inside my winter tunnel

My winter tunnel is full of greens. Spinach, several types of lettuce, arugula, radicchio, kale, chard, collards, salad turnips, daikon and salad radish, cilantro, some frilly red mustard, escarole, bok choi. Can't beat this balmy December weather for cool weather crops! I have parsley, escarole, broccoli, beets and kale outside with no protection.



Plants in my tunnel are from my winter seed sowing calendar, which is part of Skippy's full-season planting calendar app. I planted everything to test the planting dates in the app.

The app is $1.99 (iOS or Android). I think the price will go up for the next season (probably to $2.99), so it makes sense to get it now. All pf the app updates will apply whether your buy before or after the price increase. The calendar has spring and fall planting schedules too.

I'm counting down the days til my spring planting begins - end of February!



My only complaint with my tunnel is that I wish I had planted more of them! Next year...

today's harvest

cold frame greens

I have lots of greens in my cold frame, but the questions: are they growing? I think they are, but slowly. I'm trying to compare this photo with the one I took 10 days ago (click the label "cold frame" below). I'm wondering if things will grow enough in the next 10 days to get a big salad bowl full of greens for Thanksgiving.

radicchio

I am very pleased with the radicchio I have this year. Even though only one in five plants headed, one head goes a long way. And its a beautiful red in our salads.

Most of my radicchio bolted - probably because the season warmed up so fast. My Chinese cabbage (Wong Bok), which is supposed to be a big head, didn't head at all. Just big furry leaves and then bolted into a big flower stalk. It made for lots of fresh greens for the compost pile. My savoy and red cabbage didn't have any trouble with the weather though. The savoy heads are ready for harvest, the reds will need a few more weeks.

This radicchio variety is Palla Rossa Ashalim (Botanical Interests) planted from seed on March 23. From the drawing on the seed package, it seems it should be a round head. Maybe my elongated heads are from the warm weather.

lots of lettuce

Still plenty of lettuce coming from my cold frame. I've been picking it for a full month now. I have about 10 heads left in the frame and by the time they're gone, the row I planted next to my tomatoes should be ready. I planted 4 9-packs with about 12 different varieties yesterday. I LOVE fresh lettuce!

my first harvest of the season - lettuce!

In previous years I have picked my first lettuce at the end of May or even early June. This year May 8!!! It has been a record warm spring here, but also my new cold frame is amazing.

Once I pick my first lettuce, I can usually avoid buying any supermarket lettuce until October. I bet the cold frame will extend the fall end of the season too.