How to grow vegetables for harvest in late fall, though the winter and in early spring, particularly in the mid-Atlantic region, zones 6-7. Includes a list of suitable crops; details about growing them; how to schedule sowings to meet desired harvest dates; extending the season with row cover, low tunnels and high tunnels (hoophouses); mitigating the challenges of hot and cold weather, and protecting crops from insects. Hoophouse information includes minimizing nitrate accumulation in leafy greens, and planning for the Persephone days when the daylight length is shorter than 10 hours. Crops include lettuce, spinach, cooking greens, Asian greens, and roots. Includes information on winter hardiness, crop spacing, yields, and successful efficient planting techniques. Names some favorite varieties. The goals are to help growers farm the back end of the year, and increase earnings and the local food supply, while reducing the likelihood of beginner errors.

1. Production of Late Fall,
Winter and Early Spring
Vegetable Crops
©Pam Dawling 2014, Twin Oaks
Community, Virginia
Author of Sustainable Market Farming
Published by New Society Publishers
SustainableMarketFarming.com
facebook.com/SustainableMarketFarming

2. What’s in This Presentation
A. Suitable crops for the seasons of late fall, winter, early
spring
B. Scheduling for a continuous and timely supply
C. Scheduling specific crops
D. Techniques to mitigate the challenges of each season
E. Lots of Resources

3. Suitable crops for the seasons:
So many possibilities!
Late Fall Crops:
beets, carrots,
spinach, peas?
Romaine lettuce,
kale, collards,
chard, turnips,
salad mix, radishes,
Asian greens,
cabbage, broccoli,
kohlrabi, scallions,
cucumbers,
cherry tomatoes.
Winter crops:
beets, carrots,
spinach, kale,
collards, chard,
Romaine lettuce,
salad mix, Asian
greens, salad
turnips, cabbage,
radishes, garlic.
Early Spring Crops:
beets, carrots,
spinach, peas,
Romaine lettuce,
kale, chard,
collards, salad mix,
salad turnips, Asian
greens, radishes,
cabbage, broccoli,
kohlrabi, scallions,
garlic scallions.

4. Fall/spring crops
Some crops grow in spring and again in the fall - beets,
carrots, chard, spinach, peas, lettuce, turnips, rutabagas,
kale, collards, Asian greens, radishes, cabbage, broccoli,
kohlrabi, scallions.
With fall crops, even a
difference of 2 days in
sowing dates can make a
difference of 2-3 weeks in
harvest date, because
plants grow slower as days
get shorter and cooler.

5. Carrots
• Carrots prefer soil temperatures of 45°F–85°F (7°C–29°C),
• They germinate in 6 days at 80°F (27°C), their optimum.
• Keep the soil surface damp until they come through.
• We flame the beds the day before the carrots are due to emerge
(using “indicator beets”, which emerge the day before the carrots).
• We hoe between the rows as soon as we can see to do so.
• We weed and thin to 1” once the carrots are 1” tall.
We use flags to mark our progress.
• Once the carrots are salad size, we weed again and
thin to 3”
Photo credit Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

6. Beets
• Beets prefer soil temperatures of 50°F–85°F
(10°C–29°C)
• Only 3.5 days to emerge at 86°F (30°C), but
14.6 days at 50°F (10°C).
• If you can maintain a soil temperature below
86°F in late summer, you only have to do it
for a few days. Look for a forecast cooler
spell or generous rainfall.
• Hand-sowing pre-sprouted seed is an option
if the season is relentlessly hot.
• Sow 1/2″-1″ deep, tamp the soil, and keep
the surface damp with daily watering until
they emerge.
• If you want to flame-weed, use radishes as
an indicator – they germinate 1-2 days faster
than beets.
Crosby Egyptian Beet. Credit Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

7. Spinach and chard
• Spinach is a challenging crop to start in hot weather!
• Optimum germination temperature 70°F (21°C) Max
85°F (29°C). Wait for soil temperature to drop (dead
nettle, chickweed, henbit germinating).
• For earlier planting, pre-sprout seeds one week. We
sow sprouted spinach 9/1 or so.
• Swiss chard germinates best at 85°F (29°C), so
consider that as a substitute for a first sowing if the
fall is impossibly hot.
Tyee spinach. Credit Kathryn Simmons

8. Peas
• can make a good fall crop
if started early enough to
mature before frosts.
• 85°F (29°C) is optimum
• 95°F (35°C) maximum.
• Peas are easy to pre-
sprout.
• Mature pea plants are
more easily killed by frost
than seedlings.
Sugar Daddy Snap pea, credit
Hildegard Ott

9. Kale, collards,
broccoli, and cabbage in fall
 Direct sowing, in drills or in “stations”
(groups of several seeds sown at the
final crop spacing), is possible, if you
have good irrigation.
 If you use flats, it can help to have them
outside on benches, above the height of
flea beetles.
 We use an outdoor “nursery” seedbed
and bare root transplants, because this
suits us best. The nursery bed is near our
daily work area, so we’ll pass by and
water it. Having the seedlings directly in
the soil “drought-proofs” them to some
extent; they can form deep roots and
don’t dry out so fast.
Cabbage plant. Credit Kathryn Simmons

10. Lettuce
Heat-tolerant varieties also tolerate cold.
There are also specialized cold-hardy varieties that do not tolerate
heat (because they have a relatively low water content). Sow these
in fall and winter only.
Protection from cold winds can be vital. Conserve soil warmth by
using light-colored mulches - reduce radiation losses.
Rowcover will provide a temperature gain of 4–6 F degrees (2.2–3.3
C degrees), depending on the thickness. It also reduces light
transmission and airflow, but the trade-off can be very worthwhile.
Lettuce may survive an occasional dip to 10°F (–12°C) with good
rowcover — but not 8°F (–13°C), I can tell you!
Adolescent lettuce are more cold-hardy than full-sized plants.

