Organic Gardening Through Winter

Well it’s winter here now in the Barossa Valley. Today it rained most of the day and it was very cold – very cold for us that is. It was 6°C in hubby’s shed this afternoon. This is a photo I snapped out of the window of the car the other day. It’s a vineyard in the Barossa Valley – very beautiful and misty.

So what does this mean for my organic garden? Business as usual really. As long as I choose plants that are supposed to be grown through winter, then things grow well – they just take a little longer.

What have I got growing in my organic veggie garden you ask? OK, I’ve got snow peas, broad beans, two types of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radish, leeks, spring onions, garlic, spinach, silverbeet, carrots and even strawberries (but the millipedes keep eating them before they ripen).

I put in seeds of carrots, onions and turnips about a week ago. I also have perennial herbs that we use regularly, which I’ll write about next post.

It goes to show that you can still grow quite a variety of vegetables through winter here in South Australia. Basically we get down to 0°C sometimes at night (bringing frosts) to 15°C during the day through winter. If you have frost tender plants you can try growing them along a north facing wall.

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Julie

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