How did it get to be November? The trees are looking half empty of their leaves and telling us it’s time to spend more time inside than out. Thankfully, my winter garden vegetables are ready to start harvesting.
Arugula! I love this meaty salad green, especially in the colder months when we could use something thicker and more substantial in our salads. This veggie has grown great without a cold frame so far this season.
We are still harvesting our beet greens and beet bulbs. They were planted in the summer, giving us a nice long harvest. The winter beet crop I planted in a separate bed are still weeks away from being ready.
Homegrown celery puts that bland grocery store version to shame! We should have stalks big enough to harvest for Thanksgiving.
Bay trees are evergreen, providing year round garden structure as well as year round access to their culinary leaves. I have been snipping here and there for winter stews.
The spring/summer broccoli is still hanging on! We are getting some nice side shoots and I’m planning to leave the plants in the ground through winter.
Our summer swiss chard is also hanging on. We are getting some glossy new leaves shooting up.
And finally, all those onions I planted are sending up shoots. It will be months before the bulbs are ready to harvest, but we can snip some of the green shoots here and there to use as scallions.
What is growing in your garden? Does your climate lend itself to winter gardening or is there snow on the ground already? Tell me about it in the comments below!
Hi Renee ~ I love your site and your blog. I am anxious to wander around and see all of your wonderful posts. This is my first year ‘winter gardening’ here in Boise, Idaho. We are a bit colder than you are in Portland so I have a few cold frames, several low-tunnel hoop houses and a larger hoop house that is 13’x7’x20′. I am growing lettuce greens, spinach, arugula, beets, cabbage, bok choy, corn salad, broccoli, and kale. We are also trying to winter artichokes and I my planted my garlic last weekend. I look forward to your future posts to learn more about your success with winter gardening and gardening in general. You can check out our winter garden at http://www.love2dig.blogspot.com.
I’ve also connected with you on Pinterest and would love to know how I might be invited to share on the collaborative board, Vegetable Garden Bloggers & Writers United.
Welcome Heidi! I believe I was invited to join the collaborative Pinterest board by Pamela Price over at RedWhiteandGrew.com. I would get in touch with her to see if there is room for you as well!