Mixed Greens Blog

I feel like I should whisper it . . .  winter. It’s mid-summer, but dark green veggies are in the wings awaiting winter performances.

We don’t want to think about it in August, but it’s time to get hardy greens started.

A soothsayer would come in handy, someone to proclaim the most auspicious day for getting the little starts into the ground. It gets tricky. Plant too soon and if it’s a warm fall plants mature and flower before winter even arrives; plant too late and unexpected early cold can harm immature plants. Late July through August is usually about right, but as with all gardening the intrusion of unfavorable weather is possible, unexpectedly hot or cool.

Last weekend we planted arugula, spinach and mesclun seeds directly in the ground for fall crops; we’ll get broccoli, chard and rutabaga starts going right away and transplant them in a few weeks; our friend John has kale starts and will share with us – Siberian kale is our main winter garden vegetable;  planted in early spring, brussels sprouts are well on their way and will be ready for harvest in November; winter’s lettuce crops will be sown in September along with a crop of over-wintering beets. We should have started cauliflower in July and hope to find starts at the Tilth Harvest Fair on September 12th.

Once they’re off to a good start little attention is required. They grow, produce their hardy leaves and stand strong through most PNW winters (see end of post). The brassicas – kale, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts – will last through the winter and improve in flavor when exposed to frost. We’ll eat chard and kale leaves all winter long, and in late winter/early spring harvest their florets which are as good as the primary vegetable itself. Rutabagas are a treat, usually ready December/January.

Brassicas (coles) improve with frost, but winter lettuce? Forget it. When it frosts, lettuce is done for. A trick: when frost is predicted we cover our lettuce plot with old wool blankets. It works. With luck and wool blankets a fall lettuce crop can often be enjoyed into December and longer.

The Seattle Tilth garden guide suggests sowing the following vegetables in July: beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chicory, endive, kale, rutabagas, scallions, collard, endive, and daikon radishes. In August: cilantro, endive, lettuce, swiss chard, turnips, cabbage for spring, corn salad, mustards, Walla Walla sweet onions. In September: cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lettuce (winter varieties), mustards, arugula, spinach. Territorial Seed is an excellent resource for seed and garden paraphernalia.

It’s difficult to remember to plant these guys in the midst of a July/August heat wave. If you want some but didn’t start seedlings in time, local Farmers Markets and garden nurseries usually have starts available which can be planted in September.

Seattle Tilth Harvest Fair on Saturday September 12th will be a good source for winter veggie starts. I called their Garden hotline, a real person answered – I love that! – and said there would be fall and winter vegetable starts available at the fair. Might be limited quantity so get there early.

The planting of winter greens is a seasonal ritual embedded in the earth’s constant transition. Living along with the season.

Kale and chard both survived last year’s snowy cold snap, the kale more readily than the chard which took 6 or 8 weeks to recover and grow new leaves.

If you can plant just one winter green, go with kale. It’s easy, hardy through winter, and provides healthy fare for the table. It can be added by the handful to many dishes – soups, eggs, rice, risotto, pasta. That, along with bowls of steamed kale with garlic, vinegar and maybe bacon, could keep you glowing all winter long.

This updated post from August 2008 seems timely again in August 2009.