Digging compost into our coldframes for a winter spinach crop. Photo Wren Vile
Winter Gardening Challenge
The Seedtime annual free Winter Gardening Challenge is just around the corner! Dates: Sunday July 19-Wednesday July 22 2026
Time: 7:00 PM CDT every evening (with additional sessions at 10am (paid), 12pm and 3pm (free). It kicks off Sunday 7/19 at 7pm Central (8pm Eastern, 6pm Mountain, 5pm Pacific).
If you’re out in the garden right now, sweating through the heat, and you’d love to still be picking fresh food out of your yard once the frost hits, take a look at this.
A free, 4-day, live online Winter Gardening Challenge, hosted by Edwin and Paul Dysinger, the father and son team behind Seedtime, on how to keep a continual harvest of fresh food through the winter. With optional additional paid morning sessions.
Over-wintered Acadia spinach emerging undamaged from under the ice and snow. Ken Bezilla
Over the four days, Paul and Edwin (with co-host Luke Hammond and an awesome line up of guest speakers) will walk you through how to keep fresh food coming out of your garden all the way through winter. Yes, even when there’s snow on the ground, with the right cold-hardy crops and protection to hold off the cold.
And because it’s live, you can ask your real questions and build your winter garden plan right alongside them, so you walk away with an actual plan you can put in the ground, not just a pile of notes.
This year The Winter Gardening Challenge has three of the most respected fall and winter growers around joining them to teach, live:
Melissa K. Norris, the voice behind the Pioneering Todaypodcast and a fifth-generation homesteader who teaches people to grow, preserve, and cook their own food, will present Your Climate-Based Plan, choosing crops for your location and season, how to choose the right winter growing strategy based on climate + goals + tools available (none, row covers only, tunnels/hoophouse) on Monday at noon Central (1pm Eastern, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific).
Pam Dawling, who wrote the book Sustainable Market Farming and grew food year-round managing a 3.5 acre garden for 25 years. I’m presenting Habits of a Winter Gardener (Temperature thresholds, frost strategies, crop-specific protection) on Tuesday at noon Central (1pm Eastern, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific).
Nicole Burke, founder of Gardenary, who has helped so many people start a kitchen garden that actually feeds their family, is presenting Timing and Crop Selection (Fall & Shoulder Season success) on Wednesday at noon Central (1pm Eastern, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific).
Every one of them is showing up live to help you grow through the winter. You get to be in the room, ask your questions, and learn from people who have actually been doing this year after year.
Overwintered Acadia spinach, weeds, March 16, Pam Dawling
Grow your best cool season garden ever.
Act fast because this event is coming up right around the corner!
On registration, users have the option to purchase the replays and VIP experience for $19 plus some optional bump and upsell offers.
