February's Garden (2026)

Winter is almost finished. Most of of the green color is from weeds. I did reach some of the goals set after last year's winter garden 2025's failures. 

Red Merlot is the most winter hardy lettuce I have ever grown. Learning from last year's mistake that it is necessary to fertilize during the winter made this lettuce stand out brightly among the weeds. (Weeding wasn't one of my goals.)

The onion bulbs that were purchased last spring, stored in the vegetable tray of the refrigerator then planted last fall are waking up. No others were started from seed in the fall because the spring harvest was so large, none were needed. These will get me through until the spring crop is ready. A few new varieties have just been started this week and if they do well, they will be planted again in the fall. Growing onions in the winter is easier. Eventually I will get it right.

 A goal not met was finding a good broccoli variety. Winter storm Fern killed them. The carrots were a success but were dug early to avoid possibly losing them in the blizzard. Last year's biggest goal was to plant enough Bloomsdale spinach to make us happy. That, I accomplished and I'm glad I did. We have plenty of our favorite green!  

Every year I make a new mistake from which to learn. This year getting the seedlings out too late killed most of them when Fern arrived. Everything was behind schedule because we were waiting on the second planting of green beans to mature. They were delayed because a fat rabbit ate the spring crop one night. The very late planted spinach did just fine. It is enough to make your head explode trying to guess the weather. The once in a lifetime ice storms seem to be happening regularly. 

This year's winter goals will be to plant earlier, try onions from seed again, look for another variety of broccoli, and repeat my success with spinach. Perhaps not making mistakes would be the best goal but I wouldn't learn anything then!

Last Month's January Garden (2026)

February's Garden (2025) and Goals for 2026

January's Garden (2026)

It has been a challenging month. We managed to rest for a few days, as I said we would, and then the long-term weather reports began flashing red warning signs. The once in a lifetime, winter storm Fern was on the horizon and barreling toward us. No rest for the weary, preparations began in haste.  The temperatures would drop at night to the single digits for at least a week, probably two so the sugar beats and carrots would freeze. As the storm was blowing in, we harvested what we could.

Most of them have already been pulled but I didn't want to waste what few were left. Both the greens and the roots were used. 

There were more than I had expected. It's hard to judge until you pull them up.

The carrot row has been harvested from both ends so was getting short. It's less work to lift one spot of the hoop house and pull up all you need than to open all of it. 

I tried different varieties again this year but couldn't tell enough difference between the expensive hybrids and the bulk seeds from the feed store to justify the prices. The cheap seeds are not as uniform but so what  - they taste just as good. They would have grown larger if they could have been left in the ground longer but I didn't want to lose everything. 

Then Fern arrived. She was a major artic blast that effected over 230 million Americans from the Ohio Valley to the Southern Plains and up the East Coast. We were sitting on the dividing line between two fronts. Freezing ice broke the power poles, knocked down the lines, felled trees and made travel impossible.  At its peak on Sunday, over one million people were without power. Snow would have been easier, at least the infrastructure could have held better.

Our power stayed on so we were able to house others. The summer garden that filled my pantry to overflowing has been a lifesaver.  All of the hot garden work, standing for hours in the kitchen chopping, canning, freezing, and dehydrating food has paid off.

The storm delivered us a mountain of new firewood just waiting to be cut and hauled. It will be fed to the old wood burning stove in the basement to keep us warm and the pipes from freezing during the next storm. She ain't pretty but she sure is hot.  

I haven't left the house for a week except to throw bird seed out on the back deck. Our guests have all left so we are going out today to see if our car will get up the driveway. Neighbors said the main roads are clear if we can get past our backroad. There is something I must buy from somewhere before I go crazy. I feel a case of cabin fever coming on and spending money is the only cure. 

Last Month's December Garden (2026)

Last Year's January Garden (2025)

December's Garden (2025)

The garden is dismal. When the hoop houses were opened, the destruction from the early polar vortex was apparent. As I feared, most of the young seedlings perished.

The lettuce that was started during the late summer underneath the okra plants which were nearing the end of their life cycle, also froze. It's winter. It happens.

However, it isn't all bad news. Enough of the Golden Cabbages are still alive to keep me happy.

It's interesting how plants, even though they are side by side, will react differently to the weather.

There is another row of Golden Cabbages that were started extremely late and are shockingly still alive. The seeds were dropped in the empty spaces beside the red shallots when they were planted just for kicks and giggles. I doubt if they will make it through January but you never know.

Some of the shallots sprouted immediately and others are taking their own sweet time.

Winter gardening is tricky and can be done successfully. When everything clicks, it is exciting and rewarding. 

