Permaculture is all about matching your growing activities with natural cycles. Therefore, information about weather trends in your area is the starting point for any garden plan.

Weather Underground has been a great resource for me for several years. In addition to weather forecasts for anywhere on the planet, the site has feeds from hundreds of private weather stations. Anyone can install a weather station in their backyard and share the data with weather enthusiasts all over the world via Weather Underground. The site has a cool feature that allows you to create a "weather sticker" to embed on a web site or blog, showing current conditions for any of the stations in the database. 

Setting up your own weather station can be great fun, and the data from it can help you plan your garden with site-specific information. You can spend anywhere from a few dollars to several thousand on a home weather station. Here are a few tips if you decide to purchase one. 

The lower priced models are surprisingly accurate. I have several digital thermometers and all seem to agree when placed side by side. I have also compared temperature readings using a research grade glass thermometer. All the digital ones are within a few tenths of a degree of the research instrument, which is plenty accurate for gardening needs.

I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer consisting of a base unit and wireless remote. Each day, the base unit displays the high and low temperatures for the previous day automatically. It also displays indoor and outdoor relative humidity. This device cost about $20 at our local DIY store.  Low-cost devices lack the ability to store long term information, however, leaving you to track trends with pencil and paper or a spreadsheet.

A few years ago I bought a fancier weather station for about $200. I ordered it online. Several competing brands sell home weather stations and the price can range up to several thousand dollars. Ours came from Oregon Scientific, and while we could, shall we say, suggest some improvements, overall it has been quite satisfactory. Some friends purchased a more sophisticated system from OS, and have generally been pleased, as well. Both stations measure indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall rate and amount, and barometric pressure. The better unit permits installation of additional remote sensors. So, for example, you could have another temperature/humidity sensor in your greenhouse or swimming pool, along with the regular outdoor sensor, and both channels would be available on the base unit.

Besides merely taking readings, these stations have built-in software that calculates wind chill, heat index, and keeps track of maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall amounts. Each has a USB port that permits capture of data to a computer. This feature vastly simplifies recording trends, and makes possible sharing your data via the Internet.

The external sensors in my station require batteries, while the more upscale station my friends bought features solar powered external sensors. In both cases the sensors transmit data wirelessly to the base station. I will go with the solar model should I purchase a new weather station. Changing batteries in the outdoor sensor for temperature, humidity, and wind data could not be simpler. You twist the plastic housing a quarter turn and it pops away to reveal the battery compartment. Done in 30 seconds or less. The rain gauge, on the other hand, has the batteries encased in a waterproof, gasketed housing that requires removal of eight tiny screws each time the batteries need changing. It is a genuine pain to change the batteries. I use lithium batteries in the rain gauge to minimize changes. They last about a year.

Both units came packaged with software that proved to be out of date and hardly intuitive to use. Fortunately, we were able to upgrade the software online, and often find answers to our questions from the manufacturer's web site. Oregon Scientific, however, provides little in the way of answers to most of our questions. In the future, I will look for online product reviews, especially with regard to software and support, before purchasing another weather station.

Another problem with all of stations that feature wireless sensors is the working range. When the package states a maximum distance between the sensor and the base station, it means under ideal conditions. Depending upon the construction of your home and the presence of obstructions like trees and outbuildings, the actual range of the device can be much less. More costly, professional quality weather stations typically feature much more powerful transmitters in their remote units.

In summary, if you don't mind keeping your weather readings in a notebook, you can find accurate weather instruments at low cost. If you want a more sophisticated weather station capable of being networked to your computer, spend some time on research before you spend your money. Either way, having good records of weather conditions in your garden can help you make design decisions as well as plan for food crops.  

Nothing perks up an ordinary dish like fresh herbs. You don't have to pay $25 a pound for fresh herbs at the grocery. Choose the right varieties, and you can grow and harvest them all winter. The best choices for a winter herb garden in Tennessee are cilantro, parsley and French thyme. Cilantro and parsley will also grow on a sunny windowsill or under lights.

French thyme, as can be seen in the photo at left, takes on a lovely blue-gray color in winter, but the flavor remains unchanged. Cooks prefer this variety of thyme for two reasons. Its flavor is superior to most other types, and its growth habit provides long, straight stems from which the leaves are easy to strip. Lazy cooks (like me) always appreciate that characterisitc.

