I do still have 5 cabbages in my garden even though its getting in the low 40's and high 30's here...they are so small....I am hoping maybe they can grow a bit more....
Sorry, cherry. I have to plead ignorance. It’s so hot in South Texas, I hope (!) it’s going to stop being such a struggle here.
Do Y’All use cold frames at all? I’m sure I can’t even fathom real Winter, but there is something called Poly Flute (there’s another name for it, too) that we have used to enclose our plants & it’s *so warm*, we’ve actually had to find ways to ventilate it.
I love cabbage (& brussel sprouts are my favorite veg). I don’t know how to keep it from going bad before we could eat it)
A friend who is a terrific gardener has kale plants that survive Wisconsin winter weather well into January. Another friend dug a pit for a cold frame, set glass at a 45 degree angle and has more lettuce in January than she can use.
I’ve grown miniature bok choy year round in a hydroponic setup. I prefer it to hydroponic lettuce, as it has more flavor and substance.
However, I can afford under $2 every 10 days for red leaf lettuce and the hydro system costs some for electricity, besides nutrients or replacing the bulbs, so last year I just didn’t bother.
The pit cold frame is the best way to go, IMO.
I have almost 4dz tomatoes that are ripe and will go into the dehydrator today. Today I will also finally harvest the green tomatoes. I think I have about 2 dz of them and perhaps half of those are showing at least some yellow, so they will ripen. The rest will go into a cooked salsa verde that I freeze in small batches.
This year is nearly the latest for frost I can recall. Makes up for the late Spring. I am hoping we have a warm-ish December, like a couple of years ago.
Yeah , they will with a little extra effort. The secret of winterizing crops depends on creating " MICROCLIMATES ".
From each concept, you can drop approcimately 1/2 of a plant zone to a full plant zone to extend the harvest season.(YMMV)
#1) Southern / full sun exposure in front of brick/stone wall (acts as a heat sink).
#2) Wind protection from a closeplanting /hedge/wall/4 mil. plastic on hoops / cold frame.
#3) Leaf mulch /straw(insulation)removed on warm days; plants covered up during the night to retain heat.
I had a coworker whose family brought a fig tree from Sicily, and kept this tree bearing fruit in his back lawn.
Every fall he collected leaves from the neighborhood; then he cut exactly 1/2 of the tree roots, and bent the tree over, parallel to the ground.
He watered the tree well ,and put a 20 watt light bulb alongside the trunk , then covered up the tree with leaves (insulation),
and then covered the pile with a comforter and a tarp.
The 20 watt lighbulb was left on throughout the winter under the leaves and tarp
Every year he alternated the side of the tree roots that got cut ; every spring when he set the tree upright, he would add balanced fertilizer to the cut roots
and stake the tree for support since it contiued to bear fruit heavily.
What he actually was doing was creating an artificial microclimate in northern tier zone ; although it is somewhat labor intensive.