Thanks for the work you put into this experiment, and making this video. I'm amazed that the plants were still alive covered in snow, albeit not directly, until the deeper frost!
Suggestions: 1) dig all the way around where you are planting a trench about 2 feet deep and wide enough to place FOAMULAR 150 2 inch Rigid Foam Board from the bottom of your trench to top of soil. This will stop the frost line from moving into the planting area. Your mini greenhouse (plastic + hoops) will heat the soil during the day. 2) Place milk jugs full of water in your mini greenhouse. The water will get heated during the day and release the heat over night. If the water starts to freeze the mechanism of water freezing actual release heat during the freezing process, giving you some extra heat value. Good luck ! Enjoy your channel !
I'm so confused. We recently built 2 x cold frames and they are almost 8* F COLDER than the outside Temps. 😢 Probably worse at night but I didn't check. What did we do wrong? We used 2 x 6 for the walls and doubled 6 mil greenhouse sheeting for window, allowing an air gap between each sheet. I placed potted plants in there until the ground temperature rises as we are still in the 20-30s at night. My husband went to alot of trouble to build these for me and I'm so disappointed they don't seem to be working. 😢
I live here in the peace country region of BC growing zone 2b. I have tried some colder temp gardening and am a fan of Elliot Coleman. I pant inside a cold frame inside a greenhouse but I cannot go all winter but I have started as early as March 15 and finished as late as Nov 15. I also placed a woodstove in one of my greenhouses this help a lot. Really enjoyed watching a video from some were closer to my growing zone. The north never gets to much attention when it comes to gardening.
To Vault Ohio… here in Canada and in zone 3, the frost line is 4 feet deep … so your idea is absolutely a most do ! But you need 4 feet wide 2’’insulation board all around not 2 feet. SO yes to 2 feet deep but at least 4 feet wide as well…that is a lot of insulation :). I tried it all around my crawl space for my school portable and it worked … no frost and no water under the the crawl space. I will try it with my garden this year but I will use 2 structures of green house as well. So when the snow comes down, pile the snow as high as you can around the green house to help insulate even more. Hope this will work :)
I'm in zone 3, winnipeg. I learned the hard way too, about carrots. Since they get sweeter after a frost I left them in, only to find that when I did try to harvest, the ground was a solid block of ice. I theorize that if a person did carrots in containers they could take the whole pot inside to thaw once they want to harvest them. But I haven't tried this.
It would certainly be worth a try. The other problem I have is that the worms (root maggots I assume) make a mess of my carrots when I leave them in the ground too long.
I live in Alberta also in Zone 3 and tried growing some lettuce and salad greens through the winter one year in my unheated greenhouse. I put a smaller plastic "tent" inside and had to cover it every night with blankets, and had a 5 gallon bucket with an aquarium heater in it as the only heat source. It worked, even through some days with -30C, but that one salad I got from it just wasn't worth the effort or the cost of even running that little aquarium heater. Still, it was nice to have a garden fresh salad with Christmas dinner. I think I could do it better in there now, but I haven't bothered yet.
Ya. Year round gardening in zone 3 is not convenient or economical. It’s fun to try though. I did actually get some kale to survive the winter a couple of years ago in a straw bale cold frame. Lettuce not so much. 🥶
I grow in zone 3 northern BC . Hot bed is the way to go but dug down into the ground. If you have equipment then use an implement like a rotary plow to dig down at least 6 ". Begin adding your hot bed ingredients. Wood chips work well if you don't have manure. Surround the area with hay bales to raise the level(if you have foam insulation board then you put a layer of this against the inner wall of the hay bales right into the dug down area) and continue adding hot bed materials ,top with dirt and plant . Add your hoops or cold frame on top. This is the only way I have found to keep the ground from freezing solid. Voles are always a problem for us so I add a few metal traps to try to catch a few. Good luck :)
Thank you for sharing your experiences with winter gardening in Canada! I am in Montana in the USA (USDA zone 4) and starting to plan for a fall harvest and am hoping to go as late into winter as I can too 🤞
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Gardening into late fall is definitely feasible in cold climates but winter gardening is a challenge without the benefit of a heated greenhouse. If you read the comments on the video you will find many suggestions that go far beyond my experience. I wish you luck.
