While some of us opt for a winter break, others embark on a much more ambitious endeavor: winter vegetable production. The trend is growing strong among market gardeners, and new northern production techniques are emerging.
What makes winter vegetable production so appealing?
The lengthening of the production season allows producers to stretch their annual cash flow, since otherwise, the winter months represent little to no income. For some, this approach is driven by the desire to increase our food self-sufficiency in Quebec. Depending on marketing strategies and cultivation techniques adopted, offering produce in the winter can be profitable. Still, several important challenges must be overcome to achieve this.
Energy: the main issue with winter vegetable growing
The idea isn’t to cultivate exotic fruits in the middle of a classic Quebec January. The energy costs to recreate optimal climatic conditions in heated greenhouses are unaffordable. Still, the environmental impact of the energy consumption necessary to heat such structures in the winter could be better.
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