Winter Vegetable Garden Tips and Secrets

A winter vegetable garden can be easy and successful. You don’t have to leave your vegetable beds empty while looking to plan your next year’s harvest. What you can do is to warm up your soil so that you can sow your seeds earlier.

…Let’s begin with the first winter gardening tip…

Warming up your soil can give you an excellent head start in your winter gardening venture. After all, you’ll be able to organize your vegetable beds on frosty spring days while everyone else is waiting for their soil to defrost.

You see it’s dangerous to work the soil while it’s frozen as the structure can be damaged. Here’s how to warm up the soil the easy way…

First, tuck the soil up for the winter. Before you proceed with this, you’ll need to fork over the soil, rake it and level it. Then you can cover it with a large sheet of polythene or a piece of old carpet. Pieces of old carpet are an excellent alternative as they are quite heavy and will not require a lot of effort to press down.

Tightly tuck down the edges of the sheeting to the sides of the beds and bury them; or… you can hold them down by using a lot of bricks. Providing covering to cold bare soil will keep the soil well fit for spring and prevent the appearance of weeds over the winter and early spring.

• Compost is the best food and must be incorporated with all plantings. You can spread the compost over the crowns of your herbaceous plants and also prune the late-flowering shrubs as the leaves fall.
• Remember to always weed when necessary. If you have a mild garden, harvest and store your root vegetables.
• If your garden is a greenhouse garden, always ensure that the glass and surfaces are clean.
• You can add lime and aerate as well as spike your lawns while adding some sharp sand if necessary.
• Make some regular checks on your sticky bands. Sticky bands are one of the best ways to keep pests away and not to mention natural as well.
• Clean your cloches and cold frames.
• When the last leaves have fallen, that’s the best time to clean out your gutters and drains.

• Sow potato seed in a light, frost-free place.
• When feeding, spread lime over the soil or you can use some calcified seaweed as an alternative.
• Prune to cut out any diseased growth and also dig to form new beds
• Form your plan to suit and make any changes if needed. Remember to put out some food for birds to promote some beneficial wildlife in your winter vegetable garden.

• The best vegetables to plant in late winter for your winter vegetable garden are garlic, onion sets and shallots. They’re also easy to grow as well.
• Spread some seaweed on bare soil along with some mulches and then rake them in.
• Prune to cut out any disease growth
• Warm up your soil by setting out cloches, low tunnels and sheet mulches.
• Some good vegetables to sow in late winter are some broad beans, cabbages, peas, cauliflower, lettuce, potatoes, radishes, spinach and turnips. You can also sow some spring onions and sweet peas in pots.
• Spread some seaweed over your lawns and grass and rake it in. When the weather is mild, cut with a blade set high.

Sieve and combine your home-made potting compost. Top up your indoor beds with some compost to help deliver nutrients for good vegetable growth. This can also help you get some top quality vegetables. You can also make some regular checks on stakes and labels if you have some woody plants.

Firm the roots of your autumn plantings following the final frosts and clear out all insect traps and nests.

Once you follow these tips when creating your winter vegetable garden, you should definitely be good to go.