Winter crops, what will survive frosts and freezes?

Pretty easy one, what will survive frosts and freezes so I can grow something over the winter?
I have sugar snap peas growing now but I am afraid they will be bitten by the coming freeze.

moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic

 

Since you are in Washington state thats a tough one. In Texas, I have turnip greens and mustard, brussel sprouts and onions. Collards also do well here although I usually do not plant them. I would just research the vegetables you like and see if there are varieties for cold temps. I bet you can find some that do well there.

 

That's a helpful link Eileen, thanks -- I put it in my favorites. I've never tried a Fall veggie garden. Maybe next year I will do that. Thanks for asking the question, Fish.

 

Lettuces generally do well as a winter crop here in Texas (central TX, 8b/a) as does Swiss chard and spinach. Carrots are fall sown for early spring harvest, and we can carry onions over, too. English peas and sugar snaps can withstand a heavy frost.
We get swings in temperatures so we have to be alert and cover anything that's tender. I don't know how it is in Washington, but if you don't try, you're bound to fail!

 

We've got a hard freeze so I'll keep a close eye on the brussels sprouts that never managed to do anything this summer. We've got Jerusalme artichokes in a tub. They're supposed to grow during winter! *faints* And they're suppost to be at their largest in spring. We've got them to check if this information is true. If we can grow them I think you can too.

 

We will see if my peas survive a hard freeze or not. It got bitter cold here, 18F last night so hopefully they pull through. If not I will start more along with some radishes and maybe some other crops to try them. Gotta have something to do when I can't fish over the winter.

 

Your winter's colder than mine. Brrr!

 

Not normaly they aren't. Is a weird weather pattern this year. Supposed to be warmer the upcoming week but we will see. Never know what will happen here. Not even the farmers almanac gets it right for my area very often. Hopefully the peas will pull through, starting more will be hard to acclimate them right now.

 

Siberian kale is a winner. It sweetens after a frost/freeze. Some years the "year round" cauliflower is spectacular in the early spring, but this year and last it hasn't survived our single digits here in the South Sound. I am waiting to see if we had enough snow for my chard to do well right now. Most cole crops do OK, but last year I lost my brussel sprouts :'( . Peas only last until a good freeze (but we ate them through September into October this year). Don't forget the onion family. I always have Egyptian walking onions, chives and an assortment of herbs that winter through well (thyme, rosemary, oregano). I've never had luck with beets and some other root crops because of the nemtodes, but some people have.

I used to winter garden regularly and had spectacular results. Usually our freezes to the single digits doesn't last long enough to go very deep into the soil. Last year and this have been different. Last year we had a hard freeze with no snow for a week in December. This year we will see.

My regional sources for seeds are Territorial Seeds out of Oregon. They used to be my best source of information on winter gardening in our maritine climate.

Ed Hume has a nice short article on winter gardening in our area http://www.humeseeds.com/falwint.htm

The Westside Gardener and Oregon State University have lists of vegies you might want to look at based on our wet, damp climate. http://westsidegardener.com/quick/winter_veggies.html

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo ... nchor42788

Books you might want to check out at the library are: Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest: Cool-Season Crops for the Year-Round Gardener by Binda Colebrook; Steve Solomons' Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades and William Heads, Gardening Under Cover.

Do a google search for "winter gardening pacific northwest" and see what turns up. We may not be successful with heat crops but there is a wealth of things that grow well here and a lot a dedicated gardeners that have provided tons of info.

Happy gardening

 

I hope my Oregano survives, It is so much better fresh gorund than store bought.

Is it too late to try and start any winter crops?

Thank you for the information Jewell, I will do my research and see what I can get started and see how they do out here.

 

For our region most winter crops are started the first of August. Don't worry about your oregano, it does terrific as well as thyme and chives. Rosemary can be iffy in a cold winter and I keep a pot that I bring into our breeze way. That way I have a source of free starts if needed.

I was amazed at what a variety of winter crops are possible when I first started. Binda Colebrook's book is a classic and what first got me started. There is so much more information now and a lot more varieties from around the world that are available. I was just reading today about using some crops like beets and turnips for their greens rather than the roots. More food that resprouts. I may rethink what I plan on planting for next year. Happy gardening.

 

Jewell, my oregano is in a pot. Is it safe to leave it outside or do I need to think about putting it in the garage on cold nights?

I did get some rosemary form a friend that I will be starting in the garage. I hope to be bale to pr5ovide enough light for it to grow well until I can get it ouside next spring. It is rooting right now in water and doing rather well. The good thing is I can get more from him if it doesn't take in the pot I put it in. I am afraid to put it outside without knowing. Do you think it is okay to plant it and put it out in a large pot/5 gallon bucket?

I just worry that the buckets/pots are going to freeze and kill what should be hearty winter over plants.

 

My oregano is in the ground, but I have lots of potted plants that seem to be OK. If you really like oregano I might suggest putting some in the ground in a sunny location. (Mine is between bricks by a sidewalk.) You'd be surprised how big the plant will get. You can always dig it when you move and/or divide it for more plants.

Luckily our frosts/cold spells are usually short lived so aren't usually killers unless the plants are more frost in-tolerant/sensitive. The freezes that I worry about come out of Canada with no snow cover. Even a little snow adds some insulation.

If you are worried you could wrap the pots with christmas lights. The heat from the bulbs works surprisingly well to moderate the pot temperatures in our climate. Remember that nurseries around here just put the pots into some bark mulch for the winter for protection. I use leaves around some planters and that seems to work also.

If your rosemary is rooting in water, can you keep it in the same location?? A transition from water to dirt is sometimes difficult, especially with the cold weather. I sometmes simply put dirt into the water container and let it transition to dirt that way (letting the water dry-up to a more natural moist dirt). Rosemary roots quickly in the spring if you have any troubles.

Hope this rambling helps. Happy gardening.

 

The rosemary is inside rooting. I think i will put it in a 2.5 gallon pot and leave it inside for this winter. Thatw ay it can get a good root base before transitioning to outside.

I will check the oregano to see how it did, might just start some more insode this winter so I have a really big plant come spring to plant outside. I will also try putting some in the ground in a spot once I get my other plants all torn down and composted.

Good idea with the lights, I will have to try that. Regular lights are so cheap now with LED taking over the market it should be cheap to get some outdoor ones.