Have you heard of greenhouse in the snow? There's lot of YT videos on this type of greenhouse. I moved to an area that is Zone 4. All my neighbors say you can't grow in the winter months. I believe them. The ground is frozen. However, having a geothermal greenhouse like the one I mentioned, it's quite doable to grow in the winter months. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Another zone 3 gardener here. I don't have the chance to garden with hoops cover but let my carrots get snowed on and harvest before the ground freeze. Good luck in your endeavors!
Have you tried to make a double frame around your carrots and salad… at least 1 foot separating them ? It might work ? I would spray insulation on the wood frame and use double glass…or build a green house around all of your gardening beds as a second layer. Pille the snow 3 feet high around to help insulate ??? Will be watching you from Ontario :) I am going to try it this year… I am on granite so my garden will have a hard time surviving the winter but I think we need to find a solution :) Crazy canadian :)
That would probably work. I've been given a lot of good suggestions. I guess at some point, the labor and cost will begin to outweigh the benefits. I suppose that's the joy of living in a cold climate. :)
What you could try is adding the heating wires under the soil. These are wires that you get to melt the snow off the roof. If you buried the wires it might keep the soil warm enough . Just a thought. Also try wrapping in bubble wrap instead of just plastic. Getting a greenhouse this year going to try these two things and see if I can garden all through the winter.
Mike Oehler (RIP) wrote 2 books and taught at many post secondary institutions about his underground solar greenhouse. I've been designing and working on a greenhouse attached to a house here in Zone 3, as Mike claimed he could take his tomatoes into the second week of december every year in Northern Idaho. It may be a few years (living in a tiny home right now while we build gardens and whatnot) but I have hoped to extend the ~90 day grow season substantially with an earth sheltered greenhouse attached to a house using Mike's methods. His books "The $50 and up underground house book" and "The Earth Sheltered Solar Greenhouse book" are full of his experience ~60+ years and in particular the underground house book details his experience moving from essentially the little solar box like you have into a house he could live in year-round and grow his food. Give them a look if you're interested, and I will post any of my experiences as they come. Great channel, love from Sask.
Now im in zone 6 but attempted like yourself gardening throughout winter with just cold frames - even though I have an ideal south facing spot that doesn’t freeze the lack of daylight hrs makes it difficult - dec, jan are just too brutal and I’m in Ontario- i do start up my cold frames by the end of February as a jump on the spring though
I theorize hotboxing compost underneath or by water borne heat exchange. In my mind that ought to help the soil/plants from freezing. Made as raised beds with compost bottom drawer compartments, or just dig a bottom compost grave underneath my lidded coldframes. Capsule bottom and all walls with Jackon XPS insulation say 50mm/2inches thick and just a little heat from the compost process should reach a long way. Do you think that could do the trick ?
I think what you've experienced would be the same as what I figured would happen. Just yesterday we got 2 feet of snow. Tonight we are getting 6 inches. This will happen all winter. I'm in northern Maine, zone 3. Maybe a greenhouse with a cold frame inside it. I'm not getting a greenhouse, though, because the snow and wind would destroy it, so no luck there.
Yeah, I'm afraid I would have the same result. My property is very exposed to the wind. I still find it fun to try in the fall and early winter though. I'd say we don't live too far apart. Last week, we got 14 inches of snow before it changed to freezing rain. We basically escaped the storm earlier this week but we have about 8 inches of snow down so far this morning.
No, I haven’t but it sounds interesting. I’m not sure it would be feasible on a small scale as a hobby gardener, but it would probably be useful on a commercial scale.
