Cold Hardy Plants: Grow Edible Fresh

Greens Year-Round
For fresh greens in the winter, grow cold-hardy plants using these season-extending gardening
techniques.
By Patryk Battle
August/September 2006
inShare




Using season-extending techniques in winter and early spring can help you produce an
abundance of cold-hardy plants for great salads all year.
Photo by Walter Chandoha
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Fresh greens of all kinds are a year-round staple in my familys kitchen. We have learned to
transform the traditional lean time of the coldest months into a time of abundance by growing
hardy and semihardy greens adapted to each season and using season-extending techniques in
winter and early spring. Try these techniques and youll be thrilled the first time you pick a fresh,
crisp salad right from your back yard in the middle of January.
Our most reliable cold-hardy plants are those that have had at least one season to develop
extensive root systems. Regardless of your location, these naturals cooking greens and
salad plants that naturally overwinter will always be your best performers. The naturals
usually can survive winter on their own with no protection in our Zone 6 region in the mountains
of North Carolina, and they are vigorous early producers. In colder zones, you can use the
protection techniques described below and enjoy cooked greens and fresh salads prepared from a
variety of tasty and nutritious greens all winter long.
You may already be familiar with many of the stalwarts of winter gardens:
kale (Winterbor hybrid is among the hardiest)
collards
spinach (Space and Hector thrive even in cold climates)
winter-hardy lettuces (Tango and Brune dHiver are excellent choices for winter
gardens)
salad brassicas, such as tatsoi and rape
In addition, there are two other categories of cold-loving naturals:
Self-seeding annuals that will return from year to year:
arugula
giant red mustard
mche or corn salad (Piedmont and other large-leaf varieties produce the most greens
per plant)
claytonia, aka miners lettuce (needs a little protection)
Perennial greens:
radicchios (Red Treviso lends itself to cut-and-come-again harvesting)
many other chicories (the traditional Italian cooking green, Red Rib Dandelion, is super
productive)
French sorrel
the spinach relative Good King Henry (aka poor mans asparagus)
All greens are good for you, but consider growing greens that are especially nutritious. For
instance, spinach, mustard and collards are especially high in folate; kale, spinach and corn salad
(mche) are good sources of iron; and Swiss chard, chicory, kale, spinach, mustard, collards and
beet greens all rank off the charts for Vitamins A, C and K.
Fall Planting
From mid-August to mid-September, sow successions of the naturals every couple of weeks. The
naturals are hardy enough to overwinter anywhere in the continental United States with
protection. When the greens are young in the fall, simple fabric row covers that rest on the leaves
will do the trick. When the plants get a little bigger and temperatures drop, you may need to add
a second layer of protection with tunnels made of clear plastic suspended by hoops or wire
arches and closed on both ends. If temperatures regularly drop to near zero in your area, keep
some heavyweight row covers or tarps on hand to throw over the whole setup.

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lants usually wont overheat under fabric row covers, but youll need to ventilate plastic covers
on sunny days when temperatures are above freezing. They will need to be closed again in the
early evening, but many garden supply companies offer products that make this an easy job. (If
you choose to construct your own tunnels, use UV-grade plastic so it wont degrade quickly in
the sun, and if you expect heavy snows, opt for metal conduit or rebar instead of plastic pipes for
the hoops.) As the temperatures climb, youll need to pay more attention to ventilating your
tunnels. Once nighttime temperatures are consistently near 30 degrees, you can remove the
plastic but keep the fabric row cover in place. Remove the fabric cover after daily low
temperatures consistently are above 30 degrees.
Winter Sowing
Fall-planted seeds begin to bolt (produce seed) with the long and warming days of spring, but
succession planting will ensure a steady supply of the naturals. Most years I sow these seeds
during January or February, but occasionally winters grip holds me back until March. You also
can sow some cooking greens, such as chard and beet leaves, during these mid- to late-winter
plantings. For continuous harvests, sow a new round of seeds every two weeks or so. Its best to
prepare these plots during the fall and cover them with 4 to 6 inches of leaves that will insulate
the soil. You also can install a plastic tunnel over the bed to keep the soil warmer.
Youll get the best production by planting each type of green separately, but it is possible to mix
them all together. Just keep a couple of plant idiosyncrasies in mind: spinach gets lost in almost
any crowd; salad brassicas will overwhelm your lettuce; mustard and mizuna will quickly
dominate any bed of greens; and claytonia can make even these look timid!
Come Harvest Time
Depending on weather, your location and the varieties youve chosen, youll be able to harvest
some of your fall-planted greens by the end of fall. And you can keep on picking most of these
right through the winter. Others will overwinter and mature as early as the first of March. But
even if you dont get any of your salad greens in the ground until mid-February, youll still enjoy
delicious, homegrown salads by early April.
Although most of the fall-planted naturals will be bolting by mid-spring, some particularly
corn salad and claytonia will suffer little or no loss of quality other than the inevitable decline
in production. Indeed, the tender flower stalks and buds of several brassicas are a delicious treat.
Arugula flowers have a sweet, mild flavor even after the flavor of the leaves has become harsh.
And the stalks and buds of overwintered collard greens may even rival asparagus!



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lant salad greens for cut-and-come-again harvests by sowing seeds just a couple inches from one
another. When the plants are 4 to 6 inches tall, cut the entire plant but leave about an inch of leaf
stubs for regrowth. For cooking greens, just snip off the oldest leaves each time you harvest
them.
Feed the Plants that Feed You
Greens are easy to grow in most soils, but will be improved by a neutral to slightly acidic soil
(pH of 6.5 to 7), plus plenty of calcium (from lime or gypsum) and nitrogen. Growing nitrogen-
fixing cover crops during off-seasons is a great way to enrich your soil. Try Austrian winter peas
or Ho Lan Dow snow peas (a great culinary variety available from Stokes Seeds and youll be
able to add tender pea shoots to your salads. Harvested just as the peas begin to flower, these
sweet vine tips (snipped just below the first big leaf) taste just like peas, and the texture is
delightfully crunchy. Fava beans, another great cool-season cover crop, also provide succulent,
edible greens.
When you turn in the cover crop, work some compost or manure in, too. If youve gone through
the trouble of having your soil tested, nows the time to add any necessary amendments.
For cut-and-come-again harvesting, feed newly snipped plants with a misting of fish or seaweed
emulsion after each harvest. Or use side-dressings of worm castings. Be sure to keep all your
greens watered well, especially once youve removed their protective coverings.
Pests and Diseases
Your greens wont require any pollinating, so if big pests such as rabbits or deer are a problem in
your area, just leave the row covers over your greens. Switch to super-lightweight fabric covers
at the end of spring. Be aware that aphid infestations can be a threat if you leave covers on as it
warms up. If aphids appear, open the covers to let in beneficial insects. If slugs plague your
garden, apply a thin mulch of coffee grounds to the soil around the plants.

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