What to do in the vegetable garden in winter?
- PREPARING YOUR OUTDOOR GARDEN FOR WINTER
- PREPARING YOUR INDOOR GARDEN FOR WINTER
- WHAT PLANTS TO HARVEST IN WINTER?
- WHICH VARIETIES TO PLANT IN WINTER?
Gardener at heart, you wait patiently every year for winter to give way to spring to take up your favorite pastime. And if you use this season to pamper your vegetable garden and prepare it for the next harvest!
Taking care of the vegetable garden, reorganizing it, sowing the first seeds... There are so many tasks to do while waiting for the good weather.
Discover our advice to guarantee quality harvests even after the winter break!
Preparing your outdoor vegetable garden for winter
From the start of winter, you will need to spend a few moments in your garden to ensure that the vegetable garden is ready to withstand the bad weather and the cold . This requires substantial work upstream and a few steps to follow!
First of all, it is essential to harvest the last fruit and vegetable crops of the season. Thus, you can enjoy lamb 's lettuce, radishes and cabbage for a few months. We advise you to put the products in a safe place to protect them from cold and frost and thus preserve them. You can easily put them in the back kitchen of your house or apartment or freeze them!
Proper weeding of your vegetable patch is just as important. It is recommended to take care to uproot weeds, pull out all dead plants and remove all damaged produce which could subsequently harbor diseases damaging the vegetable garden.
After weeding, you will need to feed the soil. We recommend that you come and dig the soil and put in some compost. This step renews the soil and makes it suitable for new seedlings and seeds and guarantees harvests at the beginning of summer.
If you do not want to plant or sow varieties during this period, then you will need to properly protect existing crops. In particular, you can use mulching to insulate the feet of your plants from the cold. Mulching can be done using dead leaves, manure and cardboard depending on the material you have at home!
For the most sensitive varieties that you want to continue to grow in winter, it will be imperative to draw up a wintering veil above the plantation to protect it as much as possible. You can also do it yourself using tarps or plastic bags and rubber bands.
While waiting to be able to plant new plants, it's time to think about reorganizing your vegetable garden! First of all, from a practical point of view, you can think about restructuring your vegetable garden, for easier access to crops, for example, and preparing for the appropriate work. Depending on the size of your garden, now is a good time to decide to expand your vegetable patch to grow more varieties!
You can also think of new varieties to plant to vary the pleasures!
Preparing your indoor vegetable garden for winter
The advantage of having an indoor vegetable garden is that you will have fewer precautions to take so that your crops survive the cold and bad weather! However, there are several factors to pay attention to.
First, heating can make the air dry and impact crops. Indeed, if you decide not to cultivate anything in winter, it is quite possible that you will find your land dry and impossible to work in the spring. As for the plants harvested in winter, some need humidity to grow well, hence the need to regularly monitor the state of the vegetable garden, the soil and the plants.
Another factor that can make it difficult to grow your produce is their need for natural light . Indeed, in autumn as in winter, the days get shorter and the intensity of the sun decreases... However, the majority of plants require regular exposure to daylight.
Thus, it is essential to be well prepared if you want to create or maintain an indoor vegetable garden even in winter.
You can easily create a small winter indoor vegetable garden with few materials.
First, you can opt for sprouts to grow directly in a pot. It is very easy to germinate fruit and vegetable seeds since they require very little light and thus grow very well in winter. You will then be able to enjoy fresh products very quickly.
Depending on the space dedicated to your indoor vegetable garden and your gardening expertise, you can also choose products that are already prepared to guarantee quality crops.
URBAN CUISINE notably offers you already sown organic cultivation clods to be planted in a Cork Pot or a Balconnière . The Motte de Cultivation allows you to grow a plant of fruit, vegetables or aromatic herbs all year round, even in winter. The growth of the plant is optimized thanks to the nutrients and plant fibers that make up the root ball.
If you are looking to bring a refined touch to your interior, a duo or a trio of Cork Pots will be perfect. For a more industrial style but just as discreet, the Balconnière , accompanied by its two Clods of Culture, will be ideal!
For those who prefer to turn to indoor gardening to benefit from many varieties all year round, URBAN CUISINE has created an indoor garden in the form of a Connected and customizable Indoor Vegetable Garden ! With its twenty plants to be cultivated simultaneously, this vegetable garden will suit the greediest!
Made of natural wood, it fits perfectly into any interior. You won't have to worry about a possible lack of light or water since all the parameters of the vegetable garden such as watering, temperature or humidity are automated and optimized to guarantee the growth of your plants. .
Which plants to harvest in winter?
For the most part, sown at the start of summer, the fruits and vegetables that you can harvest in winter are plentiful! Care must be taken to harvest them before the temperatures drop.
In December, winter is just beginning! You can then harvest all kinds of cabbage : cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, white or green cabbage… and also parsnips, turnips , and pumpkins to make soups and soups for the whole family!
On the fruit side, you can very generously appreciate apples, oranges, pears but also exotic fruits such as kiwi and papaya if you were lucky enough to be able to sow their seeds! If there are few fruits in winter, you can still decline them in many diverse and varied recipes.
In January as in February, you can harvest broccoli, spinach, lamb's lettuce, leeks, crosne and cabbage!
To find out more about seasonal products, you can consult our Seasonal Calendar !
Which varieties to plant in winter?
To take advantage of seasonal produce, it is important to plant and harvest varieties at the right time . We therefore advise you to keep a schedule of your plantings and harvests.
In December, you can sow some varieties directly in the ground, such as chard and rhubarb. More fragile plants such as garlic should be sown under cover.
At the beginning of the year, you can plant aromatic plants such as chives , thyme and tarragon. It will be necessary to wait for low temperatures to plant parsley and chervil seedlings , which are plants that need cold to germinate.
In February, you can sow many varieties! Under a shelter, eggplant, celery, pepper, poppy and tomato can be sown.
You can make the first harvests of these varieties from the beginning of spring! Depending on your desires, you can enjoy them fresh, dried or frozen. If you have no more ideas for good dishes to prepare, do not hesitate to consult our recipes!
To optimize your plantings in winter, we recommend that you consult our maintenance tips on our blog!
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