Another installment in the snow-covered series: Winterbor kale! I’m so used to rollercoaster weather and the new winters that never really get started, it’s kind of a shock to have this much snow for three days in a row in November. And there’s no melt-off in sight, with the 15-day forecast predicting little sun and day temperatures hovering under 0°C (32°F). Picked a few pounds of the kale today, it’s still holding up, particularly the young new growth. It won’t last long if it stays frozen day and night. All this watching of cold-weather crops is bound to come in handy…sometime!
winter harvest
Crispy cold carrots
Dug up about five pounds of carrots for a phoned in order for “whatever there is”. The ground isn’t frozen, but the many sub-zero nights have really chilled it out. These heirloom Touchon carrots benefited from their cool storage conditions. They’re crisp and super-tasty, not as sweet as my other standby, the Nelson hybrid, instead delivering a rich carrot flavor. Also still being picked in the cold, there’s spinach, kale, collards and flat-leaf parsley…
After winter kale
Here’s what Red Russian kale looks like after being left for the latest possible harvest, then frozen solid and buried in snow for a couple of months!
Last of the carrots
A bushel of carrots, a mix of Nelson, Napoli and Danvers Half Long (mostly Danvers showing on top), fresh out of the ground. These were gleaned from the last carrot beds of 2006. A bit of winter’s been forecast beginning tonight, so I dug ’em up before the snow. If the prediction’s on point, we’re in for at least a couple of weeks of subzero days and nights. Normal wintery weather for around here. At last!