Winter Gardening Essentials: What’s Growing in My Garden Now?

Do you think the horticulture stops when the frost comes? I'll have to start over. I'll show you my garden and how I keep it alive and thriving during the winter months. The task I do is how you see above and below the surface of the ground. Winter gardening comes with its challenges, frosty mornings and persistent frosts. But the rewards are worth the pain. Imagine harvesting fresh spinach or pulling carrots straight from the soil in your garden when it's cold outside. The garden seems pretty naked right now, but in reality there's a lot to do. As the temperatures drop, so do the leaves. And as they fall, the crusher applies them directly on the surface of the garden. The areas where they're naked, as well as the areas where I have things planted. Applying leaves at this time of year does several things, but one of the most important is that it protects the soil and also feeds the soil microbes. About a month ago, I spilled several inches of raw goat and chicken manure on the surface of my garden. And then, on top, apply a couple of centimeters of leaves. I want you to see how I fall right now. When I start removing all this organic matter, you can see it's very well moist. And he didn't even get to see me. And as I start to remove it even more, you can see that all that organic matter that was raw is already starting to decompose. It's because it's in contact with the ground. So those soil microbes come in and break it down, and the water also helps break it down. The soil is also very loose and this is due to the activity of the worms. They're making tunnels. They're depositing their excrementos. They're breaking down all this organic matter and taking it to the ground. This is gonna be a good one because there's gonna be less preparation when spring comes. That soil will be fertile and rich due to the organic matter that adds to the worm humus, and it will reach a point where you won't need fertilizers. So, that makes the garden more self-sufficient. As the leaves continue to fall from our trees, the cortacesped begins to crush them. When crushing them, it helps them hold in place a little better and also helps water penetrate. Now, one of the questions I get asked quite often is whether all that plant matter harbors insects or bad pests. And, honestly, I've never had any problem when I apply a coat 5 to 7.5 centimeters thick. The only time he's had pests that come through the winter is when I have large garden remains. And if you crush them, you definitely minimize the problem. The leaves fly, but when you crush them, they tend to stay in place a little better. And after applying them, I usually spray them with water and that helps them get a little heavier and then they start to decompose a little faster I can just rake them and throw them back in the quarries if necessary. One of the questions I get asked quite often is what seeds can be sown in December? Everything will depend on your growing area. In my zone 8, I can plant seeds of winter centeno, platonia, mache, mustard leaves and even habas. But that's if my daytime temperatures exceed 40 degrees. But if the nighttime temperatures are quite low for extended periods, That can make these seeds germinate slowly and they don't thrive. This is one of the reasons why I personally don't plant any seeds directly in the garden, unless I do it in a cold frame. Many of these seeds can be planted in January and, in fact, reach the seeds that were planted in December. Our days start getting shorter in December, but in January, our days get longer. Therefore, it helps plants to perform photosynthesis and grow much faster. So, for me it makes sense to wait until January. That way, those plants will have more success. And for areas that are 6 or less, it is absolutely necessary to use a cold frame or a high tunnel if you are going to cultivate a garden in winter. When grown in small structures like these little cold frames, they can heat up very quickly on a sunny day. Therefore, you must make sure to create something of ventilation, something of airflow. Even a few inches is enough. In this little section here, I planted a bunch of seeds and then placed a cold frame right on top of some of them. And as you can see, the ones outside are still quite small, but the ones inside are almost ready to eat. That's the big difference and the power of a cold frame. The boteros are one of my favorite vegetables to grow in the winter garden. They are extremely resistant and can in fact be grown in areas as low as 3 with some additional protection of the straw or even in some cold frames. Winter varieties should be cultivated when growing boteros during the winter months. And one of my favorites is the tandura. It's very cold and I don't have to wear any kind of ice protection in my zone 8. I leave my jars in the ground all winter. And when the ground is frozen, I have to wait for it to thaw during the day to pull them out. If you live in a very cold zone where the ground never thaws, you'll have to grow them in a cold frame to be able to pluck them whole. One of my favorite ways to prepare them is to make a cheesecake or just salt them in a little butter and then put them on top of them, toast, soups or even tortillas. It's simply winter food straight from the garden. In October, at full moon, I planted most of my seed. And when