No, this isn’t an early April Fool’s joke. It is, however, a sign of my compulsiveness. Day-light sensitive, winter hardy greens begin to regrow as soon as days are long enough, around mid-February. And I take seriously the directions on the seed packages that say “as soon as the ground can be worked.” Or maybe it’s just as Richard says, “the sun comes out for a few minutes and Margo thinks it’s spring!”
Our wonderful neighbors had plowed the driveway and shoveled out the path to the front door before we got home from North Carolina. And my Fedco seed order had arrived while we were gone. The anticipation was too much. So last Saturday, I decided to dig out one of the low tunnels. Richard helped.
Digging ...
Dug! Next year, we'll definitely use PVC pipe instead of wire for hoops. Who knew this would really work?
Under the hoops, the greens were still doing fine, and the soil was warm. Some of the greens (like the claytonia, mâche and beet leaves) didn't look at all fazed by the cold.
Claytonia (miner's lettuce) barely looks stressed (March 6)
A salad of claytonia, mâche, beet leaves and radishes (March 6)
Others, like the overwintered kale, spinach, chard and Asian greens were already starting to grow new leaves. There were also still some radishes (which were still crispy) and turnips (which we haven’t eaten yet).
Overwintered under a hoop, the kale already shows significant new growth after only a few days on sun (March 13)
Asian savoy is growing well, too (March 13)
I also put together the cold frames in the old driveway. More snow to dig out to make a place! A phone call confirmed that our neighbors at Angel Tree Alpaca Farm had 7 buckets of manure sitting in the barn. I wish I had a picture of us hauling the buckets from the barn to the road with a plastic sled – 2 buckets at a time!
Warm frames: Manure composting on the bottom, planting mix on top. Once the seeds are in, old storm windows, free from a local re-use center, will go on top.
On Sunday, I planted a number of salad and cooking greens – spinach, a spicy mustard mix, pac choi, Asian savoy, senposi, mispoona, and more mâche – as well as scallions in the bare spots of the tunnels and in one of the cold frames.
Wednesday, before heading to work, it was the sugar snap and snow peas. Friday, beet and radish seeds went in. Today it’s rainy and chilly, so the second warm frame plantings are postponed until tomorrow.
Tasting newly uncovered arugula
Of course, the sensible way to do all this would have been to wait until this weekend, when most of the snow has now melted of its own accord. But I’m not very patient! And I love the challenge of seeing how far I can extend the growing season – pushing the ends both earlier and later until they almost meet. This year, the first seeds were planted a week earlier than last year and two weeks earlier than the year before. And the harvest, although minimal, continues. Fortunately, we still have a few jars of zucchini and pumpkin soups, several containers of berries, and more than a few bags of snow peas and beans left in the freezer.
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