Grow your greens all winter long

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Eating fresh greens from the garden all summer and fall has spoiled me. I'm not willing to settle for buying those bland, expensive greens from the supermarket all winter.

So what is a gardener to do? Why, grow your own greens all winter, that's what. You don't need a big, professional-looking greenhouse to do it — just a bit of know-how and knowledge of the nature of salad and other greens.

First, in the Rogue Valley we don't tend to have long periods of freezing weather. Although it freezes, we also have many sunny and rather warm days. We just need to know how to take advantage of that fact. Second, it may surprise you to learn that many greens, including several lettuce varieties, spinach, chard, kale and others, are not hurt by a bit of frost. So let's combine those two pieces of information and figure out how to grow greens all winter.

On the inside edges of one of my raised beds, I pushed into the soil two foot-long pieces of rebar, directly across from one another. I repeated this two more times, with the sets of rebar about three feet apart. Next, a piece of half-inch PVC pipe, cut to a six-foot length, was arched over the bed and each end was slipped onto the rebar. I repeated this for the other two sets of rebar. The result looked like I was building a covered wagon.

Next came heavy clear plastic to cover the "hoops" and close the ends. Large paper clamps from the office supply store anchor the plastic to the PVC and close the ends. Presto! A mini-greenhouse. One real advantage of this structure is that you can modify its dimensions to fit your particular needs, in a raised bed or not.

Now I can grow my greens all winter. Since they are not particularly fussy about exact temperatures, I can open one or both ends if it gets too warm in my "greenhouse," throw back the plastic cover to let the rain in as needed, and even sow seeds directly in the ground for a succession of crops. If we have an unusually cold winter, I can start the seeds indoors and transplant them to the greenhouse.

Check your seed catalogs for varieties of greens that are cold-resistant. This helps because plants grow pretty slowly in winter, and the winter varieties will grow a bit faster. Harvest your crop either by pulling out the whole plant and replacing it with a couple of new seeds, or by using the cut-and-come-again method. This means that you will cut off the leaves when they are three or four inches long, without harming the crown of the plant. You can do this 3 or 4 times, and new leaves will grow from the crown

This same idea can be used if you want to raise greens in a container. Fashion a clear plastic cover for your container to help trap the sun's rays. Remember to open the cover once in a while to avoid overheating and allow air circulation to prevent fungal problems.

Coming up: There's still time to attend Saturday's all-day gardening symposium, "Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens," sponsored by Jackson County Master Gardeners at the SOU-RCC Higher Education Center in Medford. Choose four classes from nearly 40 that are offered. Cost is $40. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Nov. 10: Bob Reynolds, Oregon State University horticulture agent, will teach a class on "Managing Weeds Around Your Home." It will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center, 569 Hanley Road, Central Point; cost of the class is $5. Call 541-776-7371 for further information.

Carol Oneal is a past president of the OSU Jackson County Master Gardeners Association. E-mail her at diggit1225@gmail.com.

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