New Mexico Central

Grow Your Own – A Long Winter’s WHAT?

by John Weckerle

What does a would-be sustainable food gardener do when the temperatures drop too low to grow?

a) Stay home, sit by the fire and plan for next year.
b) Start collecting recipes for next year’s harvest.
c) Move to warmer environs so as to continue growing.
d) All of the above.

If you answered “d,” you were correct, even though a and c appear mutually exclusive; as long as you don’t have to move far, and one of your hobbies is house plants, you can have it all – or, at least, that’s what I’m betting on. 

 

Meet my plant room.  I had this built along with a new attached garage a couple of years ago.  The south-facing windows admit a lot of winter sun (and associated solar gain!), which is supplemented by a pellet stove (not shown).  What is also not shown are the spigot and hose in the adjacent furnace room.  Of course, whenever possible, I use rainwater from the rain barrels on the west side of the garage.  I’ve grown basil, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and cilantro in this room over the last couple of years, with mixed results.  I learned an important lesson: fruiting plants such as the tomatoes and peppers, when grown in containers, should not be given standard house plant foods; they need more phosphorus and less nitrogen than these fertilizers provide.  Tomato/vegetable plant food may be of more use.

Today, I began the first phase of this year’s indoor food cultivation experiments, and set up a starting tray with two lettuce mixes, cilantro, basil, snow peas, and green onions.  These are cold-weather varieties – except for the cilantro and basil, but one does need one’s spices and the occasional pesto, does one not? – that should be okay with the shorter days of winter.^*

I’ll be starting tomatoes, string beans, and peppers soon, as well.  We will report periodically on the progress – and on the taste of the results as new information becomes available.

^*Although, as of yesterday, the days are getting longer. Has anybody else noticed?

Monday, December 22nd, 2008, by John Weckerle and is filed under "Gardening ". You can leave a response here. Pinging is currently not allowed.