Broccoli Double Vision

I've been eating lots of hefty carrots recently. This should be evident by my last blog post. Carrots contain Vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient for good vision. Despite my prodigious intake of these health-supporting wonders, I discovered that something was wrong with my eyesight this afternoon.

After lunch, I walked out into the rain to plant some radishes in my garden. I was a few feet from my potted Calabrese broccoli when I started seeing double. I could've sworn I harvested my broccoli last month, but sure enough...side shoots of broccoli had sprouted up everywhere! Double broccoli!!

Side shoots of Calabrese broccoli (left and bottom). I harvested the central head of broccoli on January 19. Notice the off-white area near the center of the picture where I cut the central head with a small knife. Exactly one month later I harvested the side shoots.

Calabrese broccoli is no one trick pony. It grows not once, but twice. Exactly one month had passed from the time of my initial harvest to today's second harvest. Here's a close-up view of some side shoots.

Secondary shoots of Calabrese broccoli growing from the side of a potted plant.

Because of my relatively care-free harvest and positive experience with broccoli this year, I am planning on growing multiple varieties next fall. In addition to Calabrese, I will be sowing seeds of Super Rapini broccoli raab and Romanesco broccoli.

Broccoli varieties for future planting at .09 Acres.

I definitely recommend home-grown broccoli for every gardener, beginner or advanced. You will be pleasantly surprised with your harvest if the plant is grown in compost-rich soil and kept moist. Here's a list of the pros and cons of growing broccoli:

PROS:

• large central heads of sweet, tender broccoli
• secondary harvest of side shoots 3-4 weeks after main harvest
• unbeatable flavor compared to insipid store-bought broccoli
• extremely tolerant of hard frosts and variable weather
• can be grown in large pots
• beautiful blue/green foliage

CONS:

• young plants are prone to attack by caterpillars
• needs steady supply of water as a seedling
• large size when mature (appx. 36" in diameter in my garden) 
• long time from seed to harvest 

14.1 Ounce Carrot

I usually don't like posting about the same topic twice in a row, but I don't have a choice. You have to see the ridiculous carrot I harvested yesterday.

14.1 ounce Chantenay Red Core carrot.

I was blown away when I plucked this Chantenay Red Core carrot from the garden. It is the largest carrot I've ever grown and weighs in at a respectable 14.1 ounces! The craziest part is that I didn't pay any attention to it after I planted it last fall. Sure, I watered religiously the first few weeks to make sure the soil was moist, but other than that I didn't do anything special or attempt to grow large veggies. No fertilizer, no plant growth hormone, nothing.

The above picture doesn't really do it justice. Some people have large hands, others have small hands. Mine are somewhere in the middle. So I decided to take another photo for scale and perspective.

14.1 ounce carrot meets a 12.0 ounce Newcastle Brown Ale.

People like me who never go to the gym and enjoy a beer or two sometimes joke about doing 12 ounce curls to stay in shape. I think I may toughen my workout by doing some 14.1 ounce curls instead.

Here's one final photo of the carrot. It's looking a little drab after spending the night in the fridge, but it is still a heavyweight.  Check it.

14.1 ounce carrot meets a 1/2 gallon of Stonyfield milk.

Seriously. That's a single carrot holding its own against a 1/2 gallon of milk. No Photoshop. Anybody else hauling trophy root vegetables from their garden?  

Area 52: Growswell

WARNING: No flavors were harmed during the growing of these life forms.

Date: January 30, 2012

Time: 5:27pm EST

Location: A tiny vegetable garden in southeastern Virginia

Description: A humble backyard gardener, eager to add some flavor and nutrition to his evening salad, harvests a carrot. The carrot pulls easily from the fluffy composted garden soil. He shakes off some loose soil, trims the top, and then rinses the carrot. A textbook appearance. Eager to eat a second carrot out of hand while preparing his salad, he reaches back into the garden. He tugs on a green stalk, but the root does not budge. He pulls harder, and the carrot only seems to resist even more. "Feels like this thing is gripping the earth," he thinks to himself. After uttering a few foul oaths and grunting harder, the gardener finally extracts something unfamiliar.

