FRESH VEGGIES YEAR-ROUND ARE MAN'S REWARD; WINTER GARDENS NEEDN'T BE A BIG CHORE.Byline: Karen Thacker Special to the Daily News The Antelope Valley's cold winter weather doesn't have to be a roadblock to enjoying fresh vegetables from a backyard garden. And it also doesn't have to mean a lot of work, says Milt Stark, one such winter gardener. Stark used two layers of plastic to encase en·case tr.v. en·cased, en·cas·ing, en·cas·es To enclose in or as if in a case. en·case  ment n. a 5-by-18 garden in a greenhouse built adjacent to a block wall on his home's southern side, where it can be warmed by winter sunshine. ``I built it up so the bed itself is waist high,'' he said. ``The block wall retains heat for a while . . . and you don't have to water as much in the greenhouse in the wintertime.'' His vegetables include mostly the mustard family mustard family Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae), composed of 350 genera of mostly herbaceous plants with peppery-flavored leaves. The pungent seeds of some species lead the spice trade in volume traded. , with collards collards: see kale. , broccoli broccoli (brŏk`əlē) [Ital.,=sprouts], variety of cabbage grown for the edible immature flower panicles. It is the same variety (Brassica oleracea botrytis) as the cauliflower and is similarly cultivated. , cabbage, Swiss chard Swiss chard: see beet. and lettuce. ``All that grows really well,'' he said. For the gardener who wants to put in a little more work, tomatoes are an option, but they'll need additional heat other than just the plastic encasing. The ``greens'' can also be grown without a greenhouse, ``but they don't grow nearly as well,'' Stark said. ``I've tried both - I just gave up on the outside.'' ``There's so much less work . . . and more produce by far,'' he said. For six years now he's had fresh vegetables all winter. Like the four summer garden plots in his back yard, the winter greenhouse is supplied with compost he makes himself. After grinding down yard greenery and leaves, he adds ammonium sulfate ammonium sulfate, chemical compound, (NH4)2SO4, a colorless-to-gray, rhombohedral crystalline substance that occurs in nature as the mineral mascagnite. It is soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol or liquid ammonia. and water to help it decompose de·com·pose v. de·com·posed, de·com·pos·ing, de·com·pos·es v.tr. 1. To separate into components or basic elements. 2. To cause to rot. v.intr. 1. . He rotates the compost between bins and then uses it for his gardens. During the day he opens the door and windows to the greenhouse to allow sunshine in, and closes them at night. Sensitive plants would obviously not survive, but collards and greens have survived down to 10 degrees, he said. Just before spring, the greenhouse also becomes a place for starting seedlings of his summer plants. He even moves them to pots before they make it to the garden. ``The tomatoes, for example, are a pretty good size before I set them out,'' he said. Stark, an Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley resident since 1923, is widely known for his book on local wildflowers, ``A Flower-Watcher's Guide to Spring Blooming Wildflowers of the Antelope Valley.'' His love of the outdoors embodies many of his works. ``I just like to watch things grow,'' he said. As for vegetables, ``I sure appreciate the food value - I enjoy eating it,'' he said. ``There's nothing better than fresh broccoli.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1 -- color) Swiss chard thrives in Milt Stark's backyard greenhouse, protected from winter's chill. (2 -- color) Lancaster gardening enthusiast Milt Stark checks on the progress of vegetables growing in the greenhouse he built in his back yard. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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