With Spring at my front door, I have always looked forward to an early harvest of wintered-over greens that I had planted in the fall. Kale, Swiss Chard, spinach, Miner’s Lettuce, mustard and the like have been ready for the picking and sampling. Tender sprouts of sorrel are ready to taste and enjoy. These late year plantings keep my hopes up that Spring will start early and the waiting out of Winter will be rewarded with tasty chlorophyll-filled morsels. But not this year.
The cold frame and hoop house have been covered since early January when I could no longer keep up with the onslaught of inch after inch of snow (combined with the fact I spent nearly a month in Florida). A few days ago, Juana and I chipped our way toward the gate and were able to pry it open. One of the cold frame windows was clear while the other two had half a foot of snow on them. Charlotte’s little snow shovel was ideal to clear off the last little bits and soon I was able to pry open the frame.
There wasn’t much there. The soil was dry and frozen. A few claytonia leaves looked like the made it through the winter, but the ground was parched with a few weeds attempting to germinate. This was a far cry from two years ago when I had a vibrant and green garden that was able to serve up salads almost every other day. The only hope we have now are the flats of greens planted a few weeks ago that have germinated and will be placed in the greenhouse in the next week or two in preparation to be transplanted outside. But home-grown salads look like something that we won’t be able to see until May.
The hoop house isn’t much better. The snow has slid off it but the Agribon is frozen to the ground under the pile of ice and snow that prevents me from removing it. To get a look, I pop the PVC clips so I can remove the cloth from the top: it’s not pretty. The large Swiss Chard plants that were abundant and fresh in December are now just a pile of mush. Icy heaves have given the garden the look of a stark almost alien landscape with crags and shape edges. The soil is a little more damp than that of the cold frame but everything is still frozen.
There is still hope, however. Last September I planted four rows of carrots that I was pulling through December. They were tasty and nicely sized. I am hoping that their frozen state has made them sweeter rather than mushy and rotted. Perhaps Charlotte and I will find out in a few weeks.
