How to Grow Your Own Food 365 Days a Year No Matter Where You Live

Year-Round
the
The
Year-Round Vegetable Gardener

Vegetable
Gardener
Spring
Use cold frames and mini
hoop tunnels to get a jump
on spring

su m m e r
Harvest warm-weather crops
weeks earlier

fa l l
Plan for succession to
continue the harvest through
the summer into
the fall

winter
Keep harvesting straight
through the winter

Niki Jabbour
ß
Storey
P h o to g r a p h y b y
J o s ep h D e S c i o s e

62568YearRoundBLAD.covers.indd 3 5/5/11 2:04:12 PM

 Non-Stop Crops!
December Nova Scotia-based gardener and writer Niki Jabbour shares her
2011 secrets for growing food during every month of the year, pro-
viding a never-ending supply of delicious produce. Her season-
defying techniques, developed in her own home garden where
short summers and low levels of winter sunlight present the
ultimate challenge, are doable, affordable, and rewarding for
food gardeners living in any location where frost is the usual
end to the growing season.

Publicity
• Book trailer & photo exhibit offered for online slideshows
• Garden & food website and publication features
• National publicity in daily newspaper gardening columns
• Author’s own blog and radio show promotions
• Author events in U.S. and Canada

Publicity Contact: Adam Carmichael (413) 346-2139

or adam.carmichael@storey.com
The Year-Round
Vegetable Gardener The Author
Full-color; photographs and illustrations throughout Niki Jabbour is a food gardener and garden writer
256 pages; 8½ x 10‡/• who lives near Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her articles have
appeared in Canadian Gardening, Garden Making,
Paper: $19.95 US / $23.95 CAN
Gardens East, The Heirloom Gardener, and other pub-
ISBN: 978-1-60342-568-1; No. 62568
lications. She is the host of The Weekend Gardener, a
Hardcover: $29.95 US / $35.95 CAN call-in radio show that airs throughout the Maritime
ISBN: 978-1-60342-992-4; No. 62992 provinces on News 95.7 FM and www.news957.com,
and she blogs at yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.
eBook available
com. Her garden boasts over 40 heirloom vegetables and herbs that keep her
December 2011 family eating fresh food year-round.
4  

62568YearRoundBLAD.covers.indd 4 5/5/11 2:04:22 PM

 contents
Introduction 10
Part 1 Rethinking the Growing Seasons 18
Chapter 1 Getting the Timing Right 19
Chapter 2 Intensive Planting 33
Chapter 3 Growing Into Winter 52
Chapter 4 Designing Productive Gardens 70
Part 2 Growing the Right Vegetables 89
Chapter 5 Vegetables 90
Arugula • Asparagus • Beans • Beets • Broccoli • Broccoli Raab • Brussels Sprouts • Cabbage •
Carrots • Cauliflower • Celery & Celeric • Claytonia • Collards • Corn • Cucumbers • Eggplant •
Endive • Garlic • Kale • Kohlrabi • Leek • Mâche • Melons • Mibuna • Mizuna • Mustard • Onion •
Pak Choi • Parsnips • Peas • Peppers • Potatoes • Rutabagas • Spinach • Sweet Potatoes • Swiss
Chard • Summer Squash • Tatsoi • Tomatoes • Turnips • Winter Squash

Chapter 6 Herbs 200

Basil • Chervil • Chives • Coriander • Dill • Greek Oregano • Parsley • Rosemary • Sage • Thyme

Appendix
Builders’ Guide 230
Succession Planting and Interplanting Charts 235
Resources and Suggested Reading 240
Index 250

