Grow A Tomato UK

Raise Veggies All Year Round With A Propane Heater

4 November 2010 | TomatoCare

Home based gardeners fortunate to live under the frost line in Zone 10 plant, grow and harvest fresh veggies from completely uncovered, unprotected home gardens in every month of the year. They still refer to their crops as Summer season and Winter crops even though the coldest nights of the year generally stay above freezing.

Now, their Northern neighbors, as high as Zone 5, where Winter time temps can often plunge to -20F are reporting their impressive accomplishments raising fresh veggies year-round. Not surprisingly the expense of year round vegetable gardening in Minnesota or Maine can be prohibitive on a commercial scale, but the expense is also well within reach of the average homeowner who wants to cultivate just enough Winter vegetables for private and family consumption.

A compact, properly constructed garden greenhouse strategically placed to catch the heat of the wintertime sun can keep enough warmth in the dirt to keep plant temperatures above freezing during the long nights. The Coleman heater that you use for late Fall backpacking adventures could be fired up occasionally to help keep the vegetables warm and comfortable whenever clouds and snow keep the friendly rays of the sun hidden from view.

Numerous seed providers publish a fall/winter collection for those home gardeners who are eager to grow further than summertime. These types of catalogs include the cole crops (broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc.), root crops, alliums (onions and garlic), Oriental vegetables, some lettuces, European greens, and green spinach that are suitable for chilly and cold weather gardening. The set of Winter vegetables is substantial and almost everybody can get one or more favorites they can look forward to savoring a few times a week right through to the Spring thaw.

Additional late Fall crops that can be harvested well into the cold weather include peas, cabbage, beets, salad greens, turnips, and collards. These kinds of vegetables do not have to take up greenhouse space because they will thrive quite nicely in the ground with only minimum precautions against an early hard frost. In most cases that means just not picking them until you are sure that all their interior water has completely thawed. Should you pick them when they are still frozen they will likely turn into mush before they can be used. Lettuce is particularly vulnerable to spoiling very quickly when picked frozen.

Warming a small garden greenhouse with a Coleman propane heater doesn’t have to be costly, nor does the heater have to operate all the time. A regular volume propane container will last for 25 hours of constant burn at medium to high heater settings. You will probably only use the very lowest settings and get many more hours of heat from one container. Winter plants do not need a constant natural environment of the same seventy-five degree temps which keep people comfortable.

The objective in heating the green house is simply to prevent extended time periods of freezing temperatures. The majority winter season vegetables are rather comfortable in 40 degree temps and kale in particular appears to actually benefit from snowman conditions. You can get additional efficiency out of your heating unit if rather than warming the air you concentrate the radiation directly on to a dark, dense object like a big rock or a pile of dirt. The rock will retain the heat and continue to discharge it back into the greenhouse for a few more hours time after you turn off the heater.

Cold frames, hoop structure and row covers can be employed in outside gardens to fend off the cold and to extend the season. You can minimize the need for a propane heater and other external heat source in the green house by using these same strategies inside. Such things as used milk jugs and jars can provide additional protection to baby plants if you expect an overnight dip down into the single digits.

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