When all that snow melted a few weeks ago, I was amazed to see arugula and kale that looked like it might still be alive and edible. Closer investigation of the garden this week revealed carrots that are still crunchy-- and with green tops that have evidence of fresh growth. I was out of salad toppings and went out to see if I could find any carrots big enough to eat. I came in with the ones above. That's arugula to the left of those little orange beauties. I was amazed to discover that the arugula is young and in great shape, too. And there's way more of it out there than I thought. I think some of the plants that were looking wet and spindly are now thriving after all the sunshine we've had lately. Needless to say, we had an impressive salad (considering it included local ingredients this early in the year). And today I picked a bunch more carrots.
My next big discovery was that my surviving kale plants were not only in better shape but greater in number than I had realized. There are a few squashed plants and broken off ones that give the impression that the kale bed is not in great shape. But once I space out all of the healthy little plants and it gets warmer, we should be in great shape. I bought seedlings of kale last summer and 10 plants fed us up until winter started. This year I am starting with 22 seedlings (though I'll give some away), and two or three of my plants from last year (the full-grown ones--the ones I didn't strip of all leaves to put in pasta sauce) are still alive. So it should be a kaleful summer.
These pictures show some new growth on last year's marjoram and savory herb plants.
I had no idea some of these things could live through the winter. Isn't it unbelievable to start spring with some stuff in the garden already??!
Plus, I did plant some peas and raab and lettuce. Come on spring!
