Finally Threshing Leek Seeds

Flowerhead standing at about 4 feet and attracting the bees in Summer 2012

In Summer 2011, I grew a nice crop of leeks mostly blue leafed, winter hardy sorts such as the Long Island Seed Project's blue leek seed. In fall 2011, I left some of the nicer blue ones to overwinter and they produced flowers this year. A portion of them were partly *hairy.* That is instead of having flowers, they produced green baby leeks.


Fuzzy picture of leek trying it both ways: sexual and asexual reproduction.

Apparently you can induce leek to grow this grass by trimming flower heads so I'm wondering if these flower heads were partially damaged. This technique is used to make leek lines for exhibition.


Sitting around on the bookshelf until I finally had time to thresh

Turns out that the leek grass made bulbils (rather like garlic bulbils). After harvesting their flower heads, turns out that they had also produced offsets - little leek bulbs produced beside the main one rather like a potato onion or garlic once again.


I wasn't expecting leek bulbils even though I'd seen the hairy green baby leeks growing up from the flowerhead earlier in the year.

I put aside the bulbils to see if they will still grow - some had bitty roots on them - and separated the seed capsules from the stems.


Seed capsules waiting in a bowl.

There were also many leek moth cocoons that did not appear to had produced fully fledged adults (no I'm not sad).


I had picked off a bunch of these during the year from stems and leaves but didn't see them on the flower heads. These were clearly not happy little munching moth larvae. 

If you have only a few, you could rub them between your fingers (or with gloves depending on how hard they are) and remove the seeds that way. Given that I was not feeling very zen, I stuck mine in a LCBO bag - nice sturdy paper - and applied my rolling pin.


I first used a lunch bag but the LCBO bag was much better. You want to spread them rather thin and proceed lightly if you have a heavy hand.

Afterward, I took the chaffy mess and put it in water. The chaff was pretty light, so you could probably use other methods such as blowing, wind or fan but I was inside so I used water separation.


I don't bother to do this if seed sinks to the bottom of the bowl but in this case, it couldn't so I used the fact that the chaff was more buoyant to separate the seeds.

Pouring it all in a bowl then filling with water, give it a swirl or two, then let settle for a short time. The viable, heavy seed will mostly sink. Remove chaff from the top and set aside.


Mess of chaff, seed and water, prepare to be sorted.

Carefully pour off water. Use a sieve if you need to for the last part.


Plenty of heavier seed on the bottom and a few bulbils.

Then spread out somewhere to dry such as coffee filters, paper towels or paper plates.


Leek seed drying on paper towel. It's better on heavy paper type stuff so you won't risk sticking.

After they dry really, really, really well, they'll be labelled and started again next year.


These are the 2012 offsets from the 2011 leeks.

Long Island Seed Project

Bringing in the Garlic

This year, I decided to squish leek moth but not harvest early to see how much, if any, damage was done to the cloves. The plants were dying back so I dug them up.


A palmful of garlic goodness

About a third of the plants were entirely dry and yellow - keep in mind we are in a now Level II drought so I've noticed things maturing faster than usual. The rest were dying back.


My beds were dotted with grassy weeds tossed onto the sides during harvesting as you can see here.

A couple plants escaped having their would be reproductive heads - scapes - ripped off. This can lead to smaller bulbs as the plant diverts energy to bulbil production. In this case, there was a marked difference but this is not a year of plenty.


Scapes full of little bitty bulbils or mini cloves. You can use these to start a whole colony of garlics if you wish. 

The bulbs were given a gentle rub to remove dirt before their stems and roots were trimmed. These are hard necks so I don't braid them. You can still get fancy with them but I haven't bothered.


Hard working kids.

There were two plots nearby each other. The first were garlic that was in its second year of adaption here. What varieties these were is lost in time as they came from my old garden but I seem to have a preference for those with a red hue to their skins.


Garlic variety: mystery mixed.

The second garlic patch was in its first year of adaption, ie. I bought the bulbs last summer.


Garlic varieties: Music - big white ones and um? well... more mystery mixed!


One side of the patch had a lot of damage that I've never seen before. It doesn't seem to come down from the scape as I imagine leek moth would but from the outside. Not sure what it is.


Something's been sampling the garlic.

