Last fall I bought Eliot Coleman’s book, Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, because I was curious yet skeptical about how in the world I’d be able to grow anything in the dead cold of a winter in Maine. I’d been told well before we moved here that it’s a very short growing season and not to expect much. But if I can grow in winter or at least during the “shoulder seasons” then I’m not limited by the short summer. Coleman’s book (just one of many he's written) is over 30 years old and nearly every deep dive I take into researching gardening methods, his name comes up. His perspective is straightforward and very refreshing and I’m glad to have found him. He and his wife, Barbara, an equally talented gardener and writer, run Four Season Farm off Penobscot Bay, along with his daughter, Clara who hosts a great podcast for farmers called The Winter Grower's Podcast. I've only listened to a few episodes since discovering it, but I've already learned so much. I hope to visit the farm this summer.
We have a long term plan to build a greenhouse on the property, but we’re still working on other priority projects, so the greenhouse will have to wait another year. What I learned from Eliot’s book that I can do in the meantime, with only a little effort, is to utilize a cold frame. I found one online that was exactly what I wanted but it was a bit short, so I bought it, but then I built a base to raise it up another 6 inches (see above). Now that I have one I can use it as a template to copy and build more of them. I also had to add the latch hooks on both sides because our crazy wind kept blowing the lid open. Because I got started a little late in the season, I didn't get to use it this winter, but hopefully next winter I’ll be harvesting spinach and other greens in November and December.
The other method I’m trying is winter sowing in milk jugs. Apparently, you can sow all your seeds in milk jugs, set them outside in the snow and just wait. They benefit from cold stratification, and they’re somewhat protected because the jug enclosure acts like a mini-greenhouse, and once they start growing in the spring, they don’t need to be hardened off like those seeds you start indoors on heat mats. That al sounds wonderful if it actually works! I sowed a whole bunch of things in 12 little jugs in early January and can’t wait to see what happens in the spring. They are currently under 2 feet of snow, so I'm glad I took this photo in case the numbers washed off.
Of course I’m also starting seeds indoors because I really enjoy the process and I’m not one to sit around and wait. This way I can compare the outcomes and maybe next year I'll only consider one method. With the help of Eliot’s book I planned my seed sowing schedule to align more closely with the Maine frost schedule (last year I started way too early and a lot of my plants suffered in pots too long). So far I’ve only started seeds that need extra time like onions, celery and asparagus. Who knew you could grow asparagus from seed? It will take a couple of years to get a harvest as opposed to growing from bare roots, but I'm in it for the long game. Also, there are tons of farms in my area that I can support by buying their asparagus this summer. I also bought a couple of organic sweet potatoes at the grocery store to try my hand at growing slips to be planted after the first frost, and I'm happy to report they are producing like crazy! Tomorrow I plan to clean and organize our shed that I'll be utilizing for plant growing. Cheers to spring!
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