Frantic Work

So, work has been frantic. The work on the house has been frantic. And, the garden work has been...frantically busy (really, one can't be frantic in a garden). This four-season gardening is new to me. And, it's a lot of work. The few Winter crops I have chosen to grow are all experimental. I have, under row covers, corn salad ( winter-hardy type of lettuce), turnips, chard, bok choy, cabbage, and broccoli. I have starts of peas (again, experimental) , some of which I'll plant in the garden under row covers and some of which I'll grow in the greenhouse.

Speaking of the greenhouse, it didn't fare too well in our first storm of the season...which was a whopper of a gale, often gusting to 60MPH. The toll: three broken windows and a blown off roof panel. So my greenhouse is not workable this Winter, as DH Matt is still working on the house build and has no time for the greenhouse.

I've been planting garlic and onions...lots of both. Today I hauled hay bales in my Subaru (not sometime I'd recommend unless you're fond of spitting out straw) to the garden and mulched. Hours of mulching later, I had my potatoes and fava beans nicely nested into straw, as well as the garlic covered to eight inches. I also laid sections of newspaper over the paths and mulched them with straw. Anything to avoid hours of spring weeding.

My experiment with "root cellar" storage of turnips, rutabega, and daikon radish has left something to be desired. Perhaps...yes, a root cellar. Lacking one, I put my bushel baskets in the garage.
Our Northern California winters are different from the East Coast where I grew up. There, at the end of September it is decidely cold. Pumpkin harvests are accompanied by warm cider, a definite neccessity. Here, although it will during the winter snow quite a bit and get down to 17 degrees above zero, it does this ever so gradually. We have many 75 degree weather days even at this time of year. My root vegetables are becoming soft, and sprouting more greenery. As far as they are concerned it is spring, time to take off and go to seed. (sigh)