So now we can go back to using the heavy stuff - garlic cloves - for cooking after a month or so of subsisting on garlic scapes - by no means a hardship. Some of these previous bulbs will have to be put aside for planting. I like to put about sixty cloves in the ground so that'd be about twelve. Normally, the advice is to plant the biggest cloves from the best bulbs. These are planted in the fall. For more on how to grow garlic, see Paul Pospisil's article from Boundary Garlic Farm.

Harvesting the Garlic Monday

Approximately 170 bulbs of Music.

I've harvested our main eating garlic that was being unduly harassed by leek moth a few weeks early. Hopefully, I hit the right balance between maturity and lack of pest induced bulb damage for good storage. The above garlic was all from a local, nursery source of the variety Music. I also have a mixed variety patch of planting garlic that came from my old garden. I've been selecting them for a couple of years and they seem much healthier so they'll stay in the ground for now. Among the adapative pressures was leek moth which might be the reason.

Even kids love garlic - youngest hugging harvest.


You can exclude leek moth by using row covers. I've noticed that plants growing in areas that are overgrown with other plants (yes, I mean weeds) suffer less damage so interplanting might be an interesting strategy to explore.



How to Grow Garlic Easy Style


Seed Garlic - Source Locally


This is the time of year to start thinking about your glorious garlic harvest next year. Keep an eye peeled for local garlic festivals. Most market gardeners have copped on to the fact that people buy to plant as well as eat so sell bags of seed garlic too (yes, it all about packaging). Don't be shy about asking whether your supplier suffers any disease or pest issues in their fields. I am pretty sure I first got leek moth from a supply of planting garlic. Our mini farm came with it this time. Examine and discard any bulbs with feeding damage or mold issues.




Yaaaaaaank! This is a great crop to grow with kids as it is easy to plant, grows without too much problem and is pretty easy to harvest. Some kids might enjoy fresh garlic bread afterward too or just the bread... but at least they will get some joy out of harvesting even if they dont' want to eat it on purpose.


Around These Parts, Plant in the Fall


Plant out seed garlic around the same time you plant spring bulbs for the best yield around here. Just like other 'root' crops, they'll grow best in lighter soils but garlic is pretty adaptable. Any normal veggie garden soil will do. You can also plant out those little bulbils that develop on the end of the flowering stalks called scapes but they'll take a few years before producing anything sizeable.


I space each garlic clove with centres about 4-6 inches apart, several inches deep. They'll put down roots in the fall and be up first thing in the spring, often before the snow has completely melted.

Works well in a permenantly mulched bed


I've never had to water or feed garlic but ammending the bed with compost, green manure or the like and watering when needed along with mulching to hold in fertility might give you prize winning bulbs. So far, I've been happy with yields without much fuss other than mulching to keep out the weeds. This is one veggie that works well in a lasagna / continutallly mulched beds.

Depending on what ails alliums in your area, you may need to watch for fungal diseases, viruses or pests like the aforementioned leek moth. I like to examine plants for feeding tunnels and then squish any cocoons and larvae I find. If you enjoy scary stories then check out the OMAFRA link to garlic growing with its usual list of problems.

Eat the scapes as an early garlic treat

You don't have to snap off the scapes but it helps to redivert energy into bulb formation. They also taste great in pesto, fried in butter, pickled or just raw cut in salad if you like the sharp garlic taste. You could leave them on to harvest the baby bulbils that form on top. Some people even use these to sprout in the winter as well as to increase planting stock.



Tada! I love taking pictures of veggies in my kids hands. It's all about scale.


You can braid softneck types but around here, we normally grow hardnecks. The difference is obvious if you've ever grown garlic. Hardnecks have a hard neck. Besides, I like to flame the foliage to get rid of any leek moth that I may have overlooked and to help control disease. You could try hot composting in a sealed plastic bag or in an active compost pile or discard.



Kids cleaning up the garlic. They had this whole storyline about hair cutting and skin cleaning going on as they worked. We did have 170 bulbs so after the first five minutes, the excitement of just staring at garlic wore off.

Store garlic in a dry, airy place to scare away vampires and improve longevity.

The garlic needs to be cured which just means dried for a couple days before storage. This is best done in a dry, airy local. Afterwards, store as you would normally garlic. I tend to peel off the outer layer to reveal a clean bulb beneath but be careful not to take off too much protective skin.
These guys also have instructions for drying garlic which would be great for those damaged bulbs and to extend the time you have homegrown garlic.

