@@CharlesDowding1nodig As I watch this video I wonder if Charles dowding and elliot Coleman from Maine have ever met. They are both about the same age and it is fun to hear them both talk about four season harvesting.
@@melbee1000 They are twenty years age difference, but yes, a lot to learn from both. I started with Coleman, love his insight greatly, but Dowding has many improvements, a beautiful simplicity. p.s. I dont blame you for this assumption because most of the videos we have of Coleman are at least twenty years old 😊
This year I've discovered that in zone 4b (frost dates June 1 & September 18), in a greenhouse (clear tarp over EMT conduit frame, strapped down with rope), I was able to harvest bell peppers until late November and nearing the end of December collards, turnip, pak choy, napa cabbage and peas are still growing. Even some self-seeding napa seedlings are alive and growing still. It's a feat just to have any sort of veg growing at this time of year here. Broccoli planted outside the greenhouse died by the end of November. So, for those discouraged by sub-zero winters with heavy snow , don't be. You can extend the growing season with a low cost, home made greenhouse. I also was able to plant out tomatoes and cucumbers a month earlier at the start of May with the aid of a temperature controlled micro heater and fan. To my surprise, garden season can be extended from 4 months to 10, and perhaps even longer, in zone 4b with the protection of a basic greenhouse and a bit of springtime heating for tender plants. A greenhouse designed with a side wall/top roll up option is essential for peak summer heat control and animal prevention mesh is necessary too. While I'm here, I should mention and urge everyone to watched the After Skool video "Chemical Farming & The Loss of Human Health - Dr. Zach Bush". It explains that glyphosate, the active chemical in Roundup and other herbicides, interrupts the shikimate pathway in soil bacteria and also gut bacteria (microbiome). The human health consequences are broad, with links to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, autism, problems with organs, because it interferes with cell-to-cell bonding, leaving veins, nerves, organ lining weakened and leaky. Looking into glyphosate, I came across advise on counteracting the damage it does to the body - BRASSICAS. Home-grown, organic veg, not exposed to glyphosate in soil and water (including rain), and limiting store-bought produce and processed foods from all categories, seems to be a wise choice of "preventative medicine".
Hi Theresa! Such a wonderful and helpful comment, and I shall quote you when people ask about what they can grow in very cold climates, or cold winters at least. I watched that same video and was as shocked as you. Two of my three children cannot digest gluten which is one of consequences of glyphosate being sprayed on cereals just before harvest, during the last 30 to 35 years. It's shocking that that was ever allowed but we live in quite a rotten world! Your positive comments are very true, eat lots of brassicas and avoid any processed foods. We can gain health and power by growing our own.
@@tersta1 I am working in that direction. I just was saying to a friend this evening how wonderful it will be to juice my home grown brassicas! I have broccoli, purple sprouting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, Brussel sprouts, kale, chard, butter lettuce and chervil all in the hoops now. I’m very excited to see how things go.
@@Artzenflowers That's amazing! I hope all your crops yield well. Think of this conversation when you sip your first taste of juiced brassicas. LOL! And remember all the steps between germination and harvest with appreciation toward the seeds, sprouts, soil, microbes, sunshine, rain and YOURSELF too. :D
Good evening from Canada 🇨🇦! It's 6 pm on the east coast. We've had mild weather thus far, last winter was mild as well. The garlic is napping and I still have some kale standing. The scarlet kale is extraordinarily beautiful surrounded by a dusting of snow. Thank you for inspiring us snow-people, spring is a distant dream.
I backyard garden in pots so I am trying some “no dig” in tubs. Also, I never thought about it but I was raised to go fallow for our veggie garden over winter, so sad that I did. Now in my mid-seventies, this is the first year I ever planted a winter garden and I live in California. Amazing to get produce from the garden! Just never considered it until I saw some of your videos. Better late than never I suppose. My younger brother and I both tried a winter garden this year and realized we learned to garden from our parents who grew up in snow bound climes. Thanks for your superb videos and teaching an old dog new tricks, 😂. 💕❤️🌱 I love gardening!
Hi Terry, this warms my heart! Your climate may in fact be easier for winter gardening than in the heat and drought of summer, so it's great that you're learning these possibilities.
your videos are joy to me. i started no dig garden 2 years ago. this year i triple my garden, my veggies r growing so well with your help. thank you for bein here
I direct sow onion seeds in early September, and they get good growth before the first hard freeze. They grow well throughout the winter, even when buried under snow, and are ready to start pulling for green onion in late-March or early-April.
