Good luck Lazy! I don't think I could get away with that here in Missouri without some serious protection. I have to be content with growing a few lettuce plants under lights in my basement until at least the end of February. Who knows what will be possible in a few years though with the climate changes and mild winters we have seen in my area the last couple years.

Look into the frost-tolerant vegetables. Reportedly, if you start them in August-September (depending on where you are) they will get to full size, then slow growth but stay harvestable all winter. You put them in low tunnels under frost cloth when it gets into the high 20s at night.

This woman does it in Zone 6b (Kentucky mountains) and interviewed people doing it in colder zones than that.

http://www.motherofahubbard.com/10-vegetables-more-cold-hardy-than-kale/

My lettuce seedlings have doubled in size - which was easy because they were really tiny.

I have lettuce, spinach and parsley under a cold-frame, that have not yet died from -8°C or so nights. They are not growing either, as they get full shade in their location this time of year and the sun has popped out from the clouds about 5 times since early October anyway, blergh.

Lazy - The problem is that we usually get down into the low single digits or even below zero some years here. Frost blankets won't do much to help when it is that cold. The ground also freezes solid for at least a couple months most years. Add that to the fact that day length is too short for much if any growth until late February and it is just not practical to expect success.

I am just happy when cold hardy things like perennial onions, garlic, etc. survive the winter unscathed. I do have a few leeks and a couple well mulched Brussels Sprouts left in the garden that I'm hoping survive until Christmas dinner. They will have to survive the predicted single digit lows on Friday morning and then it looks like only one other night below 20 on the 15 days forecast thru Dec 20.

Row Covers are your answer and come in different weights and lengths

Agribon AG-19
Agribon AG-30
Agribon AG-50

Answer to what? Yes I know they come in different weights. The heavier ones also greatly diminish how much sun gets thru to the plants which is already minimal in the winter.

I am happy for those in milder zones that can manage to grow a few hardy vegetables thru the winter months but it is just not practical or economical here where I live.

I agree with Jack. Even Johnny's who are experts on this stuff acknowledge that nothing is going to grow in the winter in my climate. There is just not enough sun, nevermind the cold. In my garden growth stopped over a month ago.

Compounding that issue is the ground freezing solid as typically happens in the winter, or the 3 feet of snow that may bury the garden. Maybe in a large quality greenhouse or high tunnel you can keep plants alive in the winter... but they still aren't going to grow. Of course with the right plants started in the summer and protection such as row covers it is possible to draw the harvest out quite a bit, especially in a mild winter like we have had the past few years. But honestly it is true dedication to try and face these issues and hope nothing goes wrong.

IMHO it is important for new gardeners to understand that in most circumstances plants simply do not grow in late fall or winter regardless of whether you can keep them alive or not. Growth is also slow in early fall and starting plants early is imperative, despite high temperatures. Fall growing info you find online typically ignores this critical info and focuses solely on cold tolerance for survival. Even that information is typically incorrect as many plants can tolerate much colder temperatures than listed under gradual conditions (based on my experience), and it is one of those things that seems to be continually regurgitated by people who haven't actually tried it.

Now the OP is in NM and that's a different animal than up here. There may be more sun, and less cold and snow. Let us know how it turns out!

Our lows might be as low as KY but it doesn't stay low all day (one of the issues with the USDA zones is that they don't consider the ameliorating effects of less time at that temp). What's to my benefit here is that we have a lot of clear, sunny days above
freezing. And our snowfalls melt off in a
couple of days.

Available Sunlight?

NM is only 2% less than NV for KWH of solar energy, and roughly twice what Kentucky gets. The site below is meant for solar panels and power generation, but it's
a good proxy for the "is there enough light to grow stuff here?"
question.

http://solarenergylocal.com/states/kentucky/  
I'll be tracking how things are growing - taking pictures of the same spots in the beds so I can compare leaf size and count week to week. Totally experimental season for me. If I can plant out seedling leafy greens in fall and early winter, even if they don't grow much until late winter, that means my tiny seed starting space is freed up for chiles and other summer stuff in the spring. Those have a short window for transplanting to get them established in time for the hot weather growing season.

Very cool experiment LG! I look forward to hearing about the results.

This year was the latest I have ever taken anything into the fall. I just harvested the last of my Cauliflower last weekend. The plants were still fine but the heads had pretty much stopped growing and I noticed one head had some apparent freeze damage.

Next fall I am going to try to extend some greens later into the fall in a low tunnel. This year I transplanted my Romaine lettuce in Mid August and most of it bolted in a 90+ hot spell in late September. I am going to hold off planting the greens until early to mid September next year and be prepared to protect it as fall progresses. I don't grow many other greens other than lettuce anymore.

Good luck LG, I would definitely be interested to hear how you make out.

Just picked a bunch of carrots today before 20 degree Temps due Thursday night for a few nights in a row. I left some in to see how they handle the cold. Spinach growing slowly. I have some cabbage and Brussels sprouts to pick tomorrow.

Very nice looking carrots HHF!! What variety are they?

