December 2023 Edible Garden Planner

Early December garden; chard in the foreground, herbs in the background

December 2, 2023

December is when many stick to the indoors and staying warm.  When winter arrives, it may appear that everything is dead outside, but there is still life in the garden.  In the beds, kale, cabbage, salad burnet, sorrel, rosemary, oregano, garlic, onions, lettuce, leeks, chard, dill, celery, sage, carrots, broccoli, spinach are all still green in December.  Under cover, greens and lettuce are growing.

Winter edible garden

This fall had weeks of above average temperatures followed by weeks of below average temperatures with below normal for rainfall.  I am still watering the outdoor pots of edibles. I bought a walk in, pop up greenhouse this fall, so we brought most overwintering tropicals, pepper plants, eggplant and petunia into the greenhouse.  My bay tree, large lemon tree, aloe vera, and brugmansia were brought into the basement.  I have a few more hardy tropicals still outside like a grapefruit, moringa tree, and jasmine tree outside.  I try to keep them outdoors for as long as possible as they just do better outside than inside.  I have treated them for pests to try to keep them healthy when they come inside.

I will keep an eye on how cold it is getting in the walk in greenhouse and bring the rest of the tropicals in when it starts going below 26F inside the greenhouse.  I have the eggplant and pepper plants along the walls of the greenhouse.  When they start getting nipped, I'll definitely know it is time to bring the tropicals indoors.

 The eggplant and pepper plants will continue to produce for a few more weeks in the greenhouse.  A neighbor brought over 4 Tumbling Tom tomato plants.  I transplanted them into larger pots.  I'll leave 2 inside the greenhouse and bring 2 into the house and put in a sunny window as a test to see how long they will last in the greenhouse and which conditions produces the most tomatoes.

Outdoors, fresh herbs, onions, kale and broccoli are just steps away from the back door, my 2 small portable green houses are packed with greens.  My rosemary did not make it through last winter.  The one I started from seed in early summer also did not make it.  I have another rosemary that I potted up this fall.  I haven't decided if I am going to bring it indoors or leave it in the greenhouse.  I've tried all different kinds of "hardy" rosemary and our typical late winter warm up followed by an early spring blast of frigid temperatures kills them every time if left in the garden bed to overwinter.

Most Mediterranean herbs are perennials so you get to enjoy them practically year round.  You can also grow many herbs indoors as well like chives, oregano, rosemary, parsley, chervil, and basil.  Rosemary, basil and bay are good ones to dig up and bring indoors to guarantee survival through the winter.  Just place your potted herbs in a sunny window.  I keep my bay tree in a pot and bring into the basement with grow lights for the winter.  My bay trees is over 8 feet tall after 7 years in a pot.  I should repot it into a larger pot and divide the starts coming up next to the mother plant.  

Growing herbs indoors for winter

If you are using a greenhouse or row cover, your kale, celery, mustard, lettuce, chard, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, sprouting broccoli will be happy all winter.  They will not grow much until sunlight gets back to 10 hours per day in late January, but you can still harvest from them through the winter if they are of good size now.  Be sure on sunny, warm days in the 50's to pop the top on your covers or you can scorch your greens.  It can get 50 degrees warmer inside a greenhouse on a sunny day than the actual temperature outside.  Do check to make sure your pots in the greenhouse have enough moisture.  Open when it is warm to check, water and harvest.  I try to open when it is warm and raining.  You don't have to water much when the greenhouse is closed as it keeps all the water vapor inside.  While plants are actively growing, fertilize every couple of weeks.  

Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter

Cultivated dandelion in a pot

All cold crops are at their sweetest during the cold weather.  Frost brings out the sugars in cold crops.  Hardy greens like chard, kale, spinach, mustard greens, cultivated dandelion greens, pea shoots and collard greens make great salads and are tasty steamed or braised.  You can still sow seeds in December to get a head start on the spring garden; the seeds know when conditions are good for growing and will sprout.  What to plant in the December edible garden

Make sure if you have any potted veggies to put them on the ground if they are on coasters to keep them warmer during the winter.  The ideal location is in full sun and a sheltered area on the south side of the house to extend their growing time.  Placing straw bales around them or mounding mulch provides extra protection.  Moving them up against the wall on the south side does double duty-southern exposure gets the most sun and warmth and the wall radiates its warmth back at night.  Pots left exposed on all sides will be a zone colder than the ones planted in the ground.  If you are in Zone 7, be sure that plants left in pots are hardy to at least Zone 6 if you want them to come back in the spring.  If they are not, put under cover, mulch around them or bring into the garage or basement for the winter.