@@philippayne8901 I am not sure what the best ones are, but the ones I grow are the Nebuka Evergreen Bunching Onion Seeds. They are hardy and cold resistant, and they never form bulbs.
Thank you very helpful. I just love the commitment to long term trials, so many do a comparison for a season and make conclusions without looking at all factors. Charles shows the effect on the soil over many years, really helpful for real growing!
Brilliant Charles, I’m still finding my way, but have a full garden of brassicas and a few others to see how I do over winter. This being my first year with this garden it’s all a mystery at this point..I so appreciate all your wisdom and experience.
Thank yo for being present all these years, for caring and keeping up the wonderful work of nurturing and preserving the land that was given to us to protect and to be the gardeners on it. God bless you and prolong your days.
We’re in hardness zone 6a in Colorado and direct sowed various greens and beats in low tunnels at the end of October. They’ve survived as low as -18 wind chill!! Slow growing but excited to see the early harvest once the days get longer and the Sun get higher!
Impressive! Don't wait too long in the spring for a harvest because beets for example will start to flower by the end of April and then they stop developing any more root and it goes woody
Thanks so much, Charles. These are the loveliest videos - not a wasted minute and so much information so clearly shown in such a feel good way. I've learned heaps about the mistakes I've made! Lots warmer here where I live near the water in Brisbane so I guess that just makes it easier...
WE'RE SO USE TO SHUTTING DOWN FOR WINTER, WE NEVER THOUGHT ANYONE COULD HAVE A GARDEN THAT GORGEOUS IN WINTER IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE ON THIS PLANET !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Charles for the last 2 years I have direct sown field beans for the same purpose as you have done for Broad beans. I have several crops of top shoots which I cook for greens much like spinach and they are lovely. That way I get the benefit of the nitrogen from the roots and a nice additional source of greens throughout the winter. I definitely recommend it.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Has anyone tried overwintering peas for the same purpose? I know CD doesn't 'hold' with overwintering peas but I wondered if it would work for peas for shoots...
We adore you Charles ❤! Ty for getting us through 2021. Health, and prosperity for the new year and beyond to you andyours. I actually have a root cell now...40 f degrees in winter. JOY 🙏🏽
Caraway greens are one of the earliest crops. They taste just a little of what the caraway seeds do. The greens are good in soup, mixed or alone, as creamed stew, and on sandwiches. We call it "Karvekål" in Norwegian, translates to "caraway cabbage/leaves". The plants can stay on the same spot for years, just make sure you don't pick all the seeds, because the plant is biennual.
Hello From Minnesota. Thank you for this wonderful video. I am disabled and have been developing my vertical (stand up) garden with arches, trellises and raised water trough beds that wick water to the vegetables.
I received your calendar for Christmas here in the states. I cannot wait to try your dates to improve our year round crops. Thank you for your diligence to share and teach!
Thank you so much for the information on the cauliflower. I have a few very healthy looking plants from autumn seedlings, they have not yet formed heads and I was beginning to consider pulling them. But based on what you've shared here, I will be holding on to them until spring and see how they perform then. Also struggling with birds in my garden, they especially have an appetite for my spinach and winter cabbages, I'm still working on a proper netting system. Great video, as always very informative and inspiring. Thanks for sharing🙂
Thanks Charles. Really enjoy watching your passion for epic food. I'm pulling back activity in my garden as summer starts in 2 days and I promised myself to take it slow in the summer. Respect from Africa 🇿🇦
Great content! I especially loved the drone footage to see the before and after. I like the idea of sowing the broad beans for nitrogen. I’ve never grown them here in Oklahoma, but I ordered three packages of seeds to try. I also have your calendar and I’m going to try to adjust dates to my growing zone at 35 N. I don’t think I completely understood how your calendar worked until this video. I now have a better understanding of why you chose each date.
Hello Charles, I did two trays of broad beans last year. Both were kept indoors until germination and appearance above the compost in each modular cell. However, one tray had completely germinated and appeared above the compost quickly. That one tray went outside into a small cloche in early february (minus degree celcius temperatures). The second tray had only partial germination even a few weeks later but due to restricted indoor space, they had to go out into the outdoor cloche. Eventually that second tray had appearance of all germinated seeds. So, I transplanted them. Tray 1 had 23 centimetres between plants within the 5 rows and between the rows. Tray 2 didnt get that exact spacing and perhaps ended up in 4 rows. Anyway, tray 1 transplants grew upright and very well and produced spectacular beans. Tray 2 plants fell over (lack of equal spacing) and the beans were great too. Tray 1 had Eleonora. Tray 2 had Claudia Aquadulce. All good.
