Local Winter Greens Series: Grow it at Home

Home Grown Winter Greens

The most challenging part about eating local during the winter months is finding greens. Whether your diet is strictly plant based or you supplement with animal protein, a well balanced meal needs something green in it. In Portland Oregon, at 45 degrees north, our options for fresh local greens diminishes during the winter months. This is the first of a two part series on eating local greens, even in the winter.  Today we'll be looking at growing green food when it's frosty outside.

My Winter Garden

This far into the season, I've been able to keep a row of cabbage and a row of kale, sown the first week in September. These past few weeks we've had frost here in Portland at night. Most of the leaves on the kale have died, although I suspect some of the plants might still be alive. I can't tell with the cabbage. The leaves don't look wilted or damaged under the frost. I might try and bring the frozen leaves in and use them soon.

Some people have luck covering their winter gardens, or putting a glass frame over them. I've found you can usually get well into the winter with hearty greens, as long as their root system is big enough before the weather turns.

Frosted January Cabbage

Sprouting Seeds

Sprouting is another way to get green food when you can't buy or grow your own. This is a good option in the winter, or if you're on a long sailing trip. It's quite easy, and lots of grains will sprout if they're whole and uncooked. All you need to do is soak them over night, and then wash them with water once or twice a day until they look delicious. I've made a strainer lid from some mesh I bought at True Value and a canning lid.

Home Made Strainer Lid

I bought lot alfalfa seeds a few years back, and I'm still working on them. Alfalfa is pretty reliable. My kitchen is a bit colder in the winter, so I find they take a little over a week to fully sprout.

Alfalfa Sprouts at 1 Week

I think these are mustard sprouts. Their seeds were also purchased a few years back. They're less reliable than alfalfa seeds and take longer to sprout. They have a nice spicy taste, though.

Old Mustard Seeds at 1 Week

I was able to save almost a pint of spinach seeds from my garden last summer. So I thought, maybe I can sprout them. This is an experiment at this point, I don't know how well it will work.

Spinach Seeds at 2 Days

Mung beans are also delicious and easy to sprout. They are often served with Thai food. I don't usually buy them, because the only ones I've found are shipped from over seas.

Window Farming

Window Farms are a movement that started a few years back in New York. The short of it is if you don't have a place outside to grow food, you can use a indoor window as a plant habitat. This is a variation on hydroponics where there is a column of plants with a nutrient that trickles through them and is collected in a sump at the bottom and then pumped up through the system again. It's very water efficient and makes great use of window space. The Window Farms website has a great discussion forum, and people from all over the world have made and modified their own systems. They have construction plans available on their site. I've made two versions. Although the mechanics of the systems seems to work fine, I can never get anything to grow past a sprout.

Maybe that's why I'm sticking to eating sprouts.