Uncertain of what he just harvested, he holds the unknown item under a bright beam from a spotlight on the house for a closer inspection. The hair on the back of his neck suddenly tingles and stands on end, and his skin crawls with goose bumps. A dull thump is heard as he drops the thing at his feet. A shriek rings out into the night. "Dear god what is this thing?!"

Fearing that he has created a monster, the gardener runs inside the house, bolts the back door, and turns off the lights. After taking a few seconds to gather his thoughts and steady his breathing, he realizes there is only one logical reason for this aberration: It was deposited in his yard by creatures from another planet!

In a panic, he dashes back outside and scoops up the perfect carrot and anomalous beast. He snaps a quick photo to document the alien creature. He saves the picture on a memory stick. He wants proof of its existence. 

Then the gardener hears a knock at his front door. Already panicked, he begins to get suspicious. The gardener stashes the memory stick in his dirty laundry basket and runs back to his kitchen, camera in hand. Suddenly, government agents come crashing through the front door, their silhouettes illuminated by the glow of a dozen unmarked black Chevy Suburbans. Simultaneously, he hears the thump of propeller blades overhead and men in black fatigues swing down on ropes and smash through his windows. Special Ops troops surge into the fenced yard and begin shooting at all vegetables in the raised beds. 

It was over in seconds. The camera was destroyed and the broken bits confiscated. The gardener could find no trace of the perfect carrot and its deviant alien counterpart. Completely gone. Scientists quickly followed with all kinds of analytical gadgets, probing and sampling the soil and confiscated vegetables. The interrogation began, but was brief. Regardless, it took the boogeymen mere minutes to set up a safety perimeter and restrict all access to the newly designated AREA 52: Growswell.

AREA 52: Growswell, VA.

"Why Growswell," the gardener asked? 
"Because that thing grows well here," the agent said.
"WHAT grows well here?!" the gardener yelled. Before he could even finish his sentence, they were gone.

After the agents left, the gardener returned to his laundry basket and fished out the memory stick. Fearing for his own safety, but fearing for the safety of the planet if he didn't tell his story, the gardener uploaded the picture of his carrot and the extra-terrestrial being to his blog to offer proof of its existence.

A Chantenay Red Core carrot of classic appearance and creature from another planet.

The image of the alien grown in the gardener's backyard has now gone viral, carrying with it the intrigue it rightly deserves. Shrouded in mystery, the backyard vegetable garden alien now stands tall amidst the ranks of fabled beasts like Sasquatch, Loch Ness, the alien sighting at Roswell, and the carrot mustache. But know this: Nothing is as scary, intriguing, or mysterious as AREA 52: Growswell.

Movin' On Up -- New USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

The USDA recently released a new Plant Hardiness Zone Map (http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Default.aspx).

2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

What type of data is this mapped based upon, and how is it different from previous years? Here's what the USDA website states:

"Zones in this edition of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) are based on 1976–2005 weather data. A trial check did not find that the addition of more recent years of data made a significant difference in the definition of these zones. Each zone represents the mean extreme minimum temperature for an area, calculated from the lowest daily minimum temperature recorded for each of the years 1976–2005. This does not represent the coldest it has ever been or ever will be in an area, but it simply is the average of lowest winter temperatures for a given location for this time period.

The previous edition of the USDA PHZM, revised and published in 1990, was drawn from weather data for 1974–1986. The longer period (30 years) of data was selected by the group of horticultural, botanical, and climatological experts who led the review of the latest revision as the best balance between smoothing out the fluctuations of year-to-year weather variation and the concept that during their lifetimes, perennial plants mostly experience what is termed "weather" rather than "climate."

Because this map was created digitally with GIS technology, it has a higher level of resolution and can show smaller areas of zone delineations than ever before. For example, cities tend to hold more heat because they have large amounts of concrete and blacktop, so a city or town may be assigned to a zone warmer than the surrounding countryside. Higher elevations tend to be colder than surrounding lower areas, so the top of a mountain may be an area of cooler zones. A location near a large body of unfrozen water may provide milder winter weather and be in a warmer zone."


