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What can you grow in your greenhouse and how do you do it? Every area of the country will be slightly
different, and you will have to experiment some but here are some suggestions
for the northern grower.
Herbs. Rosemary has survived in the unheated house for
three winters. Other good candidates are sage, parsley and arugula which will
survive all winter. Cilantro will also survive.
Lettuce, chard (at least our
liscia verde da taglio which is what I use), escarole, radicchio, and endive
will survive most if not all of a winter. So too will spinach, carrots &
beets. Kale of course will also make it. If you are a seed saver,
something like this is perfect for saving seeds for biannuals such as chard or
beets. Just leave them in the greenhouse and they will survive the winter,
grow again in the spring and you can save the seeds.
 The
trick to making your greenhouse work is having a second microclimate
inside. You do this by covering your plants with a layer of remay
cloth. This performs several useful functions. During the coldest
months, it prevents the ground from freezing. Secondly, when things begin
to warm up in late January and February, it keeps the plants underneath from
getting too hot. You simply make some hoops (1/2 inch pvc will work, so
will heavy wire) and cover the plants. Make sure that the remay cloth does
not touch the top of the plants to prevent tip burn from freezing.
What & when to plant. You can put out transplants late in the
growing season or you can direct seed things like arugula, cilantro or cutting
lettuce like our Misticanza
Lattuga or 4-Stagioni. It is better to do both. With lettuce, for
example, you will be able to eat your transplants through at least the end of
December. By mid-February, your direct seeded lettuce will begin to grow
and you can begin cutting by the beginning of March. This 4-stagioni
lettuce was doing well in February 2001 when the outside temperature was 4
degrees Farenhight.
For further reading, look for a book by Eliot Coleman called
Four Season Harvest. It is available from Amazon but you can also find it
in your local Public Library.
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