It was COLD again yesterday!  And last night was what they call a “hard freeze”.   But it’s still time for gardening!  If we are going to have spring veggies in April, they have to start growing now.

Here’s a look at the garden at the end of February.

The temperature in the garden last night (February 27) was 24 degrees.  It was hard to imagine this was still in our future the last couple of weeks when we were enjoying those lovely 70’s.

For the record, according to the USDA chart, even in a normal year we would still have a 50-50 chance of at least one more freeze like that. And a 90% chance of lesser freezes. And this year has been anything but normal.  Needless to say, only the hardiest of veggies are actually going into the garden right now.

No worries.  The cabbage will be fine – as will the Brussels sprouts  and kale.  The Sweet Anne Sugar peas are just now poking out of the ground – and they won’t mind a little nip in the air at this stage.   Potatoes are well buried and not yet showing the green (which would not have survived the cold). They’ll all be hiding under row cover though, before the next cold snap.

First sowing of carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, swiss chard, mizuna, buttercrunch lettuce, arugula, dragon tongue mustard, pak choy, spinach and cilantro are already starting to sprout under their covers.

The blueberries are just beginning to bud.  A freeze at this stage is still okay – but too much warm weather followed by another cold spell would not be.  Here’s hoping mother nature is kind this year and brings spring in proper order.  We’re looking forward to a nice fruit crop!

In the greenhouse:  purple and white kohlrabi, two new varieties of kale, two types of raddiccio, purple cauliflower, six different heirloom tomatoes including our favorite Cherokee Purple and San Marzano, 6 different sweet peppers, and 4 new hot and extra-hot peppers along with our favorite “Hatch” variety and lots more – getting ready for the real spring to arrive .

The first spring greens should be market-ready in mid-March.

What a great way to leave winter behind!  Yea!  Spring!!