Guess it is over

[pushbutton]

We usually mulch and cover the cold tolerant plants, sometimes well into Dec....but the 15 inchish dump yesterday pretty much stuck a fork in the garden for the season. Got what was left of the onions, leeks, and taters last night. Today will be working on the roots and greens. See y'all next year!

[aanderud]

We usually mulch and cover the cold tolerant plants, sometimes well into Dec....but the 15 inchish dump yesterday pretty much stuck a fork in the garden for the season. Got what was left of the onions, leeks, and taters last night. Today will be working on the roots and greens. See y'all next year!

I don't know much about gardens but I'll just ask this question anyway....wouldn't the 15 inches of snow actually insulate the ground quite well (similar to your mulch), versus the alternative of having open-air into December freezing the ground (and the food in it)?

I know what happens when we get thick snow on top of a few inches of ice -- unfrozen slush/water under the snow (on top of the ice). That situation can last into January easily. Similarly, it seems like the thick snow blanket could actually make your subterranean garden stuff last into Jan or longer maybe without freezing.

[pushbutton]

You are correct ..... except that pulling back a blanket or some leaves is a lot easier....it really sucks to dig through that much cold snow Every year I plant late season carrots, onions, and greens ...and hope we get a ton of snow, as that insulation layer will protect the young plants to where they will still be green come the following spring and get a head start on the growing season.

[aanderud]

Well, yeah there's that. Nothing says "boy it's convenient having this nice fresh food out in the garden" like bundling up head to toe in cold weather gear so you don't get all wet and slushy while digging it out every time you want to cook something. Probably easier to just dig it all out now, eh

Interesting on the late season carrots and whatnot lasting over the winter. As I said I'm no garden guru. Didn't know you could actually get them to live over the winter, but I suppose it gives you a nice chance at some late-spring or early-summer goddies, versus having to wait longer for em to grow.

[Dotch]

Dug the winter and late summer spring type radishes last night after dark meself. Every year they're a little different. Last year they were like spring radishes on steroids. Huge and really packed a wallop. This year they're a lot smaller (didn't thin as I should have) and extremely sweet, almost like carrots with a little kick. Yum! I left all my greens. Pretty large and the cold already damaged them substantially. Plenty of snow catch in the garden area but the only time I've had any luck with earlier than normal spring greens is if they went to seed the fall before. And then they're usually not where I want them rotationally. Just tossed a few of last year's carrots over the fence a couple days ago to make room in the fridge. Most were still in great shape and the sheep certainly didn't seem to mind.

[pushbutton]

Here is our overwintered onions, after peeling away the leaves this spring, after one of the coldest winters on record. The success rate is far from 100 percent, but do have on average at least over 50 percent and a nice head start on a variety of things....in most years. Root crops are the most reliable. As Dotch mentioned greens can be trickier.....a little "wood" on the stem does help a lot. The tops go down but the roots can often survive. They do have a tendency to bolt quicker after which though.

[delcecchi]

Don't things like onions go to seed quickly the next year?

[Dotch]

Will be interesting to see how the greens do pushbutton. I did things a little differently this year by seeding them in a bed instead of rows as I have in the past. The squash were overrunning much of the garden so had to improvise. The green mix outcompeted the weeds and it was very tasty. When the leaves fell it almost mulched the bed for me. Now there is also snow covering them. They were 6" - 8" tall with no sign of bolting as in past fall green experiments. The location is fine for next year's edition of the garden so am curious.

[pushbutton]

Yes, they will bolt sooner as well. Easy to pick the scapes though, and they are tasty. I don't really do this to get things much bigger the next year, but rather, earlier....and utilize my relatively small/not enough sun space..... more effectively. Looked at the photo and it was shot april 8th, harvesting about a month later, for about a month up to about golf ball sized green onions. Starting in June, got a round of taters in that bed, picked those in sept, had some arugula, kale, and radicchio started in 4 paks, which went in immediately after the taters, and just covered them before the snow....and will probably be enjoying them early may next year.

[pushbutton]

For the greens, have way better success with, as mentioned, kale, arugula, radicchio, endive, ect...also as mentioned if you can get the roots a little woody/ further along they will sprout at the base the next spring with supercharged growth from an established root system. Have not had much luck with the more highly valued lettuce or spinach.....heck for some reason I can't even grow spinach when it should be easy. As for lettuce, can get one old heirloom oak leaf type variety to overwinter, but the rabbits even pass it up Marivelle four seasons(sp?) is another heirloom...a red butter crunch....that does ok some years, but no clue why or why not. Smaller, not as developed plants seem to do better for that one???

[leech~~]

If pushbutton doesn't get all his crops in before they freeze and all go bad, his whole family may not have enough to make it through the harsh winter and all "die of starvation"

Oh, um maybe I'm watching to much "Alaska The Last Frontier"?

[pushbutton]

Lol... yeah, Mrs P belongs to the food nazi party and it is crazy to see what those folks will pay if organic is stamped on a product. I cringe everytime she goes to the store and try to minimize it. I am a little skeptical myself, but to be fair to her, can't imagine all chemicals pesticides, herbacides, fungicides, mold retardents, shelf extenders, ect....are good for you, and after moving off the lake a few years ago, it gives me something to do.

[delcecchi]

"Poison oak is a natural thing, why don't you put some in your f9od? Preservatives could be preserving you". J. Airplane