Extend the season with protection for plants

Veggies like your favorite tomato, pepper, eggplant, or celery that you potted and moved indoors will continue to produce indoors if provided warmth and enough sunlight.  My Chiptelin pepper plant is one I bring in every year.   I also started a tiny tomato plant and a variegated foliage pepper plant indoors in June.  Both are still doing well in the sunroom and producing fruits every once in a while.  For the large pepper plant, I place it in the sunniest spot in the garage or basement and supplement with 4 foot fluorescent grow lights.  

Your indoor and outdoor plants will still need to be fertilized at about half the rate as during the growing season.  A liquid fertilizer every two weeks would be plenty.  I used a slow release all natural fertilizer for my greens when I covered with the portable greenhouse covers.

Be sure to spray your edible garden beds with deer repellant, sooner rather than later.  The deer and rabbits will be getting hungry and your edible garden will look like a feast to them!  If you keep them from getting into the garden the first time, it is much easier to deter them after the fact.  Quick tip-how I keep the deer away

Chives in front, sage and rosemary in back

In addition to the greens, onions and fresh herbs fresh from the garden, we will be eating the extras I put up over the summer and fall.  I have green beans, okra, tomatoes, pesto, winter squash, sweet peppers, zoodles, sweet peppers, eggplant dip and hot peppers in the freezer.  Canned tomato sauce, hot peppers, pickles, pickle relish and deer meat in the pantry.  I have my first storage veggie in our new cellar, Trombetto that can be eaten young as zucchini or stored over the winter as winter squash.  I have dried onions, dried shiitakes, homemade chili powder and herbs for seasoning dishes.

Preserving the extras from the summer garden

If you don't have much freezer space but want to grow what you can preserve without freezing, check out this blog for your garden this next year Crops that store themselves 

If you weren't able to put in your own garden this year or have enough to put up for the cold months, buying local is a good option.  Many farmers markets will open up again right before Christmas.  You can also look up local farms at www.localharvest.org  If you want to support your local farmer and get fresh produce come spring, buying a share from a local farmer is an excellent option.  It's called CSA (community supported agriculture).  You buy a share now and then get a weekly allotment of fresh produce when gardens start producing again in the spring.

Before I started our own edible garden, we joined a CSA.  It was great.  We got lots of super fresh produce, our weekly grocery bill was significantly reduced as our meals were planned around the vegetables, and it was an adventure getting to try new recipes with veggies we had never ate before.  
Eat well, be healthy

A CSA shows you what grows well in your area.  You can find out the varieties you like and when they come into season.  You can even save the seeds from the varieties that you want to grow in your future garden if you partner with an organic CSA that grows open pollinated and heirloom vegetables and fruits.
What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

To advertise as “organic” you have to be certified.  Many farmers cannot afford to do this.  Some farmers participate in the "Certified Naturally Grown" program.  This is less expensive than USDA organic, but also relies on inspections by other CNG farmers, non-CNG farmers, extension agents, master gardeners and customers instead of USDA certified agents.  If you are interested in produce grown without pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals, ask the farmer if she uses organic practices.  Go visit them to see the garden for yourself before you commit.  You can also check out reviews on line. 

Many sell out by January so don’t delay if you want to join!

Tarragon, thyme, sage, rosemary and chives

Winter is time to savor the fresh herbs from the garden along with what you have preserved, browsing for canning ideas, and planning next year's garden.  A potential Christmas meal using what is growing in the garden in December, Jazz up the Christmas feast with herbs from the garden  Consider making herb mixes and herbal salts to give to family and friends as Christmas gifts.  Make your own "Herbes de Provence"   Using herbs, flowers and fruit for flavored sugars and salts   If you had a bumper canning season, consider giving extras as Christmas gifts too or to your local food panty.

I have used Christmas break in the past as the time to finalize my garden plan for the spring.  I look back on my notes from last year's edible garden and this year's seed catalogs to decide what new varieties to add to my standbys.  Here is my 2023 garden reflections and plans for 2024.

Reflections on the 2023 edible garden and plans for 2024 

Seed catalogs have started arriving and there are tons to look at on the internet that you can start ordering for your spring garden.  For tips on choosing seed catalogs to order from:   New seed catalogs are here!