The key to getting cabbage to survive through winter is to start the seeds indoors in early to mid-summer (depending on your climate), then transplant in the garden in late summer. Overwintering cabbage varieties really shine in the fall garden, as they’re less bothered by pests and their flavor improves with frost. Blue Max is a favorite that’s always reliable through the depths of winter. Where kale varieties like Red Russian start to wilt under extreme cold, collards hold steady down to 0☏ without so much as a shiver. In fact, it’s the most freeze-resistant of all the brassicas. And that’s a plus for winter gardens, as collards easily outperform kale in terms of freeze resistance. The high-yielding plants are loaded with incredible flavor that only gets better the colder it turns. I’ve been cooking with these nutrient-dense greens for decades in soups and sautes they also make excellent green wraps if you’re tired of tortillas. CollardsĬollard greens are not just a Southern thing. Once established, the plants can survive down to at least 0☏, giving you plentiful salad greens all season long. If you want mache or miner’s lettuce in your garden, you’ll have to wait to sow until soil temperatures are 68☏ or below. They’re so well adapted to cold, in fact, that their seeds won’t germinate in late summer’s heat. Previously dismissed as weeds, mache (also known as corn salad or lamb’s lettuce) and miner’s lettuce (also known as winter purslane) are popular with foragers and with four-season farmers looking for a low-maintenance winter crop. Savoy (deeply crinkled) types tend to be more cold-hardy than flat-leaf varieties, so try Tyee or Winter Bloomsdale for your winter garden. If your goal is to harvest salads all winter long, however, you’ll want to grow spinach under a medium to heavyweight frost cover so it keeps producing. It overwinters easily in my zone (6b in the Central Oregon high desert) without protection, and bounces back in early spring with renewed vigor.Ĭolder climates may see their crop die back after a hard freeze, but sprout new leaves in spring. So if you never thought about growing food in winter, hopefully this list will inspire you to try!ĭespite its tender leaves, spinach is a tough little plant. On the other hand, if you live someplace that gets heavy snow cover all winter, your plants will be better insulated from the cold (though growing them under cover will make harvesting easier). In these environments, your crops will do better with some type of protection against the elements. They don’t take into account cold, drying winds or cold, wet weather, both of which can destroy plants quicker than cold temperatures alone. The killing temperatures listed below are merely guidelines. Now, keep in mind that cold tolerance will depend on your particular climate, including soil conditions, rain, and snow. Some of them can even go unprotected all winter! That means no greenhouses, no cold frames-they’ll get through with just a simple low tunnel and a layer of frost cover, if that’s all you have. These crops are just as (if not more) cold-hardy as most kale varieties and don’t need a lot of babying in winter. There are plenty of vegetables that can survive a freeze in zones 6 or below, and even improve after multiple freezes. If you think winter gardening involves months of eating kale, think again.
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