11. Lettuce varieties for fall and winter
Particularly cold-hardy for
outdoors: Brune d’Hiver,
Cocarde, Esmeralda, Galactic,
Green Forest, Hyper Red Wave,
Kalura, Lollo Rossa, North Pole,
Outredgeous, Rossimo, Rouge
d’Hiver, Sunfire, Tango, Vulcan
and Winter Marvel. The Salad
Bowls are not so good outdoors
in cold weather but do well
under cover. Icebergs do not
survive frost.
Rouge d’Hiver Lettuce, Credit SESE

12. Asian Greens
• A quick way to fill out your
market booth or CSA bags
• A catch crop for spaces where
other crops have failed or
otherwise finished early.
• Keep a flat of seedlings ready,
pop plugs into empty spaces
as they occur.
• Better able to germinate in hot
weather than lettuce.
• Faster growing than lettuce
• Some of the faster-growing
types are ready for
transplanting 2 weeks after
sowing (or you can direct sow
them)

13. Cold-hardy Asian Greens
Tatsoi/tah tsoi - a small, flat
rosette of shiny, dark green
spoon-shaped leaves and white
stems. Mild flavor, attractive
appearance, easy to grow. Tatsoi
is extremely cold tolerant, hardy
to 22°F (–6°C). We usually direct
sow this and then thin into salad
mixes, leaving some to mature at
10" (25 cm) across for cooking
greens. We also transplant at 6"
(15 cm) if that suits our space
better. Kitazawa Seeds have a
Red Violet tatsoi, with an upright
habit. Tatsoi takes 21 days to
become baby salads; 45 days to
reach cooking size;
Yukina Savoy - like a bigger tatsoi,
with blistered dark green leaves,
greener stems and delicious
flavor, about 12“ (30 cm) tall. It is
both heat and cold tolerant. We
transplant this at 12" (30 cm). It
needs 21 days to reach baby size,
45 days to full size;
Tatsoi, Yukina Savoy,
Credit Ethan Hirsh
In spring the order of bolting of Asian greens is:
tatsoi, pak choy, Komatsuna, mizuna, leaf radish, mustards.

14. More Cold-hardy Asian Greens
Komatsuna - also known as mustard
spinach and Summer Fest. Green or red, a
large cold-tolerant plant 18" (45 cm) tall.
Individual leaves can be picked and
bunched, or the whole plant can be
harvested. The flavor is much milder than
the English name suggests. Baby salad
size in 21 days, full size in 35 days;
Senposai is quite heat and cold tolerant, a
big plant with large, round, mid-green
leaves. Usually harvested leaf-by-leaf. It
can be very productive. Transplant it at
12"–18" (30–45 cm) spacing. Cooks
quickly (much quicker than collards), and
has a delicious sweet cabbagey flavor and
tender texture. It is a cross between
komatsuna and regular cabbage. It takes
only 40 days to mature.
Senposai. Photo Ethan Hirsh

15. Senposai in November –
the young hoophouse crop is almost ready to
take over from the well-used outdoor crop.

16. Yukina Savoy Outdoors in December
After several nights at 16-17°F (-8 to -9°C)

17. Turnips and rutabagas
Rutabagas can be stored in the ground
(unlike turnips, except in warm climates).
Mulch over them with loose straw once the
temperatures descend near 20°F (–7°C).
Turnips do very well in the winter
hoophouse. We sow our first ones Oct 15
(around our first frost date) for harvest
from Dec 4. We like Red Round and Hakurei
and have tried out Oasis and White Egg to
find a cheaper replacement for Hakurei
(Oasis is the closest).
We also grow Purple Top White Globe
outdoors in spring and fall.
White Egg turnip.
Credit Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

18. Winter-Kill Temperatures of Winter-
Hardy Vegetables
See the handout, or my book, Sustainable Market Farming
or my slideshow. Cold-hardy Winter Vegetables on
www.Slideshare.net. Search for Pam Dawling.
The table has some starting numbers of killing
temperatures, although your own experience with your
soils, microclimates and rain levels may lead you to use
different temperatures. It is very much a work in progress.
I update it each spring. Contact me if you have some data
to share.

19. Favorite hardy winter-harvest crops
For crops to harvest all winter long, use the tables to look for crops that will
survive your lowest temperatures, taking any crop protection into account.
Look for the hardier cultivars available. At our Zone 7 farm, we overwinter Vates
kale without rowcover, but we’ve killed off Winterbor and Russian kales that way,
while we were learning. If you can add some wind protection, do so.
We grow our winter-harvest crops in our raised bed area, which is more
accessible in winter and more suited to small quantities.
We grow about 2800 row feet of overwinter kale for 100 people, and
plant another 1000 feet in the spring. We grow similar amounts of spinach.
We use double hoops and rowcovers and pick
spinach throughout the winter, whenever
leaves are big enough. We pick one bed each
day in October, November, February and
March, when the weather is not too awful.
Spinach makes some growth whenever the
temperature is above about 40°F (5°C), so we
can also make occasional harvests in
December and January.
Vates kale
Credit Kathryn Simmons

20. More cold-hardy winter-harvest crops
As well as kale and spinach, collards,
leeks and parsnips also survive
outdoors without rowcover at our
farm (Zone 7).
We grow only a few hundred feet of
collards.
When spring arrives, overwintered
plants give us big harvests sooner
than the new spring-sown crops.
Leeks and parsnips are slow growing,
start them in spring.
Lettuce can be grown outdoors with
thick rowcover on hoops.
We have also sometimes
overwintered Danvers carrots and
Deadon cabbage.
Overwintered Vates kale

