Day 16 - Growing Vegetables in Winter

31 Days of Homestead Living!

Today I want to talk to you about continuing your gardening season into the winter months.  About two years ago, my husband built us a greenhouse.  It has a gas heater inside, and I can move my house plants in there over the winter.  My houseplants spend the summer outside in the rock garden.  They used to winter in front of the french doors in the den.  But then GrandBoy came along, and that plan didn't work anymore.  Then I moved them to the bathroom.  That worked OK, but it was like a jungle in there.

We love the greenhouse.  Last year we tried planting some onions and garlic in their in the spring, and it did well.  This year, just before the Co-op stopped selling garden plants, I bought two tomato plants.  We love fresh tomatoes, and I decided to see if I could plant these in the green house and have a few tomatoes over the winter.  We don't need a lot over the winter months, but one or two a week for sandwiches and salads would be great!  Husband planted them for me, so I will keep you posted on that project. 

I also want to plant some lettuce, spinach, and maybe pots of herbs.  I'm going to move some of the Stevia in there.  Probably will do a few onions.  I'd like some radish, too.  I love radishes!  I looked through my seed stash and found some cabbage, swiss chard, and broccoli.  Those might be good to try so they would be ready in the spring.  I bought some pete pots, about 30, at another rummage sale this summer.  So I'll use those to get started.  I'll let you know if the greenhouse idea works for growing vegetables, not just starting seedlings.

Our greenhouse, under construction!

Another way you can grow some greens this winter is with sprouts.  There are several different seeds you can use to grow sprouts.  I have broccoli and radish seeds to sprout.  I purchased mine at the health food store.  We use the sprouts in salads, sandwiches, and maybe in scrambled eggs.  We like them.  Maybe you would, too.  You can purchase a fancy set up to grow sprouts, or you can use a quart canning jar or two.  We use canning jars.  At a rummage sale this summer, I picked up a set of special lids to use with canning jars to grow sprouts.  I'm going to try it out and see if I like it better than the net and canning ring I use currently.  I normally don't do much sprouting during the summer months.  There are other greens we can use in our diet.  But I always turn to sprouts in the fall and winter months.

I have read recently about other vegetables and fruits you can grow from your kitchen.  I would like to try some of these ideas.  I believe that green onions and celery are on the list.  also some pineapple and avocado.  I don't know if avocado will make fruit, or just a decorative plant.  I'm going to look over this and try some this fall.

These are just a few ideas that I am looking into.  I would like to be able to skip the salad items in the produce section of my grocery store this winter.  Local is always better to me, and free is best of all!  Let me know if you have tried any of these ideas.  I look forward to hearing your stories.  Honey