I really like how you take suggestions and test them. Many RUclipsrs don't bother with comments or community, but you do and then go further and test things!
V for Vendetta reference was awesome. Hugo Weaving would be proud.👏😎🤩. Grandma always said you could do this and now I know for sure this is true. Thank you soo much for sharing your gardening journey.
Question : for the inner layer of the onions, is it possible that this is simply due to the upcoming seeding? it seems strange to me that the frost burn the center and not the outside.
You make a really good point. I hadn’t noticed any of the soft inner rings on any other onions up until that point, so I assumed it was due to the much colder temperatures. But perhaps that was simply a coincidence, and these onions were actually just at that point in their lifecycle. Interestingly, one of the smaller onions from that harvest is still sitting in the kitchen, and has since produced healthy shoots. So clearly they were still alive, despite seeming completely frozen. Maybe I’ll try to harvest a few more and see how they look.
@@BackToReality I make this suggestion because in France, when we make our own onion seed, we let onion like you, under mulch, during winter. But i have never look inside at spring... so it s a reel question 😁
At least your dogs actually EAT the carrots. My pups would take them, chew them up, and leave the pile of chewed carrots in a corner someplace. Thanks for the videos. Jon - in ... ... ... Sunny Southern California. (sorry)
Hey Derrick! I watched the potato storage videos and then this one and I must say I really like your scientific approach. You explain well and the animations are a fantastic addition. This video is a great documentation of your findings. Keep gardening and making awesome videos. I wish you and Paula all the best!
I was SO excited to come home from work and find a video from you! You are still my all time favorite gardening RUclips channel! This is some really good information-I live in Minnesota (same winter climate as you) and I will definitely be trying this next fall/winter. Thanks!!
I think you are correct that a thicker layer of mulch would protect everything longer/through colder temps. I've read of people harvesting parsnips in the northern US all winter long, protected under bales of straw (using still-strapped bales makes it easier to remove and replace.) I also think a tarp over everything would add more protection, and again make things easier to access because you can just peel it over to remove the snow.
Interesting. As a Spaniard, I'm proud of Spanish onions boldly going where no other Spanish onios have gone before: Canadian winter. I find it interesting and nice to know, as you may allow some crop to be harvested later, but at the cost of fighting pests and whatever animal may eat them before you.
This year I have installed a soil thermometer in my garden, in depth of about 8 cm. I have checked the temperature daily from september. The coldest period was in the end of snowless november, then it was -18C outside and - 6C in the soil. Now during the December and January we had a lot of snow (ca 30 cm) and the soil temperature has been stable: between -1C and +1C. During the the coldest nights we had air temperature -28C outside, the mildest days +5C outside. I have earlier experience in cellar where the windows were not tight and probably there was -5C degrees of cold. Then the potatoes were frozen and had disturbing sweet taste - not suitable for a culinary feast. In conclusion: Be careful with the soli temperatures in the cold days without snow!
It might keep more heat in if you added the extra mulch in the fall when there is heat still there. Adding more in the winter will just keep the cold in the spring. IMO. Maybe shred the leaves and other mulch so it insulates better. Drape wet cardboard over the works with planks and stones to hold it in place. Might help with deer too. I’ve seen garbage cans buried and used as root cellars
Hello. Are you in Ontario? And if so, whereabouts? I am in Barry's Bay, and trying to figure out this new northern climate... I used to live in Toronto and started using the Back To Eden method, which worked greatly!..I am trying the Ruth Stout method now.
Excellant presentation! I have not yet tried winter harvesting potatoes. I Use the Ruth Stout method here in Alberta where winter temps are known to exceed -35 to -40 and have found perfect potatoes from the previous year when replanting a new crop the following year. This year -50 temps have caused doubt as to whether I will find any stragglers this spring - Guess I will see. Keep up the great work!
