Our first snow! Its a very pretty light dusting. It probably won't last more that an hour or so.
My kale is delicious now. It is getting sweeter every time I try it. The more cold and snow, the better it gets.
Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)
Brassicaceae
Does your kale live through the winter or will the snow eventually do it in?
ReplyDeleteIts good down to about 10*F. Then the leaves kind of disintegrate from the cold. Last year that was January 4th. One unusually warm recent winter my kale lasted til spring. A good snow cover can actually protect it from a bitter cold.
ReplyDeleteNow that's pretty interesting. We plant kale here in my part of NC for winter interest. It does not like our heat but loves the cold.
ReplyDeleteWe had our first accumulation that I had to shovel last night and bitter cold temps like we receive in jan/feb. I hope this is not the norm this winter.
ReplyDeleteDo you receive a lot of snow there in Massachusetts?
We are lucky to be just outside of the snow belt so we miss regular heavy snow falls. We do get walloped a few times a winter with 6"-12" thought.
The ever-sweetening kale is one of the few things I love about seeing the temperatures drop... each week what I pick gets sweeter and sweeter. Amazing that plant is. And so beautiful too. Do you have the reddish/purple kind too? I've actually had friends over who asked what kind of plant it was - they thought it was decorative only!
ReplyDeleteOh, also wanted to add - your post a bit back on "lasagna gardening" was really interesting. I'd never heard of the technique, but your questions really hit some of my own practical questions. Your garden does so well as it is.
HI Dan, No snow here yet. Though we have had cold temps here too - lows to 15*F (-9*C) a few nights recently. Wide temp swings too.
ReplyDeleteBoston gets about 50 inches annual snowfall - about half what you get, I think. (It think southern Ontario ranges 70-300 inches. Maybe you're at lower end.) We don't usually get much snow in December. Jan-March can be very snowy.
Last year I seem to remember weekly 3-6 inch storms late Dec through March that added up to a lot and never seemed to go away. But never enough for a school off "snow day".
At this point, it would be nice to have a white landscape as long as its so cold. Them I'd have some nice photos to blog.
Hi livinginalocalzone, I have several reddish/purple kale plants in my from yard as ornamentals. I didn't realize it is edible! I'm one of those. I learn something new!
ReplyDeleteSome websites say the ornamental kale is edible but tougher and more bitter. I wonder how different the taste is. Since I have lots of Tuscan, Winterbor and Red Russian I'll probably not eat the frilly purple front yard plants. They look too nice to disturb.
I'm still looking into and questioning the lasagna approach. As you say, why change if its working well. But then I enjoy a change and learning a new approach. Its hard to find time for gardening now with traveling and holidays, but its on my list to do more reading.