There is something uniquely satisfying about the winter food garden. Almost daily, I聽amble around the vegetable plots to gather food for dinner. There are carrots, parsnips and beets, Brussels sprouts, leeks, kale, radicchio, endive, mizuna, and lettuces. That鈥檚 my outdoor winter 鈥減antry.鈥�
The freezer holds the summer鈥檚 peas, zucchini, blueberries, raspberries and plums. Onions and kiwis are in cold storage. Bags of garlic heads are in a cool (not cold 鈥� that prompts rooting), dark cupboard. Pumpkins and squash are on display in the coolest area of the house, by the front door.
Lettuces sown indoors just after mid-August and transplanted in September have supplied me with many salads. Baby Oakleaf (Seed Savers Exchange) has been a star. It鈥檚 a dwarf, compact version of Green Oakleaf, reportedly known as Baltimore or Philadelphia Oakleaf in the 1880s. Like its larger kin, Baby Oakleaf holds its good eating qualities over an extended period in the garden, and never becomes bitter.
The heirloom baby butterhead called Tom Thumb (West Coast Seeds) has been a wonderful lettuce again this fall. It dates back to 1830. The small size is deceptive. The little heads are packed tightly full of sweet, crunchy leaves. I鈥檝e harvested both Baby Oakleaf and Tom Thumb by cutting them off cleanly from their bases. Considering the time of year, I鈥檝e been surprised to see regrowth sprouting from the stubs.
Salanova Home Garden Mix from Johnny鈥檚 Selected Seeds is a blend of lettuces that has become a favourite for the beauty and flavour of its red and green butterhead and oakleaf varieties. It also has done well this fall, making broad rosettes like big, artfully designed edible flowers.
I have a few small, portable, open-ended plastic tunnels that I鈥檝e secured by their wire legs over parts of the lettuce and radicchio plantings. If a frost of more than a few degrees is predicted, I鈥檒l be covering the leafy green vegetables with several layers of used floating row cover. Old, lightweight curtaining or some similar covering can be used as well.
More notes from the garden:
鈥� A happy enigma. I can hardly believe that I鈥檓 still snapping off sweet and tender little florets from the large sprouting Aspabroc (mini-broccoli) plants that I seeded indoors in late May聽and transplanted about one聽month later. I鈥檝e been marinating the small, uncooked flower bud clusters in salad dressing before adding garden lettuces and kale greens for an evening salad.
Aspabroc came on the scene a聽few years ago, and now appears on the broccoli pages of聽most catalogues. It鈥檚 the best summer sprouting broccoli I鈥檝e grown. Two or three sowings over the course of the growing season give an uninterrupted supply of this tasty and nutritious vegetable.
鈥� Hummingbirds. Every time I聽venture into the garden these days, at least once I hear the familiar whirring of a hummingbird darting about at amazing speeds. It鈥檚 hard to imagine how the little birds survive the winter. Gone are the favoured nectar-rich flowers of summer 鈥� the fuchsias and nasturtiums, columbine, honeysuckle, petunias and more.
These days, I see hummingbirds in a Honey Melon sage (Salvia elegans 鈥楬oney Melon鈥�), which is still full of small, red, tubular blooms. I see them, too, visiting a broad-spreading strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), now a mass of small, pendant white flowers held in tight clusters.
In winter, Anna鈥檚 hummingbirds become expert foragers, seeking out tree sap, insect eggs, grubs, spiders and soft-bodied insects, as well as the sugar water feeders hanging under the eaves of homes.
鈥� A tip on deer. Among the autumn notes from readers have been observations on plants that deer do not eat. All agreed that Euphorbia (spurge) is safe from deer browsing 鈥� until Diane Whitehead wrote to say that, in her experience, there is one exception. Euphorbia mellifera (honey spurge) 鈥渋s relished. Must be the honey flavour. I鈥檝e checked with gardening friends in various areas of Victoria, and we have all given up trying to grow it.鈥�
Honey spurge is a two-metre, spring-flowering perennial with stiff stems bearing whorls of bright green, white-striped leaves. The flowers are small, bronze-tinted and honey-scented.
Reminder: Take care and wear gloves when working with spurges. Their milky sap is toxic and a potential skin irritant. Remove unwanted seedlings in the spring.
