The second harvest was 5 oz of swiss chard, and 1 oz of winterbor kale which took the place of beet greens in a beet risotto recipe. I picked some sorrel too but didn't end up using it so I'm not including it.
I've noticed this week with the freezing temps that the greens that touch the glass are getting cold burned. I'm not sure what to do except cut back those leaves. Unfortunately the winterbor kale is tall for the cold frame, though thankfully shorter than my lacinato. Maybe it will start bushing out to the side if it can't put on new foliage on top.You can see what other gardeners are harvesting at Daphne's Dandelions.
6 comments:
That kale looks good. I wish I had planted more kale. I really liked the first picking I had, but now I have to let it grow some more.
It's great you're still harvesting. No kale for me this year but I've enjoyed the chard I planted.
My (only) coldframe is quite small. I'll have to build a few more if I want to do any serious Fall gardening. I would have a spot for a medium size polytunnel. I may go for that instead. I don't know yet.
I'm excited to grow some Tuscan kale next year. I have some Red Russian growing in one of my hoop houses but they are still small.
Maybe you should add a second layer of protection over your coldframes at night...maybe some 6 mil plastic suspected by hoops or stakes. I was in Vermont last week (the Rutland area) and was surprised by how cold it was!
Your greens look luscious, and your herbs under the grow light indoors look great as well. I'd like to try growing kale next year, particularly as a fall crop.
I'd suggest moving the Tuscan kale (we call it Cavalo nero over here in Tuscany) outside to the freezing cold. It won't grow as fast, but it likes the cold (almost does better once it cools down), and it gets sweeter after some freezes. During January/Febuary it gets down into the low 20's here, sometimes as cold as the high teens and my unprotected cavalo nero was just fine...
Keith,
Thanks for the report on how the Tucscan Kale does elsewhere. I have it outside the cold frame right now and it is tasting great with the cold temps we've had. I think I enjoyed it into Dec last winter but once the snows come, it doesn't do well being buried in the snow and with the temps around ten below at night. That's why I have the winterbor kale which is supposed to be a heartier variety inside the cold frame. I'm hoping to enjoy kale all winter long.
Thomas,
I'd like to add a second layer, but we leave for work before the cold rises out of the garden in the morning so I'd have to remove it when things were still frigid. We're going to try to put some weather stripping to close the gaps in the way the windows sit.
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