John from http://www.GrowingYourGreens.com takes you on a 2026 winter garden tour in Las Vegas, revealing how to successfully grow a massive amount of food year-round in a desert climate. While many believe the Mojave Desert is too harsh for winter gardening, John proves that by selecting the right cold-tolerant crops and resilient varieties, you can harvest fresh, nutrient-dense greens even when local nurseries stop selling starts. In this episode, you’ll go behind the scenes of a thriving backyard food forest filled with over 100 heads of lettuce, perennial tree collards, and ancient vegetables that most gardeners have never heard of. From frost-hardy kales and spicy mustard greens to water-wise radichio and self-seeding shiso, John walks you through every raised bed to show what survived the mildest winter on record and what is ready for the upcoming spring transition. You'll also see unique successes like a seed-grown Mexican avocado and a "wall of figs" producing in 15-gallon pots. As we explore the garden, John shares critical lessons on crop failures, such as the challenges of transplanting sugar snap peas, and reveals a "secret trick" to stop tree collards from flowering to maximize leaf production. You’ll learn about "volunteer" gardening—where plants like wild arugula and chory find their own water in the woodchips—and how to use laundry sink graywater to keep potted Swiss chard and catmint thriving without using virgin water. One of the highlights of this tour is the focus on food security and health. John explains why he prioritizes leafy greens over tomatoes, aiming to eat 2 lbs of greens every single day for peak nutrition. Whether you are gardening in Las Vegas, Henderson, or any Zone 9 environment. By the end of this tour, you’ll be inspired to flip your beds and start your summer garden with confidence. If you can produce an abundance of food in the dry, rocky soil of a Las Vegas backyard, you can do it anywhere! Remember to eat your greens, keep on experimenting, and keep on growing. Jump to the following parts of this episode: 00:00 The "Impossible" Garden: How to Grow in the Las Vegas Winter 00:48 Why this was the mildest winter in Vegas history 02:45 CROP FAILURE: Why my Sugar Snap Peas died (Learn from my mistake!) 03:58 Can Malabar and Longevity Spinach actually survive a freeze? 04:50 SECRET TRICK: How to stop Tree Collards from flowering for more greens 07:00 Growing the "Cheese Leaf" plant and winter Jalapenos 07:34 Successful Moringa and Chaya in a Zone 9 climate 09:14 100+ Heads of Lettuce: My #1 favorite cultivar for the best crunch 10:30 The "Volunteer" Arugula that handles 100-degree heat 11:40 MUST SEE: The massive Mexican Avocado you eat with the skin on! 12:42 Creating a "Wall of Rosemary" from one tiny 4-inch pot 13:02 Red Bok Choy: How to harvest so it grows back 3x faster 13:42 The Self-Seeding "Survival Garden": Radicchio, Chard, and Shiso 15:15 "Deadheading" your Arugula for spicy summer greens 16:49 Growing Pennywort under a leaky faucet (Water-wise hack!) 17:50 ANCIENT VEGETABLES: Discovering Puntarelle and Fava Beans 19:15 The "Resilient Mindset": Plants that find their own water 20:37 My "Wall of Figs": High-production fruit in 15-gallon pots 21:45 Stop throwing away your Broccoli and Cauliflower leaves! 22:58 Red Russian Kale vs. The Summer Heat 24:40 Why I prefer Bok Choy over Pak Choy 25:27 Harvesting Napa Cabbage for the Freeze Dryer 25:50 WARNING: Don’t let your Citrus trees do this (Rootstock alert!) 26:15 Gotu Kola: The "Brain Food" trailing through my woodchips 27:39 How to "Rescue" crops into pots during a bed flip 29:40 Plug Starts vs. Seeds: Which one wins for Parsley? 31:00 THE CHALLENGE: Why I eat 2lbs of greens every single day Subscribe to GROWINGYOURGREENS for more videos like this: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=growingyourgreens YouTube demonitized me, but I am not stopping. Show your support at: https://www.patreon.com/growingyourgreens/ Referenced Episodes Cerca Cultivation (Where I get my plug starts) https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90iGqJzfbbNho How I eat my bolting Vegetables https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90LvJwC_VezwY How I cook my greens for most health benefit https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90pxXGgx1IbhA Don’t plant mint in a raised bed or else! https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90CHihmTLCC2k Why Every Gardener Should Grow Purple Vegetables https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90RbiZoXCBoOM Summer Garden Tour 2024 https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90XhIaOkMTwMQ Winter Garden Tour 2024 https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90 Summer Garden Tour 2023 https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl906h1LNrfhKV0 Winter Garden Tour 2023 https://youtu.be/k55BleJrl90XrtXPT0-LRQ All My Backyard Summer/Winter Garden Tour Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnBuE20QUirV0kj1TXcJ6eLqGDZnLScNw