Haven being raised in Illinois and later migrated all the way to Wisconsin, gardening in winter just wasn’t heard of in my world. Even though the majority of my family is from the south where the growing season is much longer and the winters aren’t as harsh, I somehow missed the message that we can garden in winter…and garden abundantly!!!
When you’re on the journey to self sustainability, food is at the top of the list of priorities. We need to eat all year long. Growing and raising our own food brings such a sense of independence and confidence in one’s own skills. It gets us back to the source of our food and is amazing for the soul. It’s healthier and doesn’t create the plethora of dis eases that man’s food does. Eating food grown from your own work, dedication and effort is much more delicious and rewarding than the chemicals shaped into food and GMOs that are devoid of minerals, vitamins, healing energies and other nutrients.
When you grow your own food, you know exactly what goes into it. Having organizations such as certified organic projects and non-GMO projects are necessary, they help keep us from eating the poisons that enrich the corporations whose own higher ups won’t eat the very food they make. The folks at Monsanto know a bit about this, they don’t eat what they sell to either. I personally don’t feel that these labels are fool proof however, their a good start. Next to growing your own food, their the best way to help us avoid chemicals and GMOs. Taking control of what you ingest on a daily basis is the number one best way to take control of your health. A depopulation concoction mislabeled as a vaccine not necessary. You know that your food has no dangerous chemicals, has only the genetics the Goddess gave it and and can be returned to the earth without harm to her. It’s the most loving thing you can put into your and your family’s bodies. Need I mention the taste? The taste is so much better, brighter, cleaner and simply more delicious. It’s a common occurrence for someone who has eaten only conventional food to to try an organic tomato or apple and be amazed by how much better organic food tastes than the man made food that has become normal to them. Seeing someone experience this for the first time is like watching their soul light up, it’s a beautiful thing!
So what if it’s December??? You can still eat delicious greens, alliums, brassicas, some herbs and root vegetables straight from Mother Gaia’s table. I’m in zone 7 however, there are talented people growing gardens all year long in colder climates. If they can do it, I can do it! I bought onions bulbs from a local farm that popped up in 3 days. I’m planning on harvesting them in the spring or summer, when the tops fall to the earth. No matter how cold it gets, they just keep growing and looking happy and healthy. I have them in a fabric raised bed. Next to the onions I sowed our powerful greens…kale, spinach, arugula. I kept the seedlings covered when the temperatures dropped at night. Carrots, potatoes and some cold hardy herbs are also great to grow in December.
Micro-greens, in my humble opinion, are a year-round indoor crop. They can be grown outdoors when in the proper conditions. As with the greens and onions, we just need to be mindful of which varieties are cold hardy and which are not. I don’t have much luck growing sunflower micro-greens indoors in the winter months off grid, they grow deliciously well in the spring and summer. Peas, broccoli and turnips all grow well in the winter. Basil and sunflower are some of my favorite summer micro-greens. Hmmmm….basil… Prior to living off grid, I grew just about any micro-greens all year long. Our wood stove is currently stuck on a shipping crate which means we’re using propane until mid-Janurary. A propane heater, although great and fairly cheap to use, doesn’t radiate heat like a wood does after the fire goes out. I also turn it off when I’m not in our home. I can’t keep the temperature steady enough for micro-greens…for now. This issue will be resolved later 🙂
I’ve heard of these super-gardeners who over winter tomato and pepper plants or grow the mini varieties over winter. I do not yet know how these gardening gods do it. I tried this once a few years back in the beautiful Wisconsin winter. I did not have much luck at all. Tennessee is has a longer growing season and milder winters so this may be a project for a future winter.
Beets, cabbage, broccoli, kale, bock choy, swiss chard, peas, radish, rutabaga, sugar peas, celery, mustard and self confidence and sustainability can all be grown in the winter months. The more I learn, the more I know my family is not going to starve. We’re not going to survive, we’re going to thrive with health of steel from our delicious home-grown food and chose lifestyle.
The goal here is to be able to feed ourselves and not depend on the man made systems that are collapsing right now. With the powerless ones messing with the food chain, paying farms to destroy crops, buying up farm land and euthanize animals, causing shipping issues, the plandemic and laws not truly protecting us from chemicals and GMOs, I believe it’s important to the survival of the human race that we take control of every aspect of our lives, get local and get sustainable. No one wants to eat soulless Billy G’s bug food or mammoth meat made in a lab, not even Billy himself or his puppet masters. That shit is pure poison, eat from Gaia’s table, not man’s.
Are you a gardening god willing to share some of your secrets with us mere mortals? I’d love to hear your gardening adventures. If you have resources on winter gardening, that’s always great too!!! Share below 🙂
Love of Lotus Apothecary and Farm 