The Winter Garden

 

We had a couple of good snows in December.  I was happy to see, once it all melted this past week, that several of my herbs are still alive and edible; parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, actually!  And we still have onions and carrots that may be edible if they don't get too wet.  

One of my Christmas gifts was The Winter Harvest Handbook.  I have read several chapters and am enjoying and learning, although I am not sure the concepts are all that feasible in a little back yard garden; it's geared more toward a for-profit type project.  However, I am encouraged to try and extend my growing season, both through planting smarter as well as starting seeds inside and covering plants during frosts.  I will be planting peas again sometime in February - next month!  He talks at length about sunlight hours, and how many European people have covered winter gardens, but Americans at the same latitude think there's not enough light; an interesting point.

This morning, we went to visit a friend who supplies us with free horse manure.  I bet you can guess how excited my kids were to leave cartoons to go rake manure in the cold!  Except for the whining, it was a pretty fun little family outing.  Already, the manure is spread over some of the beds and mixed into the compost, thanks to BFJ.  I know all the yummy veggies we get this summer are going to make it worth all the work!