@@Laura-Redrockgsp You are probably right. I definitely plan to look into it. I hadn’t heard of heating a greenhouse that way before. Thanks again for the input.
I'm in a 3b with hot summers/open sun part of BC and my mom and dad live in a 3a part (same city, but I'm urban and they're rural), with hot summers but lots of shade, from the fact that they're in a clearing in what I think is a birch grove. I haven't watched this vid yet. I'll see what you make of your zone 3 climate. How's rainfall and snow cover been where you're at of late? Here it was something like 65% of normal in '22. The zone numbers I'm using are US type.
Old maps place me in zone 3b but some of the newer ones put me in zone 4. I live in a frost-prone valley which shortens my growing season for heat-loving crops (unless I use some sort of frost protection) compared to neighbors who are only a few miles away. Living in the Maritimes, our weather is very unpredictable. Although we get adequate rainfall, we usually have a few dry spells throughout the summer but this past summer has been unseasonably wet. Typically snow comes to stay in late November or early December. (I have seen it stay even in October) Last year we had a green Christmas and lower-than-normal snowfall.
Thanks for the work you put into this experiment, and making this video. I'm amazed that the plants were still alive covered in snow, albeit not directly, until the deeper frost!
It amazes me as well how cold tolerant some of these plants are. It definitely extends the season.
Suggestions: 1) dig all the way around where you are planting a trench about 2 feet deep and wide enough to place FOAMULAR 150 2 inch Rigid Foam Board from the bottom of your trench to top of soil. This will stop the frost line from moving into the planting area. Your mini greenhouse (plastic + hoops) will heat the soil during the day. 2) Place milk jugs full of water in your mini greenhouse. The water will get heated during the day and release the heat over night. If the water starts to freeze the mechanism of water freezing actual release heat during the freezing process, giving you some extra heat value. Good luck ! Enjoy your channel !
Thanks for the ideas. Something for me to try next year.
I'm so confused. We recently built 2 x cold frames and they are almost 8* F COLDER than the outside Temps. 😢 Probably worse at night but I didn't check. What did we do wrong? We used 2 x 6 for the walls and doubled 6 mil greenhouse sheeting for window, allowing an air gap between each sheet. I placed potted plants in there until the ground temperature rises as we are still in the 20-30s at night. My husband went to alot of trouble to build these for me and I'm so disappointed they don't seem to be working. 😢
@@clb50 You have to keep the frost line from coming under your cold frame. I describe it above.
@@clb50 Hmm. That is indeed puzzling. I presume the cold frame is getting good southern exposure with lots of sun?
I live here in the peace country region of BC growing zone 2b. I have tried some colder temp gardening and am a fan of Elliot Coleman. I pant inside a cold frame inside a greenhouse but I cannot go all winter but I have started as early as March 15 and finished as late as Nov 15. I also placed a woodstove in one of my greenhouses this help a lot. Really enjoyed watching a video from some were closer to my growing zone. The north never gets to much attention when it comes to gardening.
2b. Wow that’s colder than here! Glad you enjoyed the video and I agree it’s easier to find videos about growing in the warmer climates.
I'm in zone 3-5, depending on the year, in Alaska.
I can't wait to try some of these tricks.
To Vault Ohio… here in Canada and in zone 3, the frost line is 4 feet deep … so your idea is absolutely a most do ! But you need 4 feet wide 2’’insulation board all around not 2 feet. SO yes to 2 feet deep but at least 4 feet wide as well…that is a lot of insulation :). I tried it all around my crawl space for my school portable and it worked … no frost and no water under the the crawl space. I will try it with my garden this year but I will use 2 structures of green house as well. So when the snow comes down, pile the snow as high as you can around the green house to help insulate even more. Hope this will work :)
Just came across your videos and i absolutely love them ... New subbie
Thanks for subbing!
