Learning & Growing

Building a winter garden has been a great learning experience for me. I've received so many helpful suggestions to make it even more successful! I am definitely going to be mulching it in to see if that helps trap in heat. I also want add mulch to help with the moisture level. Since it can get really humid under the tarp, with less sun in the winter it is the perfect environment for mold to grow. I'm hoping to defend against that by not overwatering and also adding dry material to the soil. I am going to be adding one more piece of PVC conduit across the top to add more support and to help prevent problems with the future piles of heavy snow. When it does snow, I will be going out regularly to clean off the top to prevent it from collapsing under the strain of the weight. I have also heard that adding Christmas lights to the inside of the hoop house can prevent plants from freezing, so I may give that a try. Right now I am reading The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour. It is such a great book full of helpful content! Garden friends have suggested I look into reading The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman, who just happens to be from New England as well! I'm hoping to purchase this soon for some helpful reading material.

Do you extend your outdoor growing season into the fall and winter months? What are some tips you have heard or have tried to ward off frost and a hard freeze? Please share with me in the comment section below or tweet me @thefreckeldrose. Although I don't mind if Snow Miser brings us a white Christmas, I'm trying to prevent his friend Jack Frost from getting anywhere near my precious veggies! Check back soon to see update from my endeavors into the exciting world of winter gardening!

In Case You Missed It: How To Grow Paperwhites With Giveaway!