I am so excited to share my winter garden adventure this year with Green Acres. I am planting in zone 9 join along in the garden fun!

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I am so excited to share my winter garden adventure this year with Green Acres. We are in Lincoln, CA and that makes my winter garden I am planting zone 9. We are in a typical low frost zone here in California. For zone 9 gardening there is a long growing season with hot summers. Most vegetable varieties will have no issue maturing before frost.

How do you get the winter garden ready?

Before you plant your garden you first need to pick an area that gets at least 8 hour of sunlight of more each day with well drained soil. If you are using an existing garden like I am you need to remove all the weeds and left over plants from the summer garden. I did that a few weekends before I planted. Next it i best to till the ground a few inches deep in the area you want to plant.

Winter plants sometimes do better when they are started as transplants from seed but the starter plants at Green Acres are amazing. Ever since Trevor & I moved to Lincoln Green Acres has been our day date spot where we go for homesteading inspiration. To keep going with growing vegetables in the winter be sure to group plants together according to the frost tolerance schedule. This information is available on the Green Acre website.

Water the garden deeply, every other day or less if there is lots of rain present.. Row covers or plastic can be used to protect the plants from pests, although they’re usually not as rampant during this time. Covering can also protect plants from wind and colder temperatures.

What to plant in your winter garden?

Winter Garden 2019:

Broccoli – Has a great source of vitamins K and C. Also a great source of folate acid. I plant broccoli for soup and to roast.

Cauliflower – Lots of nutrients with vitamin C and K. My favorite meal to make with cauliflower is to make mashed potatoes my absolutely favorite!

Spinach – Full or magnesium and potassium! Spinach is my go to favorite with egg stir frys and salads.

Beets – Low in calories and are a superfood. Really great in salads in my opinion.

Swiss Chard – Packed with disease fighting antioxidants and vitamin K. I love rainbow chard that I add to soup. Pretty much any soup tastes wonderful in.

Celery – Vitamin C and potassium mostly water. There is lots of soup that celery is wonderful in!

Carrots– A great source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K and potassium. Again another item I put into soup mainly!

Brussel Sprouts – Vitamin C and they are amazing roasted with some bacon that is my favorite dish!

Cabbage – Full of Vitamin K and Vitamin C. I mainly use this item for soups and casserole dishes. Nice and hearty for the cold weather

There are so many more items to plant those are some of the staples I planted this year. It took my a bit longer to plant everything than normal with Frankie. There were some days I had smaller increments of time in the garden but i look forward to her growing up and learning to know where her food comes from with harvesting it herself. I also planted some tulip bulbs, snapdragons and primrose for some color in the garden. The lush green colors of a winter garden keep me so happy with the mix of flowers when winter sets in and there is lots of dark cloudy days. Breaks in the rain and storms keep me occupied with collecting vegetables to put into soups for all winter time.

My favorite items to use in the winter garden:

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I only share items I truly LOVE. Thank you for your support of this growing blog!

Be sure to stop by your local Green Acres if you are in the area and look at the amazing starter plants they have available for your winter garden friends! If you would like me to share my winter garden recipes please let me know and for what items you have planted. I appreciate when you all share your guys homesteading experiences.

Hugs, Christina

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