The 12 Month Garden

On Saturday, I talked about what vegetables are terrific for cool/cold weather gardens.

On Sunday, I talked about how to figure out what times of year you're getting enough daylight to grow vegetables - you want 10 hours of daylight a day.

Then I told you that we garden 12 months of the year.    How is that possible, given that we get less than 10 hours of daylight a day from November 16 through January 25?

An excellent question.   See that pic up there?   That's a cold frame [built with straw bales] on Christmas Day under the snow.   See all those greens in there?

The truth is that things do continue to grow during the dark parts of the year, they just grow very slowly.   And another important truth is that vegetables in the ground keep far far longer than they do in your refrigerator.   Which means that if you plant carrots and they're ready in late November,  they'll keep quite nicely in place, in the ground, unharvested, all through the winter and you can use them as you need them.

Winter gardens double as root cellars.  [Actually a good root cellar mimics the conditions of a winter garden.]

I know this for a fact.   We do it here.   I can plant carrots in late September or early October and can harvest the best carrots I've ever eaten in late February.  [Carrots are much sweeter when grown in cold weather.]

So, start thinking now about your winter garden.   Buy seeds now for those cold weather veggies that you can plant late in the year in a cold frame or hoop house or green house in the fall and then eat on all winter long.  [See the post from a couple of days ago for a list of good cold/cool garden veggies.]


For information on hoop houses and cold frames see the links to my posts in the sidebar under Garden Helps ---->

Here is more information on winter gardening from Eliot Coleman.  Check out his Winter Garden Handbook in my book list over there in the sidebar ---->.

And here's even more information on winter gardens from the Walden Effect blog.

And here's a guide from Johnny's Seeds.   It's written for folks wanting to do large quantities for farmer's markets, but there's good stuff for every gardener in there, too.   Scroll down until you hit the section on 10 ways to extend your season.

Early Planting: Is there enough light?

Yesterday I mentioned that in order to have a 12 month garden, your plants have to have both enough warmth and enough light.    There are loads of vegetables that are comfortable in cool weather, but the light issue is more universal.

It all has to do with the number of hours of light in a day - and that depends on your latitude.  Plants grow well when they get at least 10 hours of daylight a day.  The further away from the equator you get, the more days below 10 hours you'll get during the times of year that your pole is pointed away from the sun - November through March in the northern hemisphere,  April through August in the southern hemisphere.    The exact number depends on your latitude - how far away from the equator you are.

I was thinking how nice it would be if there were a chart out there on the interwebs with all this information for every latitude and it turns out there is!    Yay!   

And thanks to the  U.S. Navy, there's a site with a handy dandy calculator that spits your information out for you and you don't even have to know your latitude!    You just have to know where you are.   [If you don't already know where you are, I'm sure there's someone close by you can ask.]

Go here:  http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/Dur_OneYear.php   and fill in Form A.   [If you live outside the U.S., fill in Form B.]   You can choose a different year if you want.   Notice below the forms that there are directions for saving it to a spreadsheet.  

Turns out that Solsberry is too small to be listed, so I used Bloomington for my location.   Here's the daylight chart  for Bloomington, Indiana.  [Sorry for the tiny type - it's the only way I could make it fit.  The files don't convert to pic files.]

              o  ,    o  ,                   BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA                Astronomical Applications Dept.
 Location: W086 35, N39 13                   Eastern Standard Time               U. S. Naval Observatory        
                                                                                 Washington, DC  20392-5420     
                                                                                                                
                                         Duration of Daylight for 2014                                          
                                                                                                                
 Day    Jan.     Feb.     Mar.     Apr.     May      June     July     Aug.     Sep.     Oct.     Nov.     Dec. 
                                                                                                                
