Spring gardening kick-off
My community garden plot. Broccoli, garlic, cabbage, leeks, kale, and a heavy rye/clover cover crop make for a lush-looking garden — even in February.
While much of North America is having an unusually harsh winter, here in Vancouver, it’s downright balmy — much to the chagrin of the organizers of the Olympic Winter Games!
The mild winter has left me with beds full of overwintered veggies. Things that, in winters past, have always succumbed to below-freezing temperatures. But even half-hardy edibles are happily chugging along, oblivious to the fact that it’s February.
I planted peas this weekend in one of the raised beds on my top deck veggie patch: Super Sugar Snap (with seeds saved from my garden) in the back against the trellis and short-statured Sugar Ann (a new purchase) in front.
In the community garden, I turned under the rye/clover cover crop I planted in fall, in preparation for the planting I’ll be doing in March.
I think the coolest thing about having such a mild winter has been that I’ve actually been eating from the garden all winter. I always plant a winter garden, but–confession time–often, miserable weather prevents me from actually getting into the garden to harvest my crops. Not this year. Scallions, chard, Asian greens, kale, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, beets…all have graced my plate this winter. And all from my garden. Truly, it’s a great feeling.
How is your garden shaping up this February?
