[Part 1 can be read here.]
So far my little garden has flourished, through snow and ice and howling winds and unseasonably frigid temps.
I’ve found myself getting a bit impatient at how slowly the little veggies are growing; they’re a fraction of the size they’d be by now if the weather had been warm and sunny this December.
One thing I’ll do differently next time is to scatter less seed. I’m constantly thinning out my sprouts, and they’re still crowding each other. I could have used one third the amount of seeds and still had plenty.
I’m pleasantly surprised by how tasty the kale seedlings are. I’ve never grown kale before, and never liked the version of it they sell in supermarkets. But I keep hearing that it’s one of those crops you have to grow yourself to appreciate, so I tossed it into my winter garden to see for myself. So far I’m loving it!
A week or so ago I bought a second big planter and transplanted a few of the crucifers into it. I can’t tell the the broccoli from the radishes at this point, so I can only hope that I got two or three broccoli seedlings into the new planter (since that’s its intended purpose).
I plan to put in bigger, more permanent beds all along the south side of the house this spring. My first thought had been to build them out of cinderblock, but Steve offered the truly brilliant suggestion of using big galvanized water troughs instead. I love this idea! Horse troughs are decorative, impervious to rot and weather, and someday when we move we can just empty them and bring them with us!
So this spring I’m looking forward to planting asparagus and strawberries, two crops that my garden’s perpetual bermudagrass infestation won’t let me grow down there. I’m very excited about this!
An Invincible Summer 