it grew between 7 and 10 centimeters, I applied a good layer of crushed leaves. This will help keep the humidity and keep away weeds. One thing I do during the winter months is make sure there's no weeds and occasionally I wash my beds of it. You don't want competition for the jojo, because if you shadow the jojo, you'll end up with smaller bulbs. You won't see much growth in the upper part of the tree during the colder months. What happens underground is actually more important, the development of the roots. You want a good root system so you can support those leaves when they start growing. Larger leaves, the development of more leaves at first creates larger bulbs when harvest time comes. Once our days start to get longer, the leaves of the jojo start to grow. And at that time, usually in late January, early February, is when I give him his last ration of blood flour. This promotes that superior growth. This superior growth helps it to perform photosynthesis, which in turn gives it a large and beautiful bulb. This fall, we've only received about 16 inches, at least after I planted the tree, and that's not enough to keep it going. So, if it doesn't rain, I like to watch the water once a week to keep the soil moist. If it's wet because it's so cold, you might not have to look. The broccoli we planted in the fall is starting to sprout. I have two different varieties. I have broccoli de espigado and also I have broccoli de brotes. The good thing about winter broccoli is you don't have to rush to harvest it before it starts to give seeds. The spring broccoli, and all this will depend on the climate and temperatures, tends to give seed quite quickly. The winter broccoli, if you don't harvest it when it's ready, can stay there a couple of weeks before it starts to separate. Once he's harvested the main crowns of my broccoli plants, I leave the plant. This does a couple of things. This plant will protect the soil during the winter months, but also sends out some lateral shoots for an additional harvest, And you can continue to harvest it during the winter until spring. Temperatures are expected to drop to 20 degrees Celsius this week. Depending on how long they stay low, that can damage the mature crowns. But a simple blanket of anti-cold mantle to protect these crowns will keep them harvesting during the winter months. Before we continue, we want to thank All Power Solar Generator for sponsoring this video. This generator is excellent for farmers or any household. It provides backup energy if there's no light, can keep the freezer running and food safe. It is used for recreation or even to make a heater work in high tunnels or greenhouses on those cold nights without electricity. This solar generator has a capacity of 2,016 watts per hour and a pure sinusoidal wave inverter of 2,500 W. With a maximum power of 4,000 W this generator is charged in two hours with a maximum solar input of 0,00 watts charged in one hour with a solar input greater than K of 2,500 W. There are five ways to charge this generator. You can cargarlo with K, solar, solar y K. You can charge it from your car or from a generator. It has a long-lasting LiPo 4 battery with 3,500 charge cycles. It has a 4,000 W output with parallel connectors. This generator has a DC output like a cigarette lighter plug. It has a 100W USB-C, an 18W USB and a 12W USB along with a 30 amp that is classified as 20 amp and then 4 regular 20 amp plugs. So you can plug in almost anything you need. This generator ran a small freezer all day with the solar panels connected on a cloudy day and still drops 96%. This makes it a great backup for emergencies if the light goes out. With the Bluetooth app installed on your phone, you can check the remaining power. You can turn on and off the power sources. You can check the input and output and the remaining battery life. We use them to plug in lights and other elements that need electricity when we give night or day classes on the farm. It's completely quiet and no one disturbs you in your activities. This year, we did something a little different for Thanksgiving. We went camping with our kids and used the generator to run the smokers and cook our Thanksgiving cakes without the noise of the generator. We also used to light lights in the camp to have fun at night. And the 400W solar panels would continue to charge the battery for continued use. The lightweight and flexible panels fold easily to keep them. If you want more information about this solar generator, see the link below. So far we've had a fairly mild winter, but now it's time to wrap it all up and protect it. This week, we put the polyethylene back in the high tunnel. I love this high tunnel because I can put the polyethylene on during the winter so it grows and has a good start for the spring planting, Then you remove it during the summer months and put a shade screen to protect it from the summer heat. Here in southern Utah we have pretty strong winds, so I want to make sure I secure this tunnel very well. The ends of the polyethylene are wider than the frame itself. So what we did is we grabbed those ends and we stuck them on a board and then we folded them. And once it's over, we'll head straight to the high-rise. This will secure it from the outside and prevent it from moving too much. We also carried some rope to the moorings that are almost at the top of the high tunnel and that