21. Other hardy winter-harvest crops
• Small greens such as arugula, parsley, Belle Isle upland cress, winter
purslane, salad burnet and mache (corn salad) are very winter-hardy.
• More unusual crops like horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, salsify, and
some endive are hardy.
• Walla Walla bulb onions and Evergreen Winter Hardy White or White
Lisbon onion scallions are surprisingly hardy.
• Swiss chard is hardy to 15°F (–10°C) without rowcover. To keep chard in
best condition overwinter, either cover with hoops and rowcover (in
mild areas, Zone 6 or warmer), or else
cut off the leaves in early winter and
mulch heavily right over the top of the
plant. It germinates best at 85°F (29°C),
useful as a substitute if the fall is too hot
to sow spinach.
Bright Lights chard. Credit Wren Vile

22. Winter hoophouse crop overview
• Salad crops, cooking greens and
some turnips, radishes and
scallions.
• Bare root transplants for setting
outdoors in February and March.
• In our climate, we can grow
spinach, kale, collards and leeks
outside all winter, but the rate of
growth doesn’t compare to what
happens in the hoophouse!
• We aim to harvest greens in the
hoophouse after the outdoor
crops slow down, and turnips after
the stored outdoor fall turnips
have all been eaten, or as an
occasional delectable alternative.

23. Overwinter early spring-harvest crops
Some crops, if kept alive through the winter, will start to grow
again with the least hint of spring weather and be harvestable
earlier than spring plantings.
• Spinach, lettuce, chicories such as radicchio and Sugarloaf,
fennel and cilantro seem to have the best cold tolerance
when the plants go into winter half-grown.
• Kale, collards, some cabbage, some Asian greens - Green in
Snow mustard (Shi-Li-Hon) is the hardiest Asian green.
• Garlic scallions, some onion scallions, chives,
• Carrots, chard
• Purple sprouting broccoli (popular in the UK).
• Garlic and potato onions are routinely grown over the winter
for late spring/early summer harvest.
• In mild winter areas, peas can be fall sown for a spring crop.
Sow 1" (2.5 cm) apart to allow for extra losses.

24. Early spring sowings and plantings
Many of the hardy crops
planted in the fall can be
started very early in
spring: beets, carrots,
chard, spinach, peas,
lettuce, turnips,
rutabagas, kale, collards,
Asian greens, radishes,
cabbage, broccoli,
kohlrabi, scallions.
Michihili Chinese cabbage. Credit
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

25. Section B. Scheduling for a continuous
and timely supply:
At Twin Oaks, to keep us on track, we use
A descriptive month-by-month Garden Calendar,
on my blog www.sustainablemarketfarming.com at the
beginning of each month since July 2012.
Maps of the layout of the crops in the various
gardens
A Field Planting Schedule
A Seedling Schedule for our greenhouse
production of transplants.
A Hoophouse Planting Schedule
A pocket notebook

26. Crop Spacing
Decide on crop spacing before length of
rows needed.
 Yield is related to plant density.
 Area per plant is the important bit, not
particular row spacing.
 At the balance point at which the density
provides the maximum total yield, some
plants will be too small to use. That’s taken
into account when calculating yield.
 Crop size (do customers want big carrots or
small carrots?)
 Disease control (humidity and molds)
 Preferred layout (beds with equidistant
plants, or rows).
 Ease of cultivation (tractor equipment,
hoes, horses) and irrigation
 For large plants such as okra or eggplant, it
makes more sense to plant a single row in a
bed and have the plants close together in
that row, in a “hedge.”
Photo of Morris Heading Collards by Kathryn Simmons

27. How Much to Grow to Achieve Your
Harvest Goals
Take likely yields and add a margin for culls and failures
(10%?). (See Resources section for help on yields.) The
table I provide in Sustainable Market Farming lists 48
crops, with likely yield, quantity required for 100 CSA
shares, and length of row needed to grow this amount.

28. Harvest Dates Sowing Dates
Use your planned harvest dates to determine your sowing
dates:
 Find the number of days to maturity (from the catalog).
 Is that from seeding to harvest or transplant to harvest?
 Work back from each target harvest date, subtracting
days to maturity, to give the planting date.
 Days to maturity in catalogs are generally for spring
planting once conditions have warmed to the usual range
for that crop.
‒ If you are starting very early, add about 14 days - seedlings
grow slower when cold.
‒ In summer crops mature sooner than in spring.
‒ When growing late into the fall, add about 14 days for the
slowdown.

29. Days to Maturity
• “Days to Maturity” usually means “Days to First Harvest” which
may not be the same as “Days to Full Harvest”.
• With carrots it doesn’t matter exactly what size they are, but an
unripe eggplant is just no good.
• With CSAs, you can distribute eggplant to some sharers one week,
and others the next, although keeping track involves more work.
• If it’s important to have a plentiful harvest when you do start, add
another 7-14 days.
Carrot photo Kathryn Simmons

30. When to sow for transplants
 If the crop is to be transplanted and the catalog doesn’t include the
time to grow the transplant, add that. See Sustainable Market Farming.
 Use your own experience or the catalog information, or somewhere in
between.
 In future years you will have your own records to customize your calculations.
 Extract the dates to sow for transplants, and make your Seedlings
Schedule.
Seedlings in Twin Oaks Greenhouse
Photo Kathryn Simmons

31. Seedlings Schedule
• Pepper transplants. Photo Kathryn Simmons

32. Field Planting Schedule
Draw up your list of outdoor planting dates, along with
varieties, row feet, spacing, notes and space to write
down what you actually do.