If you forget to harvest a bulb, it'll split into a bunch of crowded mini bulbs. You could try to grow some feral garlic though I think they'd suffer from too much competition to perform at their best. You could pull up your second year mini bulbs for replanting in the fall too!


P.S. Elephant garlic is actually a bulbing leek and I imagine that leek moth would LOVE it.


***


More on different varieties of garlic

Boundary Garlic Farm on Growing Garlic - lots of great tips

Garlic Festival in Carp and the rest of the calendar

Alliums are yum

My children and hubby's neatly planted rows of garlic with Bunching Onion in the background.

When I first started gardening, I grew three members of the onion family: garlic, onions and chives. They were all tasty and fun to grow, especially the chives that thrived on neglect among perennial flowers. I like tasty plants that don't need coddling so decided to find more. Here are some of the best:

Garlic Chives - Allium tuberosum: Flat bladed, pleasantly garlic/onion flavoured leaves. There are lots of variety beyond the classic white flowered invader (I'll get to that) that you usually see around. It makes for a nice low growing ground cover or edging if you are willing to pull out the endless seedlings that come up on the other side of the line. Looking up garlic chives and asian cuisine will give you some ideas of how to use including blanching the leaves or flowering stalks for a different flavour.

This perennial is commonly started by seed but if you have a friend with a patch, then they probably have plenty to share. Otherwise, this is a great candidate for in situ winter sowing as it self sows quite reliably in my garden...


Walking onions starting to put out feet.

Walking Onions - Allium cepa proliferum group: Egyptian, topsetting or walking onions are a variety that produces bulbs at the top of its flower stalk which eventually falls over planting these babies in the ground nearby. I really adore the flavour of walking onions all year though some claim that they get a bit too strong or fiborous after the summer heat rises. Mine grow in part shade under a plum tree at the west side of the house. There are a couple varieties of these onions, including tree 'catawaissa' onions that form a second tier of topsets from the original topsets. Mostly used as a green onion, the small above ground bulbs can pickled or otherwise used as onions. You can also use the bulb at the base though.

Plant topsets as soon as they are available in late summer/fall.

Potato Onions - Allium cepa aggregatum group: Also called multiplier onions, you plant a tuber, and watch it form a bunch for the price of one at its base. These onions can be used like regular onions. They are very similar to shallots.

Fall planted like garlic. They are ready to harvest around the same time too. Replant the best bulbs. Many varieties have long storage lives.


Bunching onions ready really early

Bunching Onions - Allium fistulosum: More green onions if you haven't had enough of chives and garlic chives and walking onions. How could you have enough? Another very hardy, perennial onion with a wonderful rich flavour. It is also called Welsh onion, Japanese onion, scallions or bunching onion. The last two name can be confused with Allium cepa varieties that are meant to be harvested young. They will brave the conditions of the cold frame well giving you a long season of harvest.

Perennial that can be started from seed in spring.

***

Next post will explore wild, edible alliums and rarer onion treats.

Great supplier for multiplier and topsetting onions, as well as other fabulous heritage edibles is Heritage Harvest Seed.

Hello little guys

My baby plants are growing. I've started some dwarf tomatoes to try as windowsill - patio - windowsill plants. As many of you may know, tomatoes are perennials. I am not sure how long lived our cultivated (and wild) varieties are but I intend to find out.


Little leek babies - first portrait.

I've also started some really cool looking leeks called Saint Victors, from another generous Homegrown Goodness guy who was getting some seeds from the Long Island Seed Project (LISP). May I recommend a browse of their seed selections if you are interesting in plant breeding. What is really neat about this leek is that they have selected to improve its tendancy to turn bright purple in the fall.

My hot peppers that I pre-sprouted* are started to root and the Pasilla, Fish, Small decorative pointed (collected this one at a park - ssshhh, don't tell - so I'm not sure what it was - I promise I only picked up some from the ground, really), and Jalapenos are now potted up.

Speaking of peppers, my overwintered peppers are picking up. Here is the Long Red Cayenne which in early January I figured was a goner because I thought I saw spots on it. Turns out that it overcame whatever was the problem after being exiled to the laundry room for a week.


Long red cayenne in its third overwinter. Happy birthday - you're four!

How are your plants overwintering? Started any yet?

Extra! Extra!

* Pre-sprouting or chitting: This refers to starting your plants out of the soil. People often green-sprout or chit potatoes. It is a useful technique for seeds that are hard to germinate too, either because they are hard to keep evenly moist during germination or because they require a lot of heat or some other reason. It is also a good way to check the germination rate of old seeds.

