In recent years, organic growers in Maine have experimented with ways to produce vegetables during winter months when farming operations, like bears, are in hibernation. Not so the past three years. MacDougall has successfully grown herbs and vegetables in her unheated greenhouse and has sold them in her community, much to the delight of local restaurateurs and grocers. Buying locally also keeps prices down. The frames are covered with a few layers of plastic.
Chives are among the heartier herbs that can be grown during the winter.
The soil, buffered from the cold wind and snow, also contributes to higher temperatures. Polyester frost cloth may be necessary on extremely cold nights. The interior is warm enough to grow cold-weather crops such as salad greens, carrots, leeks, beets, rosemary, bay and members of the onion family. Tender vegetables and herbs such as tomatoes and basil are not good winter-harvest candidates. While many growers in cold-weather climates around the country use heated greenhouses to grow their plants, the expense is prohibitive.