Fall is officially upon us but that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop growing. If you visited the Heritage Harvest Festival this past weekend you may have gotten a chance to see SESE’s Ira Wallace and Pam Dawling of the Twin Oaks Community give a talk on winter gardening. They talked crops, season extension, and how they keep growing through the winter. In case you missed it here’s a few tips to get you started with a winter garden of your own. 

What to Plant

There’s a surprising number of crops that can be grown in a winter garden. Selecting plants and varieties that have been bred for fall and winter gardens will increase your success. 

Greens

One of the largest categories is hardy greens. Many greens are quick growing and tolerate low temperatures making them ideal for overwintering in the Southeast. Consider planting mustard greens, lettuce, spinach, collards, kale, cress, arugula, and Swiss Chard.

Root Crops

Many root crops are also quite cold hardy. Try beets, radishes, turnips, carrots, and kohlrabi. Even when they’re not growing they can be heavily mulched and left in the ground for fresh use throughout the winter. 

Brassicas

Along with the brassicas that are typically considered cooking greens like collards and kale broccoli and cabbage are also quite cold tolerant. However, these typically need to be seeded or transplanted well in advance. Depending on your zone you may need to plant these in the middle of summer for an early winter harvest. Alternatively, fall planted crops may be overwintered to produce an extra early spring harvest.

Garlic & Onions

Here in Virginia, we start bulb onions in the fall and overwinter them in cold frames. We’ve found the helps us grow large bulbs. This method may not work for those in the deep south or northeast.

Additionally, crops like garlic and perennial onions should always be planted in the fall for a harvest the following summer. For more information on these visit our previous post, The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Great Garlic, Perennial Onions, & Shallots. 

When to Plant

Exactly when you plant is largely dependent on your plant hardiness zone. If you don’t know what that means,  check out our post, Everything You Need to Know About Plant Hardiness Zones.

You can also find a planting calendar for zone 7 here or get personalized planting reminders when you use our garden planner.

It’s also important to realize that even if you have a greenhouse, plants’ growth slows down when they get less than 10 hours of sunlight per day. Planting on time is crucial if you want to harvest during the fall and winter.

Cold Protection 

Even the simplest protection from cold, wind, and frost can greatly extend your harvest season. 

Cold Frames

Cold frames can be as simple or as fancy as you want. At SESE we’ve made many quick cold frames using straw square bales and corrugated plastic sheets. They work wonderfully and the straw can be used as mulch when the bale begins to break down and no longer makes an effective cold frame. If you want a permanent structure that looks nice many people build wooden frames and use old windows on hinges for lids. 

Cold frames are ideal for starting cold tolerant crops in the fall and spring and perfect for small salad greens. It’s important to remember to vent them on sunny days because they can heat up quickly.

Row Cover/Low Tunnels

Much like cold frames, you can create low tunnels on nearly any budget. All you need is hoops and clear plastic or a row cover type fabric. Hoops can be made from PVC pipes and stakes, conduit, other tubing, or even flexible saplings that have had their rough spots sanded down. Putting row cover over hoops is much more effective at preventing frost damage than just laying fabric over the plants. 

When you’re purchasing row cover it’s important to look at what weight it is. During the fall lighter weight options are a good choice. They provide some protection from the chill and keep out pests but still let light through. At SESE we’ve used tulle fabric (like the kind tutus are made from) as a cheap alternative. During the winter, when plants aren’t growing much anyways you should select heavier row cover even though it blocks more light. It will provide more protection from wind and cold. 

Clear plastic is also an option. However, unlike row cover it isn’t breathable. Clear plastic will quickly heat up on a sunny day so it needs to be vented. Row cover is often a better option for those with hectic schedules. 

High Tunnels/Greenhouses

High tunnels and greenhouses are ideal for winter production as well as seed starting during the spring. During the workshop mentioned above, Pam Dawling discussed how they use a hoop house with two layers of plastic to grow year round at Twin Oaks Community. They’ve found that their hoop house keeps the inside air 7°F warmer than outside! They also found that plants in the hoop house tolerate temperatures 14°F colder than they would if they were field grown.

Pam Dawling has great information about hoop house growing on her website, Sustainable Market Farming, and on SlideShare.

Like other methods that use plastic, hoop houses can heat up on sunny days and sometimes need to be vented. You can add further protection by using row covers within your hoop house. 

Having a greenhouse or high tunnel is a dream for many small grower and gardeners but it can be quite the investment. During the workshop, Pam Dawling also discussed one way small market growers can get financial assistance when building a high tunnel. Look at grants through the Natural Resources Conservation Service High Tunnel System Initiative. 

You can also build your own greenhouse. We mention some ideas in this post or you can find others DIYs. 

Happy gardening!