How I pre-sprout is that I moisten a paper towel, not dripping, put seeds on it and then fold it carefully and place in a labelled plastic bag. I place the plastic bags in a warm place and check daily. This is by no means the only technqiue and I Wet My Plants uses the more resilant coffee filter. As I'm writing this, I'm wondering if you could also use something re-usable like soft tightly woven cloth? I'll have to give it a try. One potential problem are the roots growing into the weave which occasionally happens when you forget to check daily. Then with the paper towel, you can carefully pull it apart to extract the trapped seedling. If a bit of paper towel remains, it's not generally a problem as it breaks down in the soil.

Even More Plants: Drought tolerant, edible plants for the north - updated again!

Updated 17/12/08

As part of my extremely small gardening biz, I plan and care for gardens, with a special interest in edible and native plantings. In the winter months... oh who am I kidding... all the time, I obsess over client questions like 'what vegetables can be planted in the sand trap which is my front yard' or 'can I grow anything edible against the north wall of my house in the shade?'

Thankfully, the answer is surprisingly several and yes respectively, though I have to admit to making up these questions. Normally, people want to plant their edibles in sensible areas with at least 6 hours of sun and so on. However, I hate to think of any garden without something to nibble on so I ask myself these questions.

Drought tolerant, edible plants for northern sunny gardens

Generally the plants listed will require a well-drained soil in a sunny position. Not a complete list but here are some promising sounding ones:

Vegetables - perennial:

Prickly Pear Cactus - pads edible
Notes: A delicacy I have never tried but it is drought-tolerant. There are several types that are native to Canada and quite frost hardy.
Source: Gardens North

Nodding Onion (allium cernuum) - leaves, flowers, bulb
Notes: Several sources say 'very drought tolerant' so I look forwad to trying this out. It has a lovely pink flower and is supposed to taste good to boot.
Source: Gardens North, Edible Landscapes

Garlic Chives (allium tuberosum) - all plant
Notes: It is said to be fairly drought tolerant and does well in my non-irrigated sandy garden in the south side of my front yard. I have also heard of people growing it as a groundcover under trees - presumedly ones with open canopies. This is one tough plant so I don't doubt that it can take some punishment.
Source: Ask me, ask a friend. Someone you know has too much of this plant, various commercial sources including Ritchers who have an unusual pink flowered variety

Crambe (maritima & cordifolia) Sea Kale - young leaves, blanched shoots, young flowerbuds
Notes: Crambe maritima is seakale which should be hardy around here. It is going through its first winter in my garden so I'll let you know though it is mentioned in a gardening book from the Ottawa Valley. Crambe cordifolia may also be hardy around here and is known variously as flowering kale, giant kale or giant gypsophilia (baby's breath) according to Dave's Garden. Both of these plants are extremely attractive with large glaucous leaves and impressive sprays of flowers once they get going. They are drought tolerant because of their deep root systems. To ensure good root development, sow where you want it to grow.
Sources for seakale: La Societe des Plantes, Bountiful Gardens

Asparagus: new shoots
Notes: Sometimes listed as drought tolerant. This is because of their extensive moisture seeking root system. I would say that this is somewhat drought tolerant once established. It also prefers soil rich in organic matter.
Sources: various

Alfalfa, lucerne: growing tips, sprouted seeds
Notes: A nitrogen fixing plant with very deep roots that mine the subsoil. Compact salad plant or use for green manure to add a kick to your compost. It would make a pretty border plant and also attracts beneficials.
Sources: Ritchers, others

Jeruselum Articoke: tubers
Notes: Fantastic perennial food plant - pest resistant, drought resistant, will grow in light shade (gets about 4-6 hours in my yard and grows12 feet high with huge yields in droughted soil next to the western side of the house). I would ammend the soil with organic matter to keep up the fertility. The only caveats are that this plant stores sugars in the indigestible form of inulin which gives some people 'gas' and it does not store in a cellar well though I have developed a simple technique for storing which I'll write about another time. Maximillian perennial sunflower is a related species which according to the book Gaia's Garden produces smaller tubers and edible oil producing 'sunflower' seeds.
Sources: various, Mapple farm has the cultivar 'Volgo 2' which is less knobbly, plant small tubers from grocery store, contact me in the spring or fall for some.

