug 2008 at 7:56 am 14
I had a lot of success last year with greens (Chard, Mustards, Collards, lettuce) growing over winter. Some
success with onions. My beets, radishes and carrots never did that well. But oohhhh the fava beans! Thanks
for the reminder, Melinda.
katecontinuedon 28 Aug 2008 at 7:59 am 15
My absolute favorite part of this great post is this - don’t you tell me I can’t do this! The other bestest part -
your photos of the rainbow of carrots and the roasted vegetables. I told you last year - I love these.
We are going to switch to cover crops as growing the soil is the biggest priority. I have 4 buckets of worm
poo to spread around and the gak factor has pushed me towards other projects first. I also want to
experiment with putting vinegar all over the place to balance all of the anaerobic activity of the composted
soil. Guessing here.
I am in southern California so, like Stephanie, I think the 4 season distinction is a little subtle. The cool
summer did affect some of the vegetable favorites, but there are dozens of other foods we can learn a taste
for now.
Lori in webster groveson 28 Aug 2008 at 8:49 am 16
I’m glad you’re writing about this now - I could use the advice. I planted bush beans about a month ago,
and hopefully they’ll bear before our first frost. Last weekend I planted two kinds of bok choi, swiss chard
and some mixed greens, and they are just starting to poke up out of the soil. This weekend I’ll also start
chamomile, chives, and parsley. For now my little seedlings are covered in a thin layer of straw, and the
beans are mulched with a thicker bed of straw, but I’ll need to rig up some sort of shelter the more tender
items from the 90 degree weather for now, then keep them warm as our weather gets cooler.
I expect to plant buckwheat the favas after I pull up the tomatoes, cucumber and peppers - that would
provide some good nutrients for the soil that would help build up our sandy planting bed. I’m also
pondering building a small shelter that will keep our lettuce and other tender items from freezing in the
winter so I might be able to squeak out another planting before the winter comes. I’m guessing this would
be better in the ground than in our raised bed, as the ground may have a more consistent temperature?
Whether I get to this may depend on whether I find a free or cheap storm window that I can use as a
cover…otherwise, this may wait until next year.
Melindaon 28 Aug 2008 at 12:35 pm 17
Heather, Good point about the artichokes - I’ll have to continue the series with perennials and biennials to
plant in the fall and winter!
Lovely plants to grow in the flower bed! I love stories like this one… thanks for sharing it. Planting in the
front yard does tend to draw neighbors in, which spreads the word about gardening and makes our
communities stronger and happier. Neighborliness is one of the things I’m working on too.
Meg, Ooh, great reminder that these things can be free to make!
Kirk, It is sort of the book about 4 season gardening… I am hard-pressed to think of others! Thank you for
sharing your specs for this - very helpful - and inspiring. I hope you have time in the future (read: when
kids are well into school) when you can go back to it. It sounds like something you really loved!
Katie, That’s right! I forgot about that. It was your blog that alerted me to the impending frost!! Sigh. I do
miss the sun right about now. Our season extension here is going to be all about rain next year - even in
summer!!
Rob, Kale is great - different types are totally different in look, texture and taste. They’re very beautiful,
too. Kale sauteed in a little oil and white wine vinegar, or balsamic vinegar for a sweeter taste, or roasted
with other winter veggies, or mixed with risotto (waiting for Heather’s recipe!), or baked into a squash
casserole… I’ll think about more things to do with it.
Having said that, you probably only need one or two plants - we had 5 kale plants and 8 beets from which
we harvested beet greens last year. None of them looked like we’d eaten anything by spring!
Heather, Looking forward to it!
Belinda, Nice to hear from someone who has just been through winter! I love the idea to just go for it!
Mmmm. Mustard greens. They’re a bit spicy, which means that they’re not a hard sell here. ; )
Stephanie, It’s just that what is “normal” is to plant a summer garden, and that’s it. Four season gardens are
