Gardening without a greenhouse this winter: what to plant in the Maritimes?
Those garlic bulbs were planted last fall at Broadfork Farm
This fall, The Really Local Harvest is going to grow veggies in garden beds. For more information, Samuel LeGresley interviewed a few market gardeners from the Dieppe Market.
Eva Rehak, farmer at Alva Farm
Why do you plant garlic this time of the year?
“We are planting garlic right now because it takes the whole winter to grow and be ready in the spring. You can also plant them in the spring, but the results are going to be different. It takes the whole winter to grow properly. You’ll get, for example, bigger bulbs by planting in the Fall than in the spring.”
Pierre Olivier Brassard, farmer at Coopérative Ferme Terre Partagée
The farmer Pierre-Olivier Brassard at Coopérative Ferme Terre Partagée has a few advice for those wanting to plant in the winter.
What do you recommend on planting this month?
“If you have trees to plant this is the best time to do so, same for perennial cultures. (…) but from Christmas, we are on vacation. (...) It depends on the agriculture model adopted, which is exactly what makes farms beauty and diversity. (...) (You can also grow) different kinds of onions like Egyptian onions.”
“I don’t buy a lot of what I eat”, says Pierre-Olivier who strongly believes in seasonality and food self-sufficiency, preferring, therefore, to use a cold storage or a root cellar than a heated greenhouse to eat fresh vegetables in the winter.”
For Fall planting, he recommends reading the book “The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses” by Eliot Coleman.
Shannon Jones, from Broadfork Farm
At Broadfork Farm, Shannon Jones and Bryan Dyck are preparing themselves for the winter. Most things will be grown in their greenhouse before spring, but soon will be the time to plant a few things in the field. Here are some fall planting tips Shannon has shared with us.
What’s your favorite crop to plant in the fall?
“We mostly plant perennial vegetables like garlic and Egyptian onions, which can also be planted in Autumn and Spring (preferably from February to March, depending on the set-up you have), which gives something similar to green onions and doesn't need to be covered.
We also save onion bulbs to plant later. But it’s a risky choice.
We mainly sow spinach, green onions and baby carrots that we harvest in the spring but we need to monitor them. Periods of freezing and thawing during winter affect the temperature of the soil making it become higher than normal. Vegetables will therefore be less likely to thrive. We solve this problem by covering the rows, which you can also do using mulch.”
For people living in the city wanting to keep gardening in the Fall, what would you recommend?
“I mainly recommend planting garlic and Egyptian onions, which we discussed above are less brittle.
The “corn salad” or Valerianella locusta, also resists remarkably well to the winters. It’s a delicious small green vegetable that few farmers grow because it requires a lot of time to grow and pick... But it’s a tasty crop that is worth the effort.”
Is October therefore ideal for sowing?
“For most crops, like spinach or other vegetables, the window has passed. As it’s based on day length, I would say that October 15th in our zone would be the latest date to plant, unless you have a greenhouse. The greenhouse main function is to regulate the soil temperature. You don’t need to have a heated one, just a place where the soil will not or only slightly be affected by the winter frost.
To give you an idea, we usually plant our spinach in February or March so that it is ready to be harvested in April or May. If your goal is to consume your own vegetables throughout the winter, then it is best to plan the planting a few months in advance.”
Finally, Broadfork Farm has all the seeds you need and we strongly recommend purchasing them now to be ready for the first sunny days of next year! And if you are looking for some beautiful flowers, Shannon also advises to plant tulips in the fall! You can check their website for more information on fall bulbs!