Reaping the Benefits!

  You would think that the warm weather that we had this winter would have been a boon for the garden.  Not so.  In late fall, I planted my "cold-weather" crops of beets, carrots and assorted greens.  These usually do well regardless of the occasional overnight freeze.  They did not respond overly well to the warmth.  The greens grew tall and leggy while the root crops decided to not make any "roots".  The carrots and beets made lovely greens but had different ideas about bulbing out into the edible roots.  Needless to say, this was a bit disappointing.  We ate the spindly greens and even nibbled the carrot tops but overall, the winter garden was a bust.

  Now that I am planting my spring seeds, lo and behold, if the winter garden has had second thoughts!  The broccoli has started heading and the spinach flourished supplying us with an overabundance!  Even the carrots are showing bright orange at the base!  Son and I ate a lovely bunch of spinach for supper and munched fresh broccoli as a late night snack!  Tomorrow, we will pull carrots and cook a pot of broccoli leaves! (Yes, broccoli leaves!  They are delicious!) Oh, the joys of a healthy garden...even if it is a bit late!

  Perhaps it just took the plants a bit of realization that they were to be yanked from the ground before they felt the urge to produce.  This time of year, I usually clean the area of old plants to make space for the spring planting.  I will have to work around existing plants, I suppose.  I did make another discovery.  Most of the Bell Pepper plants survived the winter!  There will be no need to replace these.  As matter of fact, one plant that overwintered in the greenhouse has given us a steady supply of nice large peppers all winter!  This gives me grand ideas for next fall! I shall grow "hothouse" produce!  Veggies year round sounds like a wonderful thing, indeed!