This week I am putting the raised beds to sleep for the winter. In one, the garlic is planted and insulated from the cold (or the heat, like last week's balmy spell) by a thick layer of straw. It will stay there through the winter and send up shoots and form bulbs next summer. My friend Ms. Squirrel has been digging holes in that bed again and she uprooted one of my planted garlic cloves. I wanted to check on them anyway, to make sure they were sending out roots downward but not sprouting their greenery upward yet. Garlic should be planted late fall to give the roots time to set before the ground completely freezes, but not too early so that the plant decides to sprout from the warmth. I was worried that last week's high temperatures would start the garlic sprouting, but it didn't seem to. They do have nice, spidery white roots on them, though. Hooray!
Small carrot plants in frosty soilThe other raised bed on the patio still has late carrots in it. I pulled one up today to check their progress and it was so tiny! When i pulled it out, a clump of frozen topsoil came with it, but the soil underneath was not frozen. They'll only have a week or two of growing left before the soil completely freezes. At that point they will also freeze and can be pulled out of the frozen ground to eat. Unfortunately, ours won't be big enough to really use in the dining hall, just good for a snack or two.
The perennial herbs in large pots in the corners of the raised beds have been cut back to help them prepare for dormancy over the winter. Once the ground completely freezes, I will pull the pots out of the raised beds and put them in the greenhouse for the winter. The greenhouse will be turned off next week so even though it won't be heated, it will offer the herbs a little bit of insulation from the elements and hopefully keep their roots alive so they can come back next spring.
Next week I will put the greenhouse to bed until March. Check back!
Until then,
Your Frozen Farmer
