Monday night brought in 12ºF weather. We were just a few degrees shy of a record low. My plants took it like champs except for a few areas. I had frost damage on some of my winter density lettuce and the black radishes.
Winter denisty lettuce after being exposed to 25ºF.
Winter density lettuce after being exposed to 12ºF.
I prepared so diligently this year for cold weather and it looks like it was worth it. The plant that has shocked me the most in a good way was my Napa cabbage. I left it two heads in the ground to see how they would do in the cold and I have been amazed!
The cabbages were under a layer of Agribon fabric and they made it through the 12ºF weather. I picked off a couple leaves that had frozen on the outside and the inside head was perfect. It insulated itself!
Other notable mentions of amazing cold tolerance are the bok choy, brussel sprouts, tatsoi, collards, carrots, and broccoli.
All these were harvested after the cold snap!
The projects in preparation for selling our house have begun. (Honestly, they have been going on since we moved here six years ago). But we are in a flurry to get to some piece of country acreage soon so we are trying to move faster with checking off projects.
Cameron is working on making window casings for our kitchen and I am patching our basement ceiling. It kind of stinks that just when we get the house the way we like it, we are going to move on.
On the bright side, it’s going to be worth it for a bigger garden, being able to raise our own animals for meat, and being more self-sufficient. The kids will have room to play, use their imaginations, and explore. I also hope it will be a good thing for my mental health. So needless to say we are all excited and ready!
In the garden:
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Harvesting bok choy, mizuna, arugula, lettuce, assorted radishes, carrots, napa cabbage, and pink celery.
In the kitchen:
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Pantry is at its peak for the year. I still need to do more canning. But I’m at the point that food is going to be moving out faster than it moves in.