becoming more popular, but still, nurseries close up shop, and the last frost date is the date to finish
gardening for most gardeners. It’s a shame, and that’s why we have to get the word out! Looking forward to
your someday winter garden!
Rhonda, Thank you! They look and sound fabulous - I love that they’re a tree! Hmmm…. will have to find
a place for them….
Guyz, Excellent - looking forward to visiting your winter garden.
Seahorse, Good question. Most of the year, we confined ourselves to about 1,000 square feet. In the end,
after adding some berries and garlic beds, we had closer to 1,500-1,800 square feet.
BUT you can do this on much less land by growing biointensively. We just had so much land (1/2 acre), we
didn’t need to constrain ourselves. Now, our garden is more like 200 square feet, and we’re still getting an
awful lot from it.
GB, You had beautiful fava beans! I’m surprised the beets didn’t do well - ours were the size of soccer
balls! (Ok, kids soccer balls, but still.) And I will write about carrots in a later post - you’re not the only one
who has had problems growing them. It’s too bad, too, because there is nothing like a home-grown
carrot….
Kate, : ) How do you produce the worm poo, btw? In a compost tea bin, or a worm bin, or …?? Curious, as
we haven’t done this yet and need to do it.
As far as the anaerobic issue - the best thing to do is mix it up a bit. Aerate it, to get some oxygen into it.
(At our city compost dump they actually have underground fans that do this!) The Eliot Coleman broad
fork is a great tool for this, but any pitch fork or digging fork will do.
And yes, in So Cal the season distinction is a little irrelevant! You could grow tomatoes all year. I’ve see
Australian blogs where pepper plants have been growing for years - they become trees! It’s the summers
there that are harder - season extension becomes more about shade cloths and such, rather than frost
blankets.
Lori, Awesome that you’re doing all this - it’s incredibly fun to pick food in the fall and winter.
A thought: you can start planting the buckwheat and favas before the tomatoes et al are entirely done -
maybe a few weeks before you pull the summer crops. this way they will have shelter from the heat now,
and will be starting to grow bigger as the summer crops die back.
I would say the raised bed would be better for the last planting if you’re going to use a row cover, as the
drainage is probably better, and you can control the moisture more (you can put a hoop row cover over the
sides of the bed as well as the top). Also, you may have a little protection from slugs if that is an issue. And
the ground in a raised bed will get warmer in the daytime.
But if you build a cold frame, that would be much easier straight in the ground. You don’t need the window
yet, but it would be easier to build the rest of the structure for it now, as it is a bit of a raised bed itself….
I’ll write about it in the next post.
Melindaon 28 Aug 2008 at 12:36 pm 18
Please continue to leave comments, suggestions, and thoughts!
monicaon 28 Aug 2008 at 6:01 pm 19
Mmm: I’m getting hungry!
Everyone that I have mentioned my winter garden to gives back an odd glance, but they can try some of my
veggies when all they have to eat has sat on the truck for untold numbers of hours.
People lived for a long time quite nicely before megastores arrived on the scene.
Good luck and thanks again for the inspiration. I am turning green!!!!!
YAHOO!
how to grow a four-season garden - part 1 | Dismantle Civilisationon 29 Aug 2008 at 9:00 am 20
[...] Don’t Believe Everything You’re Told, says Melinda at one green generation. Ten Reasons To Grow A
Four-Season Organic Garden [...]
Nature Devaon 30 Aug 2008 at 4:03 pm 21
This is our first year growing a 4 season garden even though we’ve had the Eliot Coleman book for sev’l
years - we’ve had no time! Now that our child is a little older, we’ve been planning on this and this holiday
weekend my husband has been working on building our little greenhouse and moving the fence out to our
garden so we will have more room to grow and building a hoop house to go over the garden beds for this
fall/winter. Everything has been planted so far with mainly winter greens, root veggies and some broccoli
except the new beds that will be put in very soon once we expand the garden space. All very exciting for
me.