34. Example calculation: Early White
Vienna Kohlrabi
 58 days from sowing to
harvest.
 Kohlrabi is hardy to maybe
15°F (–9.4°C). When is the
temperature likely to drop to
15°F (–9.4°C)? Not before the
beginning of November here.
 We could sow kohlrabi in early
August and get a crop at the
end of October.
 Credit McCune Porter

35. Succession planting for continuous harvests
 Many vegetable crops can be
planted several times during
the season, to provide a
continuous supply. Don’t stop
too soon!
 Typically, plants mature faster
in warmer weather.
 So, to get harvests starting at
regular intervals, vary the
interval between one sowing
date and the next according to
the season.
 Keep records and use
information from other growers
in your area to fine-tune
planting dates.
Tatsoi. Photo credit: Ethan Hirsh.

36. Veg Finder: Making a good-fit plan
Example:
Squash
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/23 120’
Planted…..
Harvesting…..
Finished…..
(Date of last
worthwhile
harvest of that
sowing)
Collect these
three pieces of
information for
each sowing of
each crop
BEANS CUKES SQUASH CORN CARROTS EDAMAME
#1 29W, 29E
Plant 4/16 180' dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 13W
Plant 4/20 90'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 23W
Plant 4/20 90'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 EAST Plot G 4x265’
Plant 4/26+4/29 1060' Bod
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 9E
Plant 2/14 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 21W
Plant 4/26 90’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot G
Plant 5/14 176’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot I
Plant 5/24 180’
slice 90' + pickle 90'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot I
Plant 5/24 88’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot G 4x265'
Plant 5/21 1060' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 BED 25E
Plant 2/28 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot G No-soak
Plant 5/18 88’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/7 240’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/23 120’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/23 120’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot A north 4 x 180'
6/6 1080' Sug Pearl /KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 BED 12W
Plant 3/13 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 EAST Plot I
Plant 6/7 60’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 EAST Plot K
Plant 6/29 175' dbl
(5x35’)
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 CENT Plot D
Plant 7/15 240'
slice 120' +pickle 120'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 EAST Plot K
Plant 7/15 105’
(3x35’)
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 WEST Plot A 6 x 180'
6/19 1080' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 BED 12E
Plant 3/27 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 CENTRAL Plot D
Plant 6/26 60’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 25E 22W
Plant 7/19 180’ dbl
(2x90’)
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 BED 15E
Plant 8/5 90' slicers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 BED 13E
Plant 8/5 90’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 WEST Plot A 6 x 180'
Plant 7/2 1080' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 BED 19W
Plant 4/10 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 EAST Plot K
Plant 7/14. 70’ (2x35’)dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#6 BEDS 9W, 9E
Plant 8/3 180’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#6 CENTRAL Plot D 7 x 200'
Plant 7/16 1400' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#6 BED 17W
Plant 5/14 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#8 BED 1 CARROTS#8 BED 30W
Only if needed
Plant 7/8 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#7 Not this year, perhaps never
again
#7 BED 27E
Only if needed
Plant 6/11 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#8 BED CARROTS #9
Overwinter Raised Beds
Plant 7/28 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished

37. Gather sowing and
harvest start dates
and draw graphs
 Using your data, plot a graph for
each crop, with sowing date along
the horizontal (x) axis and harvest
start date along the vertical (y) axis.
 Mark the first possible sowing date
and find the harvest start date for
that.
 Decide the last worthwhile harvest
start date, mark that.
 Then divide the period into a whole
number of segments, according to
how often you want a new patch.
Cherry Belle radishes. Credit Southern
Exposure Seed Exchange

38. Winter hoophouse radish succession
cropping graph
A work-in-progress!

39. Scheduling specific crops
• See the Grower Guides and Planting Charts
• We’ll look at the top priority crops in detail.
• We’ll be working on these after the slideshow

40. Scheduling lettuce in summer, fall, winter
The short version: sow heat-resistant
varieties (which are also cold-resistant)
• every 6-7 days in June and July,
• every 5 days in early August;
• switch to cold-hardy varieties, sow
every 3 days in late August.
• every other day until Sept 21.
• every 3 days until the end of
September (for harvests through the
winter).
• Sow twice in January,
• twice in February.
Cold-hardy (not heat-tolerant) Tango lettuce. Kathryn Simmons
Cherokee Lettuce
Credit Johnnys Seeds

41. Scheduling beets
• For fall fresh eating and winter storage crops, we sow beets on
8/1 or soon after, dry or soaked for 1-2 hours in a little water.
(Don’t soak too long, or in a lot of water – beet seeds are easy to
drown.) We usually sow pre-soaked by hand. Sometimes dry with
the EarthWay chard plate 2 passes. We have 8/20 written down as
the last date, but I think we have done them later. These are
harvested 9/20- 11/15. The final harvest is stored in the walk-in
cooler in perforated plastic bags, for winter.
• For early spring eating, Gary Scott sows plugs in mid Oct,
transplants them in the hoophouse and harvests from mid-March.
Ace in 72 plug trays. He also did a new variety from Johnny's called
"Babybeat“, seeded in February, harvested late April.
• For spring crops outside, Gary trans-
plants early beets in early April. We
start our outdoor sowings on 3/15.
Gary direct seeds later spring crops
with an Earthway seeder late April.
Photo Detroit Dark Red Beet.
Credit Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

42. Scheduling carrots
• We sow a large planting of fall
carrots very early in August,
enough to store and feed us
all winter. Danvers 126 is our
standard.
• In November we harvest all
of the carrots and store in
perforated plastic bags in the
walk-in cooler.
• In spring we start sowing
carrots outdoors as soon as
we can, aiming for February
14.
Danvers Half-long carrots. Credit Southern
Exposure Seed Exchange

43. Scheduling fall outdoor brassicas
We start sowing our fall
brassicas for outdoor
planting around June 26
and repeat a week later
for insurance (July 3).
Last date for sowing
these crops is about 3
months before the first
fall frost date. In our
case that means July
14–20.

