Saturday our frigid weather parted ways so I ventured out to see if anything was harvestable after the thaw. I was pleasantly surprised that everything came through alright. I guess the tunnels are worth while after all, although I am not sure how many freezes the crops could take before turning to mush.
I brought in 90% of the red celery as it looked the worse during the freeze. It unthawed well and was still crisp. The celery will be cleaned, chopped and froze for use in stock, soup & stew over the winter months.
I left some newer growth on the red celery to see how it does as an over wintered crop. I am not holding out much hope but it would be nice if it continues growth once the weather improves in march.
I also picked a small bunch of bright lights chard. The chard also came through the freeze alright but was a little floppy still. The chard went into chicken soup and was excellent. I will be picking more in the coming weeks for steaming, risotto and what ever else strikes my fancy. The seed for the chard was shared by
Daphne who also hosts Harvest Monday.
I brought in 90% of the red celery as it looked the worse during the freeze. It unthawed well and was still crisp. The celery will be cleaned, chopped and froze for use in stock, soup & stew over the winter months.
I left some newer growth on the red celery to see how it does as an over wintered crop. I am not holding out much hope but it would be nice if it continues growth once the weather improves in march.
I also picked a small bunch of bright lights chard. The chard also came through the freeze alright but was a little floppy still. The chard went into chicken soup and was excellent. I will be picking more in the coming weeks for steaming, risotto and what ever else strikes my fancy. The seed for the chard was shared by Daphne who also hosts Harvest Monday.
Hi Dan, amazing harvest for December in Canada. I'm impressed. I like the widgets that you use for veggie production in your sidebar as well.
ReplyDeleteMe again. I clicked on the Veggie Production widget to see if I could get one on my sidebar, but didn't get a link to anything. Do you remember where you got it?
ReplyDeleteDan, your garden still continues to do well with protection, even under the current weather conditions. Good for you! I'm gonna HAVE to try chard sometime, because it's really colorful!
ReplyDeleteOh celery. I keep thinking about trying to grow a couple of plants, but haven't decided yet. I don't use it much but I do buy a bunch every fall and chop it and freeze it for soup (just like you're doing). I really ought to grow my own.
ReplyDeleteNice harvest for mid December. I hope the chard keeps up.
Glad to hear your veggies recovered from the freezing temps. I'm hoping mine in the cold frame will do the same. The one benefit of all the snow is that I now have insulated sides :) Warm weather today and tomorrow should thaw things out a bit again.
ReplyDeleteWTG for mid-December ! I'm glad your lovely celery pulled through.
ReplyDeleteThat celery looks amazing. Do you eat the leaves? I've heard some folks say they are poisonous while others disagree. I've always wondered about that since they do cut the tops off of commercially produced celery.
ReplyDeleteAwesome celery :)
ReplyDeleteThe chard is beautiful!! Worth growing for the colors alone!
ReplyDeleteI've never grown celery, but can only imagine how good it tastes compared to the old, bland variety in the store.
Great blog!
I am amazed that you're harvesting anything in December with your cold weather. Even if the tunnels don't protect your garden all the way through winter, it seems worth the effort to be able to extend the season as long as possible.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous bright lights chard! It doesn't look real! I bet if I grew that, my kids would eat it.....thanks for the great photos - nice to discover your blog!
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with your celery - mine has very small stalks and I don't think it'll recover from a week-long freeze. I suppose the cold frame makes all the difference (and your mad skills as a gardener)!
ReplyDeleteI've never even had swiss chard before but those colours are begging for a spot in the garden.
ReplyDeleteThe celery really did bounce back beautifully. I think you were smart to go ahead and harvest and freeze it though as it is only semi hardy and likely go down with repeated freezes.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing a great job with season extension - the cold frame and poly tunnel are doing you proud.
I have a forsythia in my yard, its a very pretty shrub.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't budding like your's and I it's strange to see things with buds or blooms on them in the winter time, espicially if one lives in the cold North.
It's been an unusual winter hasn't it.