Under the snow

The question: What's left under the hoops, under the snow, after two weeks of early January temperatures that barely made it out of the teens?

The answer:

Ta-da ...

Harvesting turnips (left row). The soil, unfrozen under the covered hoops, acted as an excellent "cool storage." More on the chard (right row) to come.

"Golden globe" turnips.

The carrots stored well too -- cold, crisp, and winter-sweetened. Without the snow cover, we would have had to mulch with straw to keep the ground from freezing during the frigid weeks, but Nature was on our side. Now that the evidence for year-round harvests is in, I'll make sure to plant a lot more next year.

The snow, which insulated the crops from the freezing temperatures, also collapsed our wire-held hoops. (PVC pipe would have been a more stable choice, but our last-minute laziness left us grabbing the wire already on hand.) So some of the chard leaves got a bit frozen. Still usable, though.

And some of the chard was nearly picture-perfect, as was the garden snail (top left) who presumably has been appreciating our efforts at altered climes.

These salad leaves (under another hoop) are even hardier than the chard: Asian savoy, mache, claytonia, "bull's blood" beets.

And yes, yet another salad picture. Greens, winter radishes, carrots, and kitchen-grown mung bean sprouts.

Thanks to Richard for grabbing the camera to document. All photos: Jan. 17.