Winter garden

Well, winter gardening is going! Some things have been a total bomb - some things have been fantastic. I'm finding that if my plants didn't mature enough when the sun was warm then they probably aren't going to mature completely although they might surprise me.

Not so great:
Pac Choi: This surprised me - it grew pretty fast and went to seed before I could harvest it. I'm not sold on the taste but the stalk makes a good sub for celery in stir fry
Kale: I want to like you but I haven't found the right way to eat you yet. Smoothies are ok with enough agave, sauteed works but I only really like it with bacon or a lot of butter and well, I'm just not going to cook that way. Next we'll try creamed kale.
Turnips: I just don't know what I did wrong with these guys. I got a few that were nice but the others grew funny
Beets: Didn't get enough sun in time to grow big - I had them hidden behind a tomato plant.
Canoe Peas: Well these were great but they didn't produce very many - I'll try the rest of my seeds in the spring and plant a bunch. They were short lived too.


Great:
Carrots: Oh how I love you. We will be able to eat fresh carrots through the winter!!!
Broccoli: Coming along grand! I think that I can pick the first here this week.
Parsnips: Almost there - I can't wait to roast these lovelies up!
Spinach: Held strong until about two weeks ago - really great variety.
Winter Lettuce: Still coming! I should have planted more though.
Winter greens blend: This has been adding nice color and texture to our salads.
Mustard: growing really well and I can tolerate it hidden in a salad - next up we'll try it sauteed.
Radishes: These buddies grow fast - 22 days. They look pretty in a salad but we don't eat them plain . . . we certainly don't eat 4 rows worth. So while they grew great, I'll plant less next time.
Chard: Good looking/tasting variety - didn't plant enough though.

Kohlrabi and parsnips

My first broccoli!!!

Verdict is still out:
Chinese Cabbage: Still need to harvest . . . and find a recipe.
Cauliflower: They're growing but I haven't seen any heads yet.
Kohlrabi: I want these to work sooooooo badly. I thought for a while that they would be a bust but they are getting bigger!

It still hasn't frosted here - so I picked 4 red bell peppers Friday. Yes four!!! I've never been able to get my peppers to turn red because they go bad or the season ends too soon. This mild Autumn allowed them to turn and they are beautiful!

We get outside and enjoy dry weather whenever we can . . . it does the boy-o and momma good!