Winter Garden Ideas
Winter garden ideas, particularly in areas that have freezing temperatures, should be based on what you can do as a gardener to counter it. Yes, for those who are willing to face this challenge, harvesting from your garden will be a very gratifying experience. Basically, the challenge lies in how you can prevent this condition from killing your vegetable. The following are some winter garden ideas that may help:
If your garden is in a green house, it will help greatly in countering the temperature problem. The choice of vegetables to plant will play a big role. There are vegetables that are more tolerant to low temperatures than others. Good lists of these are available on the Internet. Check it out, and do some research. You must plant them in October, when conditions are more permitting, and hope that they are fully grown during the freezing months.
You need to control your watering. The best way to do this is to give them enough so that they will not dry up. However, do not give too much, as that will freeze your vegetable to death. You must also provide artificial light, in case the sun does not shine for a couple of days. On particular nights when temperatures are at their lowest, you can cover those vegetables with leaf mulch to form a warming blanket that can prevent freezing of the plant cells. The main difference between a plant cell and an animal cell is that, unlike animal cells, plant cells do not regenerate. So, once it is damaged, the damage is permanent.
Be sure that, after covering it with mulch, you remove the mulch the first moment that you experience better temperature conditions, in order to allow your vegetables to breathe and prevent them from rotting. The only thing that you can hope for is for your vegetables to be in a condition where they are enough for survival but not enough for growth.
Another Idea that you can try is using container gardening, particularly if you have enough space in your house. You must place your vegetables inside your house where the conditions are more favorable. Depending on the space you have, put them in spots that can receive at least ten hours of artificial light. Photosynthesis can still occur, even if the source of light is artificial and not the sun. During days when conditions outside your house become more favorable, take them outside. At least your chances of a winter harvest are better using a container garden compared to the vegetables in the green house.
Every enthusiast in gardening would want to harvest during the winter period. Doing this is something that you can cherish for your life time. Facing the challenge of Mother Nature is a daunting task, and coming out victorious makes it more thrilling. Try out some of these winter garden ideas, but do it on a small scale, so that it is something that you can handle easily. Now, you can use the majority of this season to prepare for your gardening in the coming spring.