And Rob, Kale is one of my most favorite veggies and it’s filled with lots of minerals, protein, some
vitamins and if you eat it marinated but not heated, it comes out almost like it’s been sauteed but still has
the live enzymes left intact which is another health boost to consume and is very alkalizing to the body
which prevents viruses/bacteria from taking hold.
Here is a quick Marinated Kale (or other dark greens) Salad recipe:
1 head Kale, cut into thin ribbons or smaller
2.5 T extra virgin olive oil
1.5 T lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt
1.5 tsp. cayenne (optional)
1 cup tomato, diced (optional)
1 cup avocado, diced (optional)
In a mixing bowl toss the Kale, olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt together really mixing well. Place a plate
that fits inside the bowl on top and a weight on that (I use a mason jar filled with water) and let it sit for a
few hours to wilt the leaves. When it’s ready, add in the tomato and avocado and mix well and serve. Very
delicious!
katecontinuedon 31 Aug 2008 at 7:09 am 22
Melinda, This is a description of last year - and I have done it again.
To answer your question, I have a wormery with the various levels of bins. The worms presumably move
up to a higher level after they have digested all in one level and all that remains is their own poo.
It doesn’t work like that - and yes, I have moved the stuff and added paper for bounce, for air pockets.
Aaargh. I know it is because I ignore it and don’t fuss with it.
I have signed up for a 6 week course on Master Composting, so this next year won’t be yet another repeat. I
seriously think that I am doing much of this correctly. I believe that the biggest obstacle is that I don’t have
a frame of reference for this - worms, decay, decomposition and nature’s cycle. My white, middle class
urban/suburban sanitized and plastic-wrapped life gives me no examples. Anything remotely close to this
process is treated with disgust - it is reviled.
I am going to be blogging on this theme this week in an “Ick” post. The master composter class starts Sept.
11 - the day after I find out if I was selected or not for the city council environmental committee.
Melindaon 01 Sep 2008 at 7:12 pm 23
Nature Deva, YUM that sounds fabulous. I’ll be making some marinated kale this fall & winter!! Winter
gardening is very satisfying - I suspect this winter you will become addicted to it. To have fresh, sweet
veggies in the middle of winter… mmm.
Kate, I have been wanting to become a Master Composter - either this year or next, I’m going to sign up. (I
think it’s more my style than the Master Gardener training was!) You’re totally right - worms are
considered ick. I am totally fascinated with them, though. I think the worms we added to our Geyserville
garden were indispensable - I’m absolutely convinced they helped the garden drain properly during our
long, cold rainy Geyserville fall and winter.
Well, I appreciate any worm knowledge you pass on during and after your class!
risa bon 06 Sep 2008 at 12:40 am 24
Another Willamette Valley gardener here. Let’s see, last winter: beets, onions, chard, garlic, Jerusalem
artichokes, red cabbage. Even the celery lasted into February, with no effort towards protection. And this
was what we’d call a hard winter. In other words, even when you’re not really trying, you can eat from
home a lot.
Since then we have been reading Coleman (and also the Nearings’ sweet little book about their Maine
unheated greenhouse, back in the 70s). So we’re ready to try and get a little more serious.
risa b
Recipe: Roasted Tomatillo Salsa | One Green Generationon 12 Sep 2008 at 7:17 pm 25
[...] those of you anxiously waiting for Part 2 of How to Grow A Four-Season Garden, I am writing it this
weekend. I hear there are frost warnings in the Eastern US already, so cover [...]
How To Grow A Four-Season Garden - Part 2 | One Green Generationon 16 Sep 2008 at 7:33 pm 26
[...] you missed How To Grow A Four-Season Garden - Part 1, please take a look at it first, as it contains
important background [...]
Time To Tighten Our Belts: How To Cut Costs In Daily Life | One Green Generationon 18 Sep 2008 at
10:50 pm 27
[...] think. Plus it’s a great after-school project for the kids to help make. And by all means, grow a fall and
winter garden, or help a friend grow theirs in exchange for some of the [...]
