This weekend we spread our seeds and seed catalogs over the kitchen table for the annual inventory and ordering session. It's hard to believe it's nearly time to start planting the hardiest starts--greens, scallions, leeks, herbs. We've had such a mild winter this year (so far). Only one day of wet snow that melted by noon, and just a few light frosts.
We planted carrots in late summer and have been feasting on them through the winter. The cold temperatures infuse them with extra sweetness. With the mild weather, we just leave them in the ground with no mulch. In colder climates you can mulch them with straw (I remember my family using excess wool from the sheep when I was a kid).
Living in the city, one of our biggest garden pests is the roaming neighborhood cat. They
love to make litter boxes of our light and fluffy raised bed soil. We discovered they had left us presents in the carrot bed, and had to toss the last of the precious carrots (I don't like to take chances when it comes to pathogens in cat feces). Normally a layer of bird netting placed over the bed will keep them out, but not this time. So Dan put up some hoops and draped the netting over the hoops. We'll cover this bed with plastic and use it as our little hoop house for early greens this spring. We're trying out a little solarizing with the plastic, hoping it will kill any pathogens left by the cat excrement. I'm not sure how well this works--any advice?
The crimson clover is hard at work fixing nitrogen into the soil and has created a lovely green carpet in our old lawn site. Dan picked up a few truck loads of free wood chips from our local utility company (they shred the branches and trees they need to remove for power lines and such) for the garden paths.
Still a few dried stalks and seed heads standing. These are Echinacea.
The kale and lettuce we planted in late summer haven't minded the cool temperatures. I'm hoping that kale will really take off as it gets warmer, and mature into early spring greens for us.
This crazy monster is a daikon radish. Our first time growing them and they went wild. They're mildly spicy, crisp and juicy, delicious as a raw snack.
Dan added a new raised bed to our front yard veggie garden. We plan to plant winter squash there. The bed with straw is planted with garlic, and the bed on the right has a cover crop of vetch--our first time trying it, and it's been quite happy.
So lovely and dainty! It's another nitrogen fixer.
And our beloved compost microbes, worms, and various creepy crawly creatures, working hard to transform this garden waste into garden gold.
On these gray winter days, I like to find garden inspiration in the colorful pictures of flowers and produce in seed catalogs. Our current favorites are:
Territorial (NW local)
Irish Eyes (NW local)
Nichols (NW local)
Baker Creek (fun heirlooms)
Johnny's (they're our source for soil blocking supplies and row cover)
I'm also excited to try all the
seeds I saved from the garden last summer.
How does your garden grow these winter days? Have you had mild weather, too, or is your garden lying dormant under layers of frost and snow?
Your garden is still so beautiful!! Those carrots look amazing, too. It's too bad that the cats had to come and wreck the last part of your harvest. We have one neighborhood cat who likes to do his business in our garden too, and I take great pleasure in scaring him away. ;) Our MI winter has been very mild too, and we've harvested kale, carrots, and collards all winter long. As much as I'd like snow, collecting hardy winter veggies is way more fun. :)
ReplyDeleteYour garden is so lovely! Ours is most definitely lying dormant- but we are getting prepared as well to order seeds and begin some starts! I am so excited.
ReplyDeleteUGH about the cat. We are fortunate to not have that problem (our cats stay inside, or they'd probably get killed by coyote). Instead
we have other pests- rabbits, voles, etc. I would not take chances with cat feces either. Glad you have a solution to keep those cats out!!