Winter Garden

My first winter garden is doing great! Not everything came up, but the things that did are doing really well. The onions are an exception. A few of one kind are peeking through, and none of the other kind. I forgot to write down where I planted things, so I will have to wait until they get bigger to see what they are. Only 3 of the beets that I planted came up. I was really sad about that because I was looking forward to them. The chickens enjoyed the tender cabbage and rutabaga sprouts... they never made it past that stage. I think I planted too late in the season so the Swiss chard and spinach came up but didn't get very big. The broccoli is working on coming up and I'm hoping that it keeps trying. The lettuce is doing really well. I have been covering the lettuce beds when we have cold enough weather for it to frost. A few months ago I saved some thin white material that was wrapped around a mattress topper I bought. It has been a perfect floating row cover! Some days have been really cold, but over all it has been much warmer than usual this winter. Rather than cutting the heads, I have been pulling the largest leaves off of the outside of each head. This leaves the head to keep growing new leaves. We hope to have lettuce through the spring with replantings. I have been doing the same thing for the kale, which has been doing great, as well. Again, I forgot to write down which type I planted where. Two of them look a lot alike.  I need to do better about writing things down in the spring. I have been covering the carrots, though not as well as the lettuce, but they really don't seem to mind the cold weather. I pulled a couple the other day, and while they are still on the small side, they were delicious! The brussel sprouts have been loving the cold weather and are, by far, the biggest thing in my winter garden. There are no sprouts growing yet, but I am excited to see it. This is my first time getting them to grow this large. This is definitely the time of year for brussel sprouts. The garlic is loving this time of year too! It all sprouted and after letting it grow during the warmer weather, I mulched the bed when it started to cool down. I have been raking leaves and pine straw out of the yard and layering it in my garden beds. This helps to keep the roots warmer, keeps the soil moist, and begins decomposing to make compost right in the garden. The strawberry bed has also been partially weeded and covered with leaves. Hay will be the next layer added. Leaves and  hay are also being added to the compost pile. We will be needing a TON of compost for the garden this spring and summer! Because of the lack of money, and help, the new garden beds have not been added. I'm worried that it is too late for this spring's garden and I may not get to plant everything.

I'll try to add pictures later!