So what does this mean for gardeners in Virginia, particularly the Tidewater area? Minor zone changes for some gardeners, probably not too much change for most other gardeners. Here is the detailed map of Virginia reflecting the above changes:

2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map for Virginia.

Many of the inland areas and some outlying coastal areas retained their previous zone designations. But it is interesting to note that GIS technology has allowed the USDA to define smaller zone delineations than in past versions of the map. 

.09 Acres is located in Newport News, Virginia, two blocks from the James River and near the end of the Virginia Peninsula. The southern exposure of my neighborhood on the north bank of the James River and warmth-retaining properties of the river and Chesapeake Bay are factors that influence my hardiness zone. In previous years, I was in Zone 7b. The new map has moved up my location a notch to 8a, reflecting these characteristics and suggesting we have slightly warmer winter lows than indicated on past USDA hardiness maps. In reality, my fenced/protected backyard is likely another half-zone or zone higher, reflecting an even more defined micro-climate.

It is important to note that there are always variations within these types of designations, but the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map can be a helpful general reference for gardeners. 

Did your hardiness zone remain the same or change from the past USDA map? Do you provide micro-climates for your plants to stretch the boundaries of your hardiness zone? Or do you say, "Phooey to all this this scientific mumbo jumbo! Mother Nature does what she wants and I have no control over her whims. This arbitrary designation doesn't mean a thing to me or my plants."

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Back in the Garden Again

My apologies!  It's been well over a month since my last post. The holidays and an INTENSE workload really put a dent in my gardening and blogging time. In the past 6 weeks I've done little in the yard and nothing with the blog.

Considering my neglect of the garden during this period of time, I expected Mother Nature to force me to tighten my belt a notch or two by wreaking total havoc on my tasty veggies and herbs. I imagined hard frosts, harsh winds, and cold dry air conspiring against me. I pictured languishing lettuce, crusty carrots, and beat up beets.

What did I find? Beautiful broccoli.

Calabrese broccoli head approximately 8" in diameter. This plant was grown in a glazed ceramic pot.

Don't think broccoli is beautiful? How about now?

Calabrese broccoli head.

This head of broccoli looks almost like a coral reef you'd expect to see off the Florida Keys rather than in a backyard garden in Newport News, Virginia. This plant was grown from seed in a large glazed ceramic pot. I mulched it with a thick layer of wheat straw after it germinated and haven't fussed over it since then. Yes, I hand-picked a few caterpillars but did little else. It is also growing smaller side shoots that I will only cut after I harvest the main head.

What else did I find that I didn't deserve? A cool cover crop.

Diego standing guard over a 4' x 8' bed of winter rye and hairy vetch cover crop.

I purchased Wren's Abruzzi Winter Rye and Hairy Vetch cover crop seeds last September from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange at the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello. I mixed and planted them in a 4' x 8' bed previously occupied by my Inchelium Red garlic. The seeds germinated easily and very quickly filled the bed. It's a vibrant addition to the otherwise muted colors of the winter landscape. I plan to cut and till the cover crop into the bed in early spring before planting tomatoes in late spring.

The cover crop is also important for another reason I did not anticipate. Dogs are natural foragers, and my two dogs often ate grass in my previous yard to aid in digestion. By successfully smothering my grass, I unintentionally eliminated one of their favorite diet supplements. Last summer, I often found my dogs sampling different weeds and other greens because they were looking for a suitable substitute for their favorite but now missing forage. As soon as the cover crop germinated and grew, Diego would regularly run over to the bed and dine on selected shoots of Winter Rye. He still does, seems to love the stuff! So in a way, it's a happy system. Soil feeds cover crop; cover crop feeds soil, dog, and future plants; plants feed human; human feeds cover crop to the soil; repeat. My only concern is that Diego doesn't get comfortable dining on whatever he choses from the raised beds. That could be a problem.