Janet Annon 20 Sep 2008 at 2:24 pm 28
Great article, and I am so proud of you for not listening. People should often try to do things that others
regard as impossible as that is how we move the human race forward. I do most of my gardening indoors
and due to frequent travel only grow crops that develop fast and come to harvest quickly so I personally do
a lot of things that many people regard as impossible. Some of those things that were unheard of by most
people a few years back are becoming quite trendy now, though. Congratulations on your beautiful garden
in gorgeous Geyserville.
THE GROWING CHALLENGE: What Did You Learn Last Season? | One Green Generationon 26 Sep
2008 at 4:09 pm 29
[...] The equinox has passed and our new seasons are upon us. In the southern hemisphere, the spring is
warning the earth, I’ve noticed the first plantings are sprouting in your gardens. In the northern hemisphere,
fall is upon us, we’re covering our tomatoes and other summer crops to get that last little bit of harvest
before our gardens give way to winter crops. [...]
I Challenge You To BUY SUSTAINABLY!!! | One Green Generationon 02 Oct 2008 at 9:12 am 30
[...] it yourself? Also while we all need food, starting a garden will mitigate what you have to buy - you can
grow vegetables year round. Plus when you start that garden, don’t buy seedlings - grow them from seed,
and then save [...]
Kayaon 21 Oct 2008 at 5:44 am 31
Dag mensen,
Ik vind het artikel zeer verrijkend, omdat ik net zelf ben begonnen met mijn eigen moestuin. Ik plaats een
reactie, omdat ik het nogal moeilijk vond om te lezen.
Je hebt het Nederlands (qua grammatica) een beetje vermengt met het Amerikaans ;-)
Het leest dus niet makkelijk weg, maar nu heb ik in ieder geval meer informatie opgedaan over wat ik zoal
kan planten.
Groeten
Dillonon 25 Oct 2008 at 8:57 pm 32
This was a really inspiring post. I live in an apartment in the city and have been experimenting with
container gardening. My neighbors from the city don’t care to understand gardening at all and my friends
from the country keep telling me I can’t do it in the city. I figured there’s no harm in trying, I limited the
money put into my experiment, but lately I’ve been doubting myself. This has reawakened my confidence.
Thanks :)
New! The Growing Challenge Advanced Edition – From Seed To Seed! | One Green Generationon 07 Jan
2009 at 12:01 am 33
[...] You can have fresh, local, organic produce all year long by planting a four-season garden – long past
the day your local markets and farms close for the [...]
Gardening 101: My Top 12 Easy Vegetables To Grow From Seed | One Green Generationon 12 Jan 2009 at
12:21 am 34
[...] the summer, fall, winter, and spring. (They need protection from high and low temperatures - see this
post for more [...]
How To Save Vegetable Seeds - Part 1 | One Green Generationon 01 Feb 2009 at 10:03 am 35
[...] them, but if your area is particularly cold you may have to bring your plant indoors, cover it in a cold
frame, or dig, store, and then replant the roots in the [...]
Barbon 27 Mar 2009 at 7:54 am 36
I have enjoyed reading your posts so much. I live in North Florida and have a lot of blooms right now in
my garden. In the winter I just put a sheet over my squash and tomatoes for the nighttime and then remove
them during the day. Our summers are somewhat brutal, but I am now inspired to try to plant some lettuce
in the edge of the woods where I have the blackberries and blueberries growing in the dapled light.
Also, I am finding the garden does grow much for than food. Friendships also blooms and grow.
The Cottage Comtesseon 08 Jun 2009 at 9:17 am 37
Great tips and I am so encouraged! I’ve wanted to have a four seasons garden, but I live in the mountains of
CA. It may be June now, but your post is giving me inspiration so that I can plan now for a fall planting.
Even growing summer crops here is a challenge. I just had to pull out my frost blankets this week to cover
my beds as the night time temps were predicted to be around 32 degrees. Our nights are cool because of the
high desert that is near by. I’m not giving up though!
How to grow a four-season garden - Part 2
by Melinda Briana Epler
How To Extend the Growing Season To Get the Most Out of Your Garden
If you missed How To Grow A Four-Season Garden - Part 1, please take a look at it first, as it contains
important background information.

