Coldframe!

Details to follow...I'm just too excited to wait.

Getting Ready for Winter

Things with the garden have been interesting lately, especially since it has spent quite a bit of time under a layer of snow.
When Brian and I went to St. John for Brian and Jessa’s wedding in early October, the garden went through its first fall freeze. Anticipating the cold, Brian picked every last fruit (mainly the tomatoes and peppers) in the large, immobile containers. The entire week that we were away, temperatures hovered around freezing. Luckily, our friend Nathan stayed at the place and took care of our little ones like a good uncle would :)
He brought in the smaller containers – tomatoes, zucchinis, etc – and covered the larger ones with plastic every cold night. For light freezes, a tarp or blanket can make all the difference – even more so when your plants are snuggled in the ground instead of in containers. The fruits we picked have continued to ripen indoors, supplying us with wonderful tomato sauce ingredients well into November.
Since early October, most everything else outside has died – with a few exceptions.
The broccoli is better than ever. All season, we felt that we wouldn’t repeat broccoli, particularly considering our space limitations. The first round of broccoli heads was insignificant and slow to develop. However, since cutting off that first round, the broccoli has flourished, we’re now working on our 4th or even 5th round of broccoli and it is tastier than ever. The broccoli leaves – such a great way to beef up a stir fry – have lost their bitterness and are delicious. Even the arugula we planted half way through the season has taken off with the cooler weather. Kale, known to improve in taste with a light freeze, and chard are also still going strong.
We just had our second significant storm, and just the day after finally building our first cold frame. At the moment it is keeping our compost warm, I’m hoping to plant spinach and more arugula in it soon. People say that you can’t grow food in a Colorado winter without heat. I don’t believe them. More on the coldframe in my next post.