62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 1 5/5/11 2:03:25 PM

 June 6th August 5th

Four Seasons of Fresh Vegetables

November 14th January 15th

2  

62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 2 5/5/11 2:03:30 PM

 Introduction
I t all started with a row cover. Years ago, on an to protect a wide variety of cool- and cold-season crops.
unexpectedly mild day in late November, I happened to They’re even draped over winter carrot and parsnip beds
wander up to the empty vegetable patch. I hadn’t actually to hold down the thick mulch of shredded leaves that
been up to the garden since the garlic was planted in mid insulates the root crops.
October, thinking the season was over until the following Another handy season-extending tool is the cloche.
spring. Yet as I strolled the pathways, I discovered that the Gardeners have been using cloches for centuries to shelter
bed where we had enjoyed arugula until early October was crops. What could be easier than putting an old glass jar
still going strong! I immediately headed back to the house upside-down over a newly planted tomato seedling? Or a
for a bowl and picked a big salad for supper. milk jug with the bottom removed? Yet, this simple barrier
That night it snowed a few inches, but the next day, I against the elements can help expand your growing season
headed back up to the garden to see if the arugula had suc- by several weeks at either end. I also like the water-filled
cumbed. It hadn’t! Instead, the vigorous leaves were poking cloches, which let me plant tomatoes in the garden weeks
out of the snow, begging to be picked. I grabbed a few row before the last frost, giving me the earliest tomatoes on the
covers from the garage that I typically used to protect the street!
tomatoes after spring planting and placed them on top of Of course, we don’t harvest heirloom tomatoes in January
the arugula patch. With that simple level of protection, we (although I do keep a dozen large bags of garden tomatoes
enjoyed arugula from the garden until after Christmas. tucked away in the freezer for a winter treat). Rather, we’ve
I soon began to experiment with some of the hardier learned to work with the seasons and grow the right veg-
vegetables that I found listed in seed catalogs — leeks, etables at the right time. In spring and summer, we have all
salad greens, carrots, scallions, kale — and realized that the usual characters — beans, peas, tomatoes, carrots, broc-
with some basic shelter, the traditional coli, lettuce, and much, much more. Come
gardening season could be extended by autumn, we don’t hang up our gloves and
months. A few good books, such as Four- Even in the dead of put the garden to bed. Instead, we switch
Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman and winter, we’re able to gears and begin to harvest the cool-weather
Solar Gardening by Leandre Poisson and harvest vegetables vegetables like kale, leeks, scallions, car-
Gretchen Vogel Poisson helped point the rots, parsnips, tatsoi, spinach, arugula, and
way and introduced me to cold tolerant claytonia. Even in the dead of winter, we’re
veggies that I had never heard of before, much less eaten. able to harvest the most cold-tolerant varieties of these
These included mâche, claytonia, tatsoi, and more. vegetables, with the help of season-extending devices like
I also discovered that cold-season gardening involves cold frames and mini hoop tunnels. And we don’t live in
much less maintenance than warm-season gardening. a sunny corner of the world, either. Our garden is perched
Once the temperature plunges in late autumn, little work on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in the Great White
is needed to keep crops happy. You don’t need to water, North — Nova Scotia, Canada.
fight bugs (okay, maybe I find an occasional slug hiding In this book, I’ll walk you through the process of creat-
in the cold frames in late autumn), or weed. I think of our ing a year-round vegetable garden. But it’s only fair to warn
winter cold frames as in-ground refrigerators that protect you that the ability to harvest fresh, organic vegetables
and hold our crops until we’re ready to eat them. year-round from your own garden is potentially addictive.
As I learned during that first winter, even the most basic Plus, it’s extremely satisfying and easier than you might
season extender — the row cover — can be a valuable think. Interested? Keep reading.
tool. We use our row covers in spring, fall, and winter

3

62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 3 5/5/11 2:03:30 PM

 chapter
5
Year-Round Vegetables
G row i n g up , I was a very picky eater, and it wasn’t until I
became a serious vegetable gardener in my 20s that I truly
embraced the diversity of the food available to me. No longer
did my salads consist of chopped-up iceberg lettuce and a few
chunks of carrots. Instead, I took great pride in mixing a variety
of greens: leaf lettuces, spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens, for
example. When I realized that I could push the gardening year
well into the depths of winter, I encountered many vegetables

4  

62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 4 5/5/11 2:03:32 PM

 that I had never heard of before, much less Niki’s Picks — the best cultivars or varieties for
tasted — arugula, mâche, tatsoi, mizuna, and a year-round garden — at the bottom of each
claytonia — and soon they became garden vegetable description.
staples. This opportunity to try new things is I love that my children are growing up with a
one of the greatest pleasures of being a year- garden. Because we grow such a wide variety of
round gardener. veggies, they think that it’s normal for a cucum-
The arrival of the seed catalogs in my mail- ber to be round and butter yellow or carrots to
box in midwinter is a welcome reminder that be purple (or red, or white, or gold) or lettuce
spring is just around the corner. In spite of the to be deep burgundy. They also think nothing
fact that the garden is usually blanketed with a of going up to the cold frames in the middle of
thick layer of snow at this time, we’re still enjoy- winter to brush snow from the sash and help
ing crunchy sweet carrots, tender mâche, suc- pick greens for a salad or dig a few super-sweet
culent claytonia, hardy kale, peppery arugula, carrots. To them, the mini hoop tunnels are
and many other cold-tolerant crops. tents for vegetables, and covering a crop with
I tend to order from a handful of my favorite a floating row cover is like tucking it in for the
catalogs each January, keeping in mind that I night with a cozy blanket.
will be planting seeds throughout the year — I don’t know if they’ll be gardeners when
not just in the spring! Picking which vegetables they grow up, but I do know that they’ll appre-
to grow is one of the highlights of having a ciate the quality and variety of the food they
garden. Should we try Tom Thumb lettuce and grew up with — even if they didn’t actually eat
Black from Tula tomatoes? What about Costata all of it! (“What do you mean you don’t eat broc-
Romanesco zucchini? Don’t shy away from coli raab? Just try it, you’ll love it!”)
unfamiliar crops; instead be open to new tastes,
textures, and flavors, trying something new
each year.
Also keep in mind that some varieties or
cultivars may be more cold tolerant (or alterna-
tively, heat tolerant) than others. For example,
most lettuces thrive in the cool temperatures
of spring and fall, but certain ones, like Winter
Density or Merveille des Quatre Saisons are
extra cold resistant and thus ideal for winter
plantings. Be sure to read the descriptions in
seed catalogs carefully before you order your
seed to make sure you’re selecting the best
cultivar or variety for each season. If that sounds
like too much work, you’re in luck, as I’ve listed