One thing you’ve gotta watch out for is carrot root fly larvae damage. If you see that, pull them all before it gets worse (ask me how I know 🤦♀️). I’m surprised you don’t have slug damage on those potatoes. I tried potatoes, but given our warmer falls (zone 6), the potatoes will start growing again if they aren’t harvested. Still I’d like to find someway to do this. Maybe a second crop like they do in the UK (Christmas potatoes).
Your fur babies are plumb little things. But cute! Mine is no smaller. Plus no need having them if you can't spoil them, right. I can only get Pipa to eat carrots 🥕 if its mixed in some kind of sauce like chicken chow main. I just thought about this as I'm writing. You said the carrots in the winter are sweeter then in the summer. Maybe that's why their eating them like candy? Never thought about that 🤔. Or do they eat the carrots all year long? Just wondering. Been a fan since you lived in the van & love when you post on RUclips. Tell Paula hi too. Have a great day, Chris from Missouri
Grandioso, Derrick I will try this garden trick with extra layer of mulch in Zone 4 Twin Cities, of course I will market too, in 2024 for 2025 I will send picture or a video, I look for ways to improve harvest in winter for my family, thanks so much for showing us this is winter time.. happy
As always, I love your content and the way you present it. I've never had anyone actually plan a project/experiment and follow through with it regarding filming the process. I greatly appreciate you. I think the reason your ground is surprisingly easy to dig up, is the loamy soil you have. Please make more videos.
Loved this video. I am gunna direct sew some stuff potentially early this year and I figured I'd follow your example and try container covering them for a bit. Garden experiments for the win!! ❤
I always look forward to your videos. I'm in Cape Breton. I was tempted to leave mine but in the end I didn't, but this has revived my thinking. When did you plant your potatoes? Mine died back so early that that's another reason I harvested them, rather than experimenting. Thanks again for a great video.
Yaay. a video from one of my favourite youtube channels. That carrots do well get sweeter is maybe not so surprising, but I find it very surprising that your potatoes did so well, normally I‘d expect them to go all mushy after such cold weather. Got a bit confused there, how many of those cute dogs do you have?
Maybe applying the thick layer of leaves from the beginning would keep higher tempperature underneath and, eventually, the potatoes wouldn't have been afftected by frost so much. In my trials I had a case with carrots that rot underneath the thick layer of straw which I placed in the autumn. Maybe I did it too early, I don't know.
Why dont you use heap and pit method for storage? If you can please make videos related to other aspect of home farming please make some, your way of describing and making videos are awosome. I am your subscriber from like you were very small channel. I am from Nepal from upper hilly near himilayan region., I am just happy how people like me feel connected!
This was a great experiment. I think you should do another experiment. Trying super-mulching them (including onions) and see how it goes next year. I had the same outcome with the potatoes and carrots. I have not tried the onions, but I'm thinking that if they were buried in a deeper mulch, they would also be fine. Looking forward to seeing if you try again.
I had a friend in Quebec who used root clamps for winter storage. A bit of upfront work, but if you layer them correctly, you just dig into a zone and have an assortment of veg. You can store them closer to the house and fence from deer because it's a smaller holding area. At some point, you need to do the digging up work and the extra insulation work, why not do them up front and move them closer and add deer protection?
Amazing! I would love to be able to do that here! And thinking on what I do here, but against rain, do you think it would be better to cover the row with a plastic piece so the snow is separated easily? With the big stakes and this it should be much easier
I'm going to try a method I saw elsewhere that used bags of leaves as mulch that can be easily lifted aside for harvesting and then repositioned. They used black contractor bags that might afford a few extra degrees of warmth. But I always have lots of garden bags full of leaves from my neighbors if decide against the plastic
Today I saw some overwintered carrots in a raised bed (no mulching). Green growth was already happening, so I foresee some beautiful heads of seeds in no time!
Last year in early spring I picked up a carrot I had forgotten all winter in my raised bed (under mulch), was tiny but it was indeed the sweetest carrot I had ever tasted (just across the river from Ottawa)
I wonder if putting more mulch and perhaps a tarp to cover the mulch to make it easier for the snow. get some help, grab the ends and flip the tarp full of snow off the row. dig around for what you need, and put the tarp back down for the next snowfall. that might also add a bit of insulation as well...don't know if that would encourage mold though.