Maybe I'll construct a bone-shaped raised bed for dog edibles...then again, maybe not.

The broccoli and cover crops are just two of the many reasons why Diego and I are beginning to appreciate winter gardening more than summer gardening. There is little to do after planting and germination other than to harvest the rewards of Mother Nature. No toiling, no tilling, no sweating.

Many other veggies are doing very well despite my neglect, but I'll save them for another post. Hope all is well in your gardens.

A Jekyll and Hyde December

.09 Acres is having an identity crisis this December, and I fear that Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde are living in my garden shed.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the well-appointed garden shed at .09 Acres. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Let's start with Dr. Jekyll, shall we?! The vegetables at .09 Acres are much like Jekyll. They are mature and respectable. The lettuces and chard are good looking, tasty, and protected by the mini hoop house. The carrots, beets, and broccoli are doing just fine while prominently exposed to the elements. At this point in the year, they are all content in their beds until harvest. I'm not one to boast, but my greens look like they belong in a gardening catalog. If you were to walk by the lettuce bed, you might even respectfully tip your cap as if you were passing Dr. Jekyll on the street.

On the flip-side, my fruit trees, shrubs, and brambles are behaving in an irrational and unpredictable Hyde-like fashion. The inconsistent weather, much like Mr. Hyde's strange potions, is triggering all kinds of strange reactions from the plants. Raspberries continue to mature on a  semi-regular basis almost like it's early fall. The Celeste fig tree and espalier dropped all their leaves weeks ago. In contrast, my Violette de Bordeaux and Negronne fig trees are still covered in leaves and figs. It is quite grotesque to see them growing side-by-side. My Red Russian pomegranate is the only "normal" tree in the yard, having gone dormant in November. But who knows...it may be inwardly lusting for some sinister transformation.

A little bit of Jekyll, but certainly a lot more of Hyde at .09 Acres.

If .09 Acres is Dr. Jekyll (and Mr. Hyde), I guess that makes me Jekyll's loyal servant Poole. This December I've been out in the yard early in the morning and late in the evening to cover the greens in plastic. I've also changed quite a few things in the yard to keep Jekyll happy and productive. I dug up and potted my in-ground blueberry bushes and replaced them with a young Angel Red pomegranate tree (visible on right side of above picture in middle of straw mulch). I also transplanted a Peter's Honey fig and an unknown fig from my yard to my aunt and uncle's property and replaced them with Strawberry Verte and Hardy Chicago figs (visible on left side of above picture in middle of straw mulch).

Hopefully this will decrease the likelihood that Mr. Hyde shows up again at .09 Acres, but I may be losing my mind in the process...

Raspberries in December

It's December 10th and my Kiwi Gold raspberry canes are still producing berries. I don't know what to say. I guess the warmer weather and protected location of my berry trellis has something to do with it.

Kiwi Gold raspberries in December. Definitely a rare occurrence in southeast Virginia.

I regularly get a large early summer and fall harvest, but never a third harvest. Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining. It's just strange for me to see these things in my yard in December!

Same Day, Different Leaves

Check this out. Here is a picture taken last weekend of my Celeste fig. All leaves dropped, looking dormant and ready for winter.

Celeste fig. I'm trying to keep it pruned as a multi-stem shrub.

And here's a pic of my Violette de Bordeaux (VdB) fig taken on the same day. Keep in mind that this fig is planted only about 15 feet away from my Celeste fig with the same general southerly exposure.

Violette de Bordeaux fig fully leafed out in December.

This VdB fig has all of its leaves with only minor brown/dry damage from a recent frost, and it is also still loaded with figs. The difference between this tree and the Celeste is really quite amazing.

I guess variety is the spice of life, even in the world of figs!

Frost Protection

We had our first frosts of the year in late November. Two or three of them. Fortunately all the fall/winter veggies survived, but I'm making preparations to protect the crops once the temps remain consistently cold.