cold season crop  cool season crop  warm season crop   5

62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 5 5/5/11 2:03:34 PM

 carrots 
C a r ro t s a re one of the most important vegetables in
our year-round garden. Not only are they an easy-to-grow,
low-maintenance crop, but they’re also cold tolerant and
may be stored right in the soil where they’re grown for a
winter-long harvest of sweet, crisp roots. In fact, as tem-
peratures take a nose dive in late fall, their flavor continues
to improve as the starches in the roots convert to sugar.
In terms of yield per square foot, carrots are also tops.
Because they can be grown so close together and take up so
little space, carrots offer a big harvest from a small plot.
But perhaps the most important reason to grow car-
rots is their taste. The flavor of just-dug garden carrots is
sensational: crunchy, sweet, and absolutely delicious! They
even smell good — fresh and earthy. Carrots are one of the
few vegetables our kids will eat without my nagging; they
even run up to the garden to eagerly dig a few for their
lunchboxes and after-school snacks. It probably helps that,
thanks to increasing demand, heirloom carrots in shades
of purple, white, yellow, red, and of course, orange have
been re-introduced into seed catalogs.
Digging for carrots is also so much fun! Everyone loves
to harvest from our “rainbow” bed because you never know
what color you’ll end up with. (I’m partial to purple.)
Whatever types of carrots you choose to grow, with a basic
cold frame or even just a thick layer of shredded leaves
and a row cover, you’ll be able to enjoy them practically 12
months of the year.

p l a n t i n g c a l e n d a r

10–12 weeks 2–4 weeks 10–12 weeks 8–12 weeks

before: direct before: direct ❆
last
before: direct before: direct sow ❆
fir st
sow in a cold sow in the sow in the garden in cold frame or
frame garden sp r i n g for fall/winter mini hoop tunnel for Fal l
f ro st harvest fall/winter harvest fro st

Sp r i n g S u m m e r

6  

62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 6 5/5/11 2:03:35 PM

 Types of Carrots
Although you can pick from hundreds
of varieties of carrots, these are typi-
cally bunched into five main groups:
Imperator. These are the big ones!
Imperator carrots are long, typically
9 to 10 inches with narrow shoulders
that taper to a pointed tip. Because
the roots grow so long, they do best
in a deep, loose soil.
Chantenay. Chantenay are the best
carrots to grow in shallow or heavy
soil. The extremely tapered roots are
shaped like an ice cream cone and
grow just 5 to 6 inches long with
2-inch-wide shoulders. The flavor is
sweet and crisp, and it improves with
a few light frosts.
Nantes. Extremely popular, Nantes-
type carrots are known for their
crunchy sweetness and cylindrical-
shaped roots with a blunt tip. They
grow up to 7 inches long and are a
good choice for winter plantings.
Danvers. Similar in shape to
Imperator carrots, Danvers are shorter
and can be grown in shallower soils.
The conical roots grow 6 to 8 inches
long and are resistant to cracking and
splitting.
Specialty. This category is reserved
for unique carrots like the round
Parisian-types that grow 1 to 2 inches
across. We enjoy them straight from
the garden, but they are also delicious
roasted or steamed.