I was wondering if you intend to practice seed saving with your potatoes and heirloom veggies ... And how you would work that into your garden/storage plan.
Where do you buy your potato seed? We have bought potato seed from an organic potato farm and use the Ruth Stout method. It was an okay return. But, the organic potato seed is quite high priced and I'm not sure if we got a good return+
Yes I think this is ideal. Can you please share how you planted your carrots to work well in this system? I do my potatoes that way and love it but carrots are hard to dig up for me and are in soil for me. Also you are planting without planting with this method
I appreciate your experimentation and your thorough testing of the results! I was inspired to try Ruth Stout gardening a few years ago by your videos and have had great success and I plan to try this too with my potatoes and carrots!
I wonder if the mulch breaking down is generating enough warmth to help the situation? I also wonder if digging a trench and filling it with compost layers then planting the onions in a little soil on top of it, with mulch over that for insulation would help keep the temperature warm enough to stop them freezing in the middle. I see people raising seedling on top of their compost bays to take advantage of this free heat source in cold weather which is what gives me this idea.
Do you mind explaining when you plant these for them to last throughout the winter? Do they keep growing throughout the whole year or do you plant them in late summer especially the carrots do they just last from spring to winter?
For years I have been leaving carrots in the soil however one the colder temps come to cause the soil to get harder I cover with bags of leaves ( maybe double high if I have lots ) which keep the soil soft like in summer. Yes I agree the carrots taste good. I do want to try this with potatoes also.
This was interesting, i have heard of people leaving root veggies in the ground doing winter. Im in Melbourne, aus. We have an all year growing season. So its not something i have ever needed to deal with, so no tips here.
Love the idea but I wonder how well it would work here. I have wire worm issues so I worry that the veg would be eaten or rotten from the damage. You might try a low tunnel to make harvesting and finding things easier.
Hi. Dont know if this is something helpful or not. I dont really eat sweet potatoes but love growing anything and love the look of sweet potato vines/greens. I had a lot this year and discovered you are supposed to cure them. I read you cant just leave them in the ground. So there is a cold and warm cure method. Both involve bringing them in as you did the potatoes. My grandma is 94 yoa. She said her mom always dug the sweet potatoes, then dug a tiny bit deeper, layed in a layer of straw(maybe hay?) Covered with more straw and then put the dirt back on top. So they essentially cold cured in place and then she said her mom.would just go out and get the sweet potatoes as she needed them
I imagine this works so well because of the substrate you use. Nah and compost is warm and has long been used in folder areas to grow throughout winter because the best of the foliage breaking down is enough to keep the plant alive.
This is interesting. We get like 20 cm of snow when we get a dumping. I wasn't sure if this would work for my area of Ontario Canada. Thank you so much for this video. I've always thought this wasn't possible for us.
Fascinating results, as always! I always learn something, even though I'm gardening in Phoenix, Arizona, in the US. Our extremes are opposites, but it's funny to see how often the same kinds of protective measures apply.
Thank you for another interesting and inspirational video. Other late winter vegetables I recommend: Burdock, Angelica, Sunchokes and Black/Purple Salsify. They all need freezing to "ripen" and only need to be sown once (will self-sow the second year). Burdock (Gobo) is very popular among my Japanese and Chinese friends. I love it too.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I tried leaving potatoes in the ground over winter before and wanted to harvest them in late winter, when our autumn harvested potatoes might have turned bad. But surprisingly the potatoes stored in our garage stayed perfect until about April/May (stored in 1 layer covered with 2 sheets of newspaper in shelves) and the potatoes in the ground under 15cm of compost were in tact, but tasted horrible. Maybe it was to wet in the compost, or it was simply too late anyways. But leaving our carrots in the ground went perfect. I just mulched them before the heavy frosts arrived and we picked and used them right until they went into flower next summer :D
Even though I live much farther south than you, in the hills of Tennessee, I have found that a thick layer of mulch with a low tunnel placed over the rows does help immensely. I still have carrots, parsnips, beets, kale, and chard doing just fine. And yes, the temps did hover around 0°F (-18C) for a couple of nights under a blanket of approximately 6 inches of snow.