Last year I constructed two experimental mini hoop houses in mid January after the frost had already taken a nasty toll on the greens. This year I expanded the idea by building one long, continuous hoop house.

PVC hoop house frame built over raised beds of lettuce, spinach, chard, and other tender greens. Plastic will be attached soon.

Currently only the PVC has been added to the raised beds. I used 10-foot sections of 1/2" PVC pipe and pushed it directly into the soil within the raised beds. I bent each pipe by hand over the bed, forming the "ribs". I then attached the "ribs" to a long "spine" with plastic zip-ties. The structure is fairly strong and will withstand wind and snow. We are expecting warmer weather for the next 5 days so I likely won't secure the plastic covering until sometime next week.

Note how the PVC is pushed into the soil against the interior sides of the raised beds. No screws, brackets, or fasteners are required. It's an easy, effective, and inexpensive setup.

I only opted to cover my more tender vegetables like lettuce, arugula, spinach, and chard.  I did not cover the kale and root crops like carrots and beets. They are, however, heavily mulched with a thick layer of wheat straw for protection. They withstood just about everything last year and I'm hoping they do the same this year.

From left to right: Buttercrunch, Winter Density, Parris Island Cos, and Rouge d'Hiver lettuce. Spinach is barely visible farther down the bed. This hoop house will function like a mini refrigerator once it is covered with plastic, protecting the vegetables and keeping them cold but not frozen.

Colorful head of Rouge d'Hiver lettuce.

Ruby Red Swiss chard. I planted these seeds on September 15, but they took a long time to germinate because of very hot temperatures in late September and early October.

Not everything in the garden looks great right now. I had a heck of a time battling  caterpillars on my broccoli and kale. Fortunately they only seemed interested in those two plantings and not the other veggies, but it didn't take long for them to completely defoliate this poor plant.

Kale that was completely devoured by caterpillars. Lots of carnage and not a lot of leftovers.

There are a handful of chemicals and products (organic ones too) to battle these beasts. I did buy a bag of powdered Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), an organic bacteria that is effective on caterpillars, but I got lazy and never applied the stuff.

Now I just need somebody to play Taps on the trumpet while I add these remains to the compost pile and pay my respects.

Enjoying the Fall Garden

Like many people, I started out as a spring and summer vegetable and fruit gardener. Warm weather meant planting and harvesting. Cold weather meant waiting for next year's harvest.

It took me a few years and lots of trial and error to realize that cool season gardening can sometimes be the most rewarding gardening of all. The most notable differences between fall and summer gardening in Zone 7b are comfortable temps, very few bugs and pests, care-free veggies, and generally easy tasks. 

In its simplest form, fall gardening consists of sowing seed (in late summer), watering, mulching, more watering, and harvesting. That's just about all there is to it. Some hardier crops even survive repeated frosts and in a location like Newport News, VA, a productive four season garden is a realistic goal. 

I took the following photos of my fall garden at .09 Acres on Halloween, 2011.  

Long rows of Buttercrunch and Winter Density lettuce.

Young Rouge d'Hiver lettuce sown in succession with other lettuce varieties to extend the harvest. Succession planting spreads out the harvest over a few weeks or months.

Long Standing Bloomsdale spinach. This is my first attempt at growing spinach. I found that warmer soil temps in late September definitely hindered germination, but the spinach seems much happier in early November.

I had spotty germination of my carrots. Notice that the center two rows filled out nicely while the outer rows (far left and far right) are fairly sparse. I'll have to wait and see how they do this year. Last year was an amazing year for carrots.

It's tough to beat good beets. Here are four short rows of Detroit Dark Red and Chioggia beets. These are still quite young and probably need another month to grow. I thinned them in mid-October to allow the beet roots to grow larger, and I added the thinned greens to a salad. Definitely a great addition.

I am growing kale from seeds I saved (this spring) from last years kale plants. I battled tiny caterpillars for a few weeks when the plants were young, and you can see some of the leaf damage they caused in this picture. 