44. Brassica transplanting
 We aim to transplant leafy brassicas
at four true leaves (three to four
weeks after sowing). We transplant
outdoors from July 10 to July 31.
 The faster growing Asian greens -
Napa cabbage, Tokyo Bekana and
Maruba Santoh - are ready to
transplant 2 weeks after sowing.
 In hot weather transplant crops at a
younger age than you would in
spring, because larger plants can
wilt from high transpiration losses.
 If we find ourselves transplanting
older plants, we remove a couple of
the older leaves to reduce these
losses.
Morris Heading Collards.
Credit Kathryn Simmons

45. Kale: direct sown/transplanted mix
Our mixed direct-sow/transplant
method allows for patchy
germination, and requires less
watering than if direct sowing it all.
Three times, (8/4, 8/10, 8/16), we
sow two beds with rows 10" (25 cm)
apart and then carefully thin them,
leaving one plant every foot (30 cm)
We use the carefully dug thinnings
from those beds to fill gaps and to
plant other beds, at the same plant
spacing.
Another reason we use this system is
that we want a lot of kale, and there
isn’t time to transplant it all.
Vates kale. Credit Kathryn Simmons

46. Scheduling outdoor
overwinter early spring-harvest crops
We sow one or two beds of spinach in late September, overwinter
them as adolescents and harvest in the spring. These plants bolt
later than the ones we harvest leaves from all winter, and earlier
than spring-sown beds, so we get a continuous supply.
Fall sowing dates are quite exacting: Sept 20 is the latest we can
sow spinach for harvesting October–early April, and Sept 20–30
sowings will not get big enough to harvest until late February.
With alliums, such as bulb onions, multiplier onions and garlic,
the harvest dates are regulated by day length, so the harvest
cannot be earlier, but the bulbs will be bigger if you can overwinter
the small plants.
Garlic scallions are a great early spring crop – easy, flavorful,
unusual.

47. Brassicas in the Hoophouse
 Brassicas are the most
productive crops in these
conditions
 Night-time protection of two
layers of plastic and an air gap
– big difference!
 Using an outdoor nursery bed
gives us cooler conditions for
better seed germination, and
allows our summer
hoophouse crops longer to
finish up.
Photo credit Wren Vile

48. Fall outdoor sowings to transplant inside
• Sept 15: about ten varieties of hardy leaf lettuce and
romaines, pak choy, Chinese cabbage, Yukina Savoy,
Tokyo Bekana, Maruba Santoh, chard.
• Sept 24: Red and White Russian kales, another ten
varieties of lettuce, Senposai, more Yukina Savoy, mizuna
and arugula.
• We use hoops and ProtekNet, and water frequently.
Senposai. Credit Kathryn Simmons

49. Fall Hoophouse Planting - September
 Early September : We clear and add
compost to one of the beds and sow
sprouted spinach seed, radishes,
scallions, Bulls Blood beet greens
and tatsoi.
 Sept 15 and Sept 24: We make
outdoor sowings of crops to later
transplant into the hoophouse at 2–4
weeks old.
 At the end of September we clear
summer crops from one more bed,
add compost and work it in. We
transplant Tokyo Bekana and
Maruba Santoh at 2 weeks old,
Chinese cabbage, pak choy and
Yukina Savoy at 3 weeks.
Photo November hoophouse beds.
Ethan Hirsh

50. Fall Hoophouse Planting - October
By mid-October we clear and
prepare another bed and
transplant lettuce at 10" (25 cm)
apart, and chard.
Oct 15 we sow our first turnips.
Late October we sow more
“filler” greens, baby lettuce mix,
our second spinach, turnips and
chard, and more radishes.
In the fourth week of October,
we clear and prepare more beds
and transplant the Senposai,
mizuna, the 2nd lettuce, kale,
arugula and Yukina Savoy at 4
weeks old.
Mizuna Photo credit Ethan Hirsh
Early October, we sow
more radishes and some
“filler” greens, (spinach,
lettuce and Asian greens) to
fill gaps later. We try hard to
keep all the space occupied,
mostly using lettuce and
spinach.

51. Hoophouse Planting –
November and December
 Nov 10 we sow more turnips, mizuna
and arugula, more filler lettuce and
spinach, and our first bulb onions for
field transplanting as early as possible in
the new year.
 Nov 11-20 we sow scallions, tatsoi,
radishes, more bulb onion starts.
 From Nov 10 on we aim to keep a fully
planted hoophouse, and as each crop
harvest winds down, we immediately
replace that crop with another.
 During December we use the “Filler”
greens plants to replace casualties and
heads of Chinese cabbage, Pak choy,
Yukina Savoy each day as soon as we’ve
harvested them. Pak Choy replacing
Yukina Savoy here. Credit Ethan Hirsh