For Cold Hardy Onions, I'd suggest Bunching Onions. I had some in NH (similar climate), and they were green throughout winter despite the snow and frost on them. Standing tall, they then flowered as soon as Late March/April
Derrick I have followed you & Paula’s journey from van lifer to homesteader over the years and love your channel my parents were ruth stout fans in the 60’s and how you have carried the torch is awesome !! your winter harvesting has reduced some of my hesitancy to move back up north Knowing that the limited harvesting/growing season as a gardener is apparently not as constricting and quite possibly a myth is to say the least friggin fantastic !! Thank you One thing I would be curious about is saw dust vs standard ( staw leaves & or hay) mulch For winterization … thanks for sharing this and so many life journeys with us
I think you are correct that a thicker layer of mulch would protect everything longer/through colder temps. I've read of people harvesting parsnips in the northern US all winter long, protected under bales of straw (using still-strapped bales makes it easier to remove and replace.) I also think a tarp over everything would add more protection, and again make things easier to access because you can just peel it over to remove the snow.
I'll definitely keep this in mind for when I have a yard (being in New Brunswick, we have similar winter weather). I grew nantes carrots last year, and I didn't like any of them until after some frost and the weather got cooler.
I have Sandy soil and use mulch on top but they are in the sand too but not too deep Our friend has clay soil if he leaves them in they rot but the clay holds water and frezes the potatoes
That is awesome. Maybe an added idea right as the snow season starts is to create a removeable covering/teepee/tent/dome type structure that also has good air circulation (like around 3ft high) over the rows that will sluff off the snow (protecting the mulch and food underneath) and create a balanced insulation to keep the temp just a tiny bit higher underneath. That would also serve as your markers when the snow gets deeper.
I really like how you take suggestions and test them. Many RUclipsrs don't bother with comments or community, but you do and then go further and test things!
David the good is good at experimenting too
Nice to see you in the video Paula. Love y’all’s video. Thanks.
V for Vendetta reference was awesome. Hugo Weaving would be proud.👏😎🤩.
Grandma always said you could do this and now I know for sure this is true. Thank you soo much for sharing your gardening journey.
ABSOLUTELY GREAT VIDEO. I would love to store carrots and potatoes in the ground for winter harvest. This video gave me a good idea of how to do that.
I would definitely do this with the carrots, maybe in a raised bed covered with mulch? in our greenhouse or cold frame, they would be easier to find.
Makes me wonder how well that method would work for me out here on Vancouver Island. We seldom even freeze and never for long. Thanks for sharing!
Great video! Greetings from Mich🥶🥶🥶🥶
Thanks for sharing your experiments
An insulated tarp or a sheet Styrafoam never freeze if laid directly on the ground
Question :
for the inner layer of the onions, is it possible that this is simply due to the upcoming seeding?
it seems strange to me that the frost burn the center and not the outside.
You make a really good point. I hadn’t noticed any of the soft inner rings on any other onions up until that point, so I assumed it was due to the much colder temperatures. But perhaps that was simply a coincidence, and these onions were actually just at that point in their lifecycle. Interestingly, one of the smaller onions from that harvest is still sitting in the kitchen, and has since produced healthy shoots. So clearly they were still alive, despite seeming completely frozen. Maybe I’ll try to harvest a few more and see how they look.
@@BackToReality very interesting...
Let us know about the results of this "experiment" in a futur video 😁
@@BackToReality
I make this suggestion because in France, when we make our own onion seed, we let onion like you, under mulch, during winter.
But i have never look inside at spring...
so it s a reel question 😁
At least your dogs actually EAT the carrots. My pups would take them, chew them up, and leave the pile of chewed carrots in a corner someplace. Thanks for the videos. Jon - in ... ... ... Sunny Southern California. (sorry)
Whole Carrots will crack when frozen.
