Winter Growing

  1. Brassicas Rule! A Fall Planting Guide

      Listen… do you hear that? It's your kale talking. It has really been loving the extra attention that you’ve been giving it, and as a result, it's inviting you into the garden to take a few leaves. It's OK, it’s happy to give them up. Just be sure to share some love with your broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels...
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  2. Winter CSA Basics: Bringing the Seasons into Balance

    This will be our tenth winter running a winter CSA at the Intervale Community Farm in Burlington, VT, and every year I have been amazed at the enthusiasm our farm members have for winter crops. There is a glaring, fundamental difference between summer and winter shares: in the summer, things start light and slow—salad greens give way to hardier greens...
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  3. Winter’s White Gold: Planning Ahead for Belgian Endive Harvest

    Picture by Chez Loulou Among the vast cornucopia of crops grown by the diversified vegetable farmer, there isn’t another quite like the Belgian endive.  Also known as witloof – which means “white leaf” in Dutch – Belgian endives are a long season crop that requires a winter, indoor “forcing” phase to produce tightly-wrapped, almond-shaped, cream colored heads. The process has...
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  4. You Are What You Eat: Staying Healthy in Winter

    Megen skiing with her daughter - one way to stay healthy in the winter! Living in the Northeast, as in many other regions, the winter cold has set in and the outdoor growing season has come to an end. This makes it easy to kick back, enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa, and snuggle up near the hearth with...
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  5. Shoots and Microgreens to Expand your Winter Market Selection

    Living in a climate like Vermont, where growing greens outdoors all winter is not an option (or even in areas where it is), raising shoots and microgreens can be a great way to expand the selection of winter produce available to your customers. By definition, shoots and microgreens are the tiny immature leaves of salad greens, herbs, edible flowers, and...
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  6. Disease Prevention in High Tunnel Production

    Organic growers are increasingly choosing to grow year-round in high tunnels, in part to avoid the diseases encountered by field crops. Not only do high tunnels provide physical exclusion from airborne disease, but the environmental conditions necessary for the presence of many disease pathogens simply do not occur in high tunnel production. Of course disease is not eliminated entirely in...
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  7. A Cold Frame for Many Occasions

    The dog days of summer are dwindling and the cooler temps of September have commenced in Northeastern VT.  Season extension has been a hot topic in our region as of late, and so many folks are scrambling to get ready for the impending frosts - wishing to hold on to some late season crops, and further yearning for winter greens...
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  8. Tips for Planning Your Winter Harvest

    Here in northern Vermont, our first fall frost can come anytime from the end of September through the middle of October, typically. It’s a short growing season, so, like many northern growers we’re interested in how to tease a little more yield out of the field. There are several strategies for winter growing. You can plant in the field and...
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  9. Don’t Forget About Fall! Seeding Now for Autumn Abundance

    Growing is an act of faith and foresight. Faith because you plant these seeds, tiny embodiments of life, small parcels of potential, and you trust that with the proper conditions and care, they will grow.  Foresight because in farming and gardening, you are always thinking seasons ahead, anticipating the earth’s next rotation. We choose varieties and plan successions while the...
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  10. Mini Heads for Season Extension and Major Value

    Organic Breen Lettuce In recent years on our Trials Farm, we’ve fallen in love with the mini or midi type of lettuce – smaller sized lettuce heads that can be planted densely to maximize bed real estate and that offer great flavor. A particular favorite is the Little Gem type, a mini romaine with the sweetness and soft texture of...
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