Grow French thyme in full sun and well drained soil with added organic matter. Avoid using organic mulches, however, as they can sometimes encourage root damage. Once established, French thyme needs little attention other than occassional watering. Fertilization is unneccessary.

With all perennial herbs, it is wise to pay a little more for plants started from cuttings, rather than start your own from seed. Perennial herb seedlings can be delicate and difficult to handle, but more importantly the flavor varies from one seedling to another. Purchasing named varieities propagated vegetatively assures you will grow plants with the flavor profile you had in mind.

If you cannot find French thyme at your local garden center, do what I did. Check the produce section at your local market in spring. French thyme roots easily from cuttings. I have even found bunches of this herb at the grocery in which some of the stems already had roots. Purchase a bunch, select the healthiest looking stems, and strip the leaves from the bottom two inches of stem. (Use the leaves in tonight's dinner.) With a sharp knife, recut each stem at an angle. Then place the cuttings in a glass of water and set them in indirect light. Within a few weeks the cuttings should have rooted well enough to pot up. After potting, water well for the first two weeks, then reduce watering until time to transplant to the garden.

After a few seasons of growth, French thyme will become woody and bedraggled looking from repeated harvesting. Take several cuttings, treat as described above, and grow new plants to renew your herb bed. I like to have five or six plants growing at any given moment. That way, no one plant gets picked too often.

Although technically biennial, parsley grows best when treated as an annual. You can buy parsley plants at the local garden center, but it is much more economical to start your own from seeds. Many cooks swear by the flat-leafed Italian types, and these do have excellent flavor. Cold tolerance, however, is better for tightly curled varieties, such as 'Moss Curled' and 'Krausa.' This winter has been a mild one in Tennessee, and although I was prepared for cold weather with several plants of 'Krausa' the Italian variety I grew for a spring and summer crop does not seem to have been affected by several nights of freezing temperatures. Either variety will germinate better if pre-treated to eliminate the natural germination inhibitors present in the seed coat. Pre-treating them is easy. Place seeds in a small bowl and cover with hot water from your tap. Allow to sit for 24 hours. (You will notice the water becoming colored from pigments in the seeds.) Strain through a fine sieve, cover with hot water again, and allow to sit. Repeat this procedure for a total of four days. On the fifth day, strain out the seeds and plant. Expect germination in about a week, rather than the three weeks normally required. 

I sow parsley in individual small pots, because transplant shock can sometimes cause the plants to bolt prematurely. By going directly into a 4-inch pot, I avoid having to move plants up to larger pots once or twice during the grow-out period. Sow three or four seeds per pot, then thin out all but the best one when the plants have a pair of true leaves. Feed lightly with a balanced fertilizer to keep plants dark green and growing rapidly. Plants for overwintering should go into the garden in August or September. If you want to hedge your bets, you can grow plants during the summer and then dig up one or two and transfer to pots for indoor growing. Do this around Labor Day. Chances are, however, they will survive winter without protection. Overwintered parsley will begin growing abundantly as they days begin to lengthen and warm temperatures return. Soon thereafter, they will probably bolt.

Cilantro is parsley's cousin, and is, if anything, even more cold tolerant. This makes no sense to me, as the herb appears in abundance in foods from warm climate countries, such as Latin America and Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, you can have cilantro's special pungency all winter from a single sowing in autumn. The plants I am currently harvesting, one of which is shown in the photo at left, are from seed sown on September 26, 2011. They just sat there most of the winter, but as soon as our usual January thaw arrived, they put on a growth spurt. Had I started them earlier, in late summer, they would have been large enough to harvest for the holiday season. Hopefully, this year I will remember to do that.

The BB-size seeds of cilantro are easy to sow. You can grow a whole row, or just poke a hole with your finger and drop in a few seeds here and there in the garden. The plants are undemanding and will grow in any average garden soil. You can begin to harvest leaves when the clump is larger than six inches in diameter. In spring, they will self sow if left to bolt, or the seeds can be harvested and used in cooking as the spice, coriander. Plants for overwintering will grow much more slowly than in summer. If you use a lot of cilantro, I suggest growing about a dozen clumps.

