Garden Notes: February 2024

• range of nighttime lows: 27 to 55°F (-3 to 13°C)
• range of daytime highs: 53 to 72°F (12 to 22°C)

• We had some lovely outside days this month.
• We also had days with warm thermometer readings, but the wind was strong and relentlessly cold.
• Warm temps came with rain.
• Cooler temps came with clear skies.

Broccoli. I only planted a few plants and the heads didn’t get very big, but it was enough for a steamed vegetable for dinner one night.

Kale

Lettuce. Could have used more of this! Note the lettuce starter tray on the left.

Potatoes, thriving after their tops froze last month

Volunteer chickweed is growing in quite a few of my pots

Harvested:

• lettuce
• broccoli
• kale
• chicory greens
• Jerusalem artichokes
• chickweed
• turnips
• dandelion greens

• snow peas
• daikon radishes
• kale

• lettuce starts
• rugosa roses
• echinacea

• Still working on weeding and mulching aisles with wood chips
• Weeded and mulched the asparagus bed
• On warm days I have to resist the temptation to plant frost sensitive veggies. Our last frost is said to be mid-April, and the past two years we’ve had killing frosts after that date. Better to be patient than sorry!

Snow peas and newly transplanted lettuce.

To plant my lettuce, I used Daisy’s (Maple Hill 101) Winter Sowing Method and can tell you it worked a treat. I loved that the tiny sprouts and seedlings didn’t dry out, nor did they need to be hardened off. A keeper of a method.

One of last summer’s Swiss chard plants amazingly survived last month’s frigid temps, which were the coldest we’ve experienced since we’ve been here. It’s started growing again, which is most welcome!

Parting Shot

1st homegrown salad of the year! Greens: kale, chicory, wild lettuce, cultivated lettuce, dandelion, turnip, chickweed; hardboiled egg, feta goat cheese, and cherry tomatoes preserved in olive oil and vinegar (which also makes the dressing)

Your turn. What’s happening in your gardening world? Anything?