Tips for Growing Food in Cold Climates

I’ve been growing vegetables, fruit and herbs for years and I have to say, I learn something new every season. Just when I think I’ve mastered the art of growing beets, I get a crop of teeny tiny ones for reasons I don’t understand. Sometimes the potatoes I plant don’t produce well, and then there are the years when the carrots just don’t grow or the squash just dies on the vine.

While I feel pretty confident in my ability to grow non-edible plants, I still struggle to turn out consistently usable food crops. I’m probably doing all sorts of things wrong, but I’d also like to blame some of the problem on our weather. It’s not easy to grow edibles in cold climates. So when I was asked to review John Whitman’s new book Fresh from the Garden: An Organic Guide to Growing Vegetables, Berries, and Herbs in Cold Climates, I jumped at the chance.

Published by the University of Minnesota Press earlier this year, Whitman’s book offers more than 500 pages of color photos and helpful, practical information, starting with easy-to-understand organic gardening basics and expanding into specifics on how to grow, harvest and store a wide range of edibles. Unlike some gardening books where you can tell the writer has never touched a trowel, Fresh from the Garden offers know-how and advice that reflects Whitman’s 50-plus years of gardening experience. He is also the author of several other books that I use and trust, including three in the cold climate gardening series: Growing Perennials in Cold Climates, Growing Shrubs and Small Trees in Cold Climates and Growing Roses in Cold Climates.

Credit: John Whitman

One of the things I like most about Whitman’s approach is the way he just says what he thinks, citing his own experience rather than repeating things that are commonly said like—you MUST get a soil test before planting. “I consider its value questionable for most home gardeners but worth the cost for mini-farmers,” he writes, explaining that he’s never done a soil test in 60 years of gardening. I’ve gone back and forth about soil tests over the years and concluded that most gardeners I know, including master gardeners, don’t test their soil’s nutrient and pH levels regularly if at all. That said, soil tests are useful if you’re having problems growing something or you want to grow something with specific needs, like blueberries, which require more acidic soil. Soil tests are also necessary, he writes, and I would agree, if heavy metal contamination, particularly lead, could be a an issue where you are planting.

Whitman also does a fabulous job of suggesting varieties of edibles that we can plant in our cold climate, including a lot of heirlooms and hybrids that you don’t often hear about. Did you know, for example, that there are more than 30 different species of basil? The most common is sweet basil, of which there are many, many varieties. Cuban basil, which Whitman describes as “fairly cold tolerant” grows to about 18 inches tall with a spicy, sweet taste while ‘Magical Michael’ basil grows to 16 inches and is just plain sweet with slightly purplish leaves.

Credit: John Whitman

Having trouble growing carrots? Be sure to plant them in full sun or at least partial shade in a spot with deep, loose and fertile soil. It helps to work some compost, rotted leaves and/or aged manure in before planting time. If you want to grow them in containers, use something that is at least 12-inches deep and wide or larger. For containers, he recommends planting baby varieties, such as ‘Little Finger’, ‘Parmex’ or Thumbelina Hybrid’.

Want to help cucumbers stave off late-summer diseases? Water them only when the top inch of soil is dry, he advises. That way, plants will develop deeper roots to help them withstand drought and heat while also making them more resilient in general. Avoid spraying the foliage with water, and watch for yellowing leaves, which signal that you are overwatering. His long list of cold-tolerant varieties includes one of my favorites, the vining heirloom ‘Straight 8’, which I plant every year.

No matter what edible you look up, Fresh from the Garden offers thoughtful advice and plant suggestions that, in many cases, I have not found elsewhere—at least not in such a readable, down-to-earth form. Thanks to John Whitman, I may just have my best food-growing summer yet. Check his book out and see what you think.