It was a lean winter in the garden this year. A cold, wet end to summer meant the fall and winter vegetables didn’t get as big as I would have hoped before the days got short and all growth stopped (or rather, slowed down so much it may as well have stopped. Yes, by all means, let’s be precise about these things). In past winters we’ve been able to grow nearly all the vegetables we needed. For most of this winter we had only arugula and green onions from the garden. I planned ahead, I planted everything in time, and I still had to buy most of our vegetables–and we eat A LOT of vegetables. It burned my ass to pay for all those vegetables while the garden sat full of stunted kale, collards, and spinach; headless broccoli and cauliflower plants; cabbages that never…well…cabbaged. A sad, sad tale.
Once we made it through January things started growing again. The arugula and green onions are still going, but now we get spinach, lettuce, and kale, too. The carrots are small, but I pull a few at a time anyway. The cabbages don’t seem like they’ll ever form nice tight heads, so I’ve started harvesting the loose outer leaves.
Here’s what the harvest looked like last week. Not bad for late winter, but not even close to what I’d planned for:
That harvest got us through two days. Those containers are from the big 1lb tubs of prewashed spinach–evidence of all the greens we had to BUY this winter. Have I mentioned how much it pisses me off to have to buy vegetables when my own good soil has been tasked with the whole feeding-the-family business? Not to mention that I have a hard time forgetting that a nine-year-old died from drinking smoothies made with prewashed spinach when that e-coli spinach contamination debacle was going on. When I have to buy the stuff, I eat at least twice from each batch before I give it to the kids. (Hush now. I may be paranoid, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.)
But look! The carrots are in love. Awwwww!
(No, actually I just put off thinning them too long. That’s carrot neglect right there, folks. I hate thinning carrots, their wispy little fronds all tangled up together…)
I’ve got the spring garden planned and I’m hoping for better luck. We’ll have the usual peas, radishes, spinach, lettuces. Plus all the stuff that did jack shit over the winter is now perking up and starting to grow, so it looks like we’ll have a lot more to eat in early spring than usual. Fingers crossed the asparagus bed wakes up and does well. It’ll be in its fifth year, so I’m expecting a nice harvest. (And you know how well expectations go in the garden…) No arugula this spring, though. Not too many days have gone by this winter without some form of arugula in at least one meal. I think we’re all ready for a break from it.
Oh–and a useful thing from Pinterest that I not only pinned but actually did? This. It totally works. I planted this little cutie and it’s growing very nicely indeed.
That’s our insistent little arugula patch in the background (along with some weeds I’d just pulled. Please ignore the mess). That stuff survived very unPortlandlike freezes, snow, hail, rain… All of it without any cloche. It’s heroic, that patch. I’ll almost be sad to see it go. I’ll have to drown my sorrows in spring radishes. Many, many radishes.
How about you? How’s your garden doing? What are you planting for spring?
Are you starting to lean towards a greenhouse?
Heather: We’d love to have a greenhouse, but we haven’t been able to figure out where to shoehorn one in. Our yard is pretty small.
Good to see you back! I am not really a writer but one who is trying to do more freelance editing, etc from home with kids about the same age as yours…. argh. It helps to hear similar struggles or ideas.
My garden is currently under about a foot of snow here in northern MN, so thoughts for that are a bit far away. But I will live vicariously through your NW greens!
Gina: Gah! It’s so hard to find that balance with the kids, isn’t it? It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately… How do you make time for your work?
I did not know that about celery. Am definitely trying it, I like lots of leaves for making stock. Green onions do the same thing.
This is my first spring with a couple of small cloches and a little zip-up greenhouse, so I’ll be trying some early plantings of lettuce and salad greens. Free range parsley, arugula, onions and garlic are popping up everywhere and the indoor tomato, eggplant and pepper starts are looking healthy. So far, this year looks like another battle to find space for everything on my list. There’s much worse problems that one can have, right?
Andi: Ooh! Did you get one of those greenhouses from Freddie’s? I’ve been eying those.
Cari, I did get it from Freddies. (on clearance at the end of last season. Score!) It’s just a 2 ft deep and 5 ft tall set of shelves with a zip-up cover, but that made it easy to find a place for it. It looks like it will be perfect for hardening off starts. Speaking of which, tentative date for the annual seedling exchange is April 15. Hoping to see you there. There will definitely be extras, barring any catastrophes.
Andi, I’ll be there! (somewhat shame-facedly without starts. We just don’t have enough light anywhere in the house to start seeds well, and haven’t yet sprung for lights)
Hmmm. Time for work = coffee so i can stay awake evenings, a lucky Monday when hubby is off work and I head for town, sometimes during naps, and sometimes a bit of paid childcare. I need to learn to have “time off” when I am not constantly thinking about how I will squeeze in the next work time. NOT what I pictured when I quit the 40-hr week cubicle job to stay home more. At least there i could leave the work thoughts at work. The grass is always greener, I guess! I do need to be better about avoiding the internet when working; do you use Macfreedom or just willpower? (I am procrastinating right now! Eeek!)
MacFreedom is my very best friend. I am so very weak when left to my own devices.
You had me at radish.