52. Hoophouse Planting –
January and February
 In mid-January, we clear the first tatsoi and
Tokyo Bekana, sow more spinach
 In late January, we clear the first mizuna and
pak choy, sow radishes; clear Yukina savoy #1,
sow lettuce mix, arugula.
 We stop filling gaps with Asian greens and
lettuces on Jan 25, and fill all gaps after that
with spinach transplants, until Feb 20. After
that we only fill gaps on edges of beds, leave
centers free for tomatoes, etc.
 In mid-Feb we sow more lettuce mix.
 After Feb 20, we harvest the winter crops from
the center rows, then harvest the outer rows
bit by bit as the new early summer crop needs
the space or the light. This overlap allows the
new crops to take over gradually.
 Our winter and spring crops come to an end in
March or early April
“Filler” transplants. Credit Ethan Hirsh

54. Persephone days and
scheduling winter
hoophouse crops
• When the daylight is shorter than 10 hours a day not much growth
happens. It depends on your latitude.
• In Central Virginia, latitude 38° North, this period lasts two months,
from November 21 to January 21. Soil temperature also matters.
December 15-February 15 is the slowest growing time for us.
• To harvest in the darkest days of winter you’ll need to plan a good
supply of mature crops to take you through. What has already grown
before this period will provide most of your harvests.
• Be aware of the increase in days to maturity in winter.
• For most of the winter, our hoophouse plants are actively growing,
not merely being stored for harvest (as happens in colder climate
zones and outdoors), so we can continue sowing new hoophouse
crops even in December.

55. Winter succession crops in the
hoophouse
To maintain continuous supplies of salad and cooking
greens, as well as radishes and small turnips, we plan
several winter successions of hoophouse crops.

57. Section D. Mitigating seasonal challenges:
Dealing with the challenges of hot weather
Choose appropriate crops and varieties. Read catalog
descriptions carefully. Look for flavor, productivity,
disease resistance and cold-hardiness.
Consider direct-seeding crops rather than transplants.
They can be more cold-tolerant, probably because
there’s no damage to the taproot.
Plant seeds deeper than you would in spring, as the soil
is already warm and you don’t want seeds to dry out.
In dry conditions sow in
sunken furrows.

58. Protection from pests
For nursery seedbeds we use
rowcover or ProtekNet (from Purple
Mountain Organics) on wire hoops.
Overly thick rowcover or rowcover
resting directly on the plants can
make the seedlings more likely to die
of fungal diseases in hot weather —
good airflow is vital.
For transplanted crops, an 84" (2.1 m)
width rowcover or mesh can form a
tunnel over two crop rows 34” apart,
giving good airflow.
Photo credit Dubois Engineering

59. Sowing when soils are hot
1. Consult the tables in Nancy Bubel’s New Seed Starter’s Handbook
or Knott’s Vegetable Grower’s Handbook, on the germination
requirements for your crop, and the expected time to emergence
under your field conditions – and use a soil thermometer.
2. If soil temperatures are too high for good germination, cool a
small part of the outdoors:
– Shade from other plants, shadecloth, boards, burlap bags, ice.
– For crops you normally direct seed, consider cooling a small
nursery bed for your seedlings and transplanting later.
3. If outdoors is impossible, start seeds indoors:
– Put a plastic flat of lettuce in your refrigerator or a cool room.
– Use plug flats or soil blocks rather than open flats, to reduce
transplant shock.

60. Soaking seeds
A help when temperatures are high and soils are dry.
The length of time to soak a seed depends on its size: bigger seeds benefit
from a longer soak.
Soak large seeds like beans and peas overnight before planting.
Smaller seeds may only need to soak for 1-2 hours. I suspect that when I’ve
had failures with soaked beet seeds it is because I soaked them for too long
and they suffocated from a shortage of oxygen.
Small seeds that have been soaked tend to clump together - drain off as much
water as possible, mix them with a dry material like uncooked corn grits,
oatmeal or bran, or use coffee grounds or sand.
To use soaked or sprouted seeds in a seeder, spread them out in a tray for a
while to dry the surfaces. Experiment on a small scale ahead of a big planting,
to make sure your seeder doesn’t just turn the seeds to mush, or snap off any
little sprouts.

61. Extending the season without
overextending yourself!
• Carefully consider what you can do to
extend the season without
overworking yourself, your crew, or
your soil.
• A longer harvest season helps you
retain and satisfy customers.
• And can help provide year-round
employment for your crew, which
helps you retain skilled workers.
• If you decide to provide produce
during the winter, you’ll find that the
pace is naturally slower: few weeds
germinate and established crops need
less attention. It’s not a second hectic
summer.
Tired but unbroken. Credit Bridget Aleshire

62. Pondering season extension
 Find the balance point at which the
time, money and energy you put in
are still definitely worthwhile.
 The further you try to extend the
season of a crop beyond what is
normal for your climate, the more
energy it takes and the less financially
worthwhile it becomes.
 An extension of two or three weeks
takes only a little extra vigilance and a
modest investment in rowcover or
shadecloth.
 Much easier to get extra harvests for
a month or two from mature plants
you already have, than it is to get
harvests a week earlier in the spring.
 Credit Kathryn Simmons

63. Crop Protection - Rowcover
 Wonderful rowcover : lightweight, easy to use, easy to
store. Edges need to be held down by bags of rocks or
sand, plastic jugs of water, or metal or wooden stakes
lying along the edges.
 To protect against frost, you need a heavyweight
rowcover. Thinner types are for protection from insects.
 Dupont Xavan 5131 (previously called Typar). 1.25
oz/sq yd) fabric, can last for more than six years.
Spunbonded polypropylene with UV stabilizers, 75%
light transmission, and provides about 6 degrees F
(3.3 degrees C) of frost protection.
 We also use Agribon 17 (or 19), spun-bonded
polypropylene 0.55 oz/sq yd, transmits 85% of
sunlight, and offers 4°F (2.2°C) of frost protection for
winter use.
 We think polypropylene rowcover lasts longer and is
tougher than polyester (Reemay).
 Thinner rowcover can be used doubled up in severely
cold weather, if you don’t have enough thick rowcover.
Photo credit Kathryn Simmons

