SFG blah's

Well, I'm almost all gardened out for this year. I had a great year but I think it's finally time to put it all to bed. I experimented with my winter garden this year but there's only so much a person can do to. The 3* temp froze my January King cabbage and Georgia collards in the hoop houses. Like THAT was a big surprise huh?   

 The turnips and beets did fair with about one foot of shredded leaves on them but they finally froze also, even in the hoops.  My carrots and parsnips are still doing fair under the mulch in the hoop houses. I'm actually finding a few worms under the mulch when I dig my carrots. I piled a lot of kitchen scraps on the sfg before mulching to help feed the worms this winter. Seems to be working so far.

   I feel like the plants have a certain cycle they go through and there's not much we can do to force them to live beyond that cycle. We can encourage them by mulching and covering them but Mother nature will eventually win out.

I'm not trying to discourage winter gardening. Just the opposite. Anyone who's ever had a winter garden, knows that feeling of pulling the plastic back and finding your leafy greens, cabbage and carrots still surviving. Plus, it's a fact, certain veggies tastes better after a frost or a light freeze.

I'm just saying, I don't think I'll be doing a winter garden next year although I will be gardening into the late fall in my hoop houses. Our temps have been down to 3* so far and it's to much of a struggle to try and keep things alive.

I'm going to leave my carrots and parsnips in the sfg til this spring but the rest of it, I think I'll just go out this morning and take all the plastic off and say farewell to the winter garden and start planning and working on my spring garden.......  Supposed to be about 60* here today. Going to put some new boxes together today and work outside.

I get what you are saying exactly, Mr. B.  I will plan a cold frame, because my SFG is not remotely close to my house, but I have a spot for a frame.  

I love Eliot Coleman's book and wish I had the spot to make that happen, or the gumption!

I hear you, Mr. B! I did the winter gardening thing one time and that was enough for me. Now I grow as much as I can thru the fall and continue to eat it as far into winter as it lasts. For instance, I'm still picking mustard spinach and kale. But they don't grow anymore because the days are too short. They're just out there, alive.

Personally I don't like going out below 42° anymore, let alone 3. :/
CC

In our area, winter is a crap shoot. Some years we have no hard frost(s) at all. (This year, we've already had one.) Sometimes we get our winter in fall or spring, and winter is almost like summer. Go figure.  Anyway, I will continue winter gardening in case Mother Nature is in a good mood, and if not, my efforts will all go to compost, which is fine, too.

Valiant try, Mr. Booker. You now have SFG style experience under your belt and those hoops can be used for extending your growing season.

We have had 4 or 5 nights of 30-32*F early mornings and the cool weather plants are surviving without plastic covers. Hard freeze is expected next week. CN, looks like down to 25*F for you plus some cold rain.

CapeCoddess wrote:I hear you, Mr. B! I did the winter gardening thing one time and that was enough for me. Now I grow as much as I can thru the fall and continue to eat it as far into winter as it lasts. For instance, I'm still picking mustard spinach and kale. But they don't grow anymore because the days are too short. They're just out there, alive.  

Personally I don't like going out below 42° anymore, let alone 3. :/
CC

It was pretty much an experiment this winter for me. There's really not much one can do when the temp gets that close to zero. It's going to freeze.

I think I'll do like you and just use the hoops for early and late fall crops and leave the winter gardening to the southern folks. For the rest of this winter I think I'll try to stay on the inside of the door.

sanderson wrote:Valiant try, Mr. Booker.  You now have SFG style experience under your belt and those hoops can be used for extending your growing season.

We have had 4 or 5 nights of 30-32*F early mornings and the cool weather plants are surviving without plastic covers.  Hard freeze is expected next week.  CN, looks like down to 25*F for you plus some cold rain.  

Yup. Just another chapter in the SFG journey. I was really hoping the plastic and mulch would work better than it did but I guess the bitter cold nights took it's toll.

Oh well.....    In my area I can buy onion bulbs in late Feb and that's only a few months away. (Did I say ONLY).
I'll keep the plastic on this winter and spring to warm the MM and get after it in early spring.

sanderson wrote: CN, looks like down to 25*F for you plus some cold rain.  

Yup. Thursday it's supposed get up to 64 degrees, followed by a couple of snow days. I think Mother Nature just sweeps up the leftovers from the rest of the country and dumps it on us. As Forrest Gump said about chocolates: "You never know what you're gonna get."

Please excuse the background noise in this vid. It's my 18 wheeler running very close to my garden. It was freezing cold outside and I had to make the vid FAST.

 I was amazed at the size of the carrot. I only pulled one.
https://youtu.be/_2ZQamgLZUk

Happy winter gardening.   MrBooker.

Very, very nice.

Nice carrot and parsnip, Mr. B!  Brrrr! Gotta love fresh veggies in the dead of winter!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Nice carrot and parsnip, Mr. B!  Brrrr! Gotta love fresh veggies in the dead of winter!

+1

How deep were those beds?

Currently, I have two top-hatted carrot squares totally covered with snow. 

donnainzone5 wrote:How deep were those beds?

Currently, I have two top-hatted carrot squares totally covered with snow. 

That particular bed had no bottom. It was my in ground garden and I tilled it up, framed it in and added MM.
Looks like Mother nature gave you some free insulation. We're getting about three inches of snow today.

sanderson wrote:  Very, very nice.

Thanks. That was a Tender sweet carrot. They tend to grow long and straight if the soil loose. I have two other beds with carrots in them. One with Danver half longs and one with Little fingers. I'm going to check them today and post some pics. (No more noisy vids) 

We're expecting about three inches of snow today and it should be an experience harvesting veggies in January.
MrBooker.