I am growing broccoli in two large pots and in a raised bed. I'm curious to see whether it grows better in-ground or in the pots. I can't remember if I planted Calabrese or Waltham broccoli. I have to check my seek packet. I may have started these seeds too late for the plants to mature in time to produce harvestable broccoli, but only time will tell. The tiny caterpillars that hit my kale also like the broccoli. Damage is visible on the right-most leaf.

Apple mint growing in half a wine barrel near the gate to my yard. It has made an amazing comeback from the crippling heat of mid-summer. This plant thrives in mid-late spring, suffers through summer, then regrows with a vengeance in fall. This entire barrel grew from a small rooted cutting I dug up from a yard where I previously lived. Mint will take over the world if it's not contained, but it's also a must-have in any yard.

Russian Red pomegranate ready for harvest. There are appx. twenty of these hanging from my 4-year old pomegranate tree. I can't say enough good things about this tree.

Negronne figs that definitely will not have enough time to ripen before the first frost. This tree keeps growing larger and producing more figs. Next year should be an amazing harvest. 

Two unripe Eureka lemons hanging from a small branch on my potted tree.

New foliage on my Eureka lemon. It usually starts out with a reddish tinge, then turns bright green as the leaves grow and mature.

More blossoms keep appearing on my potted Bearss lime tree. Citrus flowers are arguably some of the best smelling flowers in nature. My lime tree is currently holding about 10 limes. After last year's harvest, I thought it could've grown 50 limes this year. But a strong gust of wind knocked it off a table in early spring and snapped off the main trunk. I'm pretty sure I cried when I finally found out what happened.

Baby Bearss limes growing from recently pollinated flowers. I won't be dining on these limes for a LONG time!

What are your favorite fruits and veggies to grow in the fall? Are you thinking about adding additional cold-weather protection like floating row covers or plastic-covered hoop houses to extend your harvest into the winter? Fall is finally here so welcome it into your garden.

Late September

Late September at .09 Acres is a transitional period in the garden. The fig trees are lush and still loaded with a secondary crop of figs, reminiscent of mid-summer flavors. The slightly cooler weather, ripening pomegranates, and newly planted lettuce and spinach seedlings welcome the arrival of fall.

I put together this photo-mosaic on September 29 to give you an idea of what's taking shape in the yard. Please disregard the sunbathing hairless terrier lounging between the raised beds.

September at .09 Acres in Newport News, Virginia.

If you compare this picture with the main photo in the banner of my blog, you'll notice some pretty significant changes. The fig trees are quickly filling out against the south-facing fence (left). The espalier fig is reaching for the sky agains the shed (back left, near center). The raspberries and blackberries are looking a bit rough after the hot summer (back right). The peach tree has been replaced by 3 small rabbiteye blueberry bushes (right). I've found that peaches are nearly impossible to grow organically in this climate. And the pomegranate tree is flourishing (near right). I've also kept the grass and weeds in check with diligent digging, weeding, and mulching.

The raised vegetable beds look nearly naked, with the exception of a few emerging seedlings. You can see beet and carrot seedlings mid left and lettuce planted at staggered intervals near right. Within 30-45 days I'll be harvesting lettuce, spinach, radishes, and chard. I also plan on covering most beds with hoop houses to extend the growing season. They will also act like outdoor refrigerators keeping plants growing slowly but well preserved even during periods of frost and snow.

Benefits of Winter Protection

This is the first year I've used my low tunnel/hoop house hybrids.  I installed them on January 16.  Now I'm seeing substantial benefits just over a month later.

Two varieties of chard under winter protection.

The picture above shows the drastic change of condition in the health of my chard.  Every chard plant appeared wilted and dry when I first installed the low tunnel.  You can still see the original dead leaves on the ground.  I deliberately left them in place hoping that new growth would emerge from the crowns if they received enough protection from the cold.  Sure enough, here it is.  Large and lush new chard leaves are growing through the old leaves, just like a phoenix rising from the ashes.  That may be a dramatic comparison, but the difference in results between leaving plants to fend for themselves or offering them winter protection is also dramatic.  And best of all it means fresh produce in the middle of February.

