This year was our first attempt at year-round gardening. All in all, not a bad first effort, though there are things I’ll do differently next time. In the fall, it looked like this:
Now, it looks like this:
The garden fed us well through fall and into early winter. The summer pole beans cropped until mid-October. We had turnips until November, and all the mustard greens, chard, and kale we cared to eat (and then some). I’d planned for more variety than that, but the spinach bed was destroyed by a band of evil shitting, digging cats before it ever came up and I started the salad greens too late and they didn’t get big enough before the temps dropped, even though they were under a cloche.
Those are two things we’ll do differently going forward, right there. In addition to the bird netting draped over pvc arches to keep (all but the very most evil and determined, and they know who they are) cats out, we’re finally going to invest in one of those automated sprinkler scarecrows to soak the little fuckers as they come sneaking into the garden. It’s kind of sad what vegetable gardening has done to my feelings for cats. I used to love the beasts. I can’t imagine ever wanting to have one again. We do our best to grow nearly 100% of our vegetables. We rely on our garden to feed the family. Frankly, our budget is somewhat dependent on that. And the cats? They shit on our food. They SHIT on our FOOD. We hates ’em, we do. As for the neighbors who let their indoor/outdoor cats roam free? Well, we DO love them, so I guess that and our morals will ensure that nothing but water ever gets shot at the cats.
And those salad greens? I can’t blame my poor timing on the neighborhood felines. I’m determined to keep a closer watch on timetables at the end of this summer so all the winter-harvest crops get into the ground on time.
Oh yeah–and I had something like 2% germination on the beets. I think the seeds had gotten old. And those that germinated produced sad little lumps. That totally sucked because I’d planned for a huge bed of them and ended up with an empty chunk of dirt instead. No beets this winter, except what we bought. That kinda stung, but I’ve got a fresh pack of seeds for spring and I am undeterred. (I really, really love beets.)
So anyway, fall and early winter started off well, with lots of food from the garden. Then we had a week and a half of very unPortland-like deep freeze (an occasional day below freezing isn’t unheard of, but that many days in a row below freezing is certainly unusual) and the mustard greens, chard, and two of the three varieties of kale died off. The lacinto and dwarf Siberian kales couldn’t hack it, but the Winterbor kale came through the cold like a champ, and taste even better than before the freeze. The Brussels sprouts did just fine. They seemed to like the cold.
We ate the last of the Brussels sprouts two weeks ago, so now we’re down to just the one variety of kale and three winter squashes (two red kuri and one butternut) set aside from the summer harvest. Since the earliest spring vegetables won’t be ready for harvest until the end of April, this means we’ve started buying vegetables, and will have to continue to do so until spring.
I’d always sown kale in the spring and summer gardens, but now that I see for myself how much better it tastes in winter, I’m saving it as a winter crop, for the sake of variety. Next winter I’m thinking it’ll be only the Winterbor kale, salad greens started WAY earlier under cloche, and more of them, more Brussels sprouts, and more of the beets and turnips. Oh yeah–and carrots and parsnips next winter. I regretted only having the turnips for root veggies. I love root vegetables.
But that’s months away yet. Now it’s time to get the earliest spring seeds into the ground. Snow peas and snap peas going in this weekend! I’ve got big plans for the spring garden, which I’ll share in the next post.
I would like to officially state that as much as I would like to kick the little assholes outside sometimes, my cats are indoor only. The number one reason to keep them in, coyotes. Maybe I should tell them to visit your neighborhood, it seems to keep the outside cat population down to a manageable level.
I am so excited about our vegetable garden this year, but sadly we are currently buried under 3 feet of snow so that won’t be happening anytime soon. Keep us updated about how it’s going – I’m going to have to garden vicariously through you….
Many many reasons to be glad my little girl is an indoor only feline. Doesn’t mess with anyone’s gardens and she’ll live much, much longer. Which is good, because I have a lot of trouble imagining how I’ll manage without her sweet little presence.
I have always loved the phrase “winter garden” – it was fun to get an update. My, your kale looks handsome.
I just planted three rows of spinach (for freezing) and started some early-harvest cantaloupes. Watching the garden makes me unreasonably happy–and I can imagine that growing all of my vegetables would make me even happier. In the meantime, have you considered a dog for your cat problem? Kind of like giving a mouse a cookie….
1) some of your winter ‘things’ might boom back out once this weird weather ends – just cut off the frosty/burnt parts
2) anytime you have seeds you’re not sure about, put several on a damp paper towel and keep it damp and relativelly warm for a few days – if they all sprout you’re good to go, if under 50% you probably ought to discard to save on disappointment š
You’re very lucky to live where you do – I’m sure as your experience increases you’re ability to sustain your veggies over winter will improve – I’m mean really – no longer than you’ve been there you’re doing GREAT!!
OH – and the cats – the significant reduction in song birds in our country is directly related to outside cats AND I was reading somewhere the other day that ‘after man’ small predators like skunks, foxes, etc. will become extinct BECAUSE of our ‘love’ for cats!
Boy, am I envious of your growing season!
Holy cow, I’m only just beginning to think about buying seeds, and that is only in a supreme act of wishful thinking!
Beets like LOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTS of nitrogen and lime.
I was recently served braised dandelion greens at a swank restaurant. I knew they were edible, but assumed there must be some reason that people weren’t foraging in my yard for them. They were quite delicious, actually. If your garden resembles mine, you have a month of side dishes right there.
Do you guys like Broccoli? One year I left mine in the ground instead of pulling it out and it gave us enough side shoots eat one once a week until we got to -10. I envy you being able to have a decent winter garden. Here, most things would have to grow in one of those boxes you cover with a window or plastic. I have one, but I can’t remember what they are called…
wow, look at that kale! god, i’m such a city girl that i’ve never seen it grown wild like that š my mom had a garden growing up but she always grew the standards (tomatoes, green beans, peas, etc.) how cool that you can still have a garden in the winter there.
Knowing we have a good four months of snow ahead of us still it is just bizarre ( in a crazy way which I love) hearing someone talking about growing something besides frost flowers in the winter season.
Does it really make sense to hate the cats (who have no sense of reason – they don’t know they’re doing something wrong) and love the neighbors who own them and let them roam? Have you spoken to the owners?
I fantasize about getting one of those water-spraying scarecrow things. The videos of the scarecrow in action are so fun to watch.
Now that Luna Kitty is getting older and spending more time indoors instead of outside guarding her territory, I’ve been finding cat turds in my freshly cleared vegetable beds. This is war, and they are no match against my superior brain and opposable thumbs. Plan A is sticking bamboo skewers in every 4” so there isn’t any place to sit. I’ll let you know if it works.