It’s the time of year when all things seem possible.  I dream of verdant growth, record harvests, perfect blossoms, and fruit unmarked by insect damage and snacking birds.   My wish list of seeds and plants is long and well over budget, yet still I dream.  I’ll grow long, tall rows of corn and salad greens [...]

Last night we had a hard frost, and it nipped a few tender plants and blossoms. As the sun eased over the horizon, I trudged out to the orchard, camera in hand to document the damage. The warmth of the morning sunlight already was melting the frost crystals from the blooms, so the damage wasn’t [...]

This winter’s tatsoi (mustard greens) crop is in full bloom in the greenhouse. The leaves are no longer yummy, but I’ve left the plants to flower because the blossoms make me smile whenever I step inside. The seed saver in the neighborhood is hoping there’s enough insect activity in the greenhouse now to sufficiently pollinate [...]

Champion collards, planted in the greenhouse September, 2007. Collards, like most brassicas, are biennial – that is, they go to seed their second year. Collards don’t keep calendars. They had their warm season and winter, and now it’s warm again. So it’s the second year by plant reconning.
It looks like little side shoot of broccoli, [...]

Years ago, I had two little snowdrop plants by my front steps. Those were my early harbingers of spring. The first appearance of the snowdrop blooms meant spring truly would come, and the world would be right.
Now, two homes later, it’s the daffodils that give my mood such a boost. Mine aren’t blooming here at [...]

They grew a couple inches taller this weekend when the afternoon temperatures swelled to the upper 70s (Fahrenheit). They’ll get nipped with cold tonight if the forecast is right — 18 degrees. Brrrr.

I’ve never cared much for mustard greens. The canned variety just tastes nasty, I think. The fresh ones gathered in the pasture when I was a kid weren’t much better. Still, they were on the list of cold hardy greens likely to do well in an unheated hoophouse, so I tried them.
Surprise! They’re yummy! When [...]

It’s true. The best carrots ever come from the winter garden in my greenhouse. Trust me. I just picked one. I’m eating it right now.

For years, I’ve heard how wonderful winter-harvested carrots taste. Since my sources were level-headed, reliable people, I believed them despite my own frustrating attempts to grow decent carrots in any season. [...]

January 3 overnight low – 14 degrees.
January 5 high – 71 degrees
January 6 high – 73 degrees
January 7 high – 71 degrees
Cover the greenhouse beds, uncover the greenhouse beds, yada yada yada. We had moderate damage to the mature lettuce on that 14-degree night. The low temperature reading under the floating row covers was 21 [...]

I slept through the actual moment of Winter Solstice, when because of the Earth’s tilt, the Northern Hemisphere leans farther away from the sun than at any other time during the year. It happened just after midnight here in the central U.S., and thus began the first day of winter.
To celebrate, Mother Nature brought [...]