25 degrees & still growing

Memo to self: when picking greens in 25 degree weather, use a plastic bowl, not a metal one.

Winter growing has its challenges, like how numbingly cold wet fingers get picking small greens when the temperature’s below freezing, or the way bare skin sticks to a metal bowl. On the other hand, the greens are there to be picked. It’s quite amazing given that night-time temperatures have been in the teens, and far lower when the gusting wind chill is taken into account.

There was rain before the temperature dropped, so the rocks holding down the edges of the plastic were frozen to the ground. But once dislodged and the plastic lifted, the greens beneath looked chilly (or maybe it was just me who was chilly!) but absolutely fine.

I’ve read that as the air turns cold, some of these plants begin to produce compounds (including sucrose) that act as “antifreeze,” preventing the formation of ice crystals within the plant’s cells.

So they not only survive, but thrive, becoming sweeter, more tender and more flavorful in winter than summer. These winter salad leaves also have a welcome crispness that the summer versions never do and a pleasing mix of tastes.

By dinner time, frozen fingers seemed a small price to pay for the salad that awaited. Here’s what was in yesterday’s mix (clockwise, from top left):

• Asian Savoy
  
• Mâche and Claytonia (miners’ lettuce), the hardiest of the winter salad greens
  
• Burgundy “Bulls’ Blood” beet leaves, added more for color than for its mild taste
  
• Spicy “Red Giant” mustard
  
• "Golden Frill mustard
• Mizuna
  
• Parsley
  
• “Shunkyo Semi-Long,” a French radish that is both hot and sweet

Memo #2 to self: Start designing the walk-in solar greenhouse now, so there’ll be no digging under snowy, frozen plastic near year.