Garden Surprise

Last week we were surprised and happy to find a row of kale that has popped up.  I planted it last fall and am pleased to have it show up for a spring finish.   In my experience, kale does much better outside of a cold frame or hoop house.   At the end of the season last year, I dumped a whole lot of leaves on this garden.  The kale sheltered very well there during this mild winter. 

Arugula

Arugula is one of our favorite greens.   It grows like crazy here and self seeds readily.   In mild winters, it stays good enough to harvest through the whole cold season.  

We planted this in the fall in a cold frame and it died way back when the temps fell to the minus teens.   However, once the days start to lengthen and the temps warm up a bit, it greens right up and soon will be big enough to start harvesting.

In the meantime, now's a great time to plant a few more rows for harvesting later in the spring.  If it bolts in the heat, let it go to seed and you'll find another row of it when the weather cools in August and September.

Spring Greens

Some of the baby lettuce coming up under the cold frame.   It's looking pretty happy about the [slightly] warmer weather. 

Me, too. 

Early Planting: Plants that love cold weather.

There are two big things that winter gardens need to grow well - warmth and light.   I thought you might be interested to know how to deal with those things in order to get a 12 month garden.  We'll talk about temperature today and  light tomorrow.

Some plants just don't like the cold and you'll never get them to go through the winter, even if you can keep the temps above freezing in your greenhouse or hoop house.  Basil is a good example.   It spots and pouts if the temp gets down near 40 degrees.    Not to worry!  There are plenty of plants that love cold weather.

Good cold/cool weather plants are:

• lettuce
• arugula
• spinach
• maiche
• endive
• claytonia
• carrots
• radishes
• scallions
• sorrel
• watercress
• leeks
• chard
• beets
• turnip
• mustard
• pak choi

For specific varieties,  check out Eliot Coleman's The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses [also in the book list on my sidebar.]    The book is fantastic and he's trialed many varieties.

Plants that must have very warm soil to be happy are:

• squash
• melons
• eggplant
• sweet potatoes
• basil
• red long beans

In other words, don't plan on keeping these happy in a hoop house over the winter.    I don't even plant them until well after the last frost date, in very warm soil.   In the fall, these things are the first to keel over and die when it gets close to frost.

By planting things during the right season, you can double or triple the production of your garden.   Plant carrots and lettuce under cover now, then harvest it in early May, when you can pop some melons and basil in that same bed.   Then when you harvest the melons and basil, you can plant a winter garden and have radishes, carrots and arugula all winter long.