As we head into winter, countless gardeners are getting creative with the food they’re growing to cut costs. Koren Helbig is an educator for sustainable city living. She inspires us with the myriad advantages of growing a winter garden teeming with all sorts of vegetables and herbs. Climate impacts have started to affect how she chooses which plants to grow at home. By leveraging winter’s chill soil, she’s growing food organically and providing a consistent supply during the winter months.
Helbig stresses the importance of planting “cool-weather” vegetables and herbs to help them thrive during winter months. Her favorite lettuce varieties are red and green salad bowl, oakleaf, and the heirloom Amish deer tongue. These quick-growing “cut and come again” options allow for ongoing harvests, providing fresh greens even during the chill of winter.
The Power of Leeks and Leafy Greens
In addition to lettuce, Helbig raises leeks. She plants theirs by mid fall so they have time to get established before the soil temperatures begin to cool significantly. Keep leeks in a covered dish in the refrigerator and they will last for weeks. This abundant nature makes leeks a sensible staple for your wintertime culinary adventures! With the ability to be roasted, steamed, or grated fresh into salads, beets provide tremendous versatility in the kitchen.
Helbig’s winter garden is more than just leeks. It doesn’t like to brag, but it provides residents with an infinite source of leafy greens—they’ll never run out of kale, spinach or rainbow chard! What makes these greens especially precious is that they lend themselves so easily to different preparations. Helbig creates gourmet creations from her bounty’s harvest. From salads and sandwiches to curries, pies, omelettes and homemade veggie stock powder, she ensures that every day is not only healthy but different.
A Bounty of Beans and Root Crops
Peas, beans and broad beans are the true “stars” of Koren Helbig’s winter garden. These plants provide a huge amount of food for their footprint, making them perfect for anyone interested in getting the most out of their harvest. Broad beans are mostly harvested young, so they can be eaten whole without much effort and little to no butterflying. Peas are an important part of increasing Helbig’s winter yield. If you harvest them frequently they have a very continuous productivity that will feed you for more than a month.
Along with legumes, Helbig prefers root crops like turnips and beetroots. These simple-to-grow-from-seed veggies are the kind that take up little space or care in the garden. Their winter hardiness means that these crops can overwinter, letting Helbig harvest them as needed rather than all at once.
Radishes, too, are a featured ingredient in Helbig’s winter garden. They are ephemeral, as they are fast-growing plants which can be ready to harvest and enjoy in just four weeks from planting! This short maturity time gives gardeners quick returns, and success can lead to more fresh supplemental meals from winter diets.
Sustainable Gardening Practices
Her sustainable gardening practices are just one example of Helbig’s dedication to permaculture principles. Her specialty is selecting affordable plants that are compact, easy-to-grow, and can lead to a viable harvest to utilize in all of your kitchen adventures. This holistic approach allows her to grow a regenerative working environment that’s more attuned to her values.
By taking advantage of the cold soil temperatures that winter brings, Helbig has been able to successfully overwinter plants in her garden. Or, for example, leeks can be left in the ground and harvested individually over the course of a few weeks. This method greatly reduces waste. It ensures that she has access to fresh, local produce throughout the winter months.
