It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. It’s another year for Harvest Monday, and the harvests around here have been slim lately. If it wasn’t for the greenhouse, we would have nothing fresh at all these days. The winter has been cold and dreary here, with ice and snow on several occasions. Right before Christmas, the temperatures turned frigid and we had lows near -7°F degrees.
weather station console
I was able to harvest a big batch of collards before that happened, and we have eaten on them several times since then. I have no idea if or when we will get any more from the fall greens, and considering the way they look now I seriously doubt it. Even the relatively hardy kale plants look dead.
December collard harvest
more of the December collard harvest
I sautéed some of the collards one night, and they made a tasty side dish for fish. A baked Bonita sweet potato from storage completed the meal.
collards with fish
I also fermented a few of the largest collard leaves to be used as wrappers for savory fillings. I owe a big thanks to Vivian Howard and her book Deep Run Roots for ideas on how to ferment the collards. I love her story about how a neighbor left a ziploc bag of collard kraut on her doorstep which she thought smelled “like rank feet and rotten roughage”. She thought it was a prank, and called her dad who told her it was a stinky but edible gift made by a local family. She visited the Mills family at collard kraut making time for an episode of A Chef’s Life, which inspired me to give it a try. I used our big Ohio Stoneware 5 gallon crock to make the kraut, which I let ferment for about a week before putting the fermented leaves in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator.
fermenting collard leaves
I had lettuce planted in the greenhouse before the bitter cold hit, and I cut some of it too. I lost all those lettuce plants, but thankfully had more plants inside I was able to use for replanting. Those new plants are just now getting big enough to cut, and barring any more unusually cold weather should keep us supplied for a while. Meanwhile, we got more ice and snow last week, signaling that winter is surely not over for us yet!
greenhouse lettuce
Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!
Whoa! That is cold. I hope it doesn’t affect your perennials and shrubs. Was there a snow blanket? Lettuce looks good. What a disappointment to lose the greens to the cold. That’s winter. Keep an eye out for those first bulbs–snowdrops in your area?
We do have some snowdrops planted here by a previous owner. The low temp is within our zone 6b range, but time will tell if perennials or shrubs get hurt by the cold. There was no snow blanket then either.
It’s been cold here but not so cold, No harvesting here last week