Tag Archives: spinach

Planting for winter-square foot gardening style

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This and fall are the most fun times for me in the garden. Less work. Anticipating crops that only grow in cold weather. Less watering. No weeding. Pests are leaving. I have very few of those so that’s not really much of an issue. But the late fall/winter garden takes some planning. Today I pulled up most of my existing leeks and also found some garlic that I forgot about. When I tried to separate the cloves I discovered they were mush. Too long in the ground. Speaking of garlic, this is the month. I’m a hardneck garlic believer because of our harsher winters. 

After amending each new square with compost, spinach, arugula, mache, lettuce, minutina, baby bok choi, mizuna, and claytonia were all direct seeded. This is perfect timing for our winters. The lettuce wont be so big that it turns to soup after a hard freeze. Bok choi and its thicker stems hold up well in winter. Arugula grown in cold temperatures lose the peppery edge they normally have. The other greens are just delicious. Next week will be a succession crop of a few of the same and then some addition crops. 

The normal SFG spacings of 1, 4, 9, 16 are a little different for winter. Everything is planted with a spacing of 9 or 16. We just need more in the winter time. 

Prepping and planning for winter garden

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First week of September marks the time when I begin transitioning summer to fall and winter gardening. To make room I’ll need to pull up a few things like beans, kale, and maybe even a tomato plant or two, which really hurts!

I counted 16 different crops that I grow for winter. All do well in our freezing, snowy winters. As long you know how to put up a simple structure for protection and match the crop to the season anybody can enjoy the winter bounty. And, it’s so fun to do. The taste? It can only be described as awesome. Freezing temps turn starches to sugar so your carrots are delicious. The same for spinach and baby lettuces. Arugula is less spicy.

I’ve also mass planted several grow bags with lettuce varieties that will begin to be harvested in 40-45 days and will last until about the end of November, though I will have them under cover when the temperatures get to cold. I continue to discover great varieties that can’t be bought anywhere in the stores that have great taste. When those are done the salad greens planted today and through mid-October will all be ready. Those crops will last our family until about mid-March.

On October 25 I will sown a cold frame with lettuces. Lots of lettuces. That will be ready by the time all winter greens have been harvested-third of 4th week of March. That’s my rotation anyway.  

Winter sowing of cilantro

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First put together 10 weeks ago, this cilantro is now ready to be separated and placed into squares. So far I’ve put them in 7 squares-28 plants, with about 5-7 more squares to go. Winter sowing is such a good practice. I took an empty olive oil container, cleaned it out, and then cut it around the mid-line. After filling it with moist soil, I added the cilantro seed, watered in again gently, closed the container with scotch tape, removed the top cap, and then placed it in my gardens which are covered with plastic and spun bound fabric.

There have been days where I pulled the plastic back to vent because it can really get warm under covers. I’ve done no work with this container. Try this easy technique next winter to enjoy an early spring garden. The seeds just know when it’s time to come up. One of the best things about winter sowing is you don’t have to worry about hardening your new plants off. They’ve been living in the very cool environment from the beginning. 

All that’s left for me to do is to separate the seedlings and put them in the squares of the SFG. Four plants per square. So far I’ve planted 7 squares or 28 seedlings with a lot more to go. By the time the neighborhood starts to think about planting their gardens in a month (still too early unless they’re ready to protect from more snow/freezing temperatures), I’ll have begun harvesting cilantro. I’ve already been enjoying over wintered carrots, parsnips, tatsoi, mache, claytonia, spinach, mizuna, and salad greens. 

For those who may be interested, I have a beginning square foot garden class at my home coming up in a couple of weeks. Space is limited. See details here. 

The ease of planting in the square foot garden

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One of the greatest things about a square foot garden is you don’t have to do it all at once. I like to do a few little things every day during the growing season. Easy things. As I look to previous garden diary notes, this month and April are the most active months for me as far as active planting. 

Today I planted 2 squares of red onions, 2 squares of red pontiac potatoes, and 3 squares of lettuces. I turned the compost pile and watered anything that look a little dry. My winter sowings look really good and in a few days I’ll begin to separate those up and put them into squares. Cilantro, spinach, and tatsoi are the most ready to go. 

Planting two or three squares every few days means a lot less work. It also means you won’t have an all at once harvest. By the time Labor day rolls around, when most of your neighborhood gardeners are burned out from weeding, watering, and the overall work load of their gardens, you’ll be thinking of ways to extend your season because it was so little work. 

And you enjoyed 100% of the harvest. 

Eat better tasting food without all the pesticides on them. Save money. Take control of your food supply. 

Winter planting the square foot gardening

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Winter gardening in northern Utah isn’t really gardening. It’s all harvesting. That means a little extra planning. The important point isn’t really the average first frost date but rather the first day we go under 10 hours of sunlight. For us, thats around November 14th. This is just one of my 4X4 SFG boxes planted for the winter. So far, the timing looks good. What’s in there? Lots. Three different kinds of lettuces, green onions, arugula, minutina, claytonia, spinach, turnips, mache, red pontiac potatoes, and tatsoi. They all love the cold and even freezing weather, except the lettuces. The baby leaf lettuces will easily make it right through the winter months. Get those gardens planted!!!