I'm in zone 3, winnipeg. I learned the hard way too, about carrots. Since they get sweeter after a frost I left them in, only to find that when I did try to harvest, the ground was a solid block of ice. I theorize that if a person did carrots in containers they could take the whole pot inside to thaw once they want to harvest them. But I haven't tried this.
It would certainly be worth a try. The other problem I have is that the worms (root maggots I assume) make a mess of my carrots when I leave them in the ground too long.
@@shortseasongarden I personally haven't had root maggots so I can't help ya there.
You could also try wiring the ground with defrost heaters as another commenter did.
I live in Alberta also in Zone 3 and tried growing some lettuce and salad greens through the winter one year in my unheated greenhouse. I put a smaller plastic "tent" inside and had to cover it every night with blankets, and had a 5 gallon bucket with an aquarium heater in it as the only heat source. It worked, even through some days with -30C, but that one salad I got from it just wasn't worth the effort or the cost of even running that little aquarium heater. Still, it was nice to have a garden fresh salad with Christmas dinner. I think I could do it better in there now, but I haven't bothered yet.
Ya. Year round gardening in zone 3 is not convenient or economical. It’s fun to try though. I did actually get some kale to survive the winter a couple of years ago in a straw bale cold frame. Lettuce not so much. 🥶
I grow in zone 3 northern BC . Hot bed is the way to go but dug down into the ground. If you have equipment then use an implement like a rotary plow to dig down at least 6 ". Begin adding your hot bed ingredients. Wood chips work well if you don't have manure. Surround the area with hay bales to raise the level(if you have foam insulation board then you put a layer of this against the inner wall of the hay bales right into the dug down area) and continue adding hot bed materials ,top with dirt and plant . Add your hoops or cold frame on top. This is the only way I have found to keep the ground from freezing solid. Voles are always a problem for us so I add a few metal traps to try to catch a few. Good luck :)
Thanks for the tip. My method worked through November and into early December but not beyond, as you can see.
Merci!!!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with winter gardening in Canada! I am in Montana in the USA (USDA zone 4) and starting to plan for a fall harvest and am hoping to go as late into winter as I can too 🤞
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Gardening into late fall is definitely feasible in cold climates but winter gardening is a challenge without the benefit of a heated greenhouse. If you read the comments on the video you will find many suggestions that go far beyond my experience. I wish you luck.
Have you heard of greenhouse in the snow? There's lot of YT videos on this type of greenhouse. I moved to an area that is Zone 4. All my neighbors say you can't grow in the winter months. I believe them. The ground is frozen. However, having a geothermal greenhouse like the one I mentioned, it's quite doable to grow in the winter months. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Tks. I’ll definitely look into geothermal.
Another zone 3 gardener here. I don't have the chance to garden with hoops cover but let my carrots get snowed on and harvest before the ground freeze. Good luck in your endeavors!
I will definitely harvest my carrots before the ground freezes next year.
Have you tried to make a double frame around your carrots and salad… at least 1 foot separating them ? It might work ? I would spray insulation on the wood frame and use double glass…or build a green house around all of your gardening beds as a second layer. Pille the snow 3 feet high around to help insulate ??? Will be watching you from Ontario :) I am going to try it this year… I am on granite so my garden will have a hard time surviving the winter but I think we need to find a solution :) Crazy canadian :)
That would probably work. I've been given a lot of good suggestions. I guess at some point, the labor and cost will begin to outweigh the benefits. I suppose that's the joy of living in a cold climate. :)
What you could try is adding the heating wires under the soil. These are wires that you get to melt the snow off the roof. If you buried the wires it might keep the soil warm enough . Just a thought. Also try wrapping in bubble wrap instead of just plastic. Getting a greenhouse this year going to try these two things and see if I can garden all through the winter.
Good ideas. Let me know how it works.
