Winter Herb Gardening: Easy Herbs to Grow in a Cold Frame

Cold frames are a great way to get a jump-start on or extend the gardening season. An easy way to get started with cold-frame growing is to put it to good use cultivating herbs through the winter months. Cold frames create a microclimate by utilizing the sun and insulation. This environment creates conditions so that plants grown inside are protected from frost and can take advantage of warmer soil. Though it takes a bit of effort to set up and maintain, it is well worth the reward of having fresh and flavorful herbs during the coldest months of the year. Even in a Midwest winter, you can grow fresh herbs that will tolerate this chilly but snug situation. Here are some tips and easy herbs to grow in a cold frame.

If you don’t have a cold frame already, they are fairly easy to set up. An appropriately constructed cold frame can be purchased and assembled or done as a DIY project using new or repurposed materials.

Fresh chives (Allium schoenoprasum and cvs., Zones 4–8) have myriad uses in the kitchen, and this includes our winter recipes. Cold-tolerant chives can actually be sown in the spring and will continue to provide fresh growth (remove the flowers) well into winter. However, you can also transplant your chives into the cold frame in fall or plant/sink a container of chives into the cold frame as well.

The wide range of mints (Mentha spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9) that we can grow in the Midwest is impressive, as is their reliability as vigorous perennials. Do be wary of their propensity to spread; they are often best grown in pots. Even so, with repeated frosts ending the outdoor season for mints, existing pots (or newly potted divisions) can be sunk into the soil within your cold-frame soil with just the rim of the pot