Chinese Articoke: tubers
Notes: It is related to lamb's ear and is sometimes listed as drought-tolerant though it will produce better with more moisture. As they work like a ground cover, they might be nice to grow in and around other plants which would also shelter them a bit from drying winds.
Sources: Mapple farm

Sedum: leaves
Notes: Really, most sedums are edible. Surprised? Me too, but there you go. I tasted S. telephium (like Autumn Joy) that were shade grown and they were quite nice, lemony. I have no idea what they would taste like if grown in full sun but it is worth a try and they look great in the garden too.
Source: various

Yucca filamentosa & Y. glauca: flowering stem, flowers (bitter according to pfaf) and fruit
Notes: Too pretty to eat though I guess I could try the fruit. Very drought-tolerant.
Sources: various

Winecups or Poppy Mallow Callirhoe involucrata - roots and leaves
Notes: Have yet to try this one too, but the roots are supposed to be reminiscent of sweet potato. It's a mallow relative so the leaves are edible and are mucligenous according to pfaf like okra or some other cooked mallows. A true drought fighter, very pretty.
Sources: Cottage Gardener

Allium stellatum & Allium textile - whole plant I think
Notes: Prarie natives that can take dry soils. I don't know too much about these plants so you can check out Plants for a Future if you want more details.
Sources: Prairie Moon Nursery

Astragalus crassicarpus - plum milkvetch - seed pod
Notes: This plant gets an honourable mention from Gaia's garden about homescale permaculture. The plant looks like vetch but the seedpods look like itty bitty plums. It's also nitrogen fixing which means it would require less fertile soils. I've ordered seed so I'll let you know how it goes.
Sources: Prairie Moon Nursery

Psoralea esculenta - prairie turnip - taproot
Notes: When I was scanning Prairie Moon's seed list, I saw the name 'prairie turnip' and some googling revealed that it is considered very tasty. Yup, you guessed it. Seed will be arriving at my house for trial this spring. The plant looks like a small hairy lupin - another nitrogen fixer.
Straight forward wiki link
Sources: Prairie Moon Seeds

Eryngium maritimum - Sea Holly - blanched shoots, roots
Notes: Established plants are drought tolerant and they are also salt tolerant with an extensive root system that can be used to stabilize soil. I have never tried to eat this plant though I enjoy the blue flowered cultivars. I see this as a marginal vegetable as you unless you have a large population, digging up the roots would remove it. I am not sure of how many shoots you could blanch before you significantly lowered its growth potential.
Sources: various

Herbs - perennial:

Sage - leaves, flowers*
Notes: Very hardy, very pretty and drought tolerant. A must for any garden.
Sources: various

Oregano - leaves, flowers
Notes: Golden leafed varieties are pretty. A distant relative of mint, need I say more? Yes, it will cover the ground in short order but it is delicious and hardy, as well as being pretty.
Sources: various

Thyme - leaves, flowers
Notes: From low growing mother-of-thyme to taller varigated varieties like lemon thyme (hardiness varies), these plants are lovely dainty, drought-tolerant perennials
Sources: various

Lavender - flowers, leaves (as a rosemary substitute, never tried this)
Notes: Used sparingly as a floral note in recipes or as potpourri. English lavendar (Lavandula angustifolia) is commonly used from what I read. Munstead is hardy in my garden.
Sources: various, Ritchers


Annuals

German Chamomile - flowers for tea
Notes: The first year I put in a garden in a sandy ant ridden area of my yard, very few but the most drought hardy plants did well and included German Chamomile that flowered happily for most of the summer. Self-sows
Source: various, Ritchers

Orach - leaves
Notes: Though it is reputed to be drought tolerant, I hesitate when I write this as it is a salad green that prefers cooler weather like its relatives in the spinach family. If grown in a hot, dry spot, I imagine that it would bolt to seed fairly quickly depriving you of weeks of tasty greens and giving you a shorter but still attractive floral display.
Source: various, Wild Garden Seed

Amaranth - leaves, seeds
Notes: There are some beautiful cultivars with coloured leaves. Generally, the green leafed varieties are used as a vegetable and the white seeded form as a grain but all are edible. Self-sows.
Source: various

Legumes: specifically chickpea, tepary bean, asparagus bean, peanuts and cowpea are drought tolerant but all prefer a long, hot growing season which northern gardens are often not blessed with. If you try these legumes, choose those that are selected for short seasons - often dwarf and small seeded - and cross your fingers. You can also space close together if yields are low to see if you get more seed per square foot that way. Heck, they may do well for you.
Sources: prarie garden seeds for tepary, salt spring seeds for chickpeas (winnifred's garbanzos did well for me, small, brown chickpea), valencia peanut is worth trying.

