Our Greenhouse In March - Harvesting Vegetables In Winter In Zone 3
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- Опубліковано 2 бер 2023
- It's the beginning of March! Spring is now less than 20 days away. Lets have a look inside the winter greenhouse in its final days before we make the changeover to our spring seedlings and the official start to this years growing season.
We start many of our seeds that need a longer growing period indoors, in February and by the time Mid March rolls around, we need to start moving our seedlings out here into the four season greenhouse to make more room for seed starting inside the house.
We've already started the process of freezing out and killing the greenhouse, which helps to kill any possible insects that might be hanging around in here. This is a necessary step before moving seedlings into the greenhouse for this seasons crops.
The temperature in here got down to about -5 Celsius last week when we had outside temperatures of around -30 Celsius. We allowed things to freeze up during that period intentionally.
Normally we'd have a fire roaring in the woodstove here when temperatures get down that low, but with it possibly being the last real freeze up this winter, we let it go.
The lettuce……. well, the lettuce is definitely done for this years winter crop. It went quite well with moving seedlings in here last September. It's all over now though. It was tasty while it lasted.
Here's the Kale. Kale is a cold hardy plant, so those below freezing temps didn't really affect the plants much. We've been munching on this stuff all winter in salads, tacos, all kinds of stuff. And of course, caddis has been enjoying her kale bones too.
The Swiss chard is still hanging on as well. This was our first winter growing Swiss chard in here, so now we know it's another leafy crop we can grow in here over the winter months going forward.
Our celery is very picked over now. It also managed to hang on through those sub zero temps last week although its looking a little weak at this point. Amanda and I as well as our rabbits and chickens have been enjoying this stuff all winter long, so they'll be a little disappointed when the fresh greens stop appearing in their homes over the next few days.
The tomato plants, Well, clearly these are dead now. There's a few little fruits hanging on to the vines, but overall, these are completely done. It would have been the first or second week of February that we harvested the last of the tomatoes that we actually ate.
And finally the pepper plants. Now, had I been smart about it, I would have made sure to harvest these last few peppers before the cold snap, but that didn't happen. These will still be fine for saving the seeds, I'll toss the leftovers in with the chickens after I get the seeds out of them and if they're interested, they can gobble them up.
I'll salvage what I can from the kale and Swiss chard today, and it's now time to get the greenhouse ready for spring seedlings. There are a few things that I think are important steps to preparing for the new growing season.
This whole place needs to be cleaned up now. I've already started by removing the old plants and what not. Now it's time to thoroughly clean the interior of the greenhouse, removing any debris and dirt. All these nasty cobwebs and stuff get cleaned up and removed. These could easily be holding various insects that might be waiting to munch on your new spring seedlings. I'll even go so far as to spray all the of walls and windows in here down with a peroxide and water mixture to clean things up even further. These are little eggs of some sort. Beneficial or not, I don't know, so they gotta go.
As we say goodbye to the last remnants of winter, we eagerly look forward to the start of the new growing season. Our winter greenhouse has served us well, providing us with a variety of leafy greens, celery, and even some tomatoes and peppers. Now, the greenhouse is clean and ready for the spring seedlings that will soon move in. These few important steps ensure that our new crops will thrive and be free from any pests or diseases that may have been lurking in the previous season. With a little bit of effort and care, we are excited to see what this year's growing season will bring.
#Wilderstead #canadianhomesteaders #greenhouse
Thank you. I finally understand how a winter greenhouse works from watching your videos. You explain things so clearly and simply, and your setup is completely acheivable for anyone interested in following suit. Thank you @Wilderstead !! cheers
Glad it has been helpful for you!
Greetings from Leamington, ON, Zone 7b.
I am so ready for spring to come this year.
Such great info here. Can't wait to put a stove in our greenhouse
Game changer for sure!
That's awesome working green house there eh! I'm glad to see you guys again. I hope you upload more videos...
Thanks for sharing
More to come! Cheers Denis!
Blessings ❤️
That is an amazing amount of winter grown food!
And that was the last harvest out of there. Kind of wishing we'd have waited until March 20 to harvest the last stuff so it could be part of our GGHC entry!
Great to hear you Dave :)
I add diatomaceous earth to some warm water, add that to cold water and then to a spray bottle and I spray the entire area down in it, its not toxic, can easily be washed off produce and seems to control the majority of pests that I encounter in my greenhouses and indoor grows ! Can also use it as a dewormer for dogs and cats !
Indeed. We use DE here for a lot of stuff. It often looks like it’s snowed in the greenhouse and hoophouse here when we apply it. We always apply it dry though. We’ve found it to be much less effective when it’s wet.
@@Wilderstead ya I find it requires alot more as you lose a bit in the evaporation process but I can more easily cover everything I feel like, but thats all subjective on my end !
I wouldn't,t be surprised if that Kale grows back. Your very close to year round greens. 👍. Awesome
I have no doubt it’ll regrow. Already starting to leaf out. If we didn’t need the space in there for seedlings, we’d definitely have year round greens. Maybe a second greenhouse is in order! 😂
Your winter greenhouse has been so productive and taught you lots. I hope mine is done and ready for next year. Fingers and toes crossed.
Fingers crossed for ya Bettina!
Hi there. I am a new subscriber and I live in Kingston Ontario. I live in a city, but it's nice to meet other Canadians who are living off grid. Btw your georgeous dog, she's so sweet. Thanks for sharing your off grid place with us Canucks
Take care and stay safe and warm
What is so wonderful is how enthusiastic you both are with deep deep snow and you are starting the new year of veggie growing…
I find it addictive. I love watching your channel. Thank you for including the wider world in your endeavours.
Nice looking greenhouse! Do you have the stove running constantly in there or just on the colder days/nights? Fingers crossed I'll get a nice greenhouse built this summer...though we're planning on using it for the animals in winter. Hmmm.... I guess I need 2 greenhouses then! 😂
It stays warm on its own most days unless we have long stretches of cloudy cold weather. The heat mainly runs at night. The backup heater is on a thermostat that turns it on if the temp in there goes below 10C.
Bon appetit
Wow the amount of food you got growing in there is awesome!! Like the kale would still be good and I'm guessing lettuce too! Giving it to the chickens is not a bad thing. I would give it to my rabbits but still you could eat it too
Every year gets a little better!
that butterfly looks to be a cabbage white, they lay their eggs all over
Hello
Winter growth
Yeah, it’s a greenhouse in the winter lol
Fungus nats took over my winter sunshine shed but I see you had lots more than that. It will take a week of freezing to get them all.
We’re lookin at nighttime lows of -15 for at least a week or two, so hopefully that helps. After doing this last year, we had minimal bugs once we started moving our seedlings in. Might set a dozen chickens loose in there in a week too 😂
@@Wilderstead Ya the chickens are a good idea.
I am in zone 5b near Belleville Ont. When would you suggest I start my seeds inside? I live in a very drafty old farm house and don't have a greenhouse. I have 5 raised beds and hoops with covers to put my plants outside. Thanks so much I just recently found your channel.
You'll want to start different plants at different times. A greenhouse isn't necessary, but some sort of lighting will really help. We'll be putting out monthly seed starting videos so stay tuned for those. Here's what we start in february: ua-cam.com/video/mGVJgfBKzfc/v-deo.html
@@Wilderstead Thank you so much!!!! I do have grow lights and one heating pad plus lots of seed trays.
If you open the door and it freezes won't that help?
Open or closed with no heat it’ll be down to the same temp as outside an hour after the sun sets. Rather not risk coyotes and foxes going in there and digging in the beds and making a mess.