         h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m     h  m
 01     09:28    10:14    11:20    12:39    13:52    14:45    14:53    14:11    13:02    11:46    10:31    09:37
 02     09:29    10:16    11:22    12:42    13:54    14:46    14:52    14:10    13:00    11:44    10:29    09:36
 03     09:30    10:18    11:25    12:44    13:56    14:47    14:51    14:08    12:57    11:41    10:27    09:35
 04     09:31    10:20    11:28    12:47    13:58    14:48    14:51    14:06    12:55    11:39    10:25    09:34
 05     09:32    10:23    11:30    12:49    14:00    14:49    14:50    14:04    12:52    11:36    10:22    09:33
 06     09:33    10:25    11:33    12:52    14:02    14:50    14:49    14:02    12:50    11:34    10:20    09:32
 07     09:34    10:27    11:35    12:54    14:04    14:50    14:48    13:59    12:47    11:31    10:18    09:31
 08     09:35    10:29    11:38    12:57    14:06    14:51    14:47    13:57    12:45    11:29    10:16    09:30
 09     09:36    10:31    11:40    13:00    14:08    14:52    14:46    13:55    12:42    11:26    10:14    09:29
 10     09:37    10:34    11:43    13:02    14:10    14:52    14:45    13:53    12:40    11:24    10:12    09:28
 11     09:38    10:36    11:45    13:04    14:12    14:53    14:44    13:51    12:37    11:21    10:10    09:28
 12     09:39    10:38    11:48    13:07    14:14    14:54    14:43    13:49    12:35    11:19    10:08    09:27
 13     09:41    10:41    11:51    13:09    14:16    14:54    14:42    13:47    12:32    11:16    10:06    09:27
 14     09:42    10:43    11:53    13:12    14:18    14:54    14:41    13:44    12:30    11:14    10:04    09:26
 15     09:44    10:45    11:56    13:14    14:20    14:55    14:39    13:42    12:27    11:11    10:02    09:26
 16     09:45    10:48    11:58    13:17    14:22    14:55    14:38    13:40    12:25    11:09    10:00    09:25
 17     09:47    10:50    12:01    13:19    14:23    14:55    14:37    13:38    12:22    11:07    09:58    09:25
 18     09:48    10:53    12:03    13:22    14:25    14:56    14:35    13:35    12:19    11:04    09:57    09:25
 19     09:50    10:55    12:06    13:24    14:27    14:56    14:34    13:33    12:17    11:02    09:55    09:25
 20     09:51    10:57    12:09    13:26    14:28    14:56    14:32    13:31    12:14    10:59    09:53    09:25
 21     09:53    11:00    12:11    13:29    14:30    14:56    14:31    13:28    12:12    10:57    09:51    09:25
 22     09:55    11:02    12:14    13:31    14:31    14:56    14:29    13:26    12:09    10:54    09:50    09:25
 23     09:57    11:05    12:16    13:33    14:33    14:56    14:28    13:24    12:07    10:52    09:48    09:25
 24     09:58    11:07    12:19    13:36    14:35    14:55    14:26    13:21    12:04    10:50    09:47    09:25
 25     10:00    11:10    12:21    13:38    14:36    14:55    14:24    13:19    12:02    10:47    09:45    09:25
 26     10:02    11:12    12:24    13:40    14:37    14:55    14:22    13:17    11:59    10:45    09:44    09:25
 27     10:04    11:15    12:27    13:43    14:39    14:55    14:21    13:14    11:57    10:43    09:42    09:26
 28     10:06    11:17    12:29    13:45    14:40    14:54    14:19    13:12    11:54    10:40    09:41    09:26
 29     10:08             12:32    13:47    14:41    14:54    14:17    13:09    11:52    10:38    09:40    09:26
 30     10:10             12:34    13:49    14:42    14:53    14:15    13:07    11:49    10:36    09:38    09:27
 31     10:12             12:37             14:44             14:13    13:04             10:33             09:28 

Notice that the latitude is in the top left corner of the chart.   The location and year are top center.

For Bloomington,  the first time we get at least 10 hours a day this year, 2014, is January 25.    The last day we'll get at least 10 hours of daylight a day is November 16.  

That means our growing season lasts from January 25, to November 16.   That is a lot of days!    As long as we plant vegetables during the times of year that have the temperatures they like, then we can grow a lot of food here.

I've said before that we have a 12 month garden.   How does that work when we're getting less than 10 hours of light per day [Nov 16 - Jan 25]?   We'll  talk about that tomorrow.