Extending The Seasons

Whole books have been written about this subject - good books - so I don't mean to re-write them here.
Think of this as the Cliff's Notes. But do read the books, too! You'll find references below.
First, there are several different situations where you might want to use some season extension:
In the Rain.
Here in Seattle, as in Northern California, rain is the most difficult part of our fall and winter. Rain is ok in
the summer, when the heat helps dry up the plants after the rain, and the root temperatures stay warm
enough for the plant to fend off most diseases (as long as the plants are otherwise well-nurtured and
healthy). But when it begins to get cold (50-60F and below - depending on the crops), rain can become
deadly. The antidote: protection from the rain!
Slugs, powdery mildew, and root rot are major problems in the rain. But by covering your crops using the
season-extension techniques below, you should be able to stave off these problems. This protection is
identical to the protection needed for those whose main issue is snow. (See below.)

In the Frost.
There are different kinds of frosts. The first that come are light frosts, where the garden is beautifully
covered in crystals, the frost usually happens in the early morning, and generally all but the most tender
plants survive. Soon to follow (within a few days to a couple weeks) is the first hard frost. This is where
leaves become crunchy and brittle, flowers drop, and you lose your summer crops. Unless you protect
them!
You can extend your summer crops for a couple weeks to a couple of months, depending on where you live
and how determined you are. You can do this one of two ways:
You must pay attention to the weather, without fail, every night as it gets colder. And whenever the forecast
is for frost, you must cover your summer crops with a blanket or frost cloth. Then if you like, you can
uncover the plants in the morning. Or,
You can erect a permanent structure over your crops. This protection is pretty much identical to the
protection needed for those whose main issue is snow. (See below.)
Fall and winter crops, on the other hand, should do fine with some frosts. Many will become sweeter and
more flavorful.
You can also extend your growing season in the late winter/early spring by using some of these season
extension techniques. You may be able to start planting out at least a couple of weeks before your last frost.
The first thing you'll want to do is start your seeds indoors. (Be extremely cautious when hardening off as
nightshades in particular are sensitive to shock.) When planting out, the most important things to remember
here are: warm the soil not just the plant, and warm the soil before you plant.
In the Snow.
I am admittedly less experienced with the snow, as I have lived in California for the past 10 years. But, I
have a lot of book knowledge and I've been reading gardening blogs non-stop for the past couple years.
However, I welcome any snow gardeners to include their own expertise here.
Just like frost, snow comes with cooler weather. So generally speaking, when you are protecting from
snow, you are protecting from the cold. If it is wet snow, you'll want to protect from the wet cold above all.
An additional thing to consider with snow is the added weight added to any structure by the build-up of
snow.
Watering in the Cold Rain, Frost, Sleet and Snow.
Basically, you'll want to keep the soil as warm as you can, and the plants moist but not wet. Plants do not
grow (much) in the winter, and the sun will evaporate the water less, so you'll want to water only when the
surface of the soil (1/2" deep) becomes dry.
Only water your plants in the mornings, when the plants have time to warm up during the day. And be
careful to not water the leaves or stems of the plants - aim for where the roots are. A rule of thumb is that
the roots expand as far out as the leaves of the plant. So if the leaves are a foot wide, the roots will extend a
foot wide beneath the soil.

In The Heat.
Surprise! Yes, in many parts of the world (like in our former garden in Northern California), it is too hot in
the summer to grow many things. But with a few techniques, you can conserve water and extend the season
of your cold-weather crops. You may even be able to grow cold weather crops all year without bolting.

