Greenhouse Gardening in the Winter

There are three sources of fresh produce in my winter along the Pacific. This is the time I grow lettuce in my greenhouse. I also have plenty of Chayote to pick and mix with other frozen summer veggies, and broccoli and cabbage do well throughout the winter (my biggest challenge is keeping all of the critters away from them. See chicken wire cover on my veggie box to resolve this).

In our climate, I do not have to heat the greenhouse. I only supply sufficient light and I'm eating salad for months to come. I toss sprouted seeds and nuts into the salad bowl for extra nutrition.

January Shredding and Composting

All of the wonderful fall leaves are terrific compost material. Winter work in my garden includes hours of collecting compost ingredients, such as fallen leaves, trimmings from Chayote vines, fruit tree prunings, hedge clippings, the neighbors' lawn, and the blackberry vines. At this point, I'm shredding all of this and rototilling it directly into the vegetable boxes. The mix is a combination of dry and green material, so along with the nice occasional rain we've had, the soil is being enriched nicely.

Many seed catalogs have arrived (almost exactly on January 2), so I'm in heaven planning this coming spring's plantings.