64. Avoiding pitfalls of rowcover
 If you are growing on bare soil
rather than plastic mulch, weeds
will grow very well, secretly and out
of sight.
 Rowcover reduces light levels.
 Ventilate covered crops in mild
weather, so they don’t lose their
cold tolerance.
 Hoops keep rowcover from sticking
to frozen leaves and reduce
abrasion. 9- or 10-gauge wire. In
winter we use double wire hoops
— the outer hoops trap the
rowcover so it doesn’t blow away.
The microclimate under hooped
rowcovers is very pleasant in chilly,
windy weather.
 There are also spring steel hoops,
for setting by machine or by hand.
Easy to store - they return to a
relaxed bow shape when removed
from the soil, don’t get tangled.
Seem to come in just one length,
64" (1.63 m), which is fine for a
single row of plants, but less good
for our 48" (1.2 m) beds with
multiple rows.

65. Low tunnels
There are two other versions of low tunnels:
Quickhoops cover more than one bed, and can be covered with
rowcover topped by greenhouse plastic for the winter.
Once plants are established, if they can withstand cold nights, they may
benefit more from clear plastic instead of rowcover over hoops. The plastic
will let more daylight through, while still increasing the temperature and
protecting from the wind. These covers may
have slits to allow the plastic to curl open as it
heats up, letting the hot air escape. If your
plastic-covered tunnels are unvented, you will
need to provide the ventilation yourself.
Photo credit Johnnys Seeds

66. Caterpillar tunnels
Caterpillar hoops are similar (usually narrower,
sometimes taller).
They have the plastic or rowcover
held down by ropes.
Photo Credit Growing for Market

67. Hoophouses for winter crops
We are amazed at how incredibly productive hoophouses are.
• Rate of growth of cold-weather crops is much faster inside
• Crop quality, especially leafy greens, is superb.
• Plants can tolerate lower temperatures than outdoors; they
have the pleasant daytime conditions in which to recover.
Salad greens in a hoophouse can survive nights with outdoor
lows of 14°F (–10°C).
• Working in winter inside a hoophouse is much more pleasant
than dealing with frozen rowcovers and hoops outdoors.
• Greenhouses and coldframes also offer opportunities for
cold-weather cropping, but get a hoophouse if you can.

68. Daily hoophouse tasks in winter
• Two hours work each day in winter in our 96’ x 30’ tunnel.
• Keep the temperature in the 65°F–80°F (18°C–27°C) range during the day, opening
the big high windows, and the doors as needed. If the sun is shining we usually open
the windows around 9 am and close them around 2:30 pm (a few hours before dark)
to store some of the warmth.
• Even in cold weather, plants need fresh air! High-density cropping can really use up
the carbon dioxide in a closed hoophouse very quickly. When this happens,
photosynthesis crashes and plant growth becomes limited. Soil high in organic
matter contains high levels of organisms that produce carbon dioxide. Dense plant
canopies can trap this near soil level, where it is most useful.
• Our main task each day is harvesting. In the winter of 2009–2010, we had frozen soil
or snow on the ground outside for a month (very unusual for us). Despite this we
were able to keep a hundred people in fresh salad and cooking greens (with turnips
and scallions for variety) for the whole month.
• Aside from harvesting, jobs include planting new crops, clearing old ones, spreading
compost, hoeing, hand weeding and supplying water as needed.
• We have drip irrigation. In the middle of winter, not much water is needed, and we
try to only water when a relatively mild night is forecast.

69. Nitrate accumulation
• During periods of short daylight length, there is a health risk
associated with nitrate accumulation in leafy greens. Nitrates are
converted in the body into toxic nitrites, which reduce the blood’s
capacity to carry oxygen. Also, nitrites can form carcinogenic
nitrosamines.
• Plants make nitrates during the night, and convert them into leaf
material during the day. It takes about six hours of sunlight to use up
a night’s worth of nitrates. In winter, a small handful of leafy
vegetables can exceed the acceptable daily intake level of nitrate for
an adult, unless special efforts have been made to reduce the levels.
• Spinach, mustard greens and collards contain about twice as much
as lettuce; radishes, kale, and beets often have two and a half times
as much. Turnip greens are especially high, at 3 times lettuce levels.

70. To keep nitrate levels as low as possible:
 Grow varieties best suited for winter;
 Avoid fertilizing with blood meal or feather meal; use organic
compost.
 Ensure soil has sufficient P, K, Mg and Mo
 Water enough but not excessively;
 Provide fresh air as soon as temperatures reach 68°F (20°C), so that
carbon dioxide levels are high enough;
 Harvest after at least four (preferably six) hours of bright sunlight in
winter;
 Avoid harvesting on very overcast days;
 Avoid over-mature crops and discard the outer leaves. Harvest
crops a little under-mature, rather than over-mature;
 Refrigerate immediately after harvest, store harvested greens at
temperatures close to freezing;
 Use crops soon after harvest;
 Mix your salads; don’t just eat spinach.