Planting
Plant your carrots in a sunny spot with deep, well-drained, and clump-free soil. If you don’t have nice
A raised bed is ideal, especially for varieties with very long roots. Before plant- deep soil for carrots, don’t
ing, dig the site well to make sure any clods of soil are broken up and rocks are despair; try baby or round
removed. carrots, which don’t require
If possible, enrich your spring-planted carrot bed the previous autumn, so
deep soils. Carrots can
that the organic matter has had plenty of time to break down. Manure must
be well aged (at least 2 years), or the elevated nitrogen levels might result in a also be grown in deep
patch of forked, hairy carrots. In fact, when growing carrots, it’s more important containers (at least a foot
to loosen the soil well — to a depth deep).
of about a foot — than it is to make it
super fertile.
To help encourage super-sweet
carrots, I also sprinkle a thin layer
of wood ash onto the planting bed,
raking it into the top few inches of
soil. Carrots love the potassium in the
wood ash, and it also boosts my soil
pH, which tends to be low.

S p r i n g . Carrots are best direct

seeded into the garden, starting about
3 weeks before the last spring frost.
You can also start an early cold frame
or polytunnel crop about 10 to 12
weeks before the last spring frost.
You may occasionally see carrot trans-
plants for sale at nurseries, but don’t
buy them. Carrots, like most root
crops don’t transplant well and should
be seeded directly in the spot where Carrots that are direct-sown into deep, rich soil will form lovely, straight roots
they will grow. (left). Those that are transplanted will fork (right).