Hey Derrick! I watched the potato storage videos and then this one and I must say I really like your scientific approach. You explain well and the animations are a fantastic addition. This video is a great documentation of your findings.
Keep gardening and making awesome videos.
I wish you and Paula all the best!
I was SO excited to come home from work and find a video from you! You are still my all time favorite gardening RUclips channel! This is some really good information-I live in Minnesota (same winter climate as you) and I will definitely be trying this next fall/winter. Thanks!!
I too have also found that the longer the carrots stay in the ground throughout the colder weather, the sweeter the taste. Thanks for the video.
I reckon ya gonna have to put some stakes at end of the rows to find 'em under the snow.
I think you are correct that a thicker layer of mulch would protect everything longer/through colder temps. I've read of people harvesting parsnips in the northern US all winter long, protected under bales of straw (using still-strapped bales makes it easier to remove and replace.) I also think a tarp over everything would add more protection, and again make things easier to access because you can just peel it over to remove the snow.
Interesting. As a Spaniard, I'm proud of Spanish onions boldly going where no other Spanish onios have gone before: Canadian winter.
I find it interesting and nice to know, as you may allow some crop to be harvested later, but at the cost of fighting pests and whatever animal may eat them before you.
It’s amazing what a few inches of mulch can do to protect veggies!
This year I have installed a soil thermometer in my garden, in depth of about 8 cm. I have checked the temperature daily from september. The coldest period was in the end of snowless november, then it was -18C outside and - 6C in the soil. Now during the December and January we had a lot of snow (ca 30 cm) and the soil temperature has been stable: between -1C and +1C. During the the coldest nights we had air temperature -28C outside, the mildest days +5C outside.
I have earlier experience in cellar where the windows were not tight and probably there was -5C degrees of cold. Then the potatoes were frozen and had disturbing sweet taste - not suitable for a culinary feast.
In conclusion: Be careful with the soli temperatures in the cold days without snow!
Leave the onions in the ground. That way they will flower and set seed. Especially if you like the variety. Saves from buying sets.
I believe I seen someone "mulch" for winter using an entire intact square bale. So you can flip it off the row and it would be easy to find!
Thank you! This was the video I've been waiting to see!❤
It might keep more heat in if you added the extra mulch in the fall when there is heat still there. Adding more in the winter will just keep the cold in the spring. IMO. Maybe shred the leaves and other mulch so it insulates better. Drape wet cardboard over the works with planks and stones to hold it in place. Might help with deer too. I’ve seen garbage cans buried and used as root cellars
Hello. Are you in Ontario? And if so, whereabouts? I am in Barry's Bay, and trying to figure out this new northern climate... I used to live in Toronto and started using the Back To Eden method, which worked greatly!..I am trying the Ruth Stout method now.
Is a greenhouse in the future?
Excellant presentation! I have not yet tried winter harvesting potatoes. I Use the Ruth Stout method here in Alberta where winter temps are known to exceed -35 to -40 and have found perfect potatoes from the previous year when replanting a new crop the following year. This year -50 temps have caused doubt as to whether I will find any stragglers this spring - Guess I will see. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for testing this! Do you have kale and Brussels sprouts growing there atm?
One thing you’ve gotta watch out for is carrot root fly larvae damage. If you see that, pull them all before it gets worse (ask me how I know 🤦♀️). I’m surprised you don’t have slug damage on those potatoes. I tried potatoes, but given our warmer falls (zone 6), the potatoes will start growing again if they aren’t harvested. Still I’d like to find someway to do this. Maybe a second crop like they do in the UK (Christmas potatoes).
Your fur babies are plumb little things. But cute! Mine is no smaller. Plus no need having them if you can't spoil them, right. I can only get Pipa to eat carrots 🥕 if its mixed in some kind of sauce like chicken chow main. I just thought about this as I'm writing. You said the carrots in the winter are sweeter then in the summer. Maybe that's why their eating them like candy? Never thought about that 🤔. Or do they eat the carrots all year long? Just wondering.