Wild roots - parsnips, wild carrot, chicories, burdock, dandelion
Notes: Many of these plants will grow in gravel if given half the chance and are often found in disturbed sites with poor soil. Though I know that some of them are listed as drought-tolerant such as burdock (cultivated varieties often known as Gobo), I imagine that drought would increase the strength of their flavour perhaps making them bitter. All of these are generally biennials except (some) chicory and dandelion that are perennials. Chicory and dandelion leaves are also edible. Again, leaves will be more tender if grown with moisture. I list these so you can try them if you like. If collecting wild, be careful not to confuse parsnip or wild carrot with some poisonness relatives.

Some more weeds: ox-eye daisy (edible leaves and flower buds), purslane (leaves, quite drought tolerant in my garden), common milkweed (pods, flowers, spring shoots edible, make sure you have the edible variety and check preparation of this plant), malva (young seed pods - cheeses, and leaves, look up your variriety), etc..


Misc. shrubs etc...

I am not going to go into any detail when it comes to the scaffolding of your garden, as lots of companies list drought tolerant, edible shrubs and trees, but here are some I bumped into while on my search: siberian pea shrub (lentil like seeds, invasive in some places), pinon nut, juniper (berries edible), saltbush (leaves, atriplex canescens: grows in Saskatchewan so may be hardy), seabuckthorn (berries)


Southern vegetables, northern gardens

When looking for traditional vegetables that are drought tolerant, note that many are bred for conditions of southern gardens which are also very hot so they won't necessarily do well in areas with cooler, shorter seasons. Of course, there will be seed adapted to short season, cold winter living such as plants that grow in the Canadian prairies but they will also expect a bit of sun. Obviously, what's adapted to your locale will work best.


Cool season crops such as cabbages or peas usually need a bit more water so though they are often good for areas with shorter seasons or less sun input but not drought.


Low watering veggies

If you plan on limiting supplemental watering in your vegetable patch, space your plants farther apart than suggested to give the roots more space to search for water. Plant cool season crops or crops that prefer a good watering in sunken beds that gather water. This will also create a cooler microclimate. I find that dotting these plants near the 'trench' cut edge of my garden border improves their growth. Mulching with flat stones will also help keep the ground cooler and wetter while absorbing heat to be released at night thereby moderating the microclimate. Generally mulching will help maintain soil moisture. If you use organic matter as mulch, it will break down and mix with the soil improving its texture and moisture retention.

If you live in an area that experiences frequent drought, then plant your veggie patch in place sheltered from the prevailing winds (plant a wind break if need be - jeruselum artichoke can act as a herbaceous one though it is invasive so best planted 'out of the way' or somewhere contained). You can also contour your beds to direct water flow and to prevent it from escaping. A pond or rainbarrels will help collect extra water for irrigation in dry times. You can also recycle your greywater.

Use drip irrigation to make sure the water goes just where it is needed. Deeper, infrequent watering will help edibles to develop deeper root systems that will further help them tolerate drought. Morning watering is prefered as it lowers evaporation but also allows plant leaves to dry out keeping foliar diseases in check.

And finally, allow plants that root on the stems like squash and tomatoes to sprawl on the ground further increasing their ability to mine water.
***

Now it is time for me to hit the drawing table to produce some mock plans for a dry front yard edible patch. Who knows, next year someone might ask for it.

Search terms that might help: xeric / dryland / dry farming / drought-tolerant vegetables / edibles / herbs. Let me know if you find something else!

* Some people will react to the pollen in edible flowers so use cautiously.

Fall Garden and Season Extension - a question

A fellow member of plantcycle recently came round to my house to pick up some tubers of Jeruselum Artichoke and Chinese Artichoke and to ask me about the techniques I use for season extension. I ended up showering her with seeds as is my way and thought that her question was worthy of a post.


Fall crops overflowing the soon to be covered coldframe.

Growing Season - frost to frost?

Gardeners often describe their growing season as lasting from the last frost to the first frost but another way to look at it is from when the ground is workable until it is frozen in the fall. The frost to frost season in Ottawa is 4-5 months long but the workable season is around 7-8 months long. That's a heck of a lot more time to grow stuff. If you add some simple season extension devices like coldframes, tunnels, row covers and plastic mulch, you can add another month or two to that season bringing the possible amount of growing season in Ottawa to 9 months of the year!