cold season crop  cool season crop  warm season crop   7

62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 7 5/5/11 2:03:36 PM

 Niki’s Picks
Napoli F1 (58 days). This has become
our go-to carrot for a fall and winter
harvest. I seed a whole cold frame full
of Napoli in early August, cover the soil
with a thick layer of shredded leaves
in late December, and we’re able to
pick super-sweet roots from December
until we run out. The 6- to 7-inch-long
orange roots are cylindrical and have
a blunt tip. As the temperature drops,
the sweetness increases, making
Napoli one of the best cold season
veggies available.
Parmex (OP) (60 to 70 days). A nearly
round carrot, Parmex has sweet orange
roots that are best picked when they’re
around 1 inch across. Plant these
uniquely shaped carrots in contain-
ers, window boxes, or directly in the
garden. They’re a real hit with kids, so
make sure to pick up a packet if you
have any young garden helpers.
Atomic Red (OP) (70 days). This is
an imperator-type carrot with long,
tapered roots in an unusual shade of
reddish purple. The roots get their eye-
catching color from the antioxidant
lycopene. When the carrots are cooked,
the red color intensifies, as does the
mildly sweet flavor.
Purple Haze F1 (73 days). Each
autumn, I bring a big basket of mixed
vegetables to our local elementary
school to show the children the diverse
variety we grow. As I pull out the
bunch of Purple Haze carrots, the room
goes quiet and all eyes are firmly glued
to the long, deep purple roots. This All
America Selections winner is a stun-
ning carrot whose dark exterior hides a
bright orange center. The sweet tasting
roots grow 8 to 10 inches long and will
lose their color if overcooked. We like
to eat them raw or lightly stir-fried.
Yellowstone (OP) (75 days). A unique
yellow carrot, Yellowstone is vigor-
ous and sweet, producing roots up to
10 inches long. We pick them when
they’re about 7 to 8 inches for opti-
mum quality and mild flavor.
8  
62568YearRoundBLAD.interior.indd 8
carrots, continued
I plant intensively to get the most out of my space, and in a 4-foot-wide gar-
den bed, I plant 7 to 8 rows of carrot seed, spacing them around 6 to 8 inches
apart. I try to sow 2 to 3 seeds per inch, planting them ¼ to ½ inch deep. Carrot
seeds are small, so it can be difficult to spread them thinly and evenly. It helps
to plant pelleted seed, which is simply seed that has been dipped in an inert
material, such as clay, that dissolves when planted. The pelleted seed is much
larger and easier to handle than uncoated seed and makes sowing carrots a
breeze. The downside is that only a handful of carrot varieties are available in
pelleted form, so you sacrifice selection for convenience, and pelleted seed also
costs more. Some seed companies also offer seed tapes, which are long strips of
seeds suspended in paper for ease of seeding and spacing. Like pelleted seed,
these seed tapes eliminate the need to thin, but they are more expensive and
only a few varieties are offered this way.
Don’t despair though; there are a few simple tricks to help you sow carrot
seed more evenly. Many gardeners find that mixing their carrot seed with sand
helps ensure even planting. Others like to combine carrot and radish seed, sow-
ing them together. The radish seed will germinate quickly, marking the row and
when they’re harvested in 25 to 30 days, they’ll loosen the soil to make room
for the growing carrots.
Carrot germination can be slow, but most seedlings will emerge in about 1 to
2 weeks, with the slowpokes taking up to 3 weeks, depending on the tempera-
ture and soil moisture levels. Warm, moist soils are best, so keep newly planted
beds well watered.
Crusty soil can reduce and slow down germination rates. To prevent soil
crusting, cover newly planted beds with a thin layer of sand, a row cover, or a
board, removing the board as soon as the seeds sprout. You can always sprinkle
more seeds in the empty spots to fill in spotty germination.
S u m m e r . For a long season of crunchy carrots, sow seed every 3 weeks from
mid spring until about 8 weeks from your first fall frost — early to mid August
in my garden. I also sow my cold frame carrots at this time. It can be difficult to
keep soil cool and moist for midsummer carrot germination. For the cold frame
crop, I lay an untreated piece of scrap wood over the just-seeded wooden frame
to cast shade for a few days until the seed germinates. With the warmer tem-
peratures of summer, germination is much quicker than in the early Spring. In
the garden, a thin piece of wood can be laid over the beds. Just be sure to check
every day for germination. If you wait too long to remove the wood, the crop
will be damaged. Another option is to use the ribs of your mini hoop tunnels
to support a length of shadecloth. The dark fabric will shade the soil, preventing
water evaporation and ensuring a good germination rate. Again, remove the
cloth as soon as the seed germinates.
Fa l l / W i n t e r . The last garden planting will be for our winter harvest, so
once the cold weather arrives in late November and the tops begin to die back,
I add a 1-foot-thick layer of shredded leaves or seedless straw over the beds,
securing a row cover, old sheet, piece of burlap or length of chicken wire over
the top to hold the mulch in place. To make winter harvesting easier, I mark
the end of the rows with a bamboo pole or stick.
5/5/11 2:03:37 PM
 Growing
Once they’ve gotten past the first month or so, carrots are extremely low main-
tenance. But for the initial few weeks, the tender, newly germinated carrot
seedlings can be finicky and will benefit from a bit of babying.
The young seedlings are no match for weeds, so keep competition at bay by
hoeing shallowly or plucking any offending plants that pop up. Also, if earwigs
or slugs are a problem in your garden, be vigilant, as they can munch an entire
bed of carrot seedlings to the ground in just one night — something that I
can confirm from personal experience. A row cover makes a great babysitter
for delicate carrot seedlings by keeping pests out and locking in moisture and
heat.
I’m sure there are expert carrot seeders out there, but I have never been able
to plant a bed of carrots that didn’t need thinning. Thinning doesn’t have to be a
chore, though. If you planted your seed uniformly — about 2 seeds per inch —
you’ll be able to eat your thinnings as gourmet baby carrots. Simply thin every
other carrot when the tops are about a ½ inch wide, leaving about 1 to 2 inches
between the remaining roots.
Once the carrot tops grow together, they will create a dense living mulch
that will shade the soil and discourage weeds, but until they reach this stage, a
1-inch-thick layer of grass clippings, seedless straw, or screened compost will
keep weeds at bay and prevent the soil from drying out.
As the carrots mature, use additional mulch or soil to cover up any roots that
poke out of the ground. If exposed to the sun, the shoulders will turn green and
the top part of the root will be bitter.
If deer like to graze in your carrot The simplest way to keep
patch, bend a sheet of 6-inch con- carrots for winter harvest is
crete reinforcing mesh over the bed to cover the bed with bales
in a half-circle. This low wire tun-
of straw. Whenever you’re
nel will prevent the deer from nib-
ready to dig some roots,
bling on your carrot greens, but light,
water, and air can still penetrate. Plus, just move the bales aside,
the 6-inch squares will allow you to replacing them over the
reach in for a quick and easy harvest. remaining carrots when
This also works great for low-growing you’re done.
salad greens.

Harvesting
Winter harvested carrots.
Although you can pull your carrots out of the ground by their tops, the greens
are often not strong enough to withstand this pulling, and you’ll be left with a
handful of leaves. So, I always bring along my trusty garden fork when it’s time
to harvest some carrots; a quick dig will loosen the soil and reveal the bounty
hidden just beneath the surface.
Baby carrots are typically ready in about 50 to 60 days and can be pulled
when the shoulders are around ½ inch wide. Mature carrots, on the other hand,
will need a few more weeks and, depending on the variety, are typically ready
to harvest in around 75 days.

cold season crop  cool season crop  warm season crop   9

62568YearRoundBLAD.covers.indd 5 5/5/11 2:04:23 PM

 The
Year-Round Vegetable Gardener
Jabbour

www.storey.com
To order, please see your sales representative or call (800) 722-7202.
Storey books are distributed in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son, LTD (800) 387-4333
ß
Storey

62568YearRoundBLAD.covers.indd 2 5/5/11 2:04:09 PM