Here in south central Missouri – Zone 6, we are still able to grow about 90 percent of our fresh foods. I’m not gonna lie to you though, I am a slave to avocados, oranges and lemons and get out to the market at least once a month to stock up on those.
An Ozark winter isn’t exactly considered extreme, but during this time of year if you live on the river bottoms like we do, we often experience below freezing temps and single digits. No complaints from me as this is my favorite time to hike, read, create music, do art and lollygag on the floor under the guise of a yoga practice.
Right now it is a balmy 28 and I just came in from a harvest and a bit of tending the garden. The sun is bright and raises the air temperature of the covered beds to a steamy 60 degrees. This creates some moisture and the possibilities of survival for our mature food crops as long as the soil doesn’t get too cold. It does also give unfortunate habitat for the survival of pests that are normally dead or dormant this time of year and downy mildew (great band, not so great in the garden). The good outweighs the bad for sure though as we are able to nourish our bodies with what gives us strength to do good work and stay healthy through the season.
If you already have a garden in an area with winters that are like ours or warmer and want to eat well from home during these colder months, you could plant cool season crops, and with an understanding of their needs and floating row covers or some green house plastic you should be good to go. We use a combination of both depending on the crop. If just using fabric row cover like Remay, there is no need for any hoop structure (better not to use one actually), but if you use plastic, you will need to fashion some sort of hoops to support it. We use the bamboo like river cane that grows wild here, but anything that is already shaped or that you can bend yourself will work. Keep the cover close to the plants to avoid cold air space and monitor the temps on days above freezing when the sun shines, uncovering when you can so that the plants are not assuming spring and wanting to bolt from warmer temps.
For us, this winter garden, with a solid harvest of potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, carrots and beets combined with sprouting yummy seeds and beans and collecting hickories, pecans and walnuts from the forest floor equals a daily toast to a winter of health and happiness.
3 layers of floating row covers
Under green house plastic
Roasting on the wood stove
Marla Bird
Scatter Seeds... 