Growing out of season

[Daisy]

As the winters are mild here (no snow, light frost) I am wondering about growing veg out of season. Which vegetables would this work for, in regards to light required and temperature? I tend to search a lot online and get myself confused with so much conflicting info, is there a chart anywhere that has minimum day length and temperature requirements on it?

 

[mischief]

Depending on whether you actually get frosts and how bad, you should be able to grow carrots, peas, brassicas of all types, leeks, loose leaf lettuce.
You can also look at shallots, onions, spring onions, broad beans.

I'm taking a punt with a late sowing of beetroot, its just come up, but I still have a couple of months before its officially winter here. Broad beans do well here and the peas do well so long as they are not flowering when the frosts hit.
I doubt pumpkins will do well, but if you have heaps of seeds you could always just do any experiment to see what happens.

 

[BarredBuff]

You can grow these types of crops in cooler weather: cabbage, kale, lettuce, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and possibly carrots.

Folks typically think of pumpkins as a cool weather crop, but they are actually very sensitive to cold weather. They are one of the last crops I plant here. I live on the line between temperate and sub tropical climates.

 

[mischief]

You need to dig up your corn and plant it again, but this time in a block or they wont pollinate properly.
They are wind pollinated not by insects.

 

[Hinotori]

Kale and some of the cabbages. They grow long into winter here.

 

[Hinotori]

Frost is nasty for the squash varieties. I can't get zucchini past the beginning of September because it gets to colder and the rain starts.

 

[Britesea]

basically, most of the plants where you are eating the fruit will not do well in the lower light and temps of winter. Even peas and favas need to get their flowering done before the days get too short, although they are lots more resistant to frost. You can get around that by using a heated, artificially lit greenhouse, but that's expensive.

The plants where you are eating the leaves or roots are the best choices for winter. Mache, also known as cornsalad, is so cold hardy that the seeds won't even germinate unless it's cold.

 

[tortoise]

There are some books on the topic. I've read this one but haven't used anything from it yet. I have a small unheated greenhouse.

The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses: Coleman, Eliot, Damrosch, Barbara: 8601400514221: Amazon.com: Books

The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses [Coleman, Eliot, Damrosch, Barbara] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques...

www.amazon.com

 

[CrealCritter]

Brassicaceaes - cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and similar green leaf vegetables.

I grew my best cabbages in North Carolina, of all places - during the winter months. They grow super slow. But cold weather seems to make them sweeter.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

Brassicaceaes - cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and similar green leaf vegetables.

I grew my best cabbages in North Carolina, of all places - during the winter months. They grow super slow. But cold weather seems to make them sweeter.

Plants can be grown from seed (started indoors and kept indoors) or planted outdoors at the end of the season. Plants would need to be acclimatized before they are brought into the yard, and again when you bring them out in the spring or fall.