Hello from zone 5! Please let us know how your winter garden turns out. I was out harvesting broccoli almost 2 weeks ago, and I was shocked to find so many cabbage lopers; but just this week after a nice hard freeze, there are none to be found. (Not much broccoli surviving either!) I do have some spinach, kale and salad greens under row covers that are still surviving. Last year I had turnips in January. I just went out this evening to pull a few Rutabagas, which we had for supper. Nice! Lisa

I do a winter market garden. weeds are not an issue as they don't grow well in Ohio winters. we use simple unheated hoop houses, black landscape mulch (for heat, not weed control) and plant things that can take cold like kale, lettuce, arugula, cilantro. We also do warm weather things like tomatoes and day neutral strawberries in hoop houses usually until December But the vast majority of what we sell in winter is stuff harvested earlier like winter squash, potatoes, garlic, onions, parsnips, carrots, rutabagas, etc.. We plant in october and harvest through the beginning of January than things usually go dormant (unless we have a warm and sunny winter than they grow through the entire season). In late Feb the crops wake up again and we harvest them. By mid March most things are beginning to bolt but it is usually warm enough to start succession planting in hoop houses.

Right now, I am still harvesting beans, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, peppers, and an occasional tomato. I will leave these in until weather or deer get them. (My deer tend to stay away in summer and return with armies through the winter.) I have three beds planted for winter vegetables: Red Russian Kale (my favorite green) 2 kinds Asian Mustard (new this year) Bok Choi (new this year) Collards three kinds of lettuces onions garlic (only for greens) carrots spinach Last winter, I grew all of these, except kale, spinach, onions and garlic under tunnels made from tomato cages and floating row cover. Those four made it all winter without any cover at all. Our lowest temperature of the winter was 11 and everything made it through the whole season. It was my first winter garden and I was thrilled! My beds that are "done" for the summer, but will not be used for winter, all have cover crops in them right now. I have used leftover legume seeds for these. It's very interesting. As beans grow, their roots take nitrogen out of the soil and store it in little round nodules all over the roots. Then, once the plant starts to bloom and fruit, the nitrogen in the roots is used by the plant. If you cut down the plant just as it begins to flower, the nitrogen in the roots will be released into the soil. I have considered using winter rye as a cover crop too, but since it's used by hunters in our area to attract deer, I have decided to stick with legume crops in late summer and fall as green manures. Once these crops are cut down in their beds, I will spread compost over the beds and then top them off with a heavy mulch. They'll be ready to plant come spring.

