It has gotten warm enough that all my lettuce and collards were getting ready to bolt, so I got out in the garden today and took what was there and pulled the plants to make room for something else. I got four 5 gallon buckets full between the leaf lettuces, collards and I picked some kale and Swiss chard to go with it.
I covered my kitchen table with a large beach towel and filled the sink with cold water to rinse all the greens off, then bagged them to hand out to neighbors and family. There was WAY too much for me to consume before it goes bad.
So, looks like any lettuce from now till fall will be store bought.
This seems sad to me.
However, I'm thinking of the future months rather than the immediate past. You have had greens all through your winter. My kale went to the quail. Hey, that rhymes
. Oh, there are some leaves out there. Nothing growing in the greenhouse this winter. I had hernia surgery in November so moving a heavy bench made of 2 by 4's out so that I could grow something in the bed beneath wasn't going to happen.
There was a mustard plant growing just outside of the greenhouse door, near the carport. It bloomed and went to seed in 2017. I never collected those seeds
. It's a very protected location and some of those seeds have sprouted. Seed leaves outdoors. There are cabbage and kale starts right now on that heavy greenhouse bench! Those, the quail-nibbled overwintered kale, and the mustard seedlings are the only greens I have at the moment 
. Gotta get the hoophouse set up and plant some bok choy seed!
Steve
However, I'm thinking of the future months rather than the immediate past. You have had greens all through your winter. My kale went to the quail. Hey, that rhymes
. Oh, there are some leaves out there. Nothing growing in the greenhouse this winter. I had hernia surgery in November so moving a heavy bench made of 2 by 4's out so that I could grow something in the bed beneath wasn't going to happen.There was a mustard plant growing just outside of the greenhouse door, near the carport. It bloomed and went to seed in 2017. I never collected those seeds
. It's a very protected location and some of those seeds have sprouted. Seed leaves outdoors. There are cabbage and kale starts right now on that heavy greenhouse bench! Those, the quail-nibbled overwintered kale, and the mustard seedlings are the only greens I have at the moment . Gotta get the hoophouse set up and plant some bok choy seed!Steve
Yes, I'm fortunate to the extent that where I garden I can have a year round crop of things feeding me, the wife and anyone else we share it with. I picked enough beets a few days ago to put up 3 quarts and have enough still in the ground to put up at least a dozen more quarts.
My Japanese Yard Long beans, Kentucky Wonder pole beans and soybeans are going great, as are the cucumber plants, corn and okra that just sprouted a week ago. Held over from last fall is the Kale and Swiss Chard, onions and garlic, plus a few herbs that managed to make it through like rosemary, mint, bay leaves and I recently added some fresh curly leaf parsley to round things out a bit. Problem with parsley is they will bolt and go away when it gets about 10 degrees warmer daily, but it's fun to have when I need it.
My Japanese Yard Long beans, Kentucky Wonder pole beans and soybeans are going great, as are the cucumber plants, corn and okra that just sprouted a week ago. Held over from last fall is the Kale and Swiss Chard, onions and garlic, plus a few herbs that managed to make it through like rosemary, mint, bay leaves and I recently added some fresh curly leaf parsley to round things out a bit. Problem with parsley is they will bolt and go away when it gets about 10 degrees warmer daily, but it's fun to have when I need it.
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applestar
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I LOVE reading about the different seasonal gardening rhythms from different regions. I’m still trying to experiment and learn how to extend my own shorter gardening season, and find out what I could grow later into fall and earlier in the spring.
My kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, as well as lettuce and — new for me, artichokes — have been hardening off outside. They and a few other early spring crops might be ready to plant later this week if I can get the garden beds ready....
My kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, as well as lettuce and — new for me, artichokes — have been hardening off outside. They and a few other early spring crops might be ready to plant later this week if I can get the garden beds ready....
I found artichokes to be a hit or miss the first year in the ground. I planted several a few years ago and they didn't do much, even though they produced huge plants. So I cut them down and mulched them real heavy and they over-wintered and the next spring they took off and I had some beautiful main artichokes with smaller ones following the initial ones, much like broccoli with the big head followed by side shoots.applestar wrote:I LOVE reading about the different seasonal gardening rhythms from different regions. I’m still trying to experiment and learn how to extend my own shorter gardening season, and find out what I could grow later into fall and earlier in the spring.
My kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, as well as lettuce and — new for me, artichokes — have been hardening off outside. They and a few other early spring crops might be ready to plant later this week if I can get the garden beds ready....
Let one of them go on to bloom and they make beautiful flowers.