Tomato - the gateway vegetable

When it comes to growing your own, tomatoes rank high in my list of gateway vegetables. As people often start their veggie patch on things like pumpkins, tomatoes and cucumbers, they make a habit of not planting or seeding until after the last spring frost date which in Ottawa happens sometime in mid-May (occasionally as late as early June and as early as late April). As the snow hangs around in Ottawa sometimes into April, it may mean that the ground isn't really diggable until the beginning of April anyhow so people just wait until the magic long May weekend to seed their carrots and lettuce as well.

By the time those tomatoes are killed off by the first frosts near the end of Sept, the lettuce has long gone to seed and those cabbage starts bought at a garden centre in those first warm spring days have been eaten up. The leaves fall and the season seems well and truly finished but it does not have to be that way.


Coldframe with a healthy crop of parsley inside.

Some like it hot, many take it not

Members of the tomato family which such as potatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries etc... take no frost so transplants are placed out after the last frost date. Most vining crops such as pumpkins, squash, and beans are the same so they are also seeded when temperatures exceed 4C at night.

However, there are some vegetable families that will take it a lot cooler and these include most of the brassica family (mustards, cabbages, kale, rocket), spinach/goosefoot family (orach, spinach, swiss chard, beets), and the composite family (chop suey greens, chicory, lettuce). Many other root crops can be started a few weeks before last frost and several varities of legumes can be planted as soon as the ground is workable such as peas. The allium family has lots of examples of cool weather lovers from garlic, leeks to wild and perennial onions.

Cabbage started transplanted early with cutworm collars (those toilet paper rolls and cups) and pop bottles filled with water to help catch some heat for release at night (crossed fingers) to help moderate the temperatures. On really cold nights, I cover with a row cover or frost blanket.

Most good gardening books will have a calendar in the back which tells you when you place crops in the ground but here are some rules of thumb that I use.

1. Peas and parsnips as soon as the ground can be worked
2. Cool weather greens like spinach seeded under cover (coldframe and greenhouse) when soil is no longer frozen which can be as early as March 1
3. Plants that can take it cold like broccoli or leeks but will bolt if exposed to temperatures that are too cold planted very early but under cover
4. Fall gardens are planted mid-summer and include brussel sprouts, short season cabbage, kale, mustard, rocket, endive, lettuce, root crops, chicories like radicchio, mache, claytonia, florence fennel etc... I don't plant all of these out July 1 but plant according to how long it takes to mature a crop either outdoors or in a coldframe if that's where they are going. I also tend to start the cool weather loves in the light shade of a taller plant so that they are not exposed to full force of the summer sun. Some of the very fast baby leaf greens are started in August or even September.
5. Some plants started way in the spring can be left in the ground until very hard frosts or heavy snow threatening such as long season cabbage, parsnips and celariac.
6. I leave roots like carrots and jeruselum artichokes in the ground until frozen ground is on its way. You can also heavily mulch the ground over carrots, and beets etc... so that the ground is diggable later into the season. I use autumn leaves for mulch but eventually I bring in all my roots so I don't have to uncover them in the freezing cold outside. They are kept in a cellar under our stairs.

A list of cold hardy plants can be found in The Four Season Harvest by Coleman.

Polytunnel, Ottawa Gardener style - it will be changed into something all together different next year. Notice that it has a peaked roof. That's to prevent it flattening under our sometimes really heavy snow falls. A gothic roof is supposed to work too.

Under Cover

Some days it looks like I am growing plastic in the garden what with the polytunnel, cloches and row covers covering everything. I use coldframes and low tunnels to grow salad greens earlier and later into the season. A coldframe is a box of some sort made of wood or even straw bales with a top that is called a light and is made of any material that can let in sunlight such as an old storm window or plexiglass. My current coldframes are aluminum frames stretched with a kind of clear tent material. A low tunnel is nearly the same as a high tunnel except for - surprise surprise - the low one isn't as tall. They are both simple greenhouse structures that are made by stretching clear plastic (I use vapour barrier) over a frames - normally a hoop shape. Most years, I build a polytunnel / hoophouse / high tunnel overtop of my coldframes to increase the warmth inside. This is a technique I first read about in The Four Season Harvest by Coleman. Depending on your climate, you can just use a polytunnel to protect your winter crops from inclement weather and to increase the warmth for hot season crops like melons.

