Today I want to show what’s growing out in the vegetable garden in early January. So far we have had a fairly mild winter here, with no snow, ample rain and a bit warmer than usual temperatures. With those conditions, the cold hardy vegetables are still going strong in the garden. A few weeds are growing too, though not enough to get me out there to deal with them. I am in the process of putting away all the folding cages I use for peppers and eggplants, but I have no place to store the larger remesh tomato cages so they stay out in the garden all winter. And I have been spreading a bit of compost on the bed where I plan to grow brassicas this spring.
walking down to the vegetable garden plot
spreading compost on beds
I have quite a few collards planted in two beds, and we have been eating on them for several months now. The plants are holding up well, and should give us greens throughout the winter months. The quality of the leaves will be very much dependent on the weather of course.
collard greens
greens
Several of the cabbage collards are starting to form small heads at the top of the plants. Cabbage collards tend to have somewhat thinner leaves, and have a milder flavor than most other collards. One plant of White Mountain Cabbage has developed variegation on the terminal growth, which is the first time I’ve seen that on this variety. Whaley’s Favorite Cabbage is one I’m growing for the first time, and it is heading up now too.
White Mountain Cabbage collards
Whaley’s Favorite Cabbage collards
I have both turnip greens and turnips planted, and we have been eating them often. They don’t usually make it through the winter here, so I plan to harvest and freeze some of them for later use. I’m growing Topper and All-Top and both are doing quite well.
turnip greens
Turnbroc is a new green I tried this year and it is still going strong too. The plants are not as tall as Topper and All-Top, but the plants are dense with tender and mild tasting leaves.
Turnbroc greens
There are still a few more baby Hakurei turnips to be pulled as well. I sometimes add a few of these baby turnips in with the other turnip greens that I braise. Hakurei is the only turnip I grew for the fall planting.
Hakurei turnips
I’m growing several collards with blue/purple leaves, and they have colored up nicely. I’ve grown Alabama Blue for several years now, and I’m growing another heirloom called Nancy Malone Wheat Purple for the first time. I think both have flavorful and tender leaves, and the purple colors indicate the presence of anthocyanins which add to the already nutritious qualities of collard greens.
Alabama Blue collards
Nancy Malone Wheat Purple collards
I hope you have enjoyed this tour of our garden in January. I hope to be back soon with a look at what I plan to grow here in 2022. And as a reminder, Harvest Monday starts back on February 1.
It’s interesting to see that you have enough light to get turnip roots to grow, this late in the year
The roots might be growing a bit slower now Steve, but they are still growing. These were sown back in August.
I’ve followed your example and have a few collards growing this year. We have a lot of problems with slugs in cabbage hearts, so loose leaf should work better for us
Happy New Year!
Sounds like your weather is similar to ours Dave, not quite what you’d expect for the New Year really! Your Turnip greens look very good… another thing you have reminded me to add to my sowing plan. My biggest harvests are Cabbages at the moment, plus Celeriac, so this time next year it would be good to have something to add to the menu!
I didn’t set out any cabbage this fall Kathy, so we are missing that. The other greens are giving us plenty to eat though.
You certainly still have lots going on – our allotment is looking very bare and soggy,
We have snow and much colder weather forecasted here this week Sue, so we will see what ours looks like in a week or so!
Thanks for sharing your garden Dave I am a VERY NEWBIE gardener. I don’t like collard greens, but love all sorts of lettuces. Do you have tips on starting lettuce seeds? I live in ATlanta GA, zone 7 i believe? Thanks
Here’s some good info on growing lettuce from Cornell University: http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene9aa6.html I would add that lettuce seed needs light to germinate, so don’t cover the seed too deeply when planting.