December 23, 2013
I harvested another patch of carrots yesterday in what is going to be the sweet potato patch this year. I wanted to clear it out so I could add some chicken manure from the coop – to give it some time to fertilize the patch before I plant the slips in the late Spring. The chickens ate all of my greens this Fall but hiding among the carrots was some baby spinach! I left that & hopefully, when it warms up in the Spring, it will be some of our first greens we have to harvest. 🙂
(again, looks like a bunch of wood shavings but it’s mostly poop)
It has warmed up a few times this Fall and on those days, I have planted lettuce & carrots and covered them. Some of the carrots have sprouted but none of the lettuce has. I really miss my fresh greens!
So, this week, I went ahead and started some greenhouses. I do not have many milk jugs yet so I need to save them for things like tomatoes & peppers but for now, I went ahead and planted some lettuce & kale seeds in them. Because they are cool-weather crops, they will sprout & grow pretty quickly so I can transplant them & reuse the jugs for heat-loving crops. Maybe I’ll get a nice head start on my greens this way 🙂
I also went ahead and planted cabbage and broccoli in my greenhouses this week. Oh! Speaking of cabbage…I finally used my first cabbage! I have been making my own coleslaw for awhile now. It has always been a goal to use my own cabbage & my own carrots in the future and this week, the future arrived 😀
I’m sure this may seem silly to some but before my BTE garden, my past attempts at carrot-growing have been dismal…and growing my own cabbage seemed a lofty goal (I thought worm-infestation was inevitable). So my first coleslaw with my own cabbage & carrots was quite the accomplishment! It was SO yummy!
How are your winter gardens? Harvesting anything? Check out what everyone else is harvesting at Daphne’s Dandelions!
Gardening Without... 
I think it is great that you achieved one of your goals–slaw with your own cabbage and carrots. I make goals like that for myself. For 3 years I have had the goal of dilly green beans. No luck yet, but it’s on the list for next year, too. 🙂
Congrats on achieving one of yours.
thx 🙂 I had the goal of growing a ton of celery this year but since those have to be started in greenhouses & I don’t have many, that goal may have to wait a year or so…
Nice Carrots!! Also, The milk jugs! I had never thought of using them for greenhouses! I will need to use that idea when we get back to the mainland! I have used them for other plants and such back in kentucky but haven’t used them as of yet here because we have a recycling center close by that takes all plastic containers labeled 1 and 2 and pays you by weight. They take all glass, and even cans from canned goods. I’ve never been a huge recycle person unless i was re-using the items myself..But if someone is going to pay me to take it off my hands then I’m IN! lol
Congratulations on your first garden slaw. Slaw is one of my all time favorite salads.
Those milk container greenhouses are very clever! I might try that, to see if I can keep the slugs off of my infant lettuces.
Congratulations on reaching your goal of growing carrots and cabbage!! Nancy