It’s been unusually chilly this year. I must confess I was not prepared for such a harsh winter. I was a little overconfident in late October and I planted a few young plants and seedlings in the raised bed. A week later, we were hit with record low temperatures. My raised bed looked pathetically empty until now. I took me awhile to grow the replacements by seed but my raised bed is finally looking promising again.
I am growing the following in the raised bed
Little Marvel Peas
Tom Thumb Lettuce
Correnta Spinach
White bunching onions
Italian Red of Florence bunching onions
Parris Island Romaine
Corn Mache
Easter Egg Radishes
The Rubbermaid container, that I used for last summer’s cucumbers is now being used for my carrots. They seem to really like the rich, loose soil and I hope to have a nice harvest next month.
Another big challenge this winter has been the rodents. I think I’ll have to just grow ornamental plants along our fence since the mice are eating anything and everything I plant. I thought they would love the kale. But I was really surprised to see them eat onions, cilantro, and chives since they have ignored them in the past. I am trying to protect the remaining kale plants with cloches made out of milk jugs.
I have learned from my mistakes though and I am planting the more frost sensitive plants like the Red Sails lettuce in containers. I also managed to plant one Nero Toscana Kale in a container far from the mice.
I hope to be eating lots of salads in the near future.
Leave a Reply