Friday, January 31, 2020

January's Garden (2020)


January's garden has been ignored.  The covers remained closed and I have only gone out to harvest.  Any area without a layer of mulch is covered in weeds, mostly Purple Deadnettle (which is edible but tastes horrible.)


Leaving the hoop houses closed has been a mistake.


Yesterday when I opened them for pictures, I discovered an infestation of slugs!  Seriously?  How have these monsters been able to survive the bitter cold? Obviously, the hoop houses have allowed them to thrive while protecting them from predatory birds.  That's changing.  The covers will now be removed occasionally on sunny days so the ravenous birds swarming my feeders can dine on delicacies.  



The biggest success has been in the Swiss Chard bed.  


Three new varieties were planted for a tasting contest: Sea Foam, Verde De Tagilo, and Bionda Di Lyon. Their flavors were advertised to be better than Ford Hook Swiss Chard and for once, the seed catalogs were right. They are milder, almost buttery, delicious and the slugs haven't bothered them.  These will always be planted in my garden.  Ford Hook Swiss Chard seeds have been tossed out never to sprout again. 

 

Last spring a few Sea Foam Swiss Chards were planted but all died during the drought except for one.  This location was chosen for a winter hoop house so I could see how it survives the winter.


Now for the grand reveal.  Last month I put a mini hoop house over some of the Green Mountain, Giant Winter Celtuce seedlings that had reseeded in the bed of weird things in front of the lemongrass.  The purpose was to compare the growth between seedlings in the open and those undercover.


The seedling beside the white plastic spoon on the left was without covering and the seedlings on the right were under the mini hoop house.  Those protected grew almost twice as much - proof the hoop houses are worth the effort. However, just the fact that it can survive out in the elements during the winter months is amazing to me.


This one was started at the same time as the other assorted lettuces in this bed and is larger than those which self-seeded.  It has performed better than expected and has been added to the list of must-have winter vegetables.  


Normally, most of my lettuces are either frozen or eaten by this time of the year.  None of them were expected to live long since they were tiny when cold weather arrived but they have continued to produce all winter.


Once again I will repeat myself.  What I expected to grow well, hasn't: and what I expected to die, has thrived.  The more I garden, the less I know.

Last Month's December Garden (2020)
Last Year's January Garden (2019)
January's Garden (2018)
January's Garden (2017)
January's Garden, A Second Look (2017)
Through the Garden Gate

16 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your January garden tour and loved the heads up on the chards.
    We have trouble with those pesky slugs, also. I couldn't tell you how many strawberries they've eaten free gratis. Thank the Lord for birds!

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    1. All of the slug damage was limited to this one hoop house, thank goodness. It was also the one with the least amount of mulch and so the most weeds. I wonder if that was a contributing factor. I cut the plants to the ground and have left the houses open until the weather drops down to the 20's again. By now, everything is hardened off enough to withstand dips down in the 30's. My hope is that they might regrow a few leaves.

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  2. A garden is always full of surprises. We've done the covered vs uncovered experiment here, and it has varied which did better, depending on the weather that year. The weeds never seem bothered by the cold, do they?!

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    1. Interesting! For me, anything covered has always done better. Nothing much survives out in the open in my area, or if it does live, it is shredded and stunted. If only I could find something that grows like the weeds do.

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  3. The good result is proof that the money you spent for the material for your hoop houses and the
    work building them up was a good decision. It is astonishing to harvest such a big variety of vegetables during winter ! This way you saved many dollars, apart from the freshness of your
    greens. As to the Purple Deadneedle, this plant really is not inviting for eating. But the pretty blossoms can be added to a salad bowl. In early spring this plant is important for bees.
    You also find Deadneddle blossoms in many herbal teas.
    Christel

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    1. The investment in the hoop houses has paid for itself from fresh vegetables even though half of the roll I originally purchased is still stored in the shed. The wires will last forever. Walking all the way out to the garden and harvesting in the cold gets old, so I have started picking larger amounts less often. Even though I lost so much due to the early hard freeze last fall, there is still enough to make me happy.
      I have noticed Deadnettle in teas at stores and wondered about it. Maybe I should try to slip it into some salads. There will be plenty left for the bees!

