It’s getting chilly here in the Northwest. I stand on my back porch, looking at the garden and plotting. A gardener never stops planning. As the night’s grow colder and we gardeners stare at the thermometer and wonder when to start covering the crops for longer harvest. We are scurrying to get the last of the delicate harvest processed, the winter greens planted and under cover.

Spinach, mâche, cress and the like can all thrive under the cover of a few hoop houses. Other crops such as beets, kale, carrots, brussel sprouts, onions and garlic can be left out in the snow to get a crisp sweetness from the frost. This year, our plan is to do a double job of the “hoophouse” protection by making a large hoophouse to cover the boxes wile covering the boxes individually as we did last year. This double layered protection also keeps the cats out of the boxes and the ground warm. Still, there will need to be a rest period and sections that will be planted with a cover crop. That cover crop will be harvested and fed to the bunny (doesn’t everyone have one?) and then… well, you get the picture. The cycle continues for every smart urban gardener.

Keeping motivated for the project is the biggest problem since it’s just me with grand designs. Sam (my 24 year old son) has gone back to work, still investigating school, and Thom (my patient and brilliant husband) is gone almost all day. That leaves me and my computer and a new book that is inspiring me for the long haul through winter gardening. The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman has given me a way to solve the winter harvest dilemma.

My first thought had been to simply cover the boxes again. However, often that is only enough in the winter time to make the crops that I have already planted stay put and not turn into brown brittle nothings. No, if we want fresh spinach for Thanksgiving and Christmas then we must have a plan. Ambitious, yes. Impossible, no.

I currently have my 4×4 square raised beds set up for hoop houses. This year, I was able to get earlier production on my spring greens that way. The book states that Coleman, in Maine, can grow crops over the winter that will not go dormant. He uses a double layer method for keeping the crops warm. Inside covers with an outside hoop house. How simple is that? Isn’t that what we do with our clothes in the winter? Layering?

To get this garden party started, we’ll need a roll of greenhouse film that will go over an arc, the base of which is six to eight feet. That means, if I want it at least five feet high, it will be more elliptical in shape than a traditional half circle. The half circle length will be at least 12.5 feet. A roll of durafilm 14′ x 100′ will cost about $170 plus shipping. Using a PVC and wood frame which will cost another $50, plus the straw for the ground cover which is about $8 per bale. For that minimum price, you can make a temporary greenhouse that can be taken down in the summer but replaced year after year for the winter.

So, now to begin life as a small time Maraîcher!