Nice that you are keeping notes and making all these observations. It's difficult to conclude very much when there are so many variables and that is often the case in gardening!
Thank you for this and all the wonderful content you have posted throughout the year. With the solstice behind us I am sure you are looking forwards to the new growing season as much as we are. I wish you and all the dedicated Homeacres crew a very happy and safe new year.
Thanks for sharing the valuable information on sowing dates in autumn. Sowing broad beans as green manure is a really good idea and I sowed field beans in October for the same purpose. In addition, we can harvest the tips of these beans during the winter and early spring as they are tasty in stir fry!
Great vlog Charles, I'm growing broad beans field beans and peas as a cover crop and green manure. I think I've spaced mine out too much though. Looking forward to eating the tops throughout winter and then cutting them down in the spring so the nitrogen on the roots feed the soil. Still learning from you x
Charles, excelente video, muy explicativo, ahora estamos en invierno acá en Chile y tu video me orienta muy bien con lo que debemos hacer para mantener la huerta, gracias.
We're in Spring now in New Zealand. I agree that timing is critical. Most of my cabbages have been fine over winter & of course no cabbage moths around then. Now all my new brassicas are netted. The last of the cabbages need to be pulled out now though and composted. Another brassica that's been good (& still going to a certain extent) is side-shooting broccoli. Almost the last of it going in the pot today.
I find it amazing, and lovely to hear comments from the other Hemisphere as, so different to where we are now! I’m happy that your overwintered brassicas did well.
Broccoli, carrots and beetroot already in, spuds to follow and caulies as soon as my seed arrives and I think I'll try a few toms see how they do and all should be ready for Christmas dinner.
Great video! I have my Charles Dowding calendar for 2022 😀. It has made my life so much easier already when thinking about the seeds that I need for next year. My broad beans are doing really well this year . I'm in Essex. Sown 30th Oct, transplanted 13th Nov. I've made a note to do them at the same time next year.
I would like that kalender too but we have to translate it to south Sweden and the climate here. Zone 2. Hills and sea inlet. I would guess its one step colder than Charles’s zone. Its a guess
Just what I was looking for. Thank you. The algo helpfully suggested "Autumn onion sowing Charles Dickens", if that helps you keep your heels on the ground!
No kidding on temperature, as we also we had a warm autumn here in Cumbria. I took the mesh off my brussels sprouts at the beginning of November & when I looked at them two weeks later, they had flippin' cabbage white caterpillars all over them!
That was very interesting what you said about cover crops giving nutrients back to the soil. I cover my beds all winter with compost and mulch (plus rabbit droppings) so the beds will be ready in the spring for planting. Some beds have onions, garlic, carrots, turnips, beets and sage in them still, but I would love to learn more about best extra seeds I could plant in the beds over winter that won’t make weeds.
It's good Charlie, but we need to do it in moderation because if we're not careful, and in relation to your comment, you can have beds all full of stuff growing (+ slugs maybe) when you want to be transplanting and sowing in early spring. Also there are not many plants which actually grow in the winter, so these cover crops are only where one is planning later plantings, such as the squash family.
You make me so hopeful that some day I will be able to grow a garden like yours. As I said before it got so much better for summer this year, but I need to figure out how to grow a winter garden as well. Thanks for the video and hagd.
Just reading your excellent "How to Grow Winter Vegetables" and this video was recommended by RU-vid. Great stuff, thank you for sharing and your awesome books!
Commenting from Massachusetts. We have installed a hoop house on our half acre lot in addition to our main garden in an effort to grow in winter. I just finished reading Elliot Coleman’s four season harvest. I couldn’t stop thinking I wonder if Charles dowding and Elliot Coleman ever met. You are both such an inspiration and incredible teachers. I hope you know what a legacy you are
Thank you so much, I'm honoured to be put in the same bracket as Elliot. I have a couple of his books and find them fascinating. Also very different because they have more winter sunshine than we do and less humidity I reckon, so not all his methods adapt. Also, our winter temperatures are quite a bit higher! I did meet him briefly in London at his book launch two years ago, but there was not much time to chat.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig fascinating. Yes well with technology that would make an amazing podcast. He was just on growing a greener world episode w his wife Barbara. It was a great episode. He talked about adding seaweed and clamshells to his compost and how people said why would you care to put clam shells and he talked about how they will add calcium for years to come and he is not looking for a quick fix for soil health he wants to create healthy soil for generations to come like his grandchildren. Anyhow I think a collaboration or podcast with him would be wonderful to hear.