Been a fan since you lived in the van & love when you post on RUclips. Tell Paula hi too. Have a great day,
Chris from Missouri
Grandioso, Derrick I will try this garden trick with extra layer of mulch in Zone 4 Twin Cities, of course I will market too, in 2024 for 2025 I will send picture or a video, I look for ways to improve harvest in winter for my family, thanks so much for showing us this is winter time.. happy
As always, I love your content and the way you present it. I've never had anyone actually plan a project/experiment and follow through with it regarding filming the process. I greatly appreciate you. I think the reason your ground is surprisingly easy to dig up, is the loamy soil you have. Please make more videos.
Loved this video. I am gunna direct sew some stuff potentially early this year and I figured I'd follow your example and try container covering them for a bit. Garden experiments for the win!! ❤
I always look forward to your videos.
I'm in Cape Breton. I was tempted to leave mine but in the end I didn't, but this has revived my thinking.
When did you plant your potatoes? Mine died back so early that that's another reason I harvested them, rather than experimenting.
Thanks again for a great video.
Yaay. a video from one of my favourite youtube channels. That carrots do well get sweeter is maybe not so surprising, but I find it very surprising that your potatoes did so well, normally I‘d expect them to go all mushy after such cold weather. Got a bit confused there, how many of those cute dogs do you have?
Maybe applying the thick layer of leaves from the beginning would keep higher tempperature underneath and, eventually, the potatoes wouldn't have been afftected by frost so much. In my trials I had a case with carrots that rot underneath the thick layer of straw which I placed in the autumn. Maybe I did it too early, I don't know.
Why dont you use heap and pit method for storage?
If you can please make videos related to other aspect of home farming please make some, your way of describing and making videos are awosome. I am your subscriber from like you were very small channel. I am from Nepal from upper hilly near himilayan region., I am just happy how people like me feel connected!
This was a great experiment. I think you should do another experiment. Trying super-mulching them (including onions) and see how it goes next year. I had the same outcome with the potatoes and carrots. I have not tried the onions, but I'm thinking that if they were buried in a deeper mulch, they would also be fine. Looking forward to seeing if you try again.
I had a friend in Quebec who used root clamps for winter storage. A bit of upfront work, but if you layer them correctly, you just dig into a zone and have an assortment of veg. You can store them closer to the house and fence from deer because it's a smaller holding area. At some point, you need to do the digging up work and the extra insulation work, why not do them up front and move them closer and add deer protection?
Amazing! I would love to be able to do that here! And thinking on what I do here, but against rain, do you think it would be better to cover the row with a plastic piece so the snow is separated easily? With the big stakes and this it should be much easier
I always look forward to your videos. Living in Nevada, our Temps are very close making these ideas especially applicable.
I'm going to try a method I saw elsewhere that used bags of leaves as mulch that can be easily lifted aside for harvesting and then repositioned. They used black contractor bags that might afford a few extra degrees of warmth. But I always have lots of garden bags full of leaves from my neighbors if decide against the plastic
Today I saw some overwintered carrots in a raised bed (no mulching). Green growth was already happening, so I foresee some beautiful heads of seeds in no time!
Last year in early spring I picked up a carrot I had forgotten all winter in my raised bed (under mulch), was tiny but it was indeed the sweetest carrot I had ever tasted (just across the river from Ottawa)
I wonder if putting more mulch and perhaps a tarp to cover the mulch to make it easier for the snow. get some help, grab the ends and flip the tarp full of snow off the row. dig around for what you need, and put the tarp back down for the next snowfall. that might also add a bit of insulation as well...don't know if that would encourage mold though.
I was wondering if you intend to practice seed saving with your potatoes and heirloom veggies ... And how you would work that into your garden/storage plan.
Where do you buy your potato seed? We have bought potato seed from an organic potato farm and use the Ruth Stout method. It was an okay return. But, the organic potato seed is quite high priced and I'm not sure if we got a good return+
Yes I think this is ideal. Can you please share how you planted your carrots to work well in this system? I do my potatoes that way and love it but carrots are hard to dig up for me and are in soil for me.