Arugula thriving under a protective covering.

The arugula is most surprising.  Not only has it flourished in the low tunnel, but now it's gone to seed.  Clearly there is enough warmth for growth, and in this case almost too much warmth.  Check out the closeup pic of the emerging bloom.

Arugula blossom(s).

I also started lettuce from seed.  Lettuce seed can germinate at fairly low temperatures, but the winter protection moderates the effects of hot and cold weather and has definitely helped with germination.  The trick is making sure to expose the young seedlings to rain or provide enough supplemental water with a hose.

Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce seedlings.

These lettuce seedling are only a few days old.  I should be harvesting fresh heads of lettuce in March or early April if I can keep them well watered and growing at a steady rate.  After harvest I will amend the soil and transplant warm-weather crops (started earlier from seed) to keep the space in continuous production.

Garlic Uprising

The garlic is up.  And rising.

Garlic with a thin layer of wheat straw mulch.

It got off to a really slow start since I planted it later in the fall than I had intended.  But the garlic is now making a strong showing despite my inability to keep to the schedule, and despite over a foot of snow (rare in this area) and long periods of below-freezing temperatures.

We've had a very warm week (temps in the 60s and 70s) and now the garlic is reaching for the sky.  I'm not overly concerned about any future frosts or snow before the weather permanently warms up because garlic is very hardy.

Inchelium Red garlic.

Note how each new leaf grows from the center.  You can get a fairly good estimate of how many cloves make up the overall bulb of garlic by counting the number of leaves.  Every leaf corresponds to a clove. It means that this little plant, which started from a single clove, is now composed of three cloves.  It also means that this plant has alot more growing to do before harvest later in the year.

Somewhere Between a Low Tunnel and a Hoop House

I've mentioned Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch many times before.  They are the organic farming gurus on a farm in Maine where they grow and harvest an unbelievable assortment of veggies year round in Zone 5.  He talks alot about the use of cold frames, low tunnels, and hoop houses in his book Four-Season Harvest.  I've owned this book for a few years and have slowly started to implement many of his proven techniques.

A cold frame is a single sheet of glass or plastic that covers plants.  It provides warmer temps day and night thanks to the sun, reduces or eliminates the harmful freeze/thaw cycle of winter, and negates the effects of cold winter winds that remove ambient heat and evaporate moisture.  I don't use one currently, but it is a very simple and effective tool to extend your growing season.  But one drawback to the cold frame is the cost, size, and weight of materials.  Another easy and more affordable option is a low tunnel.  This consists of wire or plastic arches draped with plastic to create a mini-greenhouse.  Most low tunnels are usually 1-2 feet tall.  The edges of the plastic are usually buried to keep it from blowing off in the wind.  This works well but makes checking on crops and harvesting a real chore.  A high tunnel is an unheated greenhouse large enough to walk into and perform gardening activities.  It has the same benefits as cold frames and low tunnels, but is much larger and can be somewhat costly and is impractical for the backyard grower.

I ended up building two structures slightly larger than a low tunnel but smaller than a high tunnel.  I guess you can call them mid tunnels.  Here's a picture.

I took four 10' pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe and inserted each end into the ground against the inside edge of my raised beds.  I then bent the PVC over the bed and buried the other end directly across from itself.  I took a fifth 10' length of pipe, shortened it to 8', and then laid it over top of the arched pipes like a backbone.  I used plastic zip-ties to attach it firmly to the other pipes.  The total height of each tunnel is appx. 36".

I draped 4 mil plastic sheeting over the top of each frame and attached it to the backbone PVC pipe with 1/2" plastic clips from Johnny's Selected Seeds.  They are a very tight fit, almost too tight.  I first tried clothes pins but couldn't find any large enough to grab the plastic.  But I'm sure any type of clip would work fine.  I didn't use any more clips along the curved PVC pipes because the clips are very difficult to remove and I didn't want to rip the plastic.

