Winter Scallions

Last summer I tried to squeeze in a second crop of scallions, since we eat so many of those buggers. But I got them out too late, and they did not mature before winter came. So I left them, thinking I would dig out their wilted, dead carcasses come spring time.

I'll be damned if those things didn't survive all winter long! They even grew. Slowly, but they grew. This picture was taken in April:

Yeah, they don't look like much, but let's see how you look after spending all winter outside.

A couple weeks ago we finally harvested them. I have to admit that they were a little tough, but after grilling them with a blast of olive oil, they weren't too bad.

This winter I am going to experiment with growing scallions in the greenhouse. Daytime temperatures are much warmer in there, but the nighttime temperatures aren't much different than outside because the greenhouse offers little in the way of insulation. However, with proper watering, I think I will be able to actually grow some edibles throughout the winter.

Other plants might work as well. A couple years ago I left a parsley plant out all winter, and it also survived. Parsley is biennial, though, so it didn't live past the next summer.

Do any readers out there know of other vegetables I can grow throughout the winter? Spinach? Cabbage? Please comment and let us know!

Strawberry and Greens Harvest

The first of the June strawberries are in! And, as in previous years, the fruits are weird looking. As you can see, they are small and more oblong than circular. Despite their somewhat grotesque appearance, they are very tasty, both a little sour and sweet, and juicey. The ones we have been getting in the store are large and dry.

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Our other early harvest are some of salad greens. Spinach and arugula were sown directly outside on May 7, and they are now ready for the salad bowl. I had my first home grown salad, with a sprinkling of our strawberries, yesterday. Delicious!

Here is what one of the vegetable beds looks like now. Up top is the spinach and the arugula is next. The middle of the bed is mache, another one of our favorite salad greens. In front of that, and barely visible, are bell pepper plants, which have just started sprouting.