71. Resources - General
 ATTRA attra.ncat.org
 Market Farming: A Start-up Guide,
 Scheduling Vegetable Plantings for a Continuous Harvest
 Season Extension Techniques for Market Farmers
 Intercropping Principles and Production Practices
 Plugs and Transplant Production for Organic Systems
 SARE at sare.org -A searchable database of research findings
 SARE’s Season Extension Topic Room
 SARE Crop Rotations on Organic Farms, A Planning Manual, Charles Mohler and Sue Ellen
Johnson, editors.
 extension.org/organic_production The organic agriculture community with
eXtension. Publications, webinars, videos, trainings and support. An
expanding, accessible source of reliable information.
 Growing Small Farms: growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/ Farmer Resources,
Farm Planning and Recordkeeping to download Joel Gruver’s spreadsheets.
 Washington State University Extension, Storing Vegetables and Fruits at Home
pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=EB1326E
 USDA Agriculture Handbook 66 ba.ars.usda.gov/hb66/contents.html
 Virginia Co-operative Extension Service Fall Planting Guide
pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-334/426-334.html

72. Resources - Planning
 The Twin Oaks Harvest Calendar by Starting Date and by Crop are available as
pdfs on my website sustainablemarketfarming.com/2013/11/07/growing-for-
market-articles-2/
 AgSquared online planning software: agsquared.com
 COG-Pro record-keeping software for Certified Organic Farms: cog-pro.com
 Free open-source database crop planning software
code.google.com/p/cropplanning.
 Mother Earth News interactive Vegetable Garden Planner, free for 30 days:
motherearthnews.com/garden-planner.
 Target Harvest Date Calculator: (Excel spreadsheet) johnnyseeds.com/t-
InteractiveTools.aspx
 Tables of likely crop yields:
johnnyseeds.com/assets/information/vegetablecharts.pdf.
 Mark Cain www.drippingspringsgarden.com under the CSA tab, you can
download their Harvest Schedule. Notebook-based system.
 Clif Slade’s 43560 Project: VABF newsletter
vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/clif-slade-43560-demo-project.pdf.

73. Resources – Detailed Planning
 Determining Prices for CSA Share Boxes Iowa State U
extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/pdf/c5-19.pdf
 New England Vegetable Management Guide Crop Budgets
http://nevegetable.org/cultural-practices/crop-budgets
 USDA annual vegetable consumption www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf
 John Jeavons How to Grow More Vegetables charts: Pounds Consumed per Year
by the Average Person in the US; Average US Yield in Pounds per 100 Square Feet.
 The Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the UC Santa Cruz
Crop Plan for a Hundred-Member CSA, for a range of 36 crops in its Unit 4.5 CSA
Crop Planning: casfs.ucsc.edu/education/instructional-resources/downloadable-
pdf-files2 or directly at 63.249.122.224/wp-
content/uploads/2010/05/4.5_CSA_crop_plan.pdf
 Jean-Paul Courtens , Roxbury Farm www.roxburyfarm.com. Information for
Farmers tab, 100 Member CSA Plan, including a Weekly Share Plan, Greenhouse
Schedule, and Field Planting and Seeding Schedule (with charts of possible crop
yields). Courtens is also willing to send you their 1,100-member schedule.
 gardensofeden.org/04%20Crop%20Yield%20Verification.htm two yield charts,
one of organic crops from The Owner-Built Homestead by Ken & Barbara Kern,
one from California.

74. Resources - slideshows
Many of my presentations are available at www.Slideshare.net. Search for Pam Dawling.
 Crop Rotations
 Cold-hardy Winter Vegetables
 Crop Planning for Sustainable Vegetable Production
 Fall Vegetable Production
 Feed the Soil
 Growing Great Garlic
 Intensive Vegetable Production on a Small Scale
 Producing Asian Greens
 Soon, Production of Late Fall, Winter and Early Spring Vegetable Crops
 Succession Planting for Continuous Vegetable Harvests
 Sustainable Farming Practices.
 Mark Cain: Planning for Your CSA: www.Slideshare.net (search for Crop Planning)
 Daniel Parson: Planning the Planting of Cover Crops and Cash Crops, www.Slideshare.net
 Joel B Gruver: Cover Crop Innovation www.Slideshare.net
 Tom Peterson: Farm Planning for a Full Market Season Appalachian Farmers Market
Association and Appalachian Sustainable Development
http://vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/tom-peterson-farm-planning-for-a-full-market-
season.pdf
 Brad Burgefurd: Cultural Practices And Cultivar Selections for Commercial Vegetable Growers.
www.slideshare.net/guest6e1a8d60/vegetable-cultural-practices-and-variety-selection

75. Resources - books
 The Complete Know and Grow Vegetables, J K A Bleasdale, P J Salter et al.
 Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers, Maynard and Hochmuth
 The New Seed Starter’s Handbook, Nancy Bubel, Rodale Books
 The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall, Chelsea Green
 Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-up to Market, Vern Grubinger,
 The New Organic Grower, Eliot Coleman, Chelsea Green
 Extending the Season: Six Strategies for Improving Cash Flow Year-Round on the
Market Farm a free e-book for online subscribers to Growing for Market magazine
 Sharing the Harvest, Elizabeth Henderson and Robyn Van En
 Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall
 Gardening When it Counts, Steve Solomon
 Grow a Sustainable Diet: Planning and Growing to Feed Ourselves and the Earth,
Cindy Conner, New Society Publishers, (worksheet based). DVD/CD set Develop a
Sustainable Vegetable Garden Plan
 Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers, Daniel Brisebois and Frédéric
Thériault (Canadian Organic Growers www.cog.ca) Includes Excel spreadsheets or
pdfs which can be downloaded blank.

76. Production of Late Fall,
Winter and Early Spring
Vegetable Crops
©Pam Dawling 2014, Twin Oaks
Community, Virginia
Author of Sustainable Market Farming
Published by New Society Publishers
SustainableMarketFarming.com
facebook.com/SustainableMarketFarming