One other member of the parsley family deserves mention. Chervil looks like lacy cilantro and has a mild, anise flavor. It goes well with fish, chicken, asparagus and other dishes that call for tarragon. Unlike tarragon, it is not difficult to grow and is extremely winter hardy. In Tennessee, it grows better in winter than at any other time of year, in fact. I have always ordered seeds online, as none of the local garden centers seems to carry it. Look for 'Brussels Winter.' Sow the seeds in small pots in September and transplant to the garden when they have at least two sets of true leaves. References recommend growing chervil in partial shade, but as a winter crop, it will do better in a sunny spot. Gray, cloudy winter days don't provide much solar energy to begin with, so shade is not necessary.

Even as the crocuses begin emerging from the moss and leaf litter, it is time to give some thought to next fall and winter. Why? Because now is the time to plan for vegetable crops to store for the off season. Having a cellar (or other space) stocked with vegetables that keep well means you can have fresh produce during the coldest weather. While you study the seed catalogs, make sure to look for varieties that keep. We have had great luck with several.

Leeks

I am just now using the last of the summer's crop of leeks. This variety is an un-named cultivar from Mayo Seed Company here in Knoxville. We start them in January or February, transplant in April, and harvest all season. In late summer we pull them all, trim the tops and roots and store them in plastic bags in the refrigerator. This year, we are going to grow another variety, 'King Sieg'. Developed specifically for overwintering, it will grow under plastic, from which we hope to begin harvesting about this time next year.

Turnips

Turnips sown in early fall yielded a fine crop that we are still enjoying. Try substituting turnips for all or part of the potatoes in your favorite beef stew recipe, and you will see why we grow this old-fashioned vegetable. The variety we prefer is 'Purple Top White Globe', which my grandfather grew a hundred years ago. When the majority of roots have reached the size you prefer (tennis ball size, in our case), pull them all, wash off the dirt and trim the tops to 1/2 inch. Also trim off any long, hairy roots. Dry them well with a towel and store in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, or in plastic vegetable bags.

Brassicas

Cabbage and kohlrabi both store well. Look for cultivars that are good keepers. Also consider varieties that can overwinter successfully under cover. We are going to try both broccoli ('Thompson') and cabbage ('Savoy Perfection') in the cold frames. For storage, we've selected 'Round Dutch' and 'Salad Delight' cabbages. Plants of both are growing happily under lights, and will be ready to transplant to the spring cold frame in just a few more weeks. After harvesting around Memorial Day, we will store them in the refrigerator, where they should keep until the winter crop is harvestable.

Carrots

Carrots are legendary keepers, and we have also had good luck just leaving them in the ground. I had planned to mulch the carrot bed with straw to protect the roots from freezing, but so far winter has been mild enough that I've not needed to bother. The cultivar we have is 'Danvers 126,' and we will certainly grow this carrot again. In late spring, we grew 'Kaleidoscope,' which produces carrots in an array of colors, including standard orange, yellow, white and purple. Besides being extra-tasty, Kaleidoscope keeps well in the crisper and would be a good candidate for root cellaring.

Beets

Beets, like carrots, are easy to store. Just trim the roots and tops and place them in the crisper. Most of the beets we raise go into pickles, however.

Winter Squash

Hard-skinned squashes like 'Waltham Butternut' are excellent keepers. They store best in a cool, dry, well-ventilated spot. Look for cultivars of the species Cucurbita moschata. This squash has excellent resistance to vine borers, which can be a serious problem in Tennessee. in addition, several cultivars, including 'Waltham,' can be used like summer squash. Not all of these keep well when mature, however.

Tomatoes and Peppers

Look for cultivars of tomatoes and peppers that have been selected for their keeping qualities. Besides obvious choices, such as 'Long Keeper' tomatoes, heirlooms such as 'Cherokee Purple' may have good keeping quality. When harvested before fully ripe, Cherokee Purple continues to ripen very slowly. Planted to yield a late crop in early October, it produced fruits that remained fresh for Christmas dinner. We wrap individual fruits in newspaper and store them at room temperature in shallow cardboard boxes. Wrapping prevents any that go bad from affecting the remainder.

Other vegetables with good keeping qualities include potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, parsnips, Belgian endive and celery root. With a little advance planning, you can harvest any of them late in the season and store them for winter. Plan now, so you will have seed on hand and the space available in the garden by late summer. Most fall harvested crops need to be planted by the end of July. Crops that will overwinter with protection can wait a little longer.