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  4. It is amazing that you have all this now! Must be delicious this time of year.

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    1. The flavor can't be compared to the cardboard vegetables sold in the stores. It makes it worth all the work, plus it is free.

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  5. It's amazing how nature has a will of it's own! You are lucky to have some much to eat from the garden at this time of year. The coastal wind is too strong for us to have hoop house in the garden. We have a few plants of salad in the green house but it just isn't growing at the moment,in previous winters our crop has been better! Sarah x

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    1. I am beginning to want a green house too after seeing the successes from other gardeners. Although, I do have all I can handle now...but I can't stop dreaming.

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  6. We are always learning...that's for sure. Swiss Chard has always been our favorite garden green and only good when you grow it yourself or get it at the farmer's mkt! You have a big garden to take care of! The birds (and slugs) must love you! Enjoy your week! Spring is on it's way!

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    1. I do feel as if I am feeding many critters (family members included). The weather shot up to 70 degrees today and I am suddenly in the mood for spring. I have been outside painting the garage door and I am a little sunburned. Imagine that in February!

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  7. Dear Jeannie,

    I am so excited to share my gardening news with you this month!

    In the past year we converted our clay soil to a hugelculture bed of 60’ x 50’. Our neighbor used machines and dug out the ground to a depth of about six feet; buried the wood from about seven trees; and returned the soil alternating with mushroom compost. The benefit is the decomposing wood improves the structure of the soil and increases the microorganisms living in the soil as well as retains water to be used by microorganisms and plants. The drawback is the soil substructures are destroyed which can greatly affect plant growth. I believe our changes will result in greater soil fertility which will result in higher yield of more nutritious produce. Time will tell.....

    Punxsutawney Phil, our local groundhog prognosticator, predicted an early spring on Groundhog Day. We live in Zone 5b according to the Hardiness Map, but our altitude causes the climate to be typically Zone 4. Since our winter has been extremely mild, my husband has been amending the top layers of soil with blood meal, bone meal, dolomite, gypsum, green sand, kelp, and mushroom compost. Today, we planted many cultivars of peas, carrots, lettuce, kale, spinach, mesclun, sorrel, and mustard. We will finish planting the row later this week. We covered the seeds with plastic and then used sawhorses and chairs along with PVC pipe to insulate the area. Normally, we do overwinter greens in the setup, but my health issues prevented my husband from working in the garden before now. We hope to have lots of vegetables to use starting the beginning of April!

    Happy Gardening!
    Laura

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    1. You have done so much hard work, but it will be worth it. When we first bought this house we had our garden deeply plowed by a tractor. It turned up the soil down to about 3 feet which also brought up more rocks. It was (is) hard clay and at that time it was like concrete. I amended like you are doing - added everything I could get my hands on. It seemed to begin to make a difference the following year. I always feel like I never add enough compost, no matter what I do. Bill says I can't be pleased (he's right).

      I have tried starting seeds early but never had any luck. My garden is at the lower edge of a long hill and the run off keeps it too wet in the winter. Seeds rot before they sprout. My groundhog saw his shadow this week, no matter what time he came out of his den, his shadow was there. My plan is to wait a little while longer before starting anything. It's still too soggy but I can get excited about your garden!!!

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  8. Oh, yes, I would say the hoop house was worth it! All that delicious lettuce--yum!

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    1. We are out of greens in the kitchen at the moment and I keep looking out the window for the rain to stop. I need to run out and pick more, but I will get drenched. I keep telling myself when my cup of tea is gone, no matter what, I am bundling up and going outside to harvest. I hope my family appreciates how I sacrifice for them...if not, I think I will remind them.

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