My 2011 Winter Garden

The Kids' Winter Garden in the Foreground

For those of you who have not had a winter garden in the past let me tell you – it can be wonderful. Some people in Tucson only plant winter gardens because they do not want the hassle and maintenance that summer gardens often demand. Though growing may happen at a slower pace, the watering required is so much less than required during the summer in any arid landscape. Because most insects do not do well in freezing temperatures, if you remove leaf debris you should be able to keep most bugs absent of your crop.  The major setback associated with winter gardening is waiting for plants to get big enough to harvest. This fall I planted mustard greens (for my soil fumigation experiment), Imperial Star artichoke, Little Marvel peas, radish, Purple Dragon carrots (for seed), Chartwell Romaine lettuce, Viroflay spinach.

I try to only plant Patented varieties of vegetables, such as the Imperial Star Artichoke, after the patent has run out. That way, I have full rights every part of the plant I produce. I currently also have some tomato starts in with my winter crop in my winter garden greenhouse.



The rest of my winter garden that is not in the greenhouse.