If the food shortage hits this fall and winter, you need crops that can survive in cold weather unless you live in a really warm zone like California or Florida. There are some things you can grow in winter, mostly very hardy greens like kale. I kept kale plants going all winter (zone 6, that winter temps went down into single digits) by using an old 55 gallon fish tank over them.
Fall crops should have been planted before now in order to harvest before it gets cold enough to kill them back. This guy lists some cold hardy things to try but you have to start now with good sized plants (try Lowes and other garden centers.)
Making mini greenhouses with hoops and thick plastic and good layers of mulch will help.
Farmers markets are AWESOME. I used to grow my own green beans to can each summer. Not anymore. I get all the beans i need from the farmers market without spending hours and hours planting, weeding, picking. Nope. Fuk that. Canned up 36 jars of beans we got from out farmers mkt this weekend for $75. 8gal of family farm raised beans for $75. Yeah … Im doing that from now on. I use that soil for san marzanos now.
We have a terrific orchard nearby that has a store where you can get, in addition to bags or bushels of apples and peaches, pumpkins, gourds, squash, corn, shelled lima beans (I love you, bean lady!), cabbage, heirloom tomatoes all grown locally. I don't can much of anything any more, I freeze or dry. I got myself a nice, big dehydrator last year. They also sell the best tomato plants I've ever bought, lots of heirloom varieties, grown by a local farmer. Meats and cheeses from a couple of local farms. They sell some canned items they do themselves including a peach habanero salsa that the spicier the better fan here loves.
It's one of several nice farm stores but there are a couple that are buying the same tasteless stuff the grocery stores sell.
I really believe everybody who has any space at all should get a bushel or more of a good keeper apple, wrap each apple in a piece of newspaper and store them in wooden bins (the best) or even newspaper lined cardboard boxes in a cool basement or garage where they won't freeze. They'll wither a little but you'll have good apples until spring.
The best way to get a lot of something - apples to beans - is pick your own farms or orchards. My mother and I used to pick a dozen or more bushels of apples every fall, some to store and a lot for the apple butter she and her friends made the old fashioned way in a big iron cauldron outside. I swear the smoke made it taste better. Your state agriculture department should have lists of pick your own places.
I drove through one of the local towns today that had a sign up about a farmer's market once a week with local stuff. I need to check that out. Most of the farmer's markets here peter out because they don't have nice, local produce.
Not more hardy, less. You can grow them in winter but have to plant in late summer. If well grown, they can withstand a few frosts but they will die if they have no protection when the really cold weather hits. Keep in mind in my zone we get lots of very cold temps, down into below zero, every winter. I'm in northwestern Virginia. So a good bit of the country is in my zone or colder.
20s is well below freezing, though. How's your annual rainfall? Even the hardiest stuff will die back or go dormant if it's too cold. You should be able to grow some hardy things with protection, though. Forget tomatoes and potatoes until summer, but kale, corn salad, turnips. Is your soil clay, rocky-sandy or rich loam? If you have good soil and decent rainfall, you should be able to grow lots of hardy things. With protection. Hardy plants hold up better if they're not stressed by drought, lack of fertility. Wet soil can cause root rot in winter in a lot of plants. Did you know if they're calling for frost overnight you can protect plants by covering them overnight - old sheets, cardboard boxes or you can get protective row covers at Lowes for really cheap.
Here's a quote for you:
My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. - H. Fred Ale
If the food shortage hits this fall and winter, you need crops that can survive in cold weather unless you live in a really warm zone like California or Florida. There are some things you can grow in winter, mostly very hardy greens like kale. I kept kale plants going all winter (zone 6, that winter temps went down into single digits) by using an old 55 gallon fish tank over them.
Fall crops should have been planted before now in order to harvest before it gets cold enough to kill them back. This guy lists some cold hardy things to try but you have to start now with good sized plants (try Lowes and other garden centers.)
Making mini greenhouses with hoops and thick plastic and good layers of mulch will help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl19suHaoQg
Another alternative would be to find a good farmer's market, farm or farm store about buy bushels of apples, cabbages and other storable crops.
Farmers markets are AWESOME. I used to grow my own green beans to can each summer. Not anymore. I get all the beans i need from the farmers market without spending hours and hours planting, weeding, picking. Nope. Fuk that. Canned up 36 jars of beans we got from out farmers mkt this weekend for $75. 8gal of family farm raised beans for $75. Yeah … Im doing that from now on. I use that soil for san marzanos now.
We have a terrific orchard nearby that has a store where you can get, in addition to bags or bushels of apples and peaches, pumpkins, gourds, squash, corn, shelled lima beans (I love you, bean lady!), cabbage, heirloom tomatoes all grown locally. I don't can much of anything any more, I freeze or dry. I got myself a nice, big dehydrator last year. They also sell the best tomato plants I've ever bought, lots of heirloom varieties, grown by a local farmer. Meats and cheeses from a couple of local farms. They sell some canned items they do themselves including a peach habanero salsa that the spicier the better fan here loves.
It's one of several nice farm stores but there are a couple that are buying the same tasteless stuff the grocery stores sell.
I really believe everybody who has any space at all should get a bushel or more of a good keeper apple, wrap each apple in a piece of newspaper and store them in wooden bins (the best) or even newspaper lined cardboard boxes in a cool basement or garage where they won't freeze. They'll wither a little but you'll have good apples until spring.
The best way to get a lot of something - apples to beans - is pick your own farms or orchards. My mother and I used to pick a dozen or more bushels of apples every fall, some to store and a lot for the apple butter she and her friends made the old fashioned way in a big iron cauldron outside. I swear the smoke made it taste better. Your state agriculture department should have lists of pick your own places.
I drove through one of the local towns today that had a sign up about a farmer's market once a week with local stuff. I need to check that out. Most of the farmer's markets here peter out because they don't have nice, local produce.
Canning is very simple and easy to do. Also potatoes and winter squash can last for month in a cool dark place with no special storage.
I canned for years.
Carrots love cold and allow you to pick all winter long.
Not more hardy, less. You can grow them in winter but have to plant in late summer. If well grown, they can withstand a few frosts but they will die if they have no protection when the really cold weather hits. Keep in mind in my zone we get lots of very cold temps, down into below zero, every winter. I'm in northwestern Virginia. So a good bit of the country is in my zone or colder.
We get snow but not that much. If it dips into the 20s that is big news.
20s is well below freezing, though. How's your annual rainfall? Even the hardiest stuff will die back or go dormant if it's too cold. You should be able to grow some hardy things with protection, though. Forget tomatoes and potatoes until summer, but kale, corn salad, turnips. Is your soil clay, rocky-sandy or rich loam? If you have good soil and decent rainfall, you should be able to grow lots of hardy things. With protection. Hardy plants hold up better if they're not stressed by drought, lack of fertility. Wet soil can cause root rot in winter in a lot of plants. Did you know if they're calling for frost overnight you can protect plants by covering them overnight - old sheets, cardboard boxes or you can get protective row covers at Lowes for really cheap.
Here's a quote for you: My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. - H. Fred Ale