Growing Edibles Indoors

It’s possible to move some of your produce inside for continued harvesting. For most of the following, plant them in a garbage can, large plastic tub, or large pot. Use potting soil that drains well. Light won’t be a problem, because they nearly all need darkness. You can plant your containers quite intensively, since the roots won’t actually be growing.

Dig some large roots that are three years old or more. Replant them to about the same depth they were growing in, in a container such as those mentioned earlier. Don’t water. Keep the container in a protected cold place – a garage, shed, enclosed porch, or unheated room – for six weeks. Then move it to a place where the temperature is between 15 and 18 degrees C (60 to 65 degrees F). Shoots will grow whether the plant gets light or not. Water to keep the soil evenly moist. Once you’ve harvested the crop, the roots can’t be planted back in the garden because they’ve used their reserves of energy. Of course, the spent plants can go in the compost bin.

Use a container at least 20 cm (8 inches deep). Put 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) of soil or sand in the bottom of the container and set in it beets taken either from storage or dug from the garden. Cover completely with more soil or sand. Water until soil is moist. Keep in a dark place with a temperature of 10 to 15 degrees C (50 to 60 degrees F). In three or four weeks, the beets should be sending up new leaves that are paler than normal but more tender and milder than usual. Add the leaves to salads.

In the fall, dig the roots of Witloof chicory that were planted in the spring and take off all but 2.5 cm (1 inch) of the foliage (if you take off more, you could be cutting off the bud that will grow). Plant the roots deeply in a container – a bucket will do – covering them with moist sand or soil. Put it in a dark spot with a temperature of 10 to 18 degrees C (50 to 65 degrees F). Water frequently, and in only a few weeks, the heads, which have a mild taste, should show. Exposure to light will cause the leaves to be bitter. Harvest by cutting off the heads at the soil level when they are about 10 or 12 cm (5 to 5 inches) long. The same root will produce two or three harvestings, but each will be smaller than the previous one.

This is a fussy plant to grow indoors, but if you hanker after a bit of fresh rhubarb while the snow is still blowing around outside, give it a try. After a few frosts, but before the soil has frozen, dig up some two- or three-year old roots. Bury them in containers in soil, and store in a dry, dark, cool place for a month. Then cover and keep at a temperature of about 6 degrees C (44 degrees F) for ten days. After that, place in a temperature of 10 to 15 degrees C (50 to 60 degrees F), still in the dark. Keep moist. The stalks should start to appear in four to six weeks.

Grow fresh onions all winter long. The idea is not to harvest the onions themselves, but to snip off the top growth for tasty additions to meals. Take a container with a drainage hole and cover the bottom with some gravel, pebbles, or broken pot bits. Fill the container three-quarters full with potting mix and plant small onion sets. A pot with a 20 cm (8 inch) width will take about a dozen sets. Cover the sets with moist potting mix to a level about 1.25 cm (1/2 inch) below the rim. Put the pot in a brig