Also you are planting without planting with this method
I appreciate your experimentation and your thorough testing of the results! I was inspired to try Ruth Stout gardening a few years ago by your videos and have had great success and I plan to try this too with my potatoes and carrots!
Could some raised garden beds help finding the crops? I mean, it works pretty nice for your back
I wonder if the mulch breaking down is generating enough warmth to help the situation?
I also wonder if digging a trench and filling it with compost layers then planting the onions in a little soil on top of it, with mulch over that for insulation would help keep the temperature warm enough to stop them freezing in the middle.
I see people raising seedling on top of their compost bays to take advantage of this free heat source in cold weather which is what gives me this idea.
Do you mind explaining when you plant these for them to last throughout the winter? Do they keep growing throughout the whole year or do you plant them in late summer especially the carrots do they just last from spring to winter?
For years I have been leaving carrots in the soil however one the colder temps come to cause the soil to get harder I cover with bags of leaves ( maybe double high if I have lots ) which keep the soil soft like in summer. Yes I agree the carrots taste good. I do want to try this with potatoes also.
Hi Derrick, I find your content very interesting. I was wondering if you think it is to early to plant potatoes in the Ottawa area?
Also if storing in ground doesn't work out, what about a vegetable clamp?
I'm a fan. What growing zone are you in? We've had very little cold and snow in southern Ontario this year.
This was interesting, i have heard of people leaving root veggies in the ground doing winter.
Im in Melbourne, aus. We have an all year growing season. So its not something i have ever needed to deal with, so no tips here.
Love the idea but I wonder how well it would work here. I have wire worm issues so I worry that the veg would be eaten or rotten from the damage. You might try a low tunnel to make harvesting and finding things easier.
You give me hope. Another Great video. Wondering if the onions will produce seed for you in the spring.
I watched this whole video repeatedly saying, “No way!”
That was so impressive.
Freeze your ripened tomatoes peels and all then when ready use them to make sauces or ketchup and can it during winter when not so crazy busy.
Parsnips will grow sweeter in the winter, I imagine carrots would act similarly.
How late in the season (in proximity to your first frost) did you plant your potatoes and carrots shown in the video?
Thank you for teaching me how to grow potatoes, Louis C.K.
Did he mention when they were sown into the ground? This is very impressive to me and I wonder how well it would work and more mild climates
In traditional european agriculture root vegetables especially carrots are prased for their sweetness after frost
TY !! For this teaching.
Glad to see old knowledge is coming back and becoming mainstream
Nice with the potatoes and carrots, perhaps the onions need to be picked earlier 😊
Hi. Dont know if this is something helpful or not. I dont really eat sweet potatoes but love growing anything and love the look of sweet potato vines/greens. I had a lot this year and discovered you are supposed to cure them. I read you cant just leave them in the ground. So there is a cold and warm cure method. Both involve bringing them in as you did the potatoes. My grandma is 94 yoa. She said her mom always dug the sweet potatoes, then dug a tiny bit deeper, layed in a layer of straw(maybe hay?) Covered with more straw and then put the dirt back on top. So they essentially cold cured in place and then she said her mom.would just go out and get the sweet potatoes as she needed them
So maybe cover over the hay with a bit more soil?
Wow what an interesting winter method, thanks for sharing.
Great video as always!
I'll be trying this in Ontario.. thanks :)
God Bless from your Canadian Friend.
I imagine this works so well because of the substrate you use. Nah and compost is warm and has long been used in folder areas to grow throughout winter because the best of the foliage breaking down is enough to keep the plant alive.
HAY not nah. How did that become an autocorrect?? 😂
This is interesting. We get like 20 cm of snow when we get a dumping. I wasn't sure if this would work for my area of Ontario Canada. Thank you so much for this video. I've always thought this wasn't possible for us.