goes up to the valley. This creates more stability inside the high tunnel. We use more parachute rope from top to bottom, right in the middle. That way, I can walk through it without hanging from the rope. And also prevents it from balancing when the wind blows. Now, securing the tunnel properly takes a long time. But one thing is you don't have to worry about it getting blown away by a windstorm in the middle of the night. With this type of suspension we've done for our high tunnel, it has survived winds of up to 85 km/h. I think it's pretty good. Some of our cabbages are starting to grow in the garden and, in fact, we've already eaten a couple. And the taste of those cabbages that grow in winter is very sweet. The Sea-Boy cabbage is much more resistant to cold temperatures than the smooth-leafed cabbage like the ones I have here. But I love the leafy cabbage, so I plant it near the greenhouse. They hold back heat radiation and are protected from the winds. So they grow very well here. If you had a wall of blocks and a garden facing south, you could plant cabbages there during the winter months. This wall of blocks will radiate heat and help protect the collar, as well as help it develop better and survive the winter. The cabbages will be quite resistant there, but if the temperatures start to drop to about 22°C, You'll have to cover them with an anti-cold blanket to protect them and keep them healthy during the winter. Brussels sprouts are the perfect vegetable to grow in your winter garden. They're extremely resistant to cold, down to about 10°C, and I've never had to cover my Brussels sprouts and they've been fine. I usually harvest them between January and February. This year, I planted my Brussels sprouts about six weeks later. So we'll see what happens. The Brussels sprouts freshly harvested from your winter garden taste completely different from anything you can find in the supermarket. You're fresh or frozen. And the main reason for this is that the cold wave is making them sweeter. And when you harvest them, the day you eat them, they have all those natural sugars that make them sweet and caramelize when you cook them. I'm sure you will. It's wonderful. The rice and berry crops are excellent for the winter garden and very easy to grow. Although I don't like to chew them for dinner, I like to add them to las comidas, sopas y tortillas. And we all know they're really good for us. Cabbage crops grown in winter are not as spicy as when grown during the summer months. So, most of the time, when you add them to the dishes, you don't even feel that strange taste. The col rizada also adds some color and texture to your winter garden. I think they're pretty pretty in the winter garden. But even if you don't have comms, they do a couple of things for your garden. They help stop soil erosion and you can use the leaves to feed your chickens, if you have them. This not only helps to increase their production, but also reflects in the food bill during the winter. Spinach is a delicious fresh food from the winter garden. And if they're planted in the fall, you can keep spinach fresh all winter, especially if they're grown in a cold frame. Spinach grows quite slowly during the winter, months when it's not in a cold frame. So, if you want to have lots of spinach to eat all winter, then you need to plant lots. Spinach planted in spring will recover from harvest in about a week. But the spinach in winter doesn't recover so quickly. It'll take three weeks to a month. And of course, it depends on whether they grow in a greenhouse and the temperatures, so they recover and you can continue to harvest them. So you can see why you need to plant a lot of spinach if you want to eat a lot of spinach in the winter. Sal when the days are icy. It may be cold, but the fresh air can be refreshing. We all need sun in the winter months to keep our health and, by getting vitamin D, it increases our energy levels. Breathing fresh air and exercising also helps us cope with the winter blues. Obviously, the winter gardening requires much less work than the summer. You don't have to de-malecize. You don't have to worry about conservation and there's no frenzied harvest. For me, winter gardening is a kind of mentality. It's not a necessity like it was decades ago. If I wanted, I could go to the supermarket and buy fresh tomatoes, as well as some fresh peaches, But I prefer to have food that I keep from the summer garden and go to the winter garden And dig up some tubers or harvest some fresh vegetables. For me, this is a seasonal meal, and the scriptures tell us we eat seasonal. Canned foods are only products that are packaged in season. So I guess it's just a matter of opinion. Tell me what you think about it. Today it's much easier to grow a winter garden than 20 years ago. We have weather applications that warn us when bad weather is approaching. That way, we know when we need to add extra protection to our crops. And Frost Blanket is undoubtedly more accessible. Much of the food grown in the winter months has lost its appeal to our modern palate. A lot of people would despise the nabos y las coles, But maybe it's just the way they prepare. or for the time it takes to collect and transport. Or maybe they just heard someone say they don't know well, they know bad. The food harvested in winter simply tastes better. May God bless you and your winter garden.