Season Extension Techniques

The type of season extension you chose will depend on many things: the extent of cold or wind your garden
receives, cost, availability of materials, the size of your garden, and whether or not it snows and if it does
how much (you'll have to build a sturdy structure if it is to support much snow). My apologies for not
having pictures of all these, but a quick search of Google images will find several you can take a look at.
Cloches
The classic cloche is a glass bell-shaped vessel placed over each individual crop. Here is a perfect example
of what they look like and how they are used. They hold in heat and moisture, and also protect from slugs
and other critters. However, you must watch that on particularly sunny days you don't scorch your plant in
the hot sun, and in particularly moist climates you must watch for mildew (squirting a bit of milk and water
on the leaves might get rid of mildew). When it's particularly hot or moist, you can prop up the cloche a tad
with a stick to let a bit of heat out, or you can buy or make a cloche with an opening at the top.
There are many places to buy these, but I would encourage you to find ways of making them or
repurposing other objects. Inverted glass cookie jars work very well, Katie has created them out of plastic 2
liter soda bottles, 1 gallon plastic milk bottles work as well, this site has instructions for making it out of a
hanging basket, garage sales can often be the best place to find crazy items that will work well for cloches.
Cold Frames
In Four Season Harvest, Eliot Coleman explains cold frames very well. He and his wife live in Maine, and
garden year-round. According to Coleman, night temperatures can be as much as 20F warmer inside the
cold frame (average is 7-10F). On a sunny or cloudy winter day, daytime temperatures will be around 10-
15F warmer.
However, during the fall and spring sometimes temperatures can spike inside the cold frame, so again, heat
needs to be monitored. You can prop open the cold frame with a stick, or buy or make a cold frame that
automatically opens when it gets too hot.
A cold frame also protects from rain, wind, and snow. In areas where you have a lot of snow, make sure you
have a cold frame with a slanted roof so the snow falls off the sides and doesn't pile up top (see the one
pictured in the "In The Snow" section above).
Making a cold frame yourself allows you to make it any side and shape you like. You can make the sides
out of hay bales, scrap wood, concrete blocks, bricks... anything that will keep the heat inside. The top can
be made from an old window (like the one pictured above), a found piece of glass, or one bought at a
hardware store. You can also put 2 windowpanes of the same size together into an A frame, hinged at the
top for easy access on both sides.
Hoop Houses
Hoop houses, row tunnels, or row covers, are generally about 3' wide, or the width of your rows. The length
is up to you. You can use thick-gauged wire (my preference), or you can use pvc pipe, wood, branches, or
anything else that will create a structure that can withstand wind (and snow, if you have it).* Each hoop
should be 2-4' apart (we found 3' works best for us). Of course this is only a rule of thumb, for you can
make a hoop house as big or small, short or long as you want.
With an armature created, you have many choices of material to go over the hoops: shade cloth (different
thicknesses - we use 30% and 50%, depending on the crop), plastic tarps, burlap, frost cloth, bed sheets,
etc. What is nice about shade cloth is that you can put it on your greens in the summer, to shelter them from
the heat. And in the winter, you can leave them on to protect them from the cold (if you live in a fairly mild
region, that is). Frost cloths and thick plastic sheeting will hold in the most heat. If you use plastic, be
careful to leave a vent at each end when it is hot, so that the plants don't cook inside.
These cloths and tarps can but put on with clothes pins, heavy duty paper clips, or clips made specifically
for hoop houses. And the bottom of the cloth is secured with a large fabric staple or stake (found at a local
hardware store).
*Note: We bought our wire at Bountiful Gardens, but I can't seem to find it there anymore. Eliot Coleman
recommends 6.5' long pieces of #9 wire - you can probably find it at a good local hardware store.
Greenhouses, High Tunnels, & Domes
If you have the space, Eliot Coleman gives explicit instructions about how to build your own movable
greenhouse. You can also buy a greenhouse, which can be quite pricey (though check Craig's List,
Freecycle, and garage sales). But as Coleman says, "all you need is a minimal frame and a roof that lets in
light."
Be creative!! You can make one just as you would a cold frame, piece by piece, using found windows and
other objects. You can make a high tunnel that is basically a larger version of a hoop house, with metal
piping or 2x4s (instead of the hoop house's wire or pvc pipe). You can also check out Emma's Grow Dome
(above, bottom photo) - she has detailed photos of how she build it.
If you are in cold climes (USDA zones 3-6), you may want to combine a greenhouse with mulching or a
cold frame. Anyone out there who has built a greenhouse and can offer up some additional expertise?

Mulch
Mulching can help keep moisture in the soil during the hot seasons, and away from the soil during the rainy
seasons. It can keep the soil cool in the summer and warmer in the winter. A light-colored mulch will reflect
more heat than it draws in, which can be great when it's really hot. I measured last summer, and our
mulched soil was 10-20F cooler than the exterior temperatures (when it's 110F outside, that can mean life
or death for a plant).
If you really want to warm up your soil before an early spring planting, use a dark-colored mulch.
Commercial growers use black plastic, but you may have something more biodegradable you can find.
My favorite mulch is straw (NOT HAY, which has seeds and will grow a whole lot of hay around your
garden). Straw is cheap and can be found in a local feed store. If you live in the city, you may have to drive
to the farming areas outside of the city to find it.
Other good mulches are leaves (which you can collect from your neighbors), grass clippings (as long as it
didn't go to seed), and burlap. I don't really like bark mulch, because it soaks up the moisture too much -
holding in too much moisture when it rains, and soaking up too much moisture when I water. But each of
us gardens in a different environment with different needs, to experiment and find out what works best for
you.
When you mulch, you want to give it a good 3-4", or it won't keep out the cold nor keep in the moisture.
Make sure you give nightshade plants (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants) extra room around the stems, as they
don't like wet stems. Trees also need a good mulch-free zone around the base. You can also try to
overwinter some crops by covering them entirely with straw, if you live in a very cold climate.

