How about carrots? I remember 2 years ago, we had a warm spell after some snow, and when the snow melted I was able to go out and still pick some carrots.

A couple? There is a dozen plants at least that will survive brief 13F spells. Corn salad, kale, collard, miner lettuce, arugula, radicchio, cutting chicory, parsnip, carrot, beet, sunchokes. My guess is that spinach can make it, and perhaps some of the oriental mustards as well as broccoli raab. I routinely overwinter lettuce in Zone 6, in a hoop house, though it is for spring consumption, not winter. Chard is not as hardy as the list above but some plants will make it, and garlic shoots from bulbils are ready to eat in February in your zone.

The bulk of my fresh winter harvest is kale and collard, however, plus cabbage, turnip and cardoon stored under leaves, and of course butternut, onion and garlic stored in the garage. I used to grow a lot of radicchio, but kale and collard give you a lot more green matter per square foot.

There is also a lot of frozen celery, parsley, herbs, chili peppers and paste tomatoes, and my wife cooks and freezes maybe 10 pounds of greens (mixed chard, chicory, komatsuna) during the growing season. Together with dried herbs and a few pounds of dried mushrooms, that's it. I'd love to have the space to freeze maybe 30 lbs of fresh beans and another 30 of shelled peas, because they are great frozen.

Seeds for a lot of the plants that glib suggested are available from Johnny's. I live in much colder Saskatchewan, but I am planning to grow some of these greens through November with some protection. Good luck! You should have no problems in B.C. You can either direct seed them outdoors in late August, or start transplants indoors under lights in September and put them out when your summer crop is done.

it's falling off a log.

Sounds a bit like the chillier parts of the UK, in which case... cabbages, kales, leeks, brussels sprouts, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac, chard, carrots, beets, rutubaga, turnips, chicory.... and purple sprouting broccoli for the early spring. You might also be able to over winter favas and peas for a quick start to the next season. They may need some protection if it turns nippy.

You weather sounds like mine, though you probably have snow. I grow all my winter crops under row covers stretched over tomato cage hoops (about 2 to 3 feet high). Last winter my lowest temp was 11 degrees. I grow and harvest all winter: kale, collards, turnips, mustard, carrots, onions, garlic, several lettuces. Typically, they all make it all winter long. (I have had beets and spinach last all winter too, but cannot seem to get the hang of getting a good enough stand to actually have enough to eat.) This year I am adding broccoli, bulbing onions, and rutabagas. Also growing parsnips, though this is an experiment that is likely to fail.

Territorial Seeds has a list of fall/winter varieties that will give you an idea of what you can grow. They are US/Pacific Northwest, so similar climate to you. Salt Springs Seeds is Canadian, but I don't see a specific fall/winter list on their site.

I always have a few things in a fall/winter bed, but I should have started most of them two weeks ago and our drought has just had me too demoralized to even think of getting the garden ready and watering it for 3 more months! This should be our rainy season, but not rain!

Good luck! Fall gardening is much nicer than gardening in the dead of summer!

Catherine

Here is a link that might be useful: Fall and Winter seeds

I second Johnny's - I grow all winter in Z5b and my seed for that is from Johnny's.

{{gwi:94070}}

Dan

Dan, I got a question for you if you don't mind. What is the coldest daytime high you get in the winter when it's 1) sunny and 2) cloudy? Do you know what that translates into in your cold frames in each case? Just curious how far into the winter I can do it here with the colder temps and even less sun.

I was just told not to grow lettuce outside in the winter. Does it take frosts and freezes or are you growing it in your cold frame? We get down to 19 degrees sometimes in the winter here.

Okra: I can be zero-single-digits F for a day or two when sunny, and the vents on the coldframes will open in single-digits. Cloudy usually means one day at maybe 20F and depending on the cloud type the vents may or usually may not open.

There, you may have to have a heating cable to keep it reasonable in Jan-Feb. But now you are talking Return On Investment and whether the spouse wants to pay for your hobby. Here, we get powerful sun and I can store heat for a day or max two of the glazing being covered - that foto above was a couple years ago in late winter, and you can see the piece of row cover on the glazing to cut the heat inside the box. If I can get to it, I'll put a layer of greenhouse film on the inside of that glazing for an extra dead space and to cut the amount of sun going in. Tough problem to have for Canucks in non-Plains lands, I know...

Dan

Zackey, as I stated above, I grow lettuces here all winter long. I have had them grow through the winter in pots, but the last three years I have grown them under floating row covers. (Last year's lowest low was 11) This protects them from cold and from DEER. I have found that all my greens are perfectly clean grown this way with a heavy mulch over the entire planting bed, if I cut the greens instead of pulling them up by their roots. Saves tons of time in the kitchen.

Thanks for your replies guys :)
Next week I have to start preparing for my Onion planting. Haha, I hope I have a spot high enough that won't get too drenched by all the rain I get...

Thanks Dan. Sounds like March here. About half the days in winter (Dec-Feb) are below zero F here, and the coldest ones are 25 below zero (highs, not lows!). But if I can pull off a nine month period with something growing, that would make me happy.

You're obviously in a colder zone than us, Okra. We'll hit -10 to -15F here a couple nights and plenty of ~0F. The 300 days of sun make up for it during the day.

Dan

How about that... it took a while, and I've been away as well, but it's great to see this idea get some attention.

Here is a link that might be useful: Landscaping Sydney

Around here, in winter if its cloudy, its usually "mild", as in probably 20Fs (during the day). The sunny days are always the coldest (and the best for solar gain). The nites are brutal...most winters we hit -20F or colder. Lots of nites below 0F.

I may try to over winter some lettuce and see how that works.

-20F? Sounds too crazy to be true. It would be insane if we even hit 0F here. I think the coldest we got around here in the last 6 years is around 12 F or so.

Only Romaine types will overwinter, Frank (at least near Detroit). Territorial has a winter selection, if you wish to try that.

There are some super cold hardy lettuces. I like the Fedco catalog for descriptions. There are several descriptions of specific varieties someone in Maine overwinters. They are always my choice. Leeks do very well for me too, provided they are winter leeks.

@stuffradio, the contrast between BC and SK is so crazy! We've hit your record low of 12 F in every month except June, July, August and September.

Yeah but Saskatchewan grows some mighty fine wheat and the carb lover in me thanks you for it.

I have had lettuce survive under 12" of snow during one short cold spell here. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. It must have been the perfect conditions for that to happen.

Spinach overwinters too, under mulch. I do miss that part of the country where cold isn't an issue (except in summer).

Dan

Huh? almost anything related to winter gardening does well under snow. For low plants, a few inches is all that is needed.

@Slimy_Okra Yeah, that is crazy. :) Each part of the country is good for growing different things though at different times of the year.

I am so excited to hear from other people who garden like I do.
The winter is not a dead season.
And you do not need a lot of expensive protection.
The only thing I can add that has not been said is to mention some of the perennial greens:
Nettle and Dandelion.
They will come up in very early spring.
One of the most nutritious greens that will grow in extreme cold is Tendergreens (mustard spinach cross).
It is very high in calcium. It is very cold hardy (-12 C).

Here is a link that might be useful: Self Sufficient Crops