Winter crops in a colder climate...someone with experience please?

Hi! Someone started a post like this a little bit ago but the title was talking about onions so I think it may have gotton missed by those with experience....not sure. But no one really carried on the topic and gave actual advice from the BTDT perspective and I would really LOVE some direction!!

Can someone walk a person through the steps of winter crops. Like say I wanted to winter over some things when might I plant those things? Do all green onions winter over? Like for me Our first frost is likely to be in late September and one article I read said that plants need to be mature before the first KILLING FROST in order for it to winter over and survive. So how do i know what fully mature is and whats the point of it being fully mature BEFORE the winter overing occurs. I am really confused.

Do you have to have SPECIAL SEEDS in order to winter over things? I am looking at what can I plant to have some crops in the fall and when do I plant those things, and what can I plant in the fall to harvest in early spring.

Anyone out there from a colder climate like me that can help me?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE EVERYONE FOR THE GREAT RESPONSES

jennie

Being new at this myself I can't speak from experience, but Jack at The Survival Podcast did a show on fall gardening today that had a lot of good information. He's located in Texas and has a lot longer season than I do here in MN, but most of the concepts he discussed should still work. I think I'll just need to start the fall crops a little earlier than he does.

Living in NC I can only speak for myself. I was taught by Grandparents, so a lot of the things like cold boxes and such I have no experience with.

Usually in the spring we planted lettuce, cabbage, spinach and things like that. Then for summer, tomatos, squash, etc.

Then for fall we planted the "green" garden. We took all sorts of greens, turnip, mustard, kale, rape. Put them in a bowl, added cornmeal, and broadcast sowed them. Like throwing out grass seed in your yard. All the other greens gave room for the turnips to grow underground. We didn't really pick them till after a frost. They are sweeter that way. Picked and put up as much as we wanted. Grandpa ususally grew enough for 3 counties!! Then left the rest to amend the garden spot.

Collards were grown from plants. They were given a separate spot from the green patch.

It was then time to harvest the onions, pumpkins, winter squash and the other things that took all season to grow.

We really never intended to over winter anything as far as harvesting goes. Sometimes though it was neat to dig up a turnip in the winter and eat it. Usually after a hard freeze they werent good. Then though in the early spring before we plowed the garden the greens would come back to life if the winter hadn't been too severe. You'd go pick a "mess" for supper.

I think I am going to plant my SFG's with greens for the fall planting and harvest. Hope to get some turnips too!!

If you can find them. The Foxfire books are super for telling of the way things were done in the old days. It was done by students in the 70's. Realizing that a way of life was leaving with the death of the grandparents. They did interviews and wrote books on every subject you can think of. I love these books.

Hope this helps just a little Jennie.
I'm sure there is more from others to help you too!

The Firefox book project was brilliant and those are some of the best books ever. I have several of the original prints. I am also a fan of Eric Sloan books.

the things I don't know and how much I learn here every day. I have never heard of Foxfire...thanks for letting me know I will look into that. I love to learn about how things "used to be", it always leaves me with conflicted senses. A sense of loss, a sense of thankfulness for what I have now convienences and such, a sence of longing for a simpler time. Its quite a roller coaster the emotions that happen.

Thanks for the helps so far guys!!

I had completely forgotten about the Foxfire books...I'll have to have a look round to see if I can find them any more.

Sheesh! I am such a product of my environment. Now here, when I go to reply to PB, I made a typo. I meant to say Foxfire book project, not Firefox, which is my browser acting terribly on the computer just now.
When I was at camp last week, walking through the moonlit woods I found some
Foxfire.

Bump! It's just about that time of year.

The only thing I have ever had survive other than thyme is mache (corn salad).  It is a short neat leafy green that stays alive all winter here.  It doesn’t grow when it’s deep cold, but doesn’t die. And of course, Halloween is garlic planting time, but doesn’t get harvested until July.

I use a mixture of Winter Rye (Cereal Rye) and a legume such as Hairy Vetch or Clover for winter cover crops. The tops go dormant during the cold winter months, but the roots continue growing. In addition to preventing erosion and leaching of nutrients from the soil, it provides organic matter to the soil. In spring I cut off the plants at soil level and either leave the plants on the soil for mulch, or compost them for later use in the gardens.  The deep roots of the Rye (up to 6' down into the ground) loosens the soil, brings up minerals to the surface, supports the living food web, and adds tremendous organic material.  The legumes brings nitrogen into the soil, which microbes turn into plant available nitrogen.

The bed on the right was planted with a mixture of Winter Rye and Hairy Vetch on September 21st, 5 weeks ago. The bed on the left was planted with the same mixture on October 18th, 2 1/2 weeks ago. 



The Hairy Vetch will grow up on the Rye next spring after the plants come out of the winter dormancy.