January seems an unlikely time of year to grow anything, much less veggies. But alas the kitchen garden is still growing. It has been a cold winter for Middle Tennessee and my plan of year round gardening has been a challenge to say the least.
In December we had temperature lows of 8 degrees. I buttoned down the hatches as best I could with an extra layer of plastic over the hoop house and various cold frames.
I lost a few things, some lettuces mostly and a few brussel sprouts. Everything else is either thriving (Swiss chard, kale and various spicy greens) or just hanging on waiting for warmer weather to jump start once again I hope (broccoli and cauliflower).
I’ve learned a lot along the way and have done little to aid just to see how the extreme weather conditions will affect my crops. I will make changes accordingly next year but this year has been one big experiment.
We recently had another winter storm with about 4-5 inches of snow with night time temperatures ranging from the teens to the twenties. I finally got out this morning to check on everything.
The kitchen garden was happy with its blanket of snow and as I lifted the cold frames, the salad greens, kale and Swiss chard were snug and un-frozen – lucky for me as I had not been able to give them extra cover since I had been under the weather myself.
In December we had temperature lows of 8 degrees. I buttoned down the hatches as best I could with an extra layer of plastic over the hoop house and various cold frames.
I lost a few things, some lettuces mostly and a few brussel sprouts. Everything else is either thriving (Swiss chard, kale and various spicy greens) or just hanging on waiting for warmer weather to jump start once again I hope (broccoli and cauliflower).
I’ve learned a lot along the way and have done little to aid just to see how the extreme weather conditions will affect my crops. I will make changes accordingly next year but this year has been one big experiment.
We recently had another winter storm with about 4-5 inches of snow with night time temperatures ranging from the teens to the twenties. I finally got out this morning to check on everything.
The kitchen garden was happy with its blanket of snow and as I lifted the cold frames, the salad greens, kale and Swiss chard were snug and un-frozen – lucky for me as I had not been able to give them extra cover since I had been under the weather myself.
The hoop house was sagging from the snow but it was okay after I removed the snow and tightened the plastic back down. It is suppose to be back in the forties tomorrow with below freezing temperatures for many nights to come. February should be a busy month in the kitchen garden and I’m looking forward to planting potatoes, peas and more greens….bon appetite!