Taking Advantage of the Environment

There are several ways you can plan your plantings to take advantage of your house, garage, fences, trees,
and other things. Here are just a few that come to mind:
Tall plants next to your more vulnerable crops will shelter them from the wind.
Interplanting cold-weather crops like carrots and lettuces beneath larger crops like peppers and beans will
protect the cooler crops from heat.
Raised beds will allow for the cold air to sink into the pathways rather than under your plants. This
combined with mulching saved our plants from several frosts - you can feel the temperature difference.
Planting in the middle or top of a hill rather than the very bottom will have the same effect.
A tree will hold a pocket of cold air beneath it. It will also keep out badly needed light during the winter
months.
A white or light-colored wall will reflect heat toward your plant. This helped our meyer lemon tree thrive in
a cooler climate.
Bricks and concrete will stay warm long after the sun goes down (but they will take longer to warm up after
the sun comes up, unfortunately).
A roof or dark surface will draw heat into the soil or into your containers. Our rooftop tomatoes and
peppers (above) produced more than those on the patio.
We also found that our epazote weeds kept our tomatoes warm during the frosts.
Whatever works!
I highly recommend taking a look at Toby Hemenway's Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture for more ideas.
Protecting Container Plants
When protecting container plants, you can construct a teepee made of bamboo around your plant, or line
your pots in a row and use wire hoops (above). Once you have an armature like this, you can cover it in
plastic, burlap, or a frost cloth. You can also wrap a blanket or frost blanket around your pots for extra
protection.
If you are growing perennials - like strawberries, small fruit trees, grapes, and so on - and you're in some of
the colder hardiness zones, you may want to bring in some of your containers for the winter. Last winter,
Chile successfully brought her tomato plant into a warm patio to overwinter! You can bring them into the
garage if they're dormant, like a tree. But if they're still growing, you'll want to put them somewhere where
they get a good amount of sunlight.
When you're ready to put out your plants in the spring, make sure to harden them off, just as you would
seedlings: slowly bring them in and out, a little bit more each day, to re-acclimate them.
The same can be true for particularly hot areas. If your heat index is too hot for some of your more delicate
plants, you may want to bring them into the safety of your cooler house for a while. We had to do this with
our seedlings last summer.

Preserving
There are many ways of preserving food through the winter, including: root cellaring, canning, drying,
freezing, and storing vegetables in the ground. I wrote about sun drying and oven drying last year, as well
as water-bath canning. Also check out Chile Chews' articles on canning and Down To Earth's articles on
preserving. And I will refer you to the books below for further information about these important ways to
store food.

What To Read
I can't stress enough how important it is to soak in information, through books, websites, local gardeners
and farmers, and experience in your own garden. Talk to farmers at the farmer's market, ask local winter
gardeners what varieties they grow, get the Farmer's Almanac for your area, read books and websites, and
learn, learn learn!
Here Are A Few Of My Favorite Books:
Four Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman - If you only read one book about winter gardening, read this one.
Eliot Coleman and his wife live in Maine (hardiness zone 4!), and they grow vegetables year-round.
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, by Steve Solomon - If you live in a pacific northwest-type
climate (rainy, cloudy, temperate, zone 6-9), I highly recommend this book. I'm still perusing it, as it's
loaded with information. Most gardening books have a mid-west climate in mind, so it's a treat to have a
book written for our region.
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, by Toby Hemenway - This is a good all-around
gardening book to read after you have down the basic gardening techniques. It also guides you to think
about natural wind-breaks, rain and sun covers, and other ways of extending the seasons naturally.
Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew - This is a book many gardeners swear by, and it has a small
section on season extension.
Seed to Seed, by Suzanne Ashworth - Not just about seed saving, this book also gives regional instructions
for planting, caring for, and harvesting various plants. It's also a book that will get you excited about
gardening!
The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Insect and Disease Control, by Barbara Ellis and Fern Bradley -
More than anything, this book has been useful for learning about the good bugs you should be happy to
have in the garden! But also it is good for the occasional outbreak of disease.
Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables, by Mike and Nancy Bubel - Everything you
need to know about storing your summer, fall, and winter crops through the winter months.
Ball Blue Book of Preserving or Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving - How to can, freeze, and
dehydrate your summer and fall crops.
Reader's Digest Back To Basics - This book is a great book to have around, and includes a whole section on
"Enjoying Your Harvest The Year Round."
Joy of Cooking - Includes all sorts of preserving recipes.
Recipes From America's Small Farms - Great basic recipes for summer, fall, winter, and spring vegetables.
Simply in Season - Another great book of recipes, arranged by season.

