The vegetable garden in winter

When winter approaches, you start to leave your vegetable garden, thinking that it does not require attention during this period? It's a mistake! We may think that this season does not allow you to grow much, but this is false, and it is important to prepare the crops as well as possible to face the cold and then find the warm. Here are the instructions for use.

Why work in the vegetable garden in winter?

If abandoning your vegetable garden is a bad idea in general, it is even more so at the time when you can optimize your plants to be ready for the following seasons. So certainly, the weather conditions – frost, snow, cold, as well as rain – can demotivate at first, but we must keep in mind that it is by braving them that we are best prepared to welcome first spring, then summer.

Vegetable garden in winter: what you can plant

Another motivation to put on your boots to take care of your vegetable garden in winter: the promise of being able to plant / harvest many vegetables, most of which are essential for good winter soups. We think in particular of broccoli, different varieties of cabbage, rutabagas, celery, or cauliflowers... And other plants that have the advantage of not too much support the heat, and to wear themselves like charms when it is cold.

Some salads, too, must be planted this season: we think of the chew, which is said to be planted between 6 and 8 weeks before the 1st frost,or arugula, which it is better to avoid growing in the middle of summer if we want to avoid it rising in seed. As for garlic, it must also be planted at the beginning of winter if you want to be able to use it in your kitchen once spring comes... In short, on the culture side,there is no shortage of options!

Why harvesting in winter is imperative

Another reason why it is important to continue to take care of your vegetable garden in winter, and especially to harvest the planted vegetables: by not doing so, you expose yourself to invasions of mice, voles and other rodents that decimate crops, and take up residence in the garden... That's enough to make you want to get active!

Protect the soil from the cold, instructions for use

Unfortunately, winter temperatures do not spare the soil: the cold makes it very hard which is not ideal, not to mention the frost that usually finishes killing crops. It is therefore necessary to think about protecting it, starting by installing mulch everywhere at the foot of the latter.

Straw, lawn mowing,crushed dead leaves... Regardless of the nature of the mulch chosen, it is a protective layer that allows the soil to retain heat, and also brings nutrients to the earth since it gradually decomposes and eventually turns into humus.

Winter, the ideal time to reorganize your vegetable garden

The tasks to be performed in the vegetable garden are fewer and faster? Good news, this leaves time to reorganize your vegetable garden and make plans. The challenge? Remember what has worked well in the past, and try to understand why previous harvests have been disappointing in order to solve the problem... In other words, finding the best balance. For this, it is better to think about recording everything in a notebook, it is the best way to organize.

Thinking about your future plantations

One of the basic mistakes is not projecting yourself into the future.... In January/February, it's already time to think about your future plantations! It's time to take out the famous notebook where everything has been recorded, and to make a sketch of the garden that you want to get the following summer.

For this, it is necessary to organize different planting areas – in the case of a permaculture garden, this point is all the more important as it is imperative to rotate crops every year so that the soil does not get poorer,thinking about the proximity (or not) of the vegetables to each other. It is also necessary to decide on the form that you want to give to your vegetable garden, and choose between a classic crop, a culture on a mound – by the way, vegetables resist it better in winter – in greenhouses,in the open air... etc.

To conclude, resting on your laurels in winter can be harmful for the maintenance of the vegetable garden in the coming seasons... Especially since there is always a little something to do in the garden, and you have to be present often if you want to avoid unpleasant surprises. And then, even in winter in the rain, it is a real pleasure to spend time outside to pamper your future harvest... No? If you agree, it's up to you!

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