Ready for Fall and Winter Greens
September 19th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Posted in garden
Fall greens: just add oil and vinegar
Our fall crop of salad greens is coming up nicely. In the photo above from left to right are ragged edge collards, arugula, red mustard and mizuna. Sounds like a perfect salad bowl to me. In fact, I broadcast my own mix of salad seeds in one area and am a bit disappointed to see that so little of it germinated despite plenty of watering and no lack of heat. Maybe the seed was just too old.
I’m a bit less optimistic about the broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage seedlings we planted. They seem to be surviving alright despite heat and drought here in the District of Columbia, but I just wonder if there’s enough time for them to fully develop. I had attempted to start some seeds much earlier, but the birds got to them and nibbled the plants to nubs. It’s really tough trying to grow brassicae successful in the city. Perhaps the best lessons a food gardener can learn is to plant the things not just things he likes to eat, but also things that thrive in the local growing conditions.
That explains why we grow so much okra. We never have a problem growing tons of okra–or eating it.
Now, or early October, would also be the time to think about planting hardy collards, kales, mustards, spinach and Asian greens to harvest all winter long. Some kales and collards will march right through the winter, even under snow and ice. But a little row cover can protect plants from the worst freezes and especially frosty winds.
Lettuce can’t sprout when it’s too warm…try again now that it’s cooling off some?