These onions are the few remaining bulbs purchased in the spring and then stored in the vegetable bin in my refrigerator. Something leaked and ruined most of them. This spring more will be purchased and they will be periodically lifted to confirm they are thoroughly dry. In spite of my mistake, this is what success looks like. These lettuces will taste like summer on a snowy day.

Two years ago the winter garden was a smashing success compared to now. I took advantage of the abundance and canned all total 70 quart jars of greens for Reese. I'm glad I did. Yesterday I talked to him, informed him there will be none this year but, of course, he still has plenty left. That's how it is in gardening. The abundance is stored up for the lean times. All that is needed at present is enough fresh salads for the two of us.

March's 2024 garden after a long cold winter.

Last month I said, "we are done - really, really finished for the year and are ready to take a rest!!"  Ha!

After sitting for a few days, a warm front moved in, the temperature shot up to a balmy 73 degrees, and we absolutely had to go outside. The wood around the weedy strawberry beds was rotten and the soil needed amending. The horse trainer who uses our field brought a load of fresh, pungent horse manure and then the "fun" began.

We removed the rotten wood, soil, and weeds then added oak leaves and manure.

More lumber must be purchased to make a second tier before the strawberries can be transplanted; but, that's a project for another day. We need to recover from this ordeal first.

As the sun was almost down, the rest of the manure was piled up in the new garden area created when positioning the new fence around underground boulders. Hopefully it will be rotted enough to serve as a potato bed this spring. 

Last night a violent storm blew through and winter returned. What was left of the garden has been tucked under the covers again. This time, I promise, we really will rest.

March's Garden (2024)

Last Month's November Garden (2025)

Last Year's December Garden (2024)

February's Garden (2025)

The garden is quite bare, but it is the end of February. Just the fact that somethings have survived is amazing to me. I always marvel that winter gardening is possible - it's tricky but can be done. Finding information the first time I tried it was almost impossible. Most knowledge has come from trial and error. This year has been no exception. I have learned so much.

Growing more spinach was a goal this winter. Four beds were planted but only two survived after repeat plantings. We got enough but could have enjoyed more. Next year will be better because of all I learned.

• Don't plant the seeds when the ground is hot; which, of course, will vary from year to year. Last year the soil didn't cool down until a month later than normal causing me to lose many seeds. 
• Stick with the tried and true dependable Bloomsdale. The newly purchased varieties (due to being out of seeds) didn't perform as well.
• Even though they went out later than years past, they made up for lost time by growing faster.
• The colder it became, the better the flavor. Some leaves actually tasted sweet when nibbled in the garden but the sweetness disappeared after harvesting. They were delicious but not worth sitting on a frozen stool in sleeting snow picking one dirty leaf at a time with numb fingers.
• Now that the sun has returned, the plants are growing rapidly.  Almost every plant was stripped down to two leaves a week ago.

These are the onion bulbs that were purchased last spring and stored in my refrigerator all summer long. They out lived those in this row that were started from seed in late September.

These were started in late August and have done much better.

Growing onions during the winter is my goal because there is plenty of space available. They can be easily stored, dehydrated, pickled, canned or frozen making room for other spring crops.

• All onions must be put under hoop houses. They need the extra protection. It is easy to plant them and forget them because weeds can't grow fast enough to cover them.
• Purchasing the bulbs in the spring and storing them in the refrigerator was the way to go. They were stronger and able to better withstand the elements.
• This year, if I start any from seeds, the instructions will be ignored. They will be started much earlier, probably around the first of August. The extra time is needed for growth. 
• Planting onions with spinach and mulching with leaves worked the best as in the picture below. Leaves are better than grass clippings because the spinach stays cleaner.

Swiss Chard must, absolutely must be under covers. Every plant in this row that was outside of the too short hoop house is gone.

Another valuable lesson learned is that plants need more nutrition during brutal cold weather. 

The leaves of the collard greens became a pale light green. After they were given a nitrogen boost, the new leaves turned a healthy dark green. Below, the outer leaves are still light green but the new growth is darker. The unhealthy leaves will be deadheaded so the nutrition will flow to the new leaves.  

Not everything was a success. Only one broccoli survived. Finding a better variety is necessary.

Two winters ago carrots were planted under covers and in the open to see if the hoop houses helped. In or out made no difference so this year none were covered. All died! Every single little carrot is gone! Last year's February (2024) garden was amazing compared to this year. I tried just as hard but the results have been completely different. 

Even though there were quite a few failures, there were more than enough successes to make winter gardening worth the effort. Everything about it is different from summer gardening. It is like gardening on another planet. We had enough fresh greens for meals and were able to share with others. Overall, I am thrilled with the success and decree WINTER IS OVER! Let the spring planting begin.

Last Months January Garden (2025)

Last Year's February Garden (2024)