How to Build a Greenhouse

Contributor

A greenhouse is a structure made of plastic, glass or fiberglass meant to cultivate and exhibit plants. It
allows the sunlight to penetrate into the enclosed area so that the plants blossom in a conditioned climate.
You can see greenhouses of various sizes. Note that a bigger greenhouse is also called hothouse or
glasshouse, while a smaller one is known as coldframe. Build a greenhouse depending on the space and
budget available. Here is how you too can build one:

6 of 10
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
PVC
Batten tape
Tubular steel hoops
Plants
Aluminum
Polycarbonate
Steel door hinges
Clamps
UV resistant film
Handles
Fiberglass
Galvanized steel
Wood
Plant racks
Adhesives
Heavy-duty wire
Glass
Nails
Step 1
Determine the exact purpose of building the greenhouse. It can be as a hobby or for growing plants
commercially.
Step 2
Decide the type and size of the greenhouse to be built (see link below). You can either have a freestanding
or attached structure. A coldframe can be the best option for a small space. The sizes can range between 8-
48 feet.
Step 3
Plan the budget. This will also determine the type of material — aluminum, galvanized steel, wood, PVC,
glass, fiberglass and polycarbonate — you will be able to use. You will also need other items such as
tubular steel hoops, clamps, steel door hinges, handles UV resistant film, batten tape, heavy-duty wire and
adhesives.
Step 4
Evaluate the site where you want to build the greenhouse. Make sure it gets adequate sunlight. Choose a
location that would provide partial shade so that there is no excessive heat inside. Consider the aspect of
proper disposal of water.
Step 5
Prepare a plan. List the measurements of each side of the greenhouse, the window size, the length of water
pipes needed. Count the number of frames to be cut for the base, roof and sidewalls. Make the plan
meticulously as it will result in a suitable greenhouse.
Step 6
Go online and look for the material available (see link below). Buy the material either online or from local
stores.
Step 7
Level the ground well before you start erecting a greenhouse.
Step 8
Begin from the base. Prefer to use plastic frames or wooden slats. Lay it on the ground securely of the size
you have chosen. Measure it diagonally if you want a square greenhouse. Fix it by using galvanized nails
and its plates. Keep space for water pipes as necessary.
Step 9
Focus on sidewalls. Fix the glass, plastic or fiberglass frames tightly on the three sides first. Use galvanized
nails and adhesives and ensure that the walls are strongly connected to the base. Make sure the material
gels well.
Step 10
Fix the roof. Cut the frames as per your plan and join with the three side walls. Use nails and adhesives to
secure it.
Step 11
Place the entrance frame and window(s) on the fourth side. Put the hinges of the door and window with
adjoining frames as per your plan. Use nails and adhesives again. Ensure that the frames on the four sides,
door and window(s) are strong enough to withstand pressure.
Step 12
Use the UV-resistant film to cover the greenhouse. Cover the door and window, too. Make use of the batten
tape and wire as necessary.
Step 13
Position plant racks. Leave some free space around it for walking.
Step 14
Make electrical fittings on the sides as necessary.
Step 15
Lay pipes for water supply and disposal as needed.

Greenhouse Gardening – peaches

Traditionally peaches were always grown, across
most of the UK, in either unheated or cool
greenhouses. Today many peaches are grown
outside, but for greenhouse fruit, selecting the right
variety is key to high levels of fruit production.
Some worthwhile varieties to consider for the
greenhouse are

1. Advance – has a degree of resistance to

Peach Leaf Curl.
2. Bellegarde – with white flesh and very large strongly flavoured fruit, it is an ideal
greenhouse variety and ripens late in the year.
3. Doctor Hogg – is one of the largest peaches and offers mid-August fruiting.
4. Hylands Peach – another peach where the flesh is white, this one has a juicy, tasty
flavour, and offers some resistance to Peach Leaf Curl.

Because the fruit is produced on the previous year’s wood it is usual to prune and train
the tree to maintain a fan shape or cordon shape against a wall or frame, which both
provides ample room for the fruits to develop and makes picking them easier.

Greenhouse peach trees tend to have compact roots and this means they need to be
watered frequently during the growing season and fed once with a specialist feed once the
tree has become established. You will also need to transfer pollen from flower to flower
with a small paintbrush every day throughout the flowering season. Because not all of the
pollen ripens at the same time this gives you the best chance of getting as many fruits as
possible. To ensure good fruit setting the humidity of the greenhouse should also be
raised during the pollination period. When the fruits develop, it may sometimes be
necessary to thin them which you do when fruits are about the size of walnuts, - thinning
out to leave around two fruits to develop per twelve inches of branch.