It’s that time of year again! The arrival of cooler temperatures and changing leaves means it’s time to add perennial onions and garlic to your garden. Both of these are great crops because they provide tons of flavor, take up little space, and you only have to buy them once. Both are easy to cultivate for years. 

Choosing a Variety

The most important thing is to get quality seed. While you can purchase garlic at the grocery store it won’t do as well as garlic from a reputable source. Store-bought garlic is often treated so that it won’t sprout and may be adapted to growing in a climate different than your own. 

Perennial Onions & Shallots

At SESE we carry a variety of perennial onions including shallots, Egyptian walking onions, multiplier onions, and potato onions. Egyptian walking onions are topsetting onions that are typically used for their hardy greens. Shallots, multiplier, and potato onions are planted as single bulbs and produce multiple bulbs which can be harvested or divided and replanted the following summer.

Garlic

At SESE we carry four types of garlic; hardneck, softneck, Asiatic & turban, and elephant garlic.

Hardneck or rocambole garlic is better adapted to cooler climates and performs best from Virginia northward. It has become more popular recently because it produces flower stalks or scapes that can be cut and eaten before the garlic is ready to harvest. Hardneck garlic varieties have a diverse range of flavors.

On the other hand, softneck garlic does best in warmer climates and is more domesticated than hardneck garlic. It doesn’t produce scapes. However, the lack of scapes makes it easy to braid softneck garlic. It also stores incredibly well and typically has higher yields. 

Asiatic and Asiatic Turban garlic are tentatively identified as an artichoke subtype. Unlike most artichokes types, the stems are hardneck; however, in warm climates, they may revert to softneck. 

Though elephant garlic isn’t true garlic it is cultivated in the same way. It has a milder flavor than other garlic making it perfect for raw use. It’s also excellent steamed with other vegetables. 

Planting

The first step to planting garlic and perennial onions is selecting an appropriate planting site. Although you plant in the fall, you need to consider what your garden is like in the summer. Garlic and perennial onions both produce the best bulbs with full sun. They also need lots of organic matter, neutral pH, and good fertility. Amending your bed with good quality compost and using a broad fork to loosen the soil is an excellent idea. Compost adds both fertility and organic matter and can be used to improve any soil type whether you have sandy beds or heavy clay. Raised beds are also ideal.

To plant garlic, gently separate the cloves and plant them tip-up, 6 inches apart or 10-12 inches apart for elephant garlic. In southern climates, they should be covered with about 1 1/2 inches of soil and in northern climates about 3-4 inches of soil.

Large perennial onion bulbs (3–4 in. diameter) should be planted 6–8 in. apart while smaller bulbs (½–2 in. diameter) can be planted 4–6 in. apart. White multiplier onions and perennial leeks should be spaced 2 in. apart in rows 12 in. apart. Space Egyptian walking onions 9 in. apart.

No matter what variety you’re planting we recommend planting in rows for easy of cultivation. To get good-sized bulbs both perennial onions and garlic should be kept as weed-free as possible. 

Care

Perennial onions and garlic both benefit from a thick layer of mulch. This helps to suppress weeds, keep them moist, and protect them from the cold, especially while they’re getting established during the fall. Leaves, straw, hay, grass clippings, and woodchips can all be used to mulch onions and garlic.

Adequate watering is important for a productive crop. Keep your soil moist as onions and garlic are getting established during the fall and while they’re growing in the summer. Watering should be stopped two weeks before harvest to allow the skins to dry and harden. All alliums should be kept as weed-free as possible. 

Harvesting & Curing

Harvesting garlic and perennial onions isn’t as simple as tugging them out of the ground. In order to store well, garlic and perennial onions both require proper harvest and curing. Before harvesting onions the tops should turn brown and fall over. Garlic should be harvested when the lower ⅓ of the leaves turn brown. 

Try to avoid breaking stems. Unless your soil is very loose you may want to use a garden fork to harvest onions and garlic as gently as possible. For hardneck garlic, scapes are best harvested when they’re mild and tender. Remove scapes by clipping them off at the base before the ends curl.

To cure onion and garlic bulbs lay them out in a single layer on wire screens or wooden shelves in a well ventilated, dark spot for 1-2 months. Curing improves their flavor and storage ability.

For more information visit our harvest and curing guide.

Want to pick up onions and garlic in person? Be sure to visit us this weekend at the Heritage Harvest Festival!

Additional Resources

• Perennial Onion Cultural Notes
• Garlic and Perennial Onion Growing Guide
• Incredible Perennial Onions (history & benefits)
• Time to Order Garlic and Perennial Onions: How to Pick Which to Grow in Your Garden
• Garlic and Perennial (Multiplier) Onions: Harvest and Curing
• Winter Storage: Garlic & Perennial Onion Bulbs