In the spring, I mulch the ground with clear plastic to warm the soil for some crops that are marginal for Ottawa including melons, and sweet potatoes (old blog). This also greatly improves the growth of peppers, eggplants and tomatoes as well. Ken Allan, from which I learned about this technique, also uses it for basil.

Black tire was covered with plastic to start melons (plastic mulch next picture).

As I often try to push the envelope and plant out my tomatoes in mid-May or even earlier, I put up a simple low tunnel frame around the bed so I can toss on some plastic if a late frost threatens.

I also use row covers to exclude insects and to improve growing conditions of early crops of leeks and brassicas like broccoli. A row cover is a light floating poly spun material. It can either be laid loosely ontop of the crop, with the edges secured or be laid over a frame. It will offer a couple degrees of frost protection. For cabbage, lettuce and sometimes vining crop transplants, I have used large water bottles, or just pop bottles, that people toss in two ways. With the bottoms cut out they make great cloches which are essentially mini coldframes and with filled with water and placed around plants or in the polytunnel the water inside gathers the day's heat and releases it at night. I have also used frost blankets (the kind used to wrap evergreens) to throw over my coldframes on extremely coldnights as insulation. Speaking of which, if you have solid insulation laying about, you can also put this over a coldframe when the mecury drops to ridiculously low levels.

Plastic mulched ground, low tunnel and bricks to catch heat.

A list of frost hardy plants that have worked for me

1. Mache / corn salad - amazing! It will last through the coldest weather in a coldframe and in mid-summer, it will reseed itself to start next winter's crop.

2. Claytonia

3. Beets and beet greens. I find these will last until the true winter cold hits but then the root starts to become mush.

4. Swiss chard - under double cover (coldframe plus high tunnel), this has survived extremely low temperatures.

5. Kale - dies back in the middle of winter but resprouts in the spring. In the garden, I have had several kinds overwinter under the snow.

6. Brussel Sprouts - survived and cropped under the high tunnel

7. Cabbage - I have never tried to overwinter a cabbage with a full head but those that have been cut and are reheading will survive under snow cover fairly well. In the polytunnel, I have had them do well until I pulled them mid-January.

8. Chinese cabbage will live until the really cold weather

9. Bok choy types grew well when seeded early in the coldframes

10. Tat soi types seem to take snow and freezing

11. Collards lasted most of last winter outside until the -20s with depleted snow cover.

12. Turnips - grow fast and crop well in the fall / early winter in coldframes but can't survive extreme cold.

13. Kholrabi - grew well but froze solid and was unusable in the height of winter. Can be seeded early in a coldframe.

14. Egyptian onion / green onions - do well in a polytunnel / high tunnel

15. Leek transplants survive extreme temperatures in my high tunnel as baby plants and later in the early spring garden under a row cover. I didn't have any bolting which sometimes happens when exposed to long periods of cold.

16. Broccoli - cropped a pop bottle cloche and coldframe while there was still some snow outside.

Pop bottle cloche.

17. Cabbage - does well if planted while still a threat of snow but ground is thawed under a pop bottle cloche.

18. Spinach - does very well seeded early in the coldframe or in the garden

19. Peas - can be started very early in the high tunnel or garden. I grow a late crop for pea shoots in the fall.

20. Carrots - about 3/4? overwinter if given half the chance. They are often useable once the ground has thawed in the spring.

21. Parsnips - cold hardy is their middle name

22. Chicory - Green leaf types seem to overwinter in my garden - I'll write more after some more experimentation ;-)

23. Lettuce - Can be seeded early in the coldframe but grows slower than spinach. Good to transplant with long season cabbage as they are harvested while the cabbage are still small.

24. Rocket - handles the cold.

25. Parsley - Only had to plant this once and it has maintained a very cold hardy troop in my garden ever since, reseeding itself.

26. Mizuna - In Ottawa this crop is ideal as it seems to take the modestly warm summers we get and extreme cold under the coldframes

27. Dandelions - If you enjoy these, they will survive quite nicely in the coldframe.

28. Minituna - related to plaintain - perennial, self seeding (I haven't seen that yet), cold hardy and good in salad. I also use it as a pot herb.

I'll add more as I think of it.

Fall planted garlic beats the weed competition by starting growing again very early in the spring. I replace this early.