Good knowledge too have, thanks for the video
Amazing, I will be doing this
Fascinating results, as always! I always learn something, even though I'm gardening in Phoenix, Arizona, in the US. Our extremes are opposites, but it's funny to see how often the same kinds of protective measures apply.
Great idea for storage
I wish you had more time to do more videos.
Thank you for another interesting and inspirational video.
Other late winter vegetables I recommend: Burdock, Angelica, Sunchokes and Black/Purple Salsify. They all need freezing to "ripen" and only need to be sown once (will self-sow the second year). Burdock (Gobo) is very popular among my Japanese and Chinese friends. I love it too.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I tried leaving potatoes in the ground over winter before and wanted to harvest them in late winter, when our autumn harvested potatoes might have turned bad. But surprisingly the potatoes stored in our garage stayed perfect until about April/May (stored in 1 layer covered with 2 sheets of newspaper in shelves) and the potatoes in the ground under 15cm of compost were in tact, but tasted horrible. Maybe it was to wet in the compost, or it was simply too late anyways. But leaving our carrots in the ground went perfect. I just mulched them before the heavy frosts arrived and we picked and used them right until they went into flower next summer :D
Even though I live much farther south than you, in the hills of Tennessee, I have found that a thick layer of mulch with a low tunnel placed over the rows does help immensely. I still have carrots, parsnips, beets, kale, and chard doing just fine. And yes, the temps did hover around 0°F (-18C) for a couple of nights under a blanket of approximately 6 inches of snow.
Awesome video. Who would have thought you could do that awesome 🛠️🇨🇦🛠️🇨🇦
those are amazing results!
For Cold Hardy Onions, I'd suggest Bunching Onions. I had some in NH (similar climate), and they were green throughout winter despite the snow and frost on them. Standing tall, they then flowered as soon as Late March/April
Derrick I have followed you & Paula’s journey from van lifer to homesteader over the years and love your channel my parents were ruth stout fans in the 60’s and how you have carried the torch is awesome !! your winter harvesting has reduced some of my hesitancy to move back up north
Knowing that the limited harvesting/growing season as a gardener is apparently not as constricting and quite possibly a myth is to say the least friggin fantastic !! Thank you One thing I would be curious about is saw dust vs standard
( staw leaves & or hay) mulch
For winterization … thanks for sharing this and so many life journeys with us
I think you are correct that a thicker layer of mulch would protect everything longer/through colder temps. I've read of people harvesting parsnips in the northern US all winter long, protected under bales of straw (using still-strapped bales makes it easier to remove and replace.) I also think a tarp over everything would add more protection, and again make things easier to access because you can just peel it over to remove the snow.
Thank you #Savesoil #Consciousplanet
I'll definitely keep this in mind for when I have a yard (being in New Brunswick, we have similar winter weather). I grew nantes carrots last year, and I didn't like any of them until after some frost and the weather got cooler.
We always leave tiny taters in and they pop up everywhere in the spring and grow a pot full of potatoes I always liked that :) very early potatoes
I have Sandy soil and use mulch on top but they are in the sand too but not too deep
Our friend has clay soil if he leaves them in they rot but the clay holds water and frezes the potatoes
Russets new white potatoes do very well
Red do ok
Purple mine all rot but it was a wet year so I don't know if that was all the problem or not
Carrots and parsnips do well
That is awesome. Maybe an added idea right as the snow season starts is to create a removeable covering/teepee/tent/dome type structure that also has good air circulation (like around 3ft high) over the rows that will sluff off the snow (protecting the mulch and food underneath) and create a balanced insulation to keep the temp just a tiny bit higher underneath. That would also serve as your markers when the snow gets deeper.
Ok, now this is epic
Cheers brother thanks for sharing
God bless you and your's k
Just saying 🇨🇦😁👍🏻
I'm going to try that way of gardening this coming winter. I live in Bradford,Illinois.
Interesting :)
Thank you for sharing. I live in Bracebridge Ontario and do the same as you. So far so good.
Great video!!! I’m going to try this method this year!
Some great information, thank you for sharing