Winter Gardening

"The pleasure of year-round gardening is one of the greatest tranquilizers there is. In a world filled with tension and frustration, you can enter your greenhouse, close the door, and shut yourself away from all the world's problems. There's something soothing about firming seeds in the soil and tending plants under glass while raindrops and snowflakes fall against the panes." George and Katy Abraham, Organic Gardening Under Glass, 1975.

Today was sunny and mild so I went to the greenhouse to see what had survived the single digit low temperatures of the previous week. Winter gardening in an un-heated greenhouse is somewhat new to me, so I was not sure what to expect. Several of the greens I planted are capable of withstanding a solid freeze, then when thawed on sunny days show no sign of damage and are perfectly fine to harvest. I found enough varieties to make a nice mesclun and also dug some very sweet carrots.

Break Time

"I cannot conceive the Spring of lands that have no Winter. I take my Winter gladly, to get Spring as a keen and fresh experience." Odd Farmwife, The Old Farmhouse 1913

The most enjoyable gardening activity for us this time of year is to look through all the new seed catalogs. Some new cultivars we will try in 2007 include: Marconi Romano beans from Italy, an oriental okra, a tiny rustic pea known as "Pois Peas" in France, "Artichoke of the Aristocrats", the "Infamous" pearl onion from Europe, and a gourmet heirloom sweet pepper from Spain that is reputed to be a culinary masterpiece. We are also working on improving our mid-summer mesclun by growing more heat tolerant items. It has become more difficult over the years to produce a mid-summer salad mix. I hope these varieties will help.

Should Farmers Be Writers?

I have often thought about the minimal time I have with our customers during the farmer's markets. Setting up our stand, keeping the bins full, filling orders etc. all take time away from the very reason we enjoy the open-air market setting so much. This blog will hopefully address some of the inherent problems with vending this way. I will post a weekly list of items we will have at our stand, a brief discussion of some of the more uncommon varieties, photographs of the gardens, recipes, and a little bit about what is happening on the farm. I hope you enjoy it. Should farmers be writers? If I can find the time to blog we shall find out.