I also hung a small thermometer from a piece of string inside of one tunnel, about 18" from the ground.  Last night temps were slightly below freezing and the wheat straw on the ground was covered in frost.  I walked outside around noon today and it was sunny and 47F.  I could see lots of condensation on the inside of the plastic even though it was cool to the touch.  As a result, I was skeptical how warm it could really be in there.  I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled up the plastic and was hit with warm, moist air.  The thermometer also surprised me.  Check it out.  Right around 80F.

This is good and bad news.  Good for a few reasons:  The temp is warm enough to keep existing mature vegetables growing strong.  It is also warm enough to germinate a wide variety of hardy crops even in January.  Bad for one main reason:  If I fail to vent the plastic on an unseasonably warm and sunny day, I risk "cooking" what's under tunnel.

I opted to merely weigh down the edges of the plastic with bricks rather than burying it beneath the soil so I can easily vent the plastic and plant/cultivate/harvest with minimal trouble.  I also decided to place the two structures over the beds that contained the least hardy crops.  My lettuce and chard were eventually beaten down by the consistently cold and frozen temps so they got the tunnels.  I've read that if chard still has fairly protected crowns it can bounce back in warmer weather.  So I'm essentially experimenting to see if I can bring them back to life in January and February as opposed to waiting for April or May.  My lettuce is definitely completely dead.  So I'm using the tunnel to raise temps for germination of new lettuce, arugula, and radish seeds.  I've got my fingers crossed.

Here's one last look at my two tunnels and three uncovered raised beds.  The front right bed contains my carrots.  I've been harvesting carrots all winter even though the greens look rough and have been through many freeze/thaw cycles.  The middle bed on the right is loaded with kale that has held up strongly all winter.  And the back right bed contains my garlic.  I covered it with wood planks because my dogs decided it was fun to run through.  They haven't touched it since I put the wood there.  I'll remove the wood when growth resumes in the spring.

This setup and these tunnels are very simple to build.  It took me appx. 15 minutes to construct each tunnel.  Materials costs were fairly low and totaled about $15 per bed.  These tunnels are new to me so I'm not sure what to expect as the winter moves along and spring eventually shows up.  Hopefully old things will grow back and new seeds will germinate.  Check back when you can and I'll make sure to update the blog.

Happy New (Cold) Year

Happy New Year to everybody.  It has been quite cold here in Newport News, VA.  We even had over a foot of snow the day after Christmas, which is really unusual.  Apparently it was the most snow in the region in the past 25 years.

I moved most of my potted plants into the unheated shed now that night temps are consistently below freezing and the winter winds are blowing through the yard.  I have a small thermometer in the shed to keep an eye on temps.  Usually temps range from the upper 20s to 40s, depending on the weather.   But last winter it dropped into the upper teens inside the shed for about 72 hours.  Although it sometimes gets that cold in there, the plants are out of the brisk wind that can easily desiccate the young plants.

Here are my dormant young fig trees.  They are in 1-gallon plastic nursery pots.  They will survive the coldest of temps inside the shed now that they are "sleeping".  Only occasionally do I add some water to the pots to prevent the roots from completely drying out.  They will stay in here through the winter until I see the buds starting to break in the spring, then I will move them outside.  My older fig trees (3-5 years) are planted in the yard, unprotected other than with a thick layer of straw mulch around the roots, and they should be fine as well.  They seem to get more cold hardy with age.

Rooted Celeste fig cuttings in the unheated shed.

The figs aren't the only potted plants in the shed.  I also moved my dwarf calamondin orange tree in there as well (the lemon and lime tree are inside my house because they are very cold sensitive).

Dwarf calamondin orange tree in the unheated shed.

Last winter I unintentionally neglected this one and it survived even though temps inside the shed were under 20F and remained there for almost 3 days.  Most people don't realize how cold hardy calamondins are if removed from the winter wind.

I'm currently in the process of building a large compost bin and arranging my setup for starting seeds with a heat mat and fluorescent shop lights.  I'll post more about these things soon.  Until then, I'll be dreaming of warmer temps and fresh veggies and fruit.