I follow your work and all praise for your dedication to gardening and your efforts to pass on your valuable knowledge and experience. Although, I live on the Adriatic coast and it is a little harder for me to harmonize your instructions due to the climate difference. But either way, I use some of those advices and and I managed to apply some of them😀.
Wow! Fairly new to gardening and the only thing still growing in my garden is claytonia and mache. I didn’t quite realize the sowing dates for winter crops were so early. Oops! Next year though! Think I’ll buy your calendar.
Been sowing broad beans phased since mid October. Some started inside (those are the biggest), some outside. No bird or mice damage yet. Will not eat them, they are purely for cover and manure (as inspired by yr videos). Plenty of pigeons around but they may still have other things to feast on (cabbage) in surrounding plots. May need to cover them, while autumn progresses
I'm in the Pacific Northwest in Canada. We usually are temperate like you. This year has been a tough gardening year. Heat dome in June, drought all summer. Then multiple atmospheric rivers all fall with record damage. Now we are going into snow, freezing rain and we'll below seasonal temperatures. I am not optimistic for my winter crops! Hopefully my couple of low polytunnels save some stuff.
Oh wow! I wonder why you have so many extremes, when you are not far from the temperate water of the Pacific. It makes me realise how fortunate we are here and I hope that some of your plantings survive winter.
Love ALL your videos Charles, it’s always so informative and gives a lot of options. I find your voice and explanations so calming, soothing and encouraging it really makes my evening lovely listening to you at the end of a tiring work day and relaxes me for bedtime.😌 Best tranquilliser in the world! 😂🥰👍👍
Great and useful information Charles. I sometimes get lucky with late sowing times but more often not! Here in Newfoundland the weather is always unpredictable. I guess I must become a smarter planner haha.
This gives me some thoughts of starting my fall broccoli in late July. It's too cold here outside Chicago to overwinter them but should be able to harvest up until the end of Nov with some frost protection.
I wrote something similar in another comment, broccoli is risky where I am, too, it WILL overwinter but if we get a particularly harsh frost, bam, it's gone, so I'd also rather harvest in November or something, but that means sowing it in July maybe and risk our summer heat. Tried August this year and got lovely healthy plants but they couldn't produce a head in time so now I just have to hope for a mild winter and a crop in early spring.
We found the exact same looking caterpillar under our row cover today. Excellent information and looking forward to putting you Calendar to good use next year. Merry Christmas from Victoria Canada:)
My favourite winter crop is Russian Kale. I have some self sown weed plants which are doing well and should crop early and a couple of later sowings. I eat the flower heads like broccoli. Delicious steamed. Very winter hardy.
I have also used spare broad bean seeds as a green compost this year as an experiment, having read these comments I am pleased to see the tips will be useful and tasty as leafy greens in the spring. Win win all round 🥳
Another most enjoyable visit to Homeacres! Your practical information never ceases to amaze! 12" of new snow yesterday and an additional 3" last nigh. Down to -18* C then back up to -5 * C in the last week. The snow is bright and clean BUT.......can't eat snow! Planning for spring planting and keeping warm by the fire. Connie 🐝 from Beautiful B.C.
Great video , made me realise that sometimes I have sown things too late, the packet may say sow until end September but if I’d sown in August I think I would have got better harvests in spring , I will definitely try that next year , I, like you am in the southwest, Cornwall to be exact so your timelines will probably work, I do actually have your diaries also veg journal so I have no excuse just need to keep reading them.
Learning so much. I planted in July a variety of early cabbage, no idea what its gonna happen. Hoping for a small head cabbage by october/nov. Tomorrow I will seed cabbage again and plant under my tomato hoop when the tomatoes are done and maybe I can have a cabbage before its time to transplant the tomatoes. I am pretty much applying a lot of your system and getting so much more out of my garden this year. Always something ready in the cold frame to take the place of a plant that its done supplying produce. I might go ahead and seed some collards to go where my green bush beans are living right now. This is so fun! Can’t thank you enough
This is wonderful and thank you so much for sharing your enthusiasm. I think it's pretty late to expect much cabbage harvest this autumn. In fact tomorrow I'm sowing cabbage and cauliflower to overwinter a small plants, which we transplant late September. They don't grow a great deal after that, even under mesh covers
Nice one Charles. Must admit I gave up planting broad beans in November and just planted in February. I can't remember where I heard it but an old timer suggested planting seeds a lot deeper than usual which seems to work.
Wheelers Imperial is a great cabbage. We have a small bed of these which i planted small. But due to the weather not being too cold yet, i reckon they are almost ready! Even in the North of England the extra mild weatherwe had has given them a real boost. I hope i don`t get bolted cabbage early next year.