Mike Oehler (RIP) wrote 2 books and taught at many post secondary institutions about his underground solar greenhouse. I've been designing and working on a greenhouse attached to a house here in Zone 3, as Mike claimed he could take his tomatoes into the second week of december every year in Northern Idaho. It may be a few years (living in a tiny home right now while we build gardens and whatnot) but I have hoped to extend the ~90 day grow season substantially with an earth sheltered greenhouse attached to a house using Mike's methods. His books "The $50 and up underground house book" and "The Earth Sheltered Solar Greenhouse book" are full of his experience ~60+ years and in particular the underground house book details his experience moving from essentially the little solar box like you have into a house he could live in year-round and grow his food. Give them a look if you're interested, and I will post any of my experiences as they come. Great channel, love from Sask.
Thanks for the input. I've read a bit about underground solar greenhouses. Very interesting idea for sure.
Thanks for the info! We're in NL (5A) NE coast.
Island or mainland?
Year round gardening is my goal. Currently, I overwinter mature plants. Thank you!
You’re welcome. I wish you well.
Now im in zone 6 but attempted like yourself gardening throughout winter with just cold frames - even though I have an ideal south facing spot that doesn’t freeze the lack of daylight hrs makes it difficult - dec, jan are just too brutal and I’m in Ontario- i do start up my cold frames by the end of February as a jump on the spring though
Winter gardening is definitely not for the faint of heart. It was fun to try though.
I theorize hotboxing compost underneath or by water borne heat exchange. In my mind that ought to help the soil/plants from freezing. Made as raised beds with compost bottom drawer compartments, or just dig a bottom compost grave underneath my lidded coldframes. Capsule bottom and all walls with Jackon XPS insulation say 50mm/2inches thick and just a little heat from the compost process should reach a long way. Do you think that could do the trick ?
I’m sure that would probably help. At this stage, that’s more work than I want to put into a winter garden 😄
I think what you've experienced would be the same as what I figured would happen. Just yesterday we got 2 feet of snow. Tonight we are getting 6 inches. This will happen all winter. I'm in northern Maine, zone 3. Maybe a greenhouse with a cold frame inside it. I'm not getting a greenhouse, though, because the snow and wind would destroy it, so no luck there.
Yeah, I'm afraid I would have the same result. My property is very exposed to the wind. I still find it fun to try in the fall and early winter though. I'd say we don't live too far apart. Last week, we got 14 inches of snow before it changed to freezing rain. We basically escaped the storm earlier this week but we have about 8 inches of snow down so far this morning.
Could even try having a hoop house with a big hot compost pile inside.
Yes, that would help for sure.
Have you researched geo thermal? I haven't read enough about setting it up yet but on my bucket list.
No, I haven’t but it sounds interesting. I’m not sure it would be feasible on a small scale as a hobby gardener, but it would probably be useful on a commercial scale.
@@shortseasongarden I think it's for both. More to search out.
@@Laura-Redrockgsp You are probably right. I definitely plan to look into it. I hadn’t heard of heating a greenhouse that way before. Thanks again for the input.
I'm in a 3b with hot summers/open sun part of BC and my mom and dad live in a 3a part (same city, but I'm urban and they're rural), with hot summers but lots of shade, from the fact that they're in a clearing in what I think is a birch grove. I haven't watched this vid yet. I'll see what you make of your zone 3 climate. How's rainfall and snow cover been where you're at of late? Here it was something like 65% of normal in '22.
The zone numbers I'm using are US type.
Old maps place me in zone 3b but some of the newer ones put me in zone 4. I live in a frost-prone valley which shortens my growing season for heat-loving crops (unless I use some sort of frost protection) compared to neighbors who are only a few miles away. Living in the Maritimes, our weather is very unpredictable. Although we get adequate rainfall, we usually have a few dry spells throughout the summer but this past summer has been unseasonably wet. Typically snow comes to stay in late November or early December. (I have seen it stay even in October) Last year we had a green Christmas and lower-than-normal snowfall.
Digging for gold🥕.
🤣