Discussion Posted by Eduarda 10 - Portugal I love berrying shrubs. They are so useful and look so lovely in Winter. So, what are the berrying shrubs that you have, love to have and have to have? Ill start with those I have. - Hollies - ilex aquifolium, JC Van Toll, Golden King, Aureomarginata - Nandina domestica - Firethorn - my privacy edge separating me from the road - Viburnum tinus - some blue berries are already showing up - Callicarpa - the purple berries are wonderful at this time of the year - Pernettya - pink and white berries - Cotoneaster horizontalis - Ruscus - Hips in rosa gallica officinalis and versicolor, Heritage and Veilchenblau What else am I missing for my Winter garden? Eduarda __________________________________________________ Follow-Up Postings: RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: TheGardnr z6 MA Ilex verticillata __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda 10 - Portugal (My Page) Right! I love it. If only I had a source to obtain it! I´ve never seen it offered for trade in Portugal... Eduarda __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Herb Victoria, B.C. Cotoneaster franchetii. Grows to between 2 and 3 meters tall and has LOTS of orange berries. I've just added a picture of ours to the Hortiplex database. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Teri2 6/7 TN (My Page) Ilex crenata (a fast growing boxwood look-alike) is used extensively for sheared hedging here. What most people don't realize is that if you lay off the shears when it flowers in spring, you'll be rewarded with a crop of dark blue berries that will have mockingbirds hopping all over those hedges come winter. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda 10 - Portugal (My Page) I didn´t know that about ilex crenata - thanks for letting me know. Another one I´ve never seen in Portugal, sigh... Eduarda __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: bahia SF Bay Area (My Page) Acmena smithii(purple) Arbutus unedo(red) Cestrum aurantiacum/elegans/nocturnum(white or red) Clerodendrum trichotomum(turquoise) Dianella ensifolia/intermedia/tasmanica(turquoise to deep purple) Duranta repens/stenostachya(golden yellow) Helmholtzia glabberrima(white) Heteromeles arbutifolia(deep red) Hedychium gardnerianum(orange seeds) Mahonia aquifolium/lomariifolia(blue) Pittosporum tobira/undulatum(deep yellow to orange) Symphoricarpos albus(white) Syzygium paniculatum(purple) Not all of these have berries in winter, but all of them do have seasonally showy berries/fruits. It also pays to be careful with berrying shrubs, as the fruits may be exceptionally attractive to birds, and cause problems if spread into wild lands. This is a real problem with some Cotoneaster and Hedera species in California. It may be safest to use plants that can't get established from seed/or aren't quite hardy in your climate, rather than things that can/are... I would look for plants that come from climates with the opposite rainy season to yours, or that are known as noninvasive in your region. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: dirtydave 8 (My Page) I live in Seattle, which has a mild, maritime zone 8 climate not too unlike northern Portugal. All the berrying plants mentioned in the opening list do well here. Here are a few more: Aucuba japonica Sarcococca confusa Ilex cornuta __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: rebow 6 Philly (My Page) beautyberry with its purple berries and winterberry with red ones that last all winter. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda Z10 - Portugal (My Page) I have beautyberry (callicarpa americana) and this year I´m keeping my fingers crossed it will be a real beauty, since it has grown quite a lot since last year and the berries are already forming! I love winterberry, but unfortunately I have never come across it in Portugal. If anyone knows of any mail order company in Europe from where I could import it, I would be eternally grateful. TIA Eduarda __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: luseal z 6-7 PA I used to plant many butterfly bushes, but not anymore. I removed at least ten of them(all) and planted three iridescent purple/blue VITEX. They look like butterfly bushes except they are prettier. The leaves are more beautiful and the spiky flowers, more lush and vibrant than a butterfly bush. I planted them in different beds and use they as a small tree. I pruned all the lower branches so I could plant under them. Unless you want a full bush( which is beautiful, if that is what you want) do not shear this shrub. Stratically prune it like a fine tree and you will be rewarded with a small 5 foot flowering tree/shrub. It needs full sun. (Did you have a sweltering hot summer in Portugal as all the other European Countries had?) __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda Z10 - Portugal Luseal, your suggestion sounds lovely, but unfortunately this is yet another plant I´ve never seen offered for sale in Portugal... I need to have a word with my favorite garden centre and see what they can come up with. We are indeed in the middle of a terrible heat wave. 13 out of the 18 districts which build up the country have been (and still are) under uncontrolable fires and most of the country´s forest has been devastated. 14 people have already died. Thousands of people have lost their homes, burnt to the ground. The government has declared a state of public calamity. Honestly, I cannot remember a more afflicting Summer. And the temperatures are still at over 110 F for we don´t know how many more days to come... __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Iowa_Jade 5a I was reading a book on the Lewis & Clark expedition and read about a description of Symphoricarpos albus or Snowberry. They mentioned it was good for steep banks and erosion control. That is one of the main reasons that I would be interested in same. They mentioned the birds only ate it if they were REAL hungry. All parts of the plant are poisonous, except to birds. Any other choices you might reccomend? Thanks! __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: shrubs_n_bulbs z8/9 UK Symphoricarpos berries are not poisonous, they just taste really bad, that's why the birds leave them. They used to be used as a last-resort food source in winter. They can cause vomiting if you eat enough. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: jeff_al 8 AL (My Page) No one has mentioned skimmia japonica. have a look at joe's photo from the garden photo gallery. now, what in the world is a guy in alabama doing on the winter garden forum? *lol* __________________________________________________