We are currently at 18 degrees here in KC this morning with wind chills in the low single digits. The ground should freeze up nicely and stay that way for the next couple months.

Time to go into hibernation!!

Yeah those carrots look awesome!

Wow Jack that is awful. We have 37/24 forecast for the next 2 days. 29 tonight. Kind of normal December temperatures for a change. Colder but we aren't getting the brunt of the vortex you are.

Yeah not too nice but it could and will be worse, but I have my long johns on so I'll survive :) I'm sure the Oakland Raiders were a little shocked when they got off the plane yesterday! At least we only got a dusting of snow yesterday.

Most of the carrots are Negovia F1 which seem to be getting difficult to find. Carrots have surprisingly done well in my gravel and clay soil. Those grew in a spot that was mostly gravel four years ago but has had intensive cover crops since then along with composted wood chips mixed in two years ago.

The key to winter gardening success is to have the plants at harvest size when the day length gets too short for growth. Then they just sit there, waiting to be harvested. (Immature plants are much less hardy than mature ones.)

Here in 6A I have winter lettuces, tatsoi, kale and collards under row covers. Normally I also have savoy cabbages which have handled night temps near 5 degrees, and spinach (crop failure this year) which overwinters even without any protection at all. It gets quite ragged, but by late Feb. I can trim off the ragged leaves, side dress and begin to get new greens. This also works with the kale I grow--Winterbor, the hardiest of all the kales. Unless it gets well below zero, the kale begins to send out flushes of tender, delicious spring growth by mid Feb. I can harvest this until well into April.

I used to be able to store carrots and beets right in the ground, covered deeply with hay, but voles have put a stop to that. I still can store turnips in the ground since the voles leave them alone.

Winter harvest is quite easy in my zone and up.

The key to winter gardening success is to have the plants at harvest size when the day length gets too short for growth.

Definitely agree -- sounds like you got some great methods working well for you. :)

I am leaving some mustard greens to see if they overwinter this year, unprotected. In my location we typically get around -10F as an extreme low, the -5F to -10F kills a lot of things. If the extreme low was 0F, I think I could overwinter a lot more.

LoneJack ... I'd be hibernating!

Lacey ... I'm exploring the possibility of starting leafy greens in late fall and "storing" them in the garden under a frost cloth during the winter so they are out of my way when I need the seed starting space for chiles (we have our priorities in this state).

It's a lot easier to use soil blocks in controlled conditions than to seed in the garden and try to keep them from drying out.

Then I can have a three-planting rotation for leafy greens: Late fall for harvest in early spring, late spring for harvest in spring/summer, late summer for harvesting into the winter.

Brrrrr...11 degrees this morning at my house but a balmy 18 degrees at my office in downtown KC. At least the wind is still.

The few remaining top leaves on my Brussels Sprouts look to be toast and the remaining leeks are laying flat. On a happier note, my indoor lettuce is growing well and I should be able to get the first harvest around Xmas.

The Raiders didn't seem to care for our weather last night!

Last winter, an unusually warm one here since I don't think it got to -10F at the coldest, I had one Winterbor kale that the voles didn't eat which overwintered totally unprotected. Right now I am still eating kale from the garden, with Winterbor less battered than Redbor which isn't as hardy. Our temperatures are into the 20's at night now, with Lone Jack's colder weather arriving today.

I often have leeks overwinter when well-mulched, and though I don't harvest them outdoors in winter, they do provide fresh veggies through the fall and in early spring. Unfortunately, last winter the voles ate them, something I didn't think they would do, so this season's are in a cold cellar. I've also had fall sown, sprouted spinach overwinter unprotected to sprout again in really early spring, far earlier that I want to be out working in the garden.

There are small-scale farmers in my area who follow Elliot Coleman's guidance and do winter greens and root crops in high tunnels as Laceyvail describes, growing them to size before the days get too short, and then harvesting them through the winter. During particularly cold spells, low row cover gets used in the high tunnels as well, so the ground never freezes and root crops can be harvested if there aren't issues with voles.

HARVESTING leaves from the kale and Bok choi and lettuce

Looks good!

This is the first winter in quite a while that I'm not winter gardening. I do miss harvesting greens. I'll try to start back up sometime in mid February.

I think the garden will be better off taking a season off. Let everything freeze for a change and be covered with compost, mulch and cover crops.

Lazy_Gardens, I am in a zone colder than you in New Mexico. My kale and parsley under cover are all doing fine. I have some romaine in milk jug cloches and they are still doing well, too, with just a bit of frost damage. My parsley that is not under cover is actually starting to grow already.

How much of a learning experience this year is though, I have to wonder. I had an exceptionally early freeze (late September) but then it was very nice for a very long time. There have been a few cold snaps (last weekend we went negative) but today was in the 50s. My big fear is that the fruit trees are going to break bud way too early and then get hit by a bad frost. Hopefully in your zone, that won't happen.

UPDATE: a few of the bok choi are starting to show blossoms. Time for some stir fry before they totally bolt.