This Is What Martha Is Growing in Her Greenhouse All Winter Long

In the winter months, it's usually difficult to grow vegetables, especially for those who live in the northern U.S. Fortunately, Martha boasts a vegetable greenhouse on her Bedford farm, which is where she and her head gardener, Ryan McCallister, are busy tending to plants right now.

The greenhouse contains 16 raised beds, some of which were just seeded. A few beds include plants that have just germinated and are in the beginning stages of growth. And other beds have young, but already established plants, Martha shares in a recent blog post. She explains that the crops are planted in succession, "so there is always something growing."

Inside, many edible, cold-hardy crops, such as root vegetables and brassicas, can be grown and harvested through the winter months. "I also installed grow lights specially designed to substitute natural sunlight, stimulating photosynthesis, and to provide the right color spectrum for thriving plants," she explains. The greenhouse uses minimal artificial heat.

Lettuce grows particularly well in the greenhouse. "It’s a real treat to have lettuce like this all year long," Martha says. "I always grow lots of varieties of lettuce, so I can share them with my daughter and her children."

Spinach is another greenhouse favorite, which she uses in her daily green juice. You'll also find beets, Swiss chard, radishes, turnips, bok choy, and arugula, which were directly planted from seed a couple of weeks ago. Herbs include dill and cilantro.

Plus, Ryan recently transplanted young cucumbers and tomatoes that had been started from seed. At one end of the greenhouse, 60-inch bean towers were set up to support the growing vines of cucumbers. After the soil was fertilized, Ryan dug holes near the corners of the towers to allow the developing vines to grow along the vertical strings that stretch to the top of the support.

As for the tomatoes, this year, Ryan placed the potted plants on top of heat mats to keep them a bit warmer throughout the season. The pots were filled with Miracle-Gro All Purpose Garden Soil and topped off with Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed specifically made for tomatoes and other growing vegetables.

He planted two per pot and will monitor to see which plants grow stronger. As they develop, he will remove those that seem weak and unproductive, Martha explains. Finally, he secured a 48-inch tomato cage on top of each container.

"I am so pleased with my vegetable greenhouse and how productive it is every year," Martha shares. "I am looking forward to a season filled with bountiful harvests."