From the Living Soil

In late August I direct-seeded triple rows of this lettuce mix into a recently vacated bed, and a few weeks later thinned the resulting plants to stand about ten inches apart. In hindsight, I didn’t make a great choice in the beds I picked for low tunnel winter gardening this year, as the section I chose is one of the more soggy parts of the field, and the drainage in the section in question has not yet been improved by ditching. Nonetheless, all the lettuce plants are surviving, and many are thriving, and we have been eating delicious fresh salads. Some of the varieties in the mix appear to be tremendously unhappy with their current life circumstances, with mildews of various sorts and wilt and general malaise. Here’s hoping their lots improve. Most seem to be having a great winter, are enjoying the cool, fresh air, and are putting on plenty of delicious new growth.

one of the truly unhappy memebers of the mix. I have hope that the more tattered lettuces will nonetheless survive and put on delicious new growth early in the spring.

We renovated the paths on either side of this tunnel in November. The sawdust we used to sheet mulch them gets stuck to the tunnel walls, then falls onto and all around the lettuces at the edge of the bed when the walls are lifted for tunnel ventilation. This is a temporary problem, as the sawdust is already almost completely packed down.

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

today’s harvest, clockwise from the bottom: arugula, green and coloured chard, pac choi, kohlrabi, cabbage, kale, komatsuna, beets, and parsley

Jessica and I harvested a box of assorted vegetables for a friend this morning. We’ve experienced the first real freezing weather of the year recently, and while the low tunnels have really helped certain crops pull through, I am continually surprised how many species are surviving unprotected in our wintry field. The only vegetables from today’s harvest that were picked from under low tunnels are the pac choi and the arugula. Stay tuned for photos of all the low tunnel crops, and for photos of more of the not-in-low-tunnel crops.

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

bedraggled leaves hide a crunchy, aesthetically-pleasing core

We sowed a bunch of napa cabbages in 2-inch pots on the 15th of July, and planted them out in the field three weeks later, into a bed recently vacated by a crop of garlic. The cabbages headed up nicely in September and October, and we ate some and distributed some to our vegetable box members. A little patch of plants remained, and were mostly forgotten about until today, when Jessica cleaned one up and prepared it for dinner. While the outer leaves are ragged and tired looking, the centres are still crunchy and delicious. I suspect a long cold spell or deep snowfall would do these plants in, but don’t doubt that they are a prime candidate for growing under low tunnels as a crop to harvest in January, February, and March, cold weather or not.

peeling off the outer leaves

almost ready to eat

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

today’s harvest of spinach

Last month I wrote about this year’s August-sown spinach, and lamented the fact that I didn’t get around to mulching it. I am pleased to report that, almost five months after it was sown, the bed is  still producing. The plants are far from aesthetic perfection but they’ve lived through ice and snow and I’m drinking a spinach smoothie as I type this. I’ve found that many of the older leaves have started to decay, while the smallest leaves, just forming toward the centre of the plant, are still a little small to harvest. That leaves the intermediate sized leaves, which I’ve been cutting off with scissors. I take four or five leaves off each plant with scissors until my colander is full.

the spinach bed last week, under a blanket of snow

the spinach bed today – the plants are looking a little thin, and the bed is weedy, but there is still plenty of prime leaf to harvest

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

we are delighted to have been able to begin harvesting ‘Purple Rudolph’ sprouting broccoli this week

Every variety of purple (and white) sprouting broccoli I’ve ever grown has been delightful and well worth the effort. Sprouting broccoli is generally planted in May or June, and is ideally adapted to the cool gloom of our coastal winters. These plants put on rapid growth during the summer and autumn, then slow down in November in preparation for overwintering. The harvest typically begins in February and continues through May, depending on the variety. Apparently some varieties produce well into June and July, though I’ve yet to try any of these very late types. When they are given enough time to grow to a healthy size before the onset of winter, they reward the gardener with an astonishing quantity of delicious broccoli, at a time of year when the variety of fresh vegetables from the garden tens to be limited at best. This year we’re growing four different types, one of which is ‘Purple Rudolf’, pictured in this post. We began harvesting this variety yesterday, almost two months ahead of all our past plantings of sprouting broccoli. If all goes as planned, the four varieties will provide us with at least five consecutive months of purple (and white) goodness.

after the initial flush of sprouts is harvested more will be steadily produced for months

the first bowlful

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

‘January King’ cabbages in late August

What a difference two months makes! Pictured at right are some January King cabbages, photographed at the end of August. Below is one of them photographed today, a little more than two months later. Long-season cabbage varieties like this one take a long time to mature (today’s photo was taken roughly 160 days after the seeds were sown), but provide such a bounty of nutritious food that all patience in growing them is eventually rewarded many times over.

photographed today, ready for harvest

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

An escarole grown from seed sent from France to friend of mine from his French Father

Though there seems to be some confusion regarding the taxonomy, I feel fairly comfortable with the idea that both Endive and Escarole are Cichoria intybus in latin. The curly type, which my French relatives (and French mother) call ‘Frisé’, is Cichoria intybus var. crispum, while the broad leaved type, which is often called escarole and which I generally prefer for eating, is Cichoria intybus var. latifolia. Both are delicious fall and winter vegetables, though for many years I wasn’t tuned into the concept of sowing vegetables in the summer for fall and winter harvests, and insisted on trying to grow them in the spring. Spring-sown Cichoria tend to be very tough and bitter by the time they are harvested in June. I’ve finally learnt my lesson, and now direct-seed them in early August.

Très Fine Maraîchère Frisé grown from seed bought from West Coast Seeds

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

After years of trying, I’ve finally achieved Florence fennel succes. These specimens were sown in 2-inch pots on the first of July, and planted out at the end of July.

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables

the author with an iceberg lettuce

We harvested our first iceberg lettuce this evening. I wrote a little bit about our journey toward iceberg lettuce success here, and am pleased to report that the lettuce exceeded all our expectations in it’s crunchy deliciousness. I expect late-July sowings of this type of lettuce will be repeated on our farm in the years to come.

the first sample with most of it’s wrapper leaves removed